cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multitrait-Multimethod Validation of the Satisfaction with My Supervisor Scale:

Using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis to analyze multi-trait-multimethod data, the validity of the Satisfaction With My Supervisor Scale (SWMSS) was evaluated by comparing the SWMSS to commitments to the organization, department, and occupation. The SWMSS exhibited a strong convergent validity coefficient, and this coefficient was significantly greater than the discriminant validity coefficients representing its relations to the three forms of commitment.
Vertical Stress Distribution in Oil-Shale Aggregate Columns During Retorting

This study considers the stresses developed in an oil-shale rubble column during in situ retorting and assesses the change of the mechanical properties of this rubble mass as a result of the retorting process. New data on the variation of the frictional properties of a 103-dm/sup 3//mg grade oil shale with temperature also are presented. Solutions of the stress distributions in the column are developed in terms of the ratio of column cross-sectional area to perimeter, height, the solid density of shale particles, the coefficient of friction between rubble column and wall rock, and the porosity of the rubble. Using experimentally determined relations for porosity as a function of temperature and stress, the solution implicitly accounts for the effect of material strength and bulk compressibility. Example solutions show that the vertical-stress distribution is a strong function of both the area-to-perimenter ratio and the coefficient of friction between rubble column and wall rock. Finally, these analyses may be used to give bounds on the dimensions of rubble columns for efficient in situ retorting operations. 27 references.
Histone lysine methyltransferase SET7/9: formation of a water channel precedes each methyl transfer.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations have been carried out in an investigation of histone lysine methyltransferase (SET7/9). Proton dissociation (SET7/9·Lys4-NH3+·AdoMet → SET7/9·Lys4-NH2·AdoMet + H+) must be prior to the methylation by S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet). We find that a water channel is formed to allow escape of the proton to solvent. The water channel appears in the presence of AdoMet, but is not present in the species SET7/9·Lys4-NH3+ or SET7/9·Lys4-N(Me)H2+·AdoHcy. A water channel is not formed in the ground state of SET7/9·Lys4-N(Me)H2+·AdoMet, and the second methyl transfer does not occur. The structure of SET7/9·Lys4-N(Me)H2+·AdoMet includes a greater distance (6.1 ± 0.3 A) between Cγ(AdoMet) and N(MeLys4) than is present in SET7/9·Lys4-NH3+·AdoMet (5.7 ± 0.2 A). The electrostatic interactions between the positive charges on AdoMet and SET7/9·Lys4-NH3+ decrease the pKa of the latter from 10.9 ± 0.4 to 8.2 ± 0.6, and thi...
Redfield theory is quantitative for coupled harmonic oscillators

Abstract We investigate the accuracy of Redfield theory predictions for the dynamics of a fully quantum-mechanical system—bath problem. Both the system and the bath in this model are harmonic oscillators, and the system is coupled linearly to the bath. This model can be solved exactly using well-known numerical techniques. We compare exact numerical calculations to the predictions of Redfield theory for a variety of coupling strengths. The expectation value of the system number operator and the system position autocorrelation function are the dynamical quantities we use in our comparisons. For those extreme cases in which Redfield theory does not exhibit good quantitative agreement, assumptions of Redfield theory are relaxed to obtain better approximations to the exact result.
Proteolytic cleavage of urokinase-type plasminogen activator by stromelysin-1 (MMP-3)

Matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3, or stromelysin-1) specifically hydrolyzes the Glu143−Leu144 peptide bond in 45-kDa single-chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator (scu-PA) and in its two-chain (tcu-PA) derivative, yielding a 17-kDa NH2-terminal domain comprising the u-PA receptor (u-PAR) binding site and a 32-kDa COOH-terminal moiety containing the serine proteinase domain of u-PA. The conversion is completely abolished in the presence of the MMP inhibitors EDTA or 1,10-phenanthroline. Biospecific interaction analysis indicates that binding of MMP-3 occurs through the 32-kDa fragment. The 32-kDa fragment derived from scu-PA (scu-PA-32k) has a specific activity of ≤500 IU/mg, but it can be activated with plasmin to a two-chain derivative (tcu-PA-32k) with a specific activity of 79 000 IU/mg. tcu-PA and tcu-PA-32k moieties derived from scu-PA-32k by plasmin or from tcu-PA by MMP-3 have comparable amidolytic activities toward the chromogenic substrate S-2444 (kcat/Km of 110 and 160 mM-1 s-1, respectivel...
The Stability of Party Identification in Western Democracies: Results from Eight Panel Surveys

The concept of party identification is widely thought to be of limited utility outside the United States, where partisan attachments are regarded as unstable. The authors argue that estimating the stability of party identification outside the United States requires attention to problems of dimensionality and measurement error. The authors develop a model for estimating the stability of partisanship that addresses these problems, and they apply the model to eight panel surveys drawn from Great Britain, Canada, and Germany. The results suggest that partisanship has been extremely stable in each country, with the exception of recent developments in Canada. The model and findings presented here suggest the need for refinement in the way partisanship is measured, and partisan stability assessed, in multiparty systems.
Measuring tidal displacement using GPS

