cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Zinc Fertilization Effects on Seed Cadmium Accumulation in Oilseed and Grain Crops Grown on North Dakota Soils

The Cd concentration in the seed of crops depends on various soil factors including parent material, texture, pH, soil redox, and salinity. Cadmium accumulation also varies among crop species and cultivars within a species. Cadmium and Zn may have either an antagonistic or a synergistic effect on plant uptake that can be influenced by the soil Cd and Zn concentrations. The objective was to determine the effect of Zn fertilizer additions on the seed Cd of nine crops commonly grown in North Dakota, USA. Studies were conducted at five North Dakota locations representing different soil series during 1994 and 1995. In Experiment 1, nine crops common in North Dakota were grown with and without the addition of 25 kg ha-1 Zn fertilizer. Among crops evaluated, the greatest seed Cd accumulation occurred in flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) followed by sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.), soybean ( Glycine max [L.] Merr.), and durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum L. var. durum). In Experiment 2, two durum wheats and one flax cultivar were grown under three Zn treatments of 0, 5, and 25 kg ha-1. In Experiment again flax had the higher seed Cd level compared with the two durum varieties. Based on the results from both studies, addition of Zn fertilizer did not consistently reduce seed Cd content, and even when statistically significant, the level of reduction was small and not likely to impact marketability of Cd accumulating crops such as flax, sunflower, soybean, and durum.
Modeling Optical Turbulence and Seeing over Mauna Kea: Verification and Algorithm Refinement*

Abstract An optical turbulence algorithm has been running operationally since April 2005 at the Mauna Kea Weather Center. The algorithm makes use of information on turbulence kinetic energy provided by a planetary boundary layer scheme available in the Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Mesoscale Model and estimates the turbulent fluctuations of the atmospheric refractive index and seeing over the summit area of Mauna Kea. To investigate the potential and limitations of the optical turbulence algorithm, one year of observed seeing data from four observatories is compared with the model forecast seeing and a statistical analysis is carried out. Sensitivity tests regarding the accuracy of the underlying numerical weather forecasts and the model’s eddy diffusivity scheme are performed. Results from a simple calibration of the optical turbulence algorithm are presented.
A 3D model of non-uniform attenuation and detector response for efficient iterative reconstruction in SPECT.

A 3D physical model for iterative reconstruction in SPECT. has been developed and applied to experimental data. The model incorporates nonuniform attenuation using reconstructed transmission CT data and distance-dependent detector response based on response function measurements over a range of distances from the detector. The 3D model has been implemented in a computationally efficient manner with practical memory requirements. The features of the model that provide efficiency are described including a new region-dependent reconstruction (RDR) technique. With RDR, filtered backprojection is used to reconstruct areas of the image of minimal clinical importance, and the result is used to supplement the iterative reconstruction of the clinically important areas of the image. The 3D model was incorporated into the maximum likelihood-expectation maximization (ML-EM) reconstruction algorithm and tested in three phantom studies - a point source, a uniform cylinder, and an anthropomorphic thorax - and a patient 99Tcm sestamibi study. Reconstructed images with the 3D method exhibited excellent noise and resolution characteristics. With the sestamibi data, the RDR technique produced essentially the conventional ML-EM estimate in the cardiac region with substantial time savings.
MAPK cascade signalling and synaptic plasticity

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade that leads to the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases-1 and -2 (ERK1 and ERK2) has a key role in the differentiation of some cell types and the proliferation of others. However, several recent reports implicate this cascade in the control of synaptic plasticity in the adult brain. ERK signalling seems to be essential for characterized neuronal transcriptional events, and might also regulate synaptic targets to control plasticity. Another recently emerging story is the involvement of a 'parallel' but distinct kinase cascade leading to the activation of p38 MAPK, which might control distinct forms of synaptic plasticity.
Operational Procedures to Increase Runway Capacity

Current procedures for air traffic require that certain distance separations be maintained between aircraft operations on the same runway. The capacity of the runway is inversely proportional to the time headway between operations. With a fixed distance separation this headway can be reduced by increasing the speed of aircraft. However, increased speeds will invariably result in increased runway occupancy times, and consequently, a reduction in capacity. Therefore, the attempt to match aircraft headways with runway occupancy times might prove to be a useful way of increasing capacity. The implications are that aircraft separations should be based on time headway rather than distance. Aircraft speeds and distance separations could be adjusted to achieve desired headways. The operational implications, and some technological suggestions, are presented in this paper. The safety implications of these types of procedures are identified as a subject that needs further research.
Retaliation Lawsuits Held Applicable for Federal Employees Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act: A Victory for Older Federal Workers The Supreme Court's Decision in Gomez-Perez v. Potter, Postmaster General