GPS is making possible high-precision, high-resolution measurements of tidal displacement that could not be achieved with other methods. Earth's surface deforms due to both body tides—the deformation of the solid Earth due to the pull of the Sun and the Moon—and ocean tides—the redistribution of water mass loading over Earth's surface. Body tides and ocean tides both have components that vary on semidiurnal, diurnal, and longer periods.
Ideals and action in the reign of Otto III

This article examines one of the most controversial aspects of Otto III's reign, his plan to create a revived Roman Empire with the city of Rome as its centre. More than sixty years ago the largely literary, visual, and symbolic evidence for this Renovatio imperii Romanorum was assembled and examined by P.E.Schramm. His pioneering study then became the basis for virtually all subsequent work on the subject. Recent literature has brought the literature, character and perhaps the existence of Otto's Renovatio strongly into question though without proposing any convincing alternative or, so it is argued here, surmounting the basic assumptions upon which Schramm's interpretation was founded. Specifically, it is argued that Schramm's assumptions regarding the preeminence of the monarch and of the German part of Empire continue to influence more recent literature and that, as in Schramm's various studies, there is still a tendency to neglect the issues of stage and audience. The present study reexamines the sub...
Plant-Animal Interface

The grazing system, consisting of soil, plants, and animals, is a dynamic system. The plant-animal interface describes the continuum of interactions of the grazed with the sward. The plant grows and produces its tissues, ultimately for reproduction and persistence. The grazer harvests parts of the plant which provide nutrients for maintenance and production. Conventional research approaches have included studying one of the components while either ignoring the others or attempting to hold them static (...)
Racial classification in criminology: The reproduction of racialized crime

The (re)production of knowledge about crime is cultural in terms of the questions asked, the comparisons made, and the hypotheses selected to explain crime causation. Since criminologists do not operate in a vacuum, any prejudgments, biases, and beliefs acquired before their professional socialization may well persist and affect their approach to research over the course of their academic careers. Because American criminologists live in a society that racializes a number of problem behaviors, including crime, it is conceivable that widely held beliefs about race that predate graduate training will find their way into assumptions about the relationship between race and crime. Such preprofessional beliefs are transformed into “facts” when they meet with widespread agreement from other criminologists and thus come to be taken for granted in the objective pursuit of knowledge. Crime is racialized, for example, when the criminal behaviors of individual black offenders are understood in terms of “racial traits,” “racial motives,” or “racial experiences.” When traits, motives, or experiences are classified as the property of whole races or racial communities, these conceptions of race assume causal significance in explaining criminal behavior. Because these traits, motives, and experiences are supposedly shared by entire races or race-class categories, the predisposition to criminality becomes generalized beyond individual Black criminals to whole races or racial communities of noncriminal Blacks. When crime is thus racialized, whole communities or whole categories of phenotypically similar individuals are rendered precriminal and morally suspect. In addition, such racializations in academic criminology can be used to justify increased control of individual black criminals in the larger society; these controls can also legitimately be extended to encompass whole communities and whole categories of phenotypically similar persons who are not involved in crime. This paper will address the role that racializing assumptions play in traditional criminological theories.
Unmet Needs of Parents of and Individuals with Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA)

Interviews with 50 mothers of children with SCA and 50 adults with SCA reveal that too frequently: (1) Parents believe that their children will not live beyond the teens. (2) Children are pressured to cat ‘blood building foods’ to improve the anemia and life expectancy. (3) Children's physical activities are unduly restricted. (4) Parents nor children know how to cope with the child's small stature or the teasing it engenders. (5) Parents are not aware that the annoying enuresis may be secondary to sCA. (6) The child's feelings about the disease are not even explored. (7) Parents and adults have uncertainties about the desirability of sicklers marrying and having children. (8) Prior to the birth of a child with SCA parents are not aware of their potential for having children with the disease. (9) One parent blames the other for the child's SCA. (10) Teenagers and adults do not seek training in sedentary occupations. (11) Employers reject applicants with SCA for jobs within their capabilities. These undesirable features appear to exist because: (1) Physicians have not informed, have inadequately informed, or have inaccurately informed sicklers and their parents, or physicians have not used a mode of presentation which promotes understanding and retention, (2) genetic, occupational and psychological counseling have been neglected, (3) employers have not been informed that with a few allowances sicklers can be successful employees. Thus, we need to develop a multidiciplinary public education and anticipatory guidance program. This could significantly improve the lives of many victims of SCA and their parents by enabling them to make realistic and healthy social and psychological adjustments.
Base Excision Repair in a Glucocorticoid Response Element EFFECT OF GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR BINDING

DNA repair takes place in the context of chromatin. Previous studies showed that histones impair base excision repair (BER) of modified bases at both the excision and synthesis steps. We examined BER of uracil in a glucocorticoid response element (GRE) complexed with the glucocorticoid receptor DNA binding domain (GR-DBD). Five substrates were designed, each containing a unique C→U substitution within the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter, one located within each GRE half-site and the others located outside the GRE. To examine distinct steps of BER, DNA cleavage by uracil-DNA glycosylase and Ape1 endonuclease was used to assess initiation, dCTP incorporation by DNA polymerase (pol) β was used to measure repair synthesis, and DNA ligase I was used to seal the nick. For uracil sites within the GRE, there was a reduced rate of uracil-DNA glycosylase/Ape1 activity following GR-DBD binding. Cleavage in the right half-site, with higher GR-DBD binding affinity, was reduced ∼5-fold, whereas cleavage in the left half-site was reduced ∼3.8-fold. Conversely, uracil-directed cleavage outside the GRE was unaffected by GR-DBD binding. Surprisingly, there was no reduction in the rate of pol β synthesis or DNA ligase activity on any of the fragments bound to GR-DBD. Indeed, we observed a small increase (∼1.5–2.2-fold) in the rate of pol β synthesis at uracil residues in both the GRE and one site six nucleotides downstream. These results highlight the potential for both positive and negative impacts of DNA-transcription factor binding on the rate of BER.
The Regional Analysis System for the Operational “Early” Eta Model: Original 80-km Configuration and Recent Changes

Abstract The analysis component of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) operational “early” 80-km eta model, as implemented in July 1993, is described. This optimum interpolation (OI) analysis is fully multivariate for wind and geopotential height (univariate for specific humidity) and is performed directly on the eta model's vertical coordinate. Although the eta OI analysis and model performance has been generally favorable when compared to the Limited-Area Fine Mesh Model (LFM) and the Nested Grid Model (NGM), deficiencies in the eta OI analysis fields have been observed, especially near the surface. A series of improvements to the eta OI analysis is described. A refinement to the eta model orography, which created a more realistic depiction of the model terrain, is also discussed along with the impact of these changes on analysis and model performance. These changes were implemented in the early eta system in September 1994. The operational configuration of the new mesoscale (29 km)...
Simplified apparatus for surgical color photography

Abstract An apparatus for surgical color photography is described which combines small size, portability, simplicity and rapidity of operation. No photographic knowledge is required to use it and the results are uniformly good. The use of this unit is so convenient that the ideal of a photographic record in natural color of every operation and gross specimen is attainable at negligible cost ∗ ∗Cost. The total cost of the unit was about $85.00. A projector suitable for medium sized audiences costs $33.50. The final cost of each color slide, developed and ready for projection, is 13 cents, less than a black and white enlargement. Natural color prints or black and white enlargements can also be made directly from these transparencies when needed for publication or case histories. and with inexpensive but efficient equipment.
Meteoric compounds in the stratosphere

The presence of gaseous metal oxides and hydroxides originating from incoming meteoric material has been suggested to explain stratospheric ion composition1 and as chemical sinks for chlorine species2. Recent ion composition data can be explained without recourse to metal hydroxides3–5, although the results do not preclude gaseous metal compound concentrations of 104 cm−3 at 35 km. However, theoretical considerations suggest that gaseous meteoric material coagulates to form particulate matter6. No direct measurements of metal compounds exist. Photoionization of meteoric compounds such as NaOH and CaOH in the 40–70-km altitude region produces a diurnally varying source of ionization in addition to nearly constant cosmic ray ionization. Ion pair production can be several times that due to cosmic radiation depending on sunspot cycle, altitude, time of day and meteor activity. It is suggested here that the behaviour of the ion density should be studied to determine the existence of gaseous metal oxides. The available ion density and conductivity data are insufficient to demonstrate conclusively the existence of such compounds, although unexplained increases are observed. The presence of meteoric compounds, would imply an electrical conductivity which is related to both solar and meteor activity and would thus be an important factor in the physical processes involved in those Sun–weather relationships which depend on atmospheric electrical conductivity.
Plastic optical fibers for automotive applications

High heat resistant optical fibers (POFs) have been developed for various automotive applications. Plastic chips with POF light guide have been used in place of a clearance monitor lamp. POF cords and cables have been used in the car-audio system, car-navigation system, and other data communication systems. This paper describes the structures, properties, and reliabilities of POFs for these applications.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Looking back and thinking forward: 20 years of disability and rehabilitation research

Abstract Ottenbacher KJ, Jette AM, Fuhrer MJ, Granger CV. Looking back and thinking forward: 20 years of disability and rehabilitation research. The National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary. The celebration included a symposium highlighting advances in rehabilitation science over the past 2 decades. The anniversary also reminds us of the challenges that remain in order to strengthen the foundation of disability and rehabilitation research. These challenges have been described in 3 reports published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1991, 1997, and 2007. Three areas of concern appear across the IOM reports. These include (1) the lack of a comprehensive disability monitoring program, (2) the need for better integration and coordination of federally supported disability research, and (3) funding levels that are inconsistent with the current and projected impacts of disability on individuals, families, and communities. In this commentary we examine the lack of progress in addressing the recommendations contained in the IOM reports. We conclude that renewed efforts by consumers, clinicians, educators, researchers, administrators, and policy makers are needed to achieve the promise of rehabilitation and disability science identified 20 years ago.
Photoionization Rates in Clumpy Molecular Clouds