In a decision having much to do with what is implied in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) but not explicitly stated, the Supreme Court ruled that federal sector employees are not precluded from filing retaliation lawsuits under the ADEA. Relying on precedent decisions as well as established legislative intent, the Supreme Court rejected several arguments of the government in what the Court considered a narrow interpretation of the federal sector provision of the ADEA statute at §633a. The ruling affirmed that federal sector employees have the same protection as do private sector employees in all aspects of the ADEA statute.
Stimulus variability and spoken word recognition. II. The effects of age and hearing impairment

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of variations in talker characteristics, speaking rate, and overall amplitude on perceptual identification in normal-hearing young (NHY), normal-hearing elderly (NHE), and hearing-impaired elderly (HIE) listeners. The three dimensions were selected because variations in voice characteristics and speaking rate affect features of speech signals that are important for word recognition while overall amplitude changes do not alter stimulus parameters that have direct effects on phonetic identification. Thus, the studies were designed to examine how variations in both phonetically relevant and irrelevant stimulus dimensions affect speech processing in a number of different populations. Age differences, as indicated by greater effects of variability for the NHE compared with the NHY listeners, were observed for mixed-talker and mixed-amplitude word lists. Effects of age-related hearing impairment, as indicated by reduced scores for the HIE compared with the NHE group, were observed for variations in speaking rate and talker characteristics. Considered together, the findings suggest that age-related changes in perceptual normalization and selective attention may contribute to the reduced speech understanding that is often reported for older adults.
Cross‐cultural workshops and simulations for teachers

Abstract There have been many demands for curricular and pedagogical reform to prepare preservice teachers to teach from a more global and multicultural perspective. One way to begin to address this matter is to include one or more cross‐cultural workshops and/or simulations in teacher preparation programs. In this paper we discuss the advantages of including cross‐cultural experiences in training programs and offer descriptions of several workshops and simulations that those involved in teacher preparation programs may wish to consider.
Primitive Molecular Recognition Effects in Electron Transfer Processes: Modulation of ((Trimethylammonio)methyl)ferrocenium/ferrocene Self-Exchange Kinetics via Hydrophobic Encapsulation.

1H NMR line broadening measurements show that the electron self-exchange rate constant for ((trimethylamino)methyl)ferrocenium/ferrocene (TMAFc2+/+) in D2O as solvent is decreased by ca. 20−50 fold in the presence of excess β-cyclodextrin. The rate effect is associated with the selective hydrophobic encapsulation of the ferrocene form of the redox couple (i.e., the ferrocenium form is not significantly encapsulated). Selective encapsulation leads to a coupling of electron transfer to host (cyclodextrin) transfer. Optical intervalence absorption measurements for a closely related mixed-valence system strongly suggest that the coupling decreases the self-exchange rate by increasing the thermal activation barrieran inference that is corroborated by activation parameter measurements. The barrier increase ultimately can be understood in terms of a redox asymmetry effect upon the isolated electron transfer event, where the overall exchange mechanism likely entails sequential electron and host transfer.
High-precision measurement of reflectance for films under substrates

A more accurate methodology to measure the reflectance of optical disks, taking into consideration the scattering losses at the surfaces of the disk, is proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The proposed method is a modification of the current standard, as described in Annex D of the Standard ECMA-267, second edition, for 120-mm DVD—Read-Only Disk (Dec. 1999, http:/www.ecma.ch/). The experiment shows that the optical losses could be, in some cases, as much as 2% of the incident light power. By accounting for the losses, as in the proposed method, the accuracy of the measured reflectance is significantly improved. Thus, the primary reference disks produced with this method have a higher accuracy in reflectance measurement for the use of optical disk industry.
Generalizing D-graphs

Let @w"0(G) denote the number of odd components of a graph G. The deficiency of G is defined as def(G)=max"X"@?"V"("G")(@w"0(G-X)-|X|), and this equals the number of vertices unmatched by any maximum matching of G. A subset X@?V(G) is called a Tutte set (or barrier set) of G if def(G)=@w"0(G-X)-|X|, and an extreme set if def(G-X)=def(G)+|X|. Recently a graph operator, called the D-graph D(G), was defined that has proven very useful in examining Tutte sets and extreme sets of graphs which contain a perfect matching. In this paper we give two natural and related generalizations of the D-graph operator to all simple graphs, both of which have analogues for many of the interesting and useful properties of the original.
Intersectin Activates Ras but Stimulates Transcription through an Independent Pathway Involving JNK

Intersectin (ITSN) is a molecular scaffold involved in regulating endocytosis and mitogenic signaling. We previously demonstrated that ITSN transformed rodent fibroblasts, accelerated hormone-induced maturation of Xenopus oocytes, and activated the Elk-1 transcription factor through an MEK- and Erk-independent mechanism. We now demonstrate that ITSN complexes with the Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor Sos1 leading to increased RasGTP levels. Using fluorescence resonant energy transfer analysis, we demonstrate that ITSN complexes with Ras in living cells leading to Ras activation on intracellular vesicles. These vesicles contain epidermal growth factor receptor but are distinct from transferrin-positive vesicles. However, Ras is not required for ITSN stimulation of transcription. Rather, we demonstrate that ITSN signals through JNK to activate Elk-1. Although ITSN activation of Elk-1 was Ras-independent, ITSN cooperates with Ras to synergistically activate JNK. These findings indicate that ITSN activates multiple intracellular signaling pathways and suggest that this adaptor protein may coordinately regulate the activity of these pathways in vivo.
The role of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement in revision arthroplasty of the hip

When restoration of bone stock is necessary in revision arthroplasty of the hip using morselized or structural allograft bone, cement is used. Cement strengthens allograft bone, impairs its resorption, allows anatomic positioning of components (ie, cementing the cup in a protective ring), and allows delivery of antibiotics. Allograft bone provides a perfect lattice for cementation and also allows a cementless reconstruction as far as host bone is concerned.
Stroke Volume in the Dog During Graded Exercise

Measurements of stroke volume were made in dogs during graded exercise on a horizontal treadmill up to the maximal exercise which they could maintain for 2 to 3 minutes. Eleven series of experiments were performed on 7 dogs. The cardiac output was measured by the indicator-dilution technic and the heart rate was measured from the aortic pressure tracing. At all grades of exercise, there was little or no change in stroke volume. Even with severe exercise, when the cardiac output had increased from 1.5 to 3.5 (average, 2.4) times the values obtained with the dog standing at rest, the stroke volume showed less than 5 per cent change over resting values in 5 experiments on 4 dogs, while in the remainder the increases were 8, 11, 11, 14, 15, and 19 per cent. Thus, the increase in cardiac output in the untrained exercising dog is almost directly proportional to the increase in heart rate. This is in contrast to other situations, such as the combination of exercise with infusion of catecholamines, where an incre...
Low-noise SIS mixer for far-infrared radio astronomy

We present a low noise SIS mixer developed for the 1.2 THz band of the heterodyne spectrometer of the Herschel Space Observatory. With the launch of the Herschel SO in 2007, this device will be among the first SIS mixers flown in space. This SIS mixer has a quasi-optical design, with a double slot planar antenna and an extended spherical lens made of pure Si. The SIS junctions are Nb/AlN/NbTiN with a critical current density of about 30 KA/cm2 and with the junction area of a quarter of a micron square. Our mixer circuit uses two SIS junctions biased in parallel. To improve the simultaneous suppression of the Josephson current in each of them, we use diamond-shaped junctions. A low loss Nb/Au micro-strip transmission line is used for the first time in the mixer circuit well above the gap frequency of Nb. The minimum uncorrected Double Sideband receiver noise is 550 K (Y=1.34). The minimum receiver noise corrected for the local oscillator beam splitter and for the cryostat window is 340 K, about 6 hv/k, the lowest value achieved thus far in the THz frequencies range.
Comparison of anterior and abdominoperineai resections for low pelvic colon and rectal carcinoma

Abstract A comparison is presented of anterior resection and abdominoperineal resection in 182 patients with carcinoma of the rectum 6 to 15 cm. from the anus. Anterior resection was performed in eighty-nine patients and abdominoperineal resection in ninety-three. The extent of lateral pelvic dissection to 3 cm. or more below the lesion was the same for both procedures. Abdominoperineal resection was associated with 53 per cent complications, a 4.3 per cent operative mortality, and a five year survival of 46 per cent. Anterior resection gave 40 per cent complications, a mortality of 2.2 per cent, operative mortality, and a five year survival The technical ease of the side to end colorectal anastomosis has been credited with a low incidence of suture line problems. These results suggest that the rectum need not be sacrificed in all lesions 6 to 15 cm. from the anus. Anterior and abdominoperineal resections are comparable if adequate lateral and inferior dissection can be accomplished when low anastomosis in the pelvis seems feasible.
Comparison of two gravity coring devices for sedimentation rate measurement by 210Pb dating techniques

Marine sediment cores were collected in Puget Sound using a 7.6 cm diameter corer and a 15 × 15 cm square cross-section corer. The cores were dated by the 210Pb method and sedimentation rates and depth of sediment mixed layers were compared. The results show that both the sedimentation rates and the depth of sediment mixed layers obtained from small diameter corer are 2–3 times smaller than the corresponding values obtained from large cross-section corer. A cross-calibration of coring techniques seems necessary to correlate the sedimentation rates obtained using different devices.
Evolution of developer collaboration on the jazz platform: a study of a large scale agile project