We present calculations of the continuum ultraviolet radiation field (91.2 nm < λ < 550 nm) penetrating both uniform and clumpy (3D turbulent supersonic magnetohydrodynamic) starless molecular gas layers. We find that despite the self-shielding of clumps, pristine (i.e., unreddened) radiation penetrates deeply both the cloud's volume and its mass, resulting in a brighter and bluer intracloud radiation field compared to that in an equivalent uniform cloud. Motivated by these results, we construct and test a toy model ray-tracing scheme for the radiative transfer that fits the UV-visible spectral range with a three-parameter function. We calculate the photoionization rates, Γ, of the elements C, Na, Mg, Si, S, and Fe as functions of the visual extinction AV along lines of sight. Typically, the difference in Γ(AV) between the clumpy and uniform clouds increases to orders of magnitude at even modest extinctions (AV ~ 2). Photoionization in the clumpy model extends 2-3 times deeper than in the uniform case, and it dominates cosmic-ray ionization throughout almost the entire volume. We encapsulate these average results in a parameterized form appropriate for when an approximate treatment of the effects of clumpiness is desired. However, the large point-to-point variance in this behavior suggests that uncertainties may arise when using mean values to model particular lines of sight in detail. Ideally, these new results would be used in conjunction with established results for homogeneous clouds in order to span a range of behavior that arises due to cloud inhomogeneities. We briefly explore the importance of the adopted dust properties, characterized by the selective extinction RV and the scattering parameter g. We find that the UV field is considerably less sensitive to these dust properties in clumpy clouds, emphasizing the preeminence of geometry.
Lymphocyte responses exacerbate angiotensin II-dependent hypertension

Activation of the immune system by ANG II contributes to the pathogenesis of hypertension, and pharmacological suppression of lymphocyte responses can ameliorate hypertensive end-organ damage. Therefore, to examine the mechanisms through which lymphocytes mediate blood pressure elevation, we studied ANG II-dependent hypertension in scid mice lacking lymphocyte responses and wild-type controls. Scid mice had a blunted hypertensive response to chronic ANG II infusion and accordingly developed less cardiac hypertrophy. Moreover, lymphocyte deficiency led to significant reductions in heart and kidney injury following 4 wk of angiotensin. The muted hypertensive response in the scid mice was associated with increased sodium excretion, urine volumes, and weight loss beginning on day 5 of angiotensin infusion. To explore the mechanisms underlying alterations in blood pressure and renal sodium handling, we measured gene expression for vasoactive mediators in the kidney after 4 wk of ANG II administration. Scid mice and controls had similar renal expression for interferon-γ, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6. By contrast, lymphocyte deficiency (i.e., scid mice) during ANG II infusion led to upregulation of tumor necrosis factor-α, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the kidney. In turn, this enhanced eNOS and COX-2 expression in the scid kidneys was associated with exaggerated renal generation of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, and prostacyclin, all of which promote natriuresis. Thus, the absence of lymphocyte activity protects from hypertension by allowing blood pressure-induced sodium excretion, possibly via stimulation of eNOS- and COX-2-dependent pathways.
Fibrillary and immunotactoid glomerulonephritis: Distinct entities with different clinical and pathologic features