Collaboration is a key aspect of the agile philosophy of software development. As a software system matures over iterations, trends of developer collaboration can offer valuable insights into project dynamics. In this paper, we study evolution of developer collaboration for a large scale agile project on the Jazz platform. We construct networks of collaboration based on developer affiliations across comments on work items and file changes; and then compare parameters of such networks with established results from networks of scientific collaborations. The comparisons illuminate interesting facets of developer collaboration on the Jazz platform. Such perception helps deeper understanding of the role of interaction in agile projects, as well as more effective project governance.
The NEXT framework for logical XQuery optimization

Classical logical optimization techniques rely on a logical semantics of the query language. The adaptation of these techniques to XQuery is precluded by its definition as a functional language with operational semantics. We introduce Nested XML Tableaux which enable a logical foundation for XQuery semantics and provide the logical plan optimization framework of our XQuery processor. As a proof of concept, we develop and evaluate a minimization algorithm for removing redundant navigation within and across nested subqueries. The rich XQuery features create key challenges that fundamentally extend the prior work on the problems of minimizing conjunctive and tree pattern queries.
Using Generalized Estimating Equations for Longitudinal Data Analysis

The generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach of Zeger and Liang facilitates analysis of data collected in longitudinal, nested, or repeated measures designs. GEEs use the generalized linear model to estimate more efficient and unbiased regression parameters relative to ordinary least squares regression in part because they permit specification of a working correlation matrix that accounts for the form of within-subject correlation of responses on dependent variables of many different distributions, including normal, binomial, and Poisson. The author briefly explains the theory behind GEEs and their beneficial statistical properties and limitations and compares GEEs to suboptimal approaches for analyzing longitudinal data through use of two examples. The first demonstration applies GEEs to the analysis of data from a longitudinal lab study with a counted response variable; the second demonstration applies GEEs to analysis of data with a normally distributed response variable from subjects nested with...
Observations on the Natural History of Varicosity of Pulmonary Veins

Pulmonary vein varix was diagnosed by roentgen studies in three patients. One showed enlargement of the lesion in 7 years with progression of heart disease and regression of the varix after correction of the mitral insufficiency. The other two patients without associated heart disease demonstrated no change in the varicosity of the pulmonary vein after 4 and 15 years.
Presenilin-1-dependent transcriptome changes.

Familial forms of Alzheimer9s disease (FADs) are caused by the expression of mutant presenilin 1 ( PS1 ) or presenilin 2. Using DNA microarrays, we explored the brain transcription profiles of mice with conditional knock-out of PS1 (cKO PS1 ) in the forebrain. In parallel, we performed a transcription profiling of the hippocampus and frontal cortex of the FAD-linked ΔE9 mutant transgenic (TG) mice and matched controls [TG mice expressing wild-type human PS1 ( hPS1 )]. When the TG and cKO datasets were cross-compared, the majority of the 30 common expression alterations were in opposite direction, suggesting that the FAD-linked PS1 variant produces transcriptome changes primarily by gain of aberrant function. Our microarray studies also revealed an unanticipated inverse correlation of transcript levels between the brains of mice that coexpress ΔE9 hPS1 + amyloid precursor protein (APP) 695 Swe and ΔE9 hPS1 single transgenic mice. The opposite directionality of these changes in transcript levels must be a function of APP and/or APP derivatives.
ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES OF VERTEBRATES

The past year brought several discoveries that focused attention on antimicrobial peptides on epithelial surfaces. The malfunction of these substances was implicated as a cause of airway infections in cystic fibrosis. Other highlights included new insights into the relative selectivity of antimicrobial peptides for microbial membranes, their primary site of action.
Computing the communication costs of item allocation

Multiagent systems require techniques for effectively allocating resources or tasks among agents in a group. Auctions are one method for structuring communication of agents' private values for the resource or task to a central decision maker. Different auction methods vary in their communication requirements. This work makes three contributions to the understanding the types of group decision making for which auctions are appropriate methods. First, it shows that entropy is the best measure of communication bandwidth used by an auction in messages bidders send and receive. Second, it presents a method for measuring bandwidth usage; the dialogue trees used for this computation are a new and compact representation of the probability distribution of every possible dialogue between two agents. Third, it presents new guidelines for choosing the best auction, guidelines which differ significantly from recommendations in prior work. The new guidelines are based on detailed analysis of the communication requirements of Sealed-bid, Dutch, Staged, Japanese, and Bisection auctions. In contradistinction to previous work, the guidelines show that the auction that minimizes bandwidth depends on both the number of bidders and the sample space from which bidders' valuations are drawn.
Tritium proof-of-principle pellet injector results