Fibrillary and immunotactoid glomerulonephritis: Distinct entities with different clinical and pathologic features. Background Controversy surrounds the relatedness of fibrillary glomerulonephritis (FGN) and immunotactoid glomerulonephritis (IT). Methods To better define their clinicopathologic features and outcome, we report the largest single center series of 67 cases biopsied from 1980 to 2001, including 61 FGN and 6 IT. FGN was defined by glomerular immune deposition of Congo red–negative randomly oriented fibrils of Results FGN comprised 0.6% of total native kidney biopsies and IT was tenfold more rare (0.06%). Deposits in FGN were immunoglobulin G (IgG) dominant and polyclonal in 96%. IgG subtype analysis in 19 FGN cases showed monotypic deposits in four (two IgG1 and two IgG4) and oligotypic deposits in 15 (all combined IgG1 and IgG4). In IT, deposits were IgG dominant in 83% and monoclonal in 67% (three IgG1κ and one IgG1λ). FGN patients were a mean age of 57 years, 92% were Caucasian, and 39% were male. At biopsy, FGN patients had the following clinical characteristics (mean, range): creatinine 3.1 mg/dL (0.5 to 14), proteinuria 6.5 g/day (0.8 to 25), 60% microhematuria, and 59% hypertension. Histologic patterns of FGN were diverse, including diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (DPGN) (nine cases), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) (27 cases), mesangial proliferative/sclerosing (MES) (13), membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) (four), and diffuse sclerosing (DS) (eight). The more proliferative (MPGN and DPGN) and sclerosing (DS) forms presented with a higher creatinine and greater proteinuria compared to MES and MGN. Median time to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was 24.4 months for FGN and mean time to ESRD varied by histologic subtype: DS 7 months, DPGN 20 months, MPGN 44 months, compared to MES 80 months and MGN 87 months. There was no statistically significant effect of immunosuppressive therapy (given to 36% of FGN patients). By Cox regression (hazard ratio, confidence interval, P value), independent predictors of progression to ESRD were creatinine at biopsy [2.05 (1.55 to 2.72) P P = 0.034]. Although IT had similar presentation, histologic patterns, and outcome compared to FGN, it had a greater association with monoclonal gammopathy ( P = 0.014), underlying lymphoproliferative disease ( P = 0.020), and hypocomplementemia ( P = 0.032). Conclusion FGN is an idiopathic condition characterized by polyclonal immune deposits with restricted gamma isotypes. Most patients present with significant renal insufficiency and have a poor outcome despite immunosuppressive therapy, and outcome correlates with histologic subtype. By contrast, IT often contains monoclonal IgG deposits and has a significant association with underlying dysproteinemia and hypocomplementemia. Differentiation of FGN from the much more rare entity IT appears justified on immunopathologic, ultrastructural, and clinical grounds.
Organosilicon Entities as Prophylactic and Therapeutic Agents

Within the past 5 years, the synthesis and biological evaluations of organosilicon agents have rapidly developed into a potentially explosive area of medicinal chemistry. It has repeatedly been demonstrated that silicon analogs of recognized medicinal agents exhibit biological activity. Even more significant is the activity elicited by several types of organosilicon entities that are not isosteric to biologically active organic compounds. Ample evidence is also now available to establish that organosilicon compounds, per se, are not toxic. While certain classes of these compounds produce toxic responses, indeed, a few are highly poisonous, they too are not merely silicon congeners of toxic organic compounds. The diverse employment of these compounds—from therapeutic agents to agricultural chemicals—evidences the importance of, and exceptional potential for, these materials.
Radio Frequency Charge Parity Meter

We demonstrate a total charge parity measurement by detecting the radio frequency signal that is reflected by a lumped-element resonator coupled to a single InAs nanowire double quantum dot. The high frequency response of the circuit is used to probe the effects of the Pauli exclusion principle at interdot charge transitions. Even parity charge transitions show a striking magnetic field dependence that is due to a singlet-triplet transition, while odd parity transitions are relatively insensitive to a magnetic field. The measured response agrees well with cavity input-output theory, allowing accurate measurements of the interdot tunnel coupling and the resonator-charge coupling rate g(c)/2π~17 MHz.
Techniques of noise abatement: control at the receiver

To protect the receivers, the human ears, from exposure to excessive noise the complete range of mechanical anti-noise ear protectors is outlined. The ear plugs, semi-inserts, ear muffs, and helmets are explained with respect to basic desirable features of an ideal ear protector. These ear protectors are ranked and compared. Finally, effective use of ear protectors is described.
Least squares/ridge regression and goal programming/constrained regression alternatives

Abstract Ridge regression has been extensively reviewed in the literature of applied statistics as a method for dealing with problems of collinearity in least squares regressions. In this paper, ordinary least squares and least squares combined with ridge regressions are examined and compared with ordinary goal programming and goal programming combined with constraints on regressand values that admissible statistical estimates must satisfy. The comparisons are effected by means of an example in chemical processing that has been extensively treated in the ridge regression literature.
Sustained supervised practice on a coronary anastomosis simulator increases medical student interest in surgery, unsupervised practice does not

Background Given declining interest in cardiothoracic (CT) training programs during the last decade, increasing emphasis has been placed on engaging candidates early in their training. We examined the effect of supervised and unsupervised practice on medical students' interest in CT surgery. Methods Forty-five medical students participated in this study. Participants' interest level in surgery, CT surgery, and simulation were collected before and after a pretest session. Subsequently, participants were randomized to one of three groups: control (n = 15), unsupervised training on a low-fidelity task simulator (n = 15), or supervised training with a CT surgeon or fellow on the same simulator (n = 15). After 3 weeks, attitudes were reassessed at a posttest session. Interest levels were compared before and after the pretest using paired t tests, and the effects of training on interests were assessed with multiple linear regression analyses. Results After the pretest session, participants were significantly more interested in simulation ( p = 0.001) but not in surgery or CT surgery. After training, compared with control group participants, supervised trainees demonstrated a significant increase in their interest level in pursuing a career in surgery ( p = 0.028) and an increasing trend towards a career in CT surgery ( p = 0.060), whereas unsupervised trainees did not. Conclusions Supervised training on low-fidelity simulators enhances interest in a career in surgery. Practice that lacks supervision does not, possibly related to the complexity of the simulated task. Mentorship efforts may need to involve sustained interaction to provide medical students with enough exposure to appreciate a surgical career.
Effect of Cryogenic Substrate Temperature on the Growth of Ag and Cu Nanostructured Optical Metamaterials