The tritium proof-of-principle (TPOP) experiment was built to demonstrate the feasibility of forming solid tritium pellets and accelerating them to high velocities for fueling future fusion reactors. The TPOP used a pneumatic pipe-gun with a 4-mm-i.d. and a 1-m-long barrel. Nearly 1500 pellets were fired by the gun during the course of the experiment; about a third of these were tritium or mixtures of deuterium and tritium. The system also contained a cryogenic /sup 3/He separator that reduced the /sup 3/He level to >
“X” Marks the spot: Florida is the 2004 hurricane bull's‐eye

The hurricane season of 2004 has turned out to be one for the record books. The first recorded South American hurricane made landfall in Brazil in March 2004. Hurricane Alex, the first named storm of the North Atlantic hurricane season, was the strongest hurricane ever recorded north of 38° latitude. Hurricane Ivan was the most southerly-forming North Atlantic hurricane recorded. After menacing the Caribbean, Ivan made an official landfall near Mobile, Alabama, but greatly affected the western panhandle region of Florida, which was located within the dangerous northeastern quadrant of the storm.
Comparing soft clusters and partitions

Previously, we presented a method for comparing soft partitions (i.e. crisp, probabilistic, fuzzy and possibilistic) to a known crisp reference partition. Many of the classical indices that have been used with outputs of crisp clustering algorithms were generalized so that they are applicable for candidate partitions of any type. In particular, focus was placed on generalizations of the Rand index. In this article, we extend our prior work by (1) investigating the behavior of the soft Rand for comparing non-crisp, specifically possibilistic, partitions and (2) we demonstrate how the possibilistic Rand and visual assessment of (cluster) tendency (VAT) algorithm can be used to discover the number of actual clusters and coincident clusters for outputs from the possibilistic c-means (PCM) algorithm.
Factorial analysis for modeling large-scale grid integration of renewable energy sources

As more renewable power sources, such as wind, solar, and ocean wave, are added to the grid, there has been an increasing impact on the ability of system operators to deal with the added variability that these resources introduce. Since these types of sources are variable and non-dispatchable in nature, their continued integration has required that more and more generating resources be kept in reserve to account for unexpected power changes. While wind, solar, and ocean wave share similarities in their fundamental characteristics as renewable sources, their variability and subsequent impact on the grid can often differ greatly. In combination, however, it has been shown that positive synergistic effects are possible (e.g., in combination, reserve requirements can be reduced compared to single-resource scenarios). This paper utilizes the factorial design methodology to analyze the reserve requirement impacts of combining different resources to determine parameters for modeling various grid penetration scenarios. The results point to the possibility of determining an optimal mix of wind, solar, and ocean wave resources.
Current guidelines for treatment of heart failure : 2006 update

Several pivotal clinical trials have generated new knowledge regarding drug therapy for heart failure. Thus, the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) and the American College of Cardiology-American Heart Association (ACC-AHA) guidelines were updated in 2006 and 2005, respectively. We review the evidence from these trials and summarize the changes to the HFSA and ACC-AHA guidelines. Based on data from these studies, the new guidelines include broader, stronger recommendations for beta-blocker therapy, and strong recommendations for angiotensin II receptor blockers. The aldosterone antagonists, spironolactone and eplerenone, are also included in the guidelines. Pharmacists should have a basic level of familiarity with the new guidelines on heart failure and the evidence from recent clinical studies. They should be able to relate how this information contributes to the evolving understanding of treatment strategies for heart failure.
Inhibition of IFN-γ transcription by site-specific methylation during T helper cell development

Polarization of naive CD4 T cells into T helper type 2 (TH2) cells is characterized by expression of IL-4 and silencing of IFN-γ. Here we show that during TH2 polarization, the DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a is recruited to the IFN-γ promoter and correspondingly the promoter undergoes progressive de novo methylation. Notably, the CpG located at the −53 position becomes methylated rapidly and this methylation inhibits ATF2/c-Jun and CREB transcription factor binding in vitro. In vivo, the same factors bind to the unmethylated IFN-γ promoter in T helper type 1 (TH1) cells but not the methylated IFN-γ promoter in TH2 cells. Furthermore, methylation at the −53 CpG alone is sufficient to inhibit the IFN-γ promoter-driven reporter gene expression in a TH1 cell line. These findings suggest that rapid methylation of the evolutionarily conserved −53 CpG by Dnmt3a may suppress IFN-γ transcription in developing TH2 cells by directly inhibiting transcription factor binding.
Unintended weight loss in older persons

Unintended weight loss has a profound effect on morbidity and mortality in older persons. A therapeutic approach to unintended weight loss in older persons depends on correct classification. A careful differential diagnostic approach is mandatory, combined with nutritional and often pharmacological interventions. While starvation due to protein-energy undernutrition is widely regarded as the primary cause of loss of fat and fat-free mass in older persons, a failure to improve with nutritional replacement should trigger a consideration of other causes. Both sarcopenia and cachexia are resistant to hypercaloric feeding. Cachexia may be amenable to suppression of proinflammatory cytokines in known inflammatory disease states.
Mineral/Water Interaction, Fluid Flow, and Frio Sandstone Diagenesis: Evidence from the Rocks