We demonstrate an improved technique to grow glancing angle nanostructured thin films of silver and copper using electron-beam evaporation. Silver has particular interest for optical metamaterial activity, but unlike most other metals, the surface mobility of these atoms makes it difficult to grow distinct nanocolumns. By cryogenically cooling the substrate, we demonstrate that these metals can show marked improvement in their nanocolumn structure.
GIS techniques for creating river terrain models for hydrodynamic modeling and flood inundation mapping

Two- and three-dimensional (2D/3D) hydrodynamic models require the geometric description of river bathymetry and its surrounding area as a continuous surface. These surface representations of river systems are also required in mapping flood inundation extents. Creating surface representations of river systems is a challenging task because of issues associated with interpolating river bathymetry, and then integrating this bathymetry with surrounding topography. The objectives of this paper are to highlight key issues associated with creating an integrated river terrain, and propose GIS techniques to overcome these issues. The following techniques are presented in this paper: mapping and analyzing river channel data in a channel fitted coordinate system; interpolation of river cross-sections to create a 3D mesh for main channel; and integration of interpolated 3D mesh with surrounding topography. These techniques are applied and cross-validated by using datasets from Brazos River in Texas, Kootenai River in Montana, and Strouds Creek in North Carolina. Creation of a 3D mesh for the main channel using a channel-fitted coordinate system and subsequent integration with surrounding topography produces a coherent river terrain model, which can be used for 2D/3D hydrodynamic modeling and flood inundation mapping. Although techniques presented in this paper produce better results compared to existing GIS methods, the linear approach has some limitations which can be overcome by accounting for channel meanders, sinuosity and thalweg location.
Correlation between antigenic and functional expression of tissue factor on the surface of cultured human endothelial cells following stimulation by lipopolysaccharide endotoxin

Previous studies indicated that E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) to express tissue factor activity. Using a radiolabeled anti-tissue factor monoclonal antibody to assess cell-surface tissue factor apoprotein antigen and a two-stage amidolytic assay to assess functional tissue factor activity, we have investigated the temporal relationship between antigenic expression and functional expression of tissue factor on the surface of LPS-stimulated HUVEC. Maximum tissue factor apoprotein antigenic expression on the surface of LPS-stimulated HUVEC was achieved in four hours after LPS treatment, while maximum functional tissue factor activity occurred after 6 hours. Specific binding of radiolabelled human factor VIIa to LPS-stimulated HUVEC paralleled the time course of the expression of tissue factor functional activity. Thus, these data indicate that the presence of newly-synthesized tissue factor apoprotein antigen on the cell surface is insufficient by itself for maximal factor VIIa binding to occur, and provide presumptive evidence for the posttranslational processing of tissue factor apoprotein on the cell surface prior to its acquisition of ligand binding function.
Liquid core optical ring resonator label-free biosensor array for lab-on-a-chip development

Label-free optical biosensors offer advantages for many applications due to their simplicity and low cost compared to fluorescence detection. Thus, it is desirable to develop label-free sensors that can be integrated with advanced microfluidic systems into dense, multi-purpose biosensor arrays. One candidate technology is ring resonators, which utilize the resonating whispering gallery modes to create a strongly enhanced optical field in the sensing volume. Because of the high Q-factor of ring resonators, the optical field can be enhanced by 2-3 orders of magnitude, which leads to much smaller required light-matter interaction length and sensing volume. These are critical characteristics for dense integration into lab-on-a-chip systems. We have developed a novel label-free ring resonator sensor based on a liquid core optical ring resonator (LCORR). This system uses a glass capillary as both the fluidics and the ring resonator. With the LCORR, we have demonstrated a measurable whispering gallery mode spectral shift of 30 pm/refractive-index-unit (RIU), which leads to a detection limit of approximately 10-6 RIU. Additionally, we have achieved an estimated detection limit for protein molecules of 10 pg/mm2. These experimental demonstrations of this novel sensing system will lead to the development of highly sensitive label-free sensors that are well-suited for dense integration with advanced microfluidics for lab-on-a-chip systems.
Biomarkers of Disease: An Evidence-based Approach. Andrew K. Trull, Laurence M. Demers, David W. Holt, Atholl Johnston, J. Michael Tredger, and Christopher P. Price, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, 516 pp., $110.00, hardcover. ISBN 0-521-81102-3.

This book, published last year, is based on the EMBODY 2000 conference held in Cambridge, England. It consists of 48 chapters and is organized into parts; one part deals with the diagnostic power of biomarkers (4 chapters); six parts discuss biomarkers of kidney (4 chapters), bone (6 chapters), liver (10 chapters), gastrointestinal (3 chapters), cardiovascular (7 chapters), and neurologic diseases (3 chapters); and two non-organ-specific parts discuss biomarkers of toxicology (3 chapters) and biomarkers of transplantation (8 chapters). In general, European researchers are the authors of the chapters. The …
Design and implementation of online mode switching on hybrid software radio platforms

This paper demonstrates the design and implementation of a configurable mode transceiver using software radio platform. The work implements a radio transceiver in which its communication modulation and frequency carrier can be altered while maintaining operation. The designed transceiver switches between amplitude modulation (analog) and differential binary phase shift keying (digital) upon a user request. While it is capable of automatically switching its frequency carrier upon an increase in bit error rate due to degradation of its wireless channel. The transceiver combines the signal processing modules to perform a configurable multimode radio. The design of the transceiver is implemented using a small form factor software defined radio (SDR).
To Make a New Intestinal Mucosa

A number of clinical conditions are caused by disorders affecting the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Some patients suffer from a loss of mucosal surface area due to congenital defects or due to surgical resections ("short bowel syndrome"). Other patients have inborn or acquired defects of certain mucosal functions (e.g., glucose-galactose malabsorption, bile acid malabsorption). Many patients with these mucosal disorders could be more effectively treated if healthy mucosa were available in larger quantities as a replacement or functional supplement. We therefore developed methods to transplant mucosal stem cells from one part of the intestine to another and to make bioengineered intestinal mucosa. We generated an animal model of bile acid malabsorption using rats that underwent resection of the distal 25% of their small intestine (ileum). This resulted in significant losses of bile acids with the fecal excretions in these animals. We subsequently harvested ileal stem cell clusters from neonatal donors, removed the mucosa from a segment of proximal intestine (jejunum), and implanted the stem cell clusters into the debrided segment of jejunum. After four weeks, the animals had developed a functional "neomucosa." We inserted the "neo-ileal" segment into continuity as a substitute ileum. Postoperative measurements of fecal bile acid excretion showed that we were able to reverse the malabsorption syndrome in this model. This was the first reported neo-mucosa-based treatment of a malabsorption syndrome in vivo. We subsequently studied different biodegradable PGA and PLLA scaffoldings to generate bioengineered intestinal mucosa. We implanted these materials into omentum of rats and were able to identify a PGA/PLLA hybrid material on which engraftment rates of 36% of the available surface area could be achieved. Most recently, we developed a novel technique that permits direct observation of cell-biomaterial interactions after implantation into omentum or intestine in vivo. This method will help to optimize engraftment conditions for stem cell clusters on biomaterials.
Focal shifts in diffracted converging spherical waves

Abstract It is known from a number of publications that when a converging, monochromatic spherical wave is diffracted at a circular aperture, the point of maximum intensity of the diffracted wave may not be at the geometrical focus of the incident wave, but may be located closer to the aperture. In the present note we show that when the incident wave is uniform and the angular semi-aperture is small, the ratio of such a shift Δƒ of the point of maximum intensity to the distance ƒ between the geometrical focus and the plane of the aperture depends only on the Fresnel number N of the aperture when viewed from the geometrical focus. The effect becomes significant when N ≲ 5. When N = 1, for example, |Δƒ| ≈ 0.4 ƒ and the maximum intensity is approximately twice as large as the intensity at the geometrical focus.
Theoretical Analysis of the Co-Existence of LTE-A Signals and Design of an ML-SIC Receiver

The increasing number of mobile devices and the demand for large throughput requiring applications has hampered access to the limited frequency spectrum. The goal of this work is to introduce a new degree of freedom to the reuse of occupied resources by intentionally creating co-existence between different types of signals. First, the co-existence of orthogonal frequency division multiple access and single carrier-frequency division multiple access signals is introduced and analyzed for a conventional successive interference cancellation (c-SIC) processing. Then, the average bit-error-rate is derived for the proposed co-existence approach as a baseline. The results of the analysis lead to the design of an improved adaptive multi-user detection (MUD) approach, which outperforms the c-SIC receiver. The proposed MUD approach performs iterative likelihood testing and a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio based processing to improve the decoding performance. Additionally, three different power control schemes are proposed for heterogeneous networks to improve the gain further and observe the performance in the system-level. Our results show that the proposed combination of methods works well in dense mobile communication environments.
Level-set method for island dynamics in epitaxial growth

A level-set model for the simulation of epitaxial growth is described. In this model, the motion of island boundaries of discrete atomic layers is determined by the time evolution of a continuous level-set function w. The adatom concentration is treated in a mean-field manner. We use this model to systematically examine the importance of various fluctuations in the submonolayer and multilayer regimes. We find that, in the submonolayer regime for large values of D/F, the dominant fluctuations are associated with the spatial seeding of islands. We also show how different microscopic mechanisms can be included into this formalism. In the multilayer regime, our model exhibits surface roughening.
Inorganic carbon uptake by phytoplankton in vineyard sound, Massachusetts. I. Measurements of the photosynthesis-irradiance response of winter and early-spring assemblages