The spatial distribution of burial diagenetic cements in sandstones of the Frio Formation is related to permeability and fluid flow. The relationship between sandstone diagenesis and fluid flow implies that the modification of the rocks is largely the outcome of reactions between the detrital and authigenic minerals and the formation water in the pores. During burial, formation water preferentially flowed through the most porous and permeable sandstones. Diagenetic alteration is more extensive in permeable sandstones because the minerals in those rocks were exposed to significantly more pore volumes of reactive water, each of which accomplished a small amount of diagenetic work. Consequently, porous and permeable units were also the preferred sites of diagenetic mineral p ecipitation. The heterogeneous distribution of authigenic minerals in sandstones is a result of changing preferential flow paths, due to diagenetic modification, during burial. Sandstones that are not the most porous or permeable at the time of deposition commonly preserve the best reservoir quality at depth because they are less modified by diagenesis. Petrographic analyses indicate that the SiO2 needed for the quartz overgrowths in the sandstones had an allochthonous source. ^dgr18O values for diagenetic quartz imply that the mineral precipitated from rapidly ascending, hot formation water. Quartz overgrowths are most abundant in distal-shelf facies sandstones, where the isolated nature of the sandstones in a predominately shaly section maximized preferential fluid flow. Mass balance calculations show that thousands of pore volumes of formation water are required to supply the SiO2 needed for the quartz overgrowths in the sandstones. The amount of water required to produce the diagenetic modification of the sandstones is much larger than the amount of water present in the entire Frio Formation, impl ing that reuse of formation water is an important and necessary process during diagenesis.
Examining the equivalence of simulated and real AR on a visual following and identification task

Mixed Reality (MR) simulation, in which a Virtual Reality (VR) system is used to simulate both the real and virtual components of an Augmented Reality (AR) system, has been proposed as a method for evaluating AR systems with greater levels of experimental control. However, factors such as the latency of the MR simulator may impact the validity of experimental results obtained with MR simulation. We present a study evaluating the effects of simulator latency on the equivalence of results from an MR simulator and a real AR system. We designed an AR experiment which required the participants to visually follow a virtual pipe around a small room filled with real targets and to find and identify the targets which were intersected by the pipe. We show that, with a 95% confidence interval, the results from all three simulated AR conditions fall well within one standard deviation of the real AR case.
On Being Medieval without Menace: Catholic Magisterial Teaching as a Source for Bioethics

In an essay published nearly thirty years ago, Alasdair Maclntyre asked whether Christian theology could any longer contribute meaningfully to the intellectual life of our culture. His answer was not encouraging for theology. “It is now too late to be medieval,” he said, “too empty and too easy to be Kierkegaardian” ([15], p. 132). As Maclntyre saw things at the time, theology could either hope for an unlikely revitalization of religion in the intellectual life of our culture or, with Kierkegaard, celebrate its marginal intellectual status. It could not, however, feel good about either choice. Reading recent accounts of the relation between theology and bioethics, one might well have a sense of deja-vu. For the same unhappy choices are said to face the theologian confronting bioethical issues today: she cannot assume a common culture or an audience that shares or even understands her distinctive assumptions about human life and history. So she cannot really speak as a theologian in discussing the pressing issues raised by modern medicine, because the social context in which her religious convictions find their meaning has been lost. Yet, if she does speak as a theologian, if she maintains the particularity of her theological vision in the face of the stolid secularity of our age, she will inevitably end up defending those beliefs by celebrating their paradoxical or idiosyncratic character, a type of defense of belief, Maclntyre says, “more fatal to it than any attack could be” ([15], p. 123).
Crosslinguistic influence on phonological awareness for Korean–English bilingual children

This study examined (1) the potential influence of oral language characteristics of two languages that bilingual children acquire on their PA and (2) the relationship of PA in L1 with PA and literacy skills in L2, using data from Korean–English bilingual children. Thirty three Korean–English bilingual children, composed of two subsamples from two different locations/bilingual programs, participated in the study. The findings showed that the sample of bilingual children from two bilingual programs differed in their mean performances on intrasyllabic phonological awareness in Korean (i.e., rime awareness and body awareness). Furthermore, children’s Korean rime awareness, but not body awareness, was positively related to their phonological awareness and literacy skills in English. Finally, these children’s phonological awareness in Korean made a positive contribution to English decoding skills even after controlling for their English sight word reading skills. The results are discussed in light of interlingual influence on bilingual children’s phonological awareness.
A priori sample size evaluation and information matrix computation for time series models

This paper describes computational algorithms for determining the information matrix and evaluating the sample size needed for satisfactory estimation of a proposed time series model.These algorithms are potentially useful to many application studies where the researcher needs to know the necessary sample sizes for model estimation prior to committing costly resources for model development or estimation.They are also useful to simulation studies requiring a priori sample size decisions.The algorithms apply to any general univariate linear time series model with auto-regressive and moving average coefficients.
Soil enzyme activities, microbial communities, and carbon and nitrogen availability in organic agroecosystems across an intensively-managed agricultural landscape

Abstract Variability in the activity and composition of soil microbial communities may have important implications for the suite of microbially-derived ecosystem functions upon which agricultural systems rely, particularly organic agriculture. An on-farm approach was used to investigate microbial communities and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability on 13 organically-managed fields growing Roma-type tomatoes, but differing in nutrient management, across an intensively-managed agricultural landscape in the Central Valley of California. Soil physicochemical characteristics, potential activities of nine soil enzymes involved in C, N, phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) cycling, and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were measured during the growing season and evaluated with multivariate approaches. Soil texture and pH in the 0–15 cm surface layer were similar across the 13 fields, but there was a three-fold range of soil C and N as well as substantial variation in inorganic N and available P that reflected current and historical management practices. Redundancy analysis showed distinct profiles of enzyme activities across the fields, such that C-cycling enzyme potential activities increased with inorganic N availability while those of N-cycling enzymes increased with C availability. Although FAMEs suggested that microbial community composition was less variable across fields than enzyme activities, there were slight community differences that were related to organic amendments (manure vs. composted green waste). Overall, however, the general similarity among fields for particular taxonomic indicators, especially saprophytic fungi, likely reflects the high disturbance and low complexity in this landscape. Variation in potential enzyme activities was better accounted for with soil physicochemical characteristics than microbial community composition, suggesting high plasticity of the resident microbial community to environmental conditions. These patterns suggest that, in this landscape, differences in organic agroecosystem management have strongly influenced soil nutrients and enzyme activity, but without a major effect on soil microbial communities. The on-farm approach provided a wide range of farming practices and soil characteristics to reveal how microbially-derived ecosystem functions can be effectively manipulated to enhance nutrient cycling capacity.
Measurement of varus–valgus and internal–external rotational knee laxities in vivo—Part II: relationship with anterior–posterior and general joint laxity in males and females

We examined sex differences in general joint laxity (GJL), and anterior-posterior displacement (ANT-POST), varus-valgus rotation (VR-VL), and internal-external rotation (INT-EXT) knee laxities, and determined whether greater ANT and GJL predicted greater VR-VL and INT-EXT. Twenty subjects were measured for GJL, and scored on a scale of 0-9. ANT and POST were measured using a standard knee arthrometer at 133 N. VR-VL and INT-EXT were measured using a custom joint laxity testing device, defined as the angular displacements (deg) of the tibia relative to the femur produced by 0-10 Nm of varus-valgus torques, and 0-5 Nm of internal-external torques, respectively. INT-EXT were measured during both non-weight-bearing (NWB) and weight-bearing (WB = 40% body weight) conditions while VR-VL were measured NWB. All laxity measures were greater for females compared to males except for POST. ANT and GJL positively predicted 62.5% of the variance in VR-VL and 41.8% of the variance in WB INT-EXT. ANT was the sole predictor of INT-EXT in NWB, explaining 42.3% of the variance. These findings suggest that subjects who score higher on clinical measures of GJL and ANT are also likely to have greater VR-VL and INT-EXT knee laxities.
Comparison of Micromaps Obtained by Direct and Indirect Methods of Recombination in the Dumpy Region of Drosophila Melanogaster

T W O mapping procedures have been used for the analysis of multiple allelic senes. Both of these methods are based on techniques successfully used for genes which are relatively far apart on the chromosome map. In one procedure, a particular set of genes is singled out to establish some standard points of reference. Other genes, known to segregate with the same linkage group, may be tested individually with one or more of these reference loci. The series of recombination frequencies which are obtained can then be arranged from the smallest to the largest frequency of recombination obtained with each reference point. Assume, for example, that a gene close to the telomere of a chromosome is chosen as a reference point. If two genes tested with it give different frequencies of recombination, the smaller frequency would permit the placement of its gene between the reference point and the locus of the gene used for obtaining the larger frequency of recombination. If the recombination frequencies are based on large counts, the approximate map distances of all the genes used in the investigation can be calculated. From such a tentative ordering of the map the predicted localizations can be more accurately determined. This method is particularly useful for making a rapid survey of the chromosome map if several genes are available. Since no other genetic tools are employed in this procedure, it is necessarily an indirect approach, employing as its basic assumption the well-established view that map distance can be measured by the frequency of recombination. When employed for very small distances, especially pseudoallelic systems, this method must also assume that there is no special feature of recombination that would disturb the relation between distance and recombination frequency. This method, as used here, shall be referred to as the indirect method of linkage mapping by overlapping recombination frequencies. For determining the sequential order, but not the map distance of two genes, another approach may be used. Two genes (or alleles) may be mapped with respect to one another by using one or more additional genes (“markers”) readily distinguishable from the ones being investigated. In practice, two marker genes are used to identify, respectively, a locus to the left of the two genes being tested and a locus to their right. If a recombination does occur between the two middle genes, the distribution of the marker genes in the recovered recombinant indicates the proper linear sequence of all four of the genes involved. This method
Worldmaking: Functions and Technologies of the Creative ‘Box’