Abstract The photosynthesis-irradiance dependence of natural phytoplankton assemblages from surface waters of Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, was investigated over a several month period during late winter —early spring, 1982, when water temperatures were − 0.5 to 8.5°C. Maximal photosynthetic rates not only were consistently observed between 7–15% I 0 , but were substantially higher than previously reported rates for cold-water assemblages, averaging 10–20 μg C · μg Chl a −1 · h −1 . At higher light intensities photo-inhibition was severe and developed within minutes to tens of minutes of the start of the experiment. Several lines of evidence, however, suggest that photoinhibition in situ may be much less that that measured in incubations of > 30 min duration; residence time of phytoplankton at surface light intensities is sufficiently short, and adaptation of photosynthetic capacity appears to have occurred to approximately the mean depth of the water column. These results further highlight the importance of establishing the time-dependent photosynthetic responses of phytoplankton and the relationship to the physical mixing regime in estimating primary productivity.
Patterning in Birthweight in India: Analysis of Maternal Recall and Health Card Data

Background National data on birthweight from birth certificates or medical records are not available in India. The third Indian National Family Health Survey included data on birthweight of children obtained from health cards and maternal recall. This study aims to describe the population that these data represent and compares the birthweight obtained from health cards with maternal recall data in terms of its socioeconomic patterning and as a risk factor for childhood growth failure. Methodology/Principal Findings The analytic sample consisted of children aged 0 to 59 months with birthweight data obtained from health cards (n = 3227) and maternal recall (n = 16787). The difference between the card sample and the maternal recall sample in the distribution across household wealth, parental education, caste, religion, gender, and urban residence was compared using multilevel models. We also assessed the ability of birthweight to predict growth failure in infancy and childhood in the two groups. The survey contains birthweight data from a majority of household wealth categories (>5% in every category for recall), both genders, all age groups, all caste groups, all religion groups, and urban and rural dwellers. However, children from the lowest quintile of household wealth were under-represented (4.73% in card and 8.62% in recall samples). Comparison of data across health cards and maternal recall revealed similar social patterning of low birthweight and ability of birthweight to predict growth failure later in life. Children were less likely to be born with low birthweight if they had mothers with over 12 years of education compared to 1–5 years of education with relative risk (RR) of 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.52, 1.2) in the card sample and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.59, 0.84) in the recall sample. A 100 gram difference in a child's birthweight was associated with a decreased likelihood of underweight in both the card (RR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.94, 0.96) and recall (RR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.96, 0.97) samples. Conclusions Our results suggest that in the absence of other sources, the data on birthweight in the third Indian National Family Health Survey is valuable for epidemiologic research.
Neurochemical correlates of tolerance and strain differences in the neurochemical effects of ethanol

The behavioral and neurochemical effects of acute and chronic ethanol administration were studied in BALB/c, C57B1/6 and DBA/2 mice. The rates of dopamine synthesis and release in the striatum were estimated by measuring the accumulation of DOPA and DOPAC, respectively, after inhibition of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase with NSD-1024. Biphasic behavioral effects were found in BALB/c and DBA/2 mice, but not in C57B1/6 mice, with low doses of ethanol producing activation and high doses, depression. Biphasic effects were also found in the dopamine response to acute doses of ethanol. The BALB/c and DBA/2 mice showed larger suppressions of DA release in the lower dose ranges of ethanol, and smaller increases at the higher doses than did the C57B1/6 mice. Ethanol stimulated dopamine synthesis in a monophasic, dose-dependent manner, and C57B1/6 mice were less sensitive to this effect of ethanol compared to the other tested strains of mice. Chronic ethanol feeding produced behavioral tolerance to the high-dose depressant effects of ethanol, but not to the low-dose activating effects. Similarly, tolerance developed in the dopaminergic responses to a higher challenge dose of ethanol (3.5 g/kg). These findings demonstrate that genetically determined differences exist in the sensitivity of the dopaminergic systems of mice to ethanol, and suggest that central dopamine neurons may be important in the behavioral effects of ethanol.
Spin Waves and Stability of Magnetic Order in Frustrated Magnets

We study the quantum renormalization of the spin-wave spectrum and of the magnetization in the 2d antiferromagnetic J1-J2 model in the large-S limit. We compare linear spin-wave, first-order spin-wave and Schwinger boson mean-field theories and show that the last two agree to order 1/S for any J2/J1, whereas linear spin-wave theory becomes qualitatively wrong in the region of strong frustration (J2/J1 almost-equal-to 1/2). The main consequence, namely the possibility of stabilizing long-range order by quantum fluctuations, is emphasized in a related example, the ferromagnetic J1-J2-J3 model. The compatibility of these results with numerical studies of the S = 1/2 case is discussed.