Controversies about what creativity is; how it works; what the roles of ideation, perception and unconscious might be; who creative people are; and how and whether creativity should be measured — all these debates are already evident (and we have just begun the story of creativity research). These controversies begin and end, of course, well beyond the field of psychology. As much as any construct that psychology studies, creativity has practical applications in many directions. The significance and use of the theories can be very confusing, however.
Evolution of Irradiation‐Induced Vacancy Defects in Boron Nitride Nanotubes

Irradiation-induced vacancy defects in multiwalled (MW) boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are investigated via in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscope operated at 80 kV, with a homogeneous distribution of electron beam intensity. During the irradiation triangle-shaped vacancy defects are gradually generated in MW BNNTs under a mediate electron current density (30 A cm(-2)), by knocking the B atoms out. The vacancy defects grow along a well-defined direction within a wall at the early stage as a result of the curvature induced lattice strain, and then develop wall by wall. The orientation or the growth direction of the vacancy defects can be used to identify the chirality of an individual wall. With increasing electron current density, the shape of the irradiation-induced vacancy defects changes from regular triangle to irregular polygon.
Transient Solutions to Some Weakly Diffusive Nonlinear Diffusion Equations

A multiple time scale procedure is developed and used to describe the full transient behavior of solutions to certain classes of nonlinear diffusion initial value problems where the diffusion coefficients are in a certain sense “weak.” Specific examples are presented which demonstrate the explicit manner in which various traveling wave and oscillation patterns develop from arbitrary initial data for certain well-known model systems in population biology and chemical kinetics.
Flexible Aerogels From Hyperbranched Polyurethanes: Probing the Role of Molecular Rigidity with Poly(Urethane Acrylates) vs. Poly(Urethane Norbornenes)

Flexible and foldable aerogels have commercial value for applications in thermal insulation. This study investigates the molecular connection of macroscopic flexibility using polymeric aerogels based on star-shaped polyurethane-acrylate versus urethane-norbornene monomers. The core of those monomers is based either on a rigid/aromatic, or a flexible/aliphatic triisocyanate. Terminal acrylates or norbornenes at the tips of the star branches were polymerized with free radical chemistry, or with ROMP, respectively. At the molecular level, aerogels were characterized with FTIR and solid-state 13C NMR. The porous network was probed with N2-sorption and Hg-intrusion porosimetry, SEM and SAXS. The interparticle connectivity was assessed in a top-down fashion with thermal conductivity measurements and compression testing. All aerogels of this study consist of aggregates of nanoparticles, whose size depends on the aliphatic/aromatic content of the monomer, the rigidity/flexibility of the polymeric backbone, and ge...
Internal fixation in the osteoporotic spine.

The presence of osteoporosis in patients who are candidates for spinal surgery can affect preoperative planning. These patients may not need instrumentation for a successfui surgical result, but if use Of instrumen tation is indicated because ot instability or deformity, certain principles should be observed. These include using multiple sites of fixation, accepting lesser degrees of deformity correction, and avoiding ending the instrumentation within kyphotic segments. Advances in perioperative medicai management, as well as improved instrumentation systems, may also contribute to improving patient outcomes.
WTERT: May 2006–May 2007 Highlights

The Waste-To-Energy Research and Technology Council (WTERT) was co-founded in May 2002 by the Earth Engineering Center of Columbia University (EEC) and Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA). Its mission is to direct academic research on various aspects of energy and materials recovery from municipal and other solid wastes and disseminate the findings of its research to professionals and the public. WTERT is a non-profit organization that relies heavily on faculty and graduate students who are studying various aspects of integrated waste management and waste-to-energy. The main products of WTERT research are the theses, technical publications and presentations made during the year. In all there were 14 publications, 22 presentations, and 12 posters presented by WTERT faculty and graduate students at different technical meetings and public forums. This report presents the highlights of the WTERT activities since NAWTEC 14.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
How biological abnormalities separate CFS from depression.

EARN CATEGORY I CME CREDIT by reading this article and the article beginning on page 44 and successfully completing the posttest on page 48. Successful completion is defined as a cumulative score of at least 70% correct. This material has been reviewed and is approved for 1 hour of clinical Category