cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spherically symmetric high-velocity plasma expansions into background gases

Spherically symmetric plasmas with high expansion velocities have been produced by irradiating targets with eight beams from the Helios CO2 laser in the presence of gases at various pressures. Attention was given to the properties of the target-emitted ions in order to obtain information about the ion-acceleration mechanisms in plasma expansions. Photoionization of the ambient gases by the soft X-ray emission from the laser-irradiated targets produced background plasmas, permitting plasma counterstreaming experiments to be performed in spherical geometry. Successful laser-target coupling in the presence of back-ground gases is obtained; modification of the ion acceleration in accordance with isothermal-expansion models is observed; and an absence of collective coupling between collisionless counterstreaming plasmas is found.
The Development of Abnormal Axon Trajectories after Rotation of One Eye in Xenopus

The targeting of isthmotectal axons in the Xenopus binocular pathway is guided by both activity-dependent cues and activity-independent cues. Abnormal visual activity induced by unilateral eye rotation overrides activity-independent cues and causes isthmotectal axons to arborize at new locations during a critical period of development that ends ∼3 months postmetamorphosis (PM). Horseradish peroxidase staining of isthmotectal axons reveals that they normally run rostrocaudally in the tectum; in contrast, those axons in animals with early eye rotation have circuitous trajectories. In this paper, by studying the trajectories and branching patterns of isthmotectal axons at different times after eye rotation, we aimed to investigate when and how activity cues determine the projection pattern of isthmotectal axons. As suggested by electrophysiological recording, isthmotectal axons initially grow normally and make arbors according to activity-independent cues despite the presence of abnormal visual input. Our findings demonstrate that the development of abnormal trajectories starts by 2 weeks PM in response to eye rotation and is a protracted process. It begins in the tectal regions in which the initial connections of isthmotectal axons are first formed according to activity-independent cues. At transitional stages (5 and 10 weeks), axons with arbors at two different locations are observed, with locations corresponding to the old and new termination sites, respectively. Later, at 10 weeks of age, the fainter horseradish peroxidase staining in arbors at old termination sites suggests that the older arbors are undergoing withdrawal.
Trophic behaviour of juvenile reef fishes inhabiting interlinked mangrove–seagrass habitats in offshore mangrove islets

Stable isotope (δ(13)C and δ(15)N) and gut content analyses were used to investigate size-related feeding habits of four reef fishes (the beaugregory Stegastes leucostictus, the french grunt Haemulon flavolineatum, the schoolmaster snapper Lutjanus apodus and the yellowtail snapper Ocyurus chrysurus) inhabiting an offshore (non-estuarine) mangrove islet off Belize, Central America. Comparisons of isotopic niche space and Schoener diet similarity index suggested a low to moderate degree of niche overlap between fish size groups. The δ(13)C gradient between mangrove and seagrass prey as well as results of Bayesian mixing models revealed that sampled fishes relied mostly on seagrass prey items. Only small and large juveniles of the carnivorous species L. apodus derived a part of their diet from mangroves by targeting mangrove-associated Grapsidae crabs and fish prey, respectively. Isotopic niche shifts were particularly obvious for carnivorous fishes that ingested larger prey items (Xanthidae crabs and fishes) during their ontogeny. The utilization of mangrove food resources is less than expected and depends on the ecology and life history of the fish species considered. This research highlights that mangrove-derived carbon contributed relatively little to the diets of four fish taxa from an offshore mangrove islet.
An analytical verification test for numerically simulated convective flow above a thermally heterogeneous surface

Abstract. An analytical solution of the Boussinesq equations for the motion of a viscous stably stratified fluid driven by a surface thermal forcing with large horizontal gradients (step changes) is obtained. This analytical solution is one of the few available for wall-bounded buoyancy-driven flows. The solution can be used to verify that computer codes for Boussinesq fluid system simulations are free of errors in formulation of wall boundary conditions and to evaluate the relative performances of competing numerical algorithms. Because the solution pertains to flows driven by a surface thermal forcing, one of its main applications may be for testing the no-slip, impermeable wall boundary conditions for the pressure Poisson equation. Examples of such tests are presented.
An experimental card game for teaching software engineering

The typical software engineering course consists of lectures in which concepts and theories are conveyed, along with a small "toy" software engineering project which attempts to give students the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice. Although both of these components are essential, neither one provides students with adequate practical knowledge regarding the process of software engineering. Namely, lectures allow only passive learning, and projects are so constrained by the time and scope requirements of the academic environment that they cannot be large enough to exhibit many of the phenomena occurring in realworld software engineering processes. To address this problem, we have developed Problems and Programmers, an educational card game that simulates the software engineering process and is designed to teach those process issues that are not sufficiently highlighted by lectures and projects. We describe how the game is designed, the mechanics of its game play, and the results of an experiment we conducted involving students playing the game.
Effect of Feed Flavor in Milk and Calf Starter on Feed Consumption and Growth

A feed flavor was added to milk and to starter to determine if young calves could be encouraged to eat dry feed by association of starter and milk. Forty-eight calves received milk until weaning at 5 wk of age. Twenty-four of the calves received a commercial flavor containing ethyl butyrate, butterscotch and maple flavors, and saccharin at 137 mg/kg added to milk just before feeding. Within each group, 12 of the calves were fed a pelleted starter; the other 12 were fed the same starter with the same flavor added at 6 g/kg. Beginning with wk 2, calves fed flavor in starter began to consume more starter than those consuming starter without flavor; this difference was significant in wk 5. Calves fed flavor in milk and starter consumed more starter than calves not fed flavor from either source. Calves receiving flavor in starter gained more weight than those not fed flavor. Weight gains of calves fed flavor in starter were similar regardless of whether they were fed flavor in milk. Flavor in milk without flavor in starter had no significant effect.
Negative Pressure Pulmonary Edema in Healthy Cosmetic Surgery Patients

Anesthetic complications are uncommon in young and healthy patients undergoing cosmetic surgery. We report 2 cases of negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) in young patients, 1 who underwent rhinoplasty and another who underwent augmentation mammaplasty and suction-assisted lipoplasty of the thighs and buttocks This rare and potentially fatal complication requires admission to an intensive-care unit and delayed discharge. Although cases of NPPE have been reported in the medical and anesthetic literature, NPPE in plastic surgery has never been reported previously.
Establishment of Human Colonic Epithelial Cells in Long-Term Culture

Study of normal colonic function is important in understanding the cellular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and other diseases of the colon. However, colonic pathophysiological studies have been limited due to the lack of long-term cultures of normal human colonic epithelial cells. The purpose of the present study was to develop methods of isolating viable human colonic epithelial cells for the establishment of nontransformed colonic epithelial cell lines. Human colonic epithelial cells were isolated from surgically resected normal human colons. We found that the use of a short enzymatic digestion gave a consistently higher number (>90%) of viable human colonic epithelial cells. These isolated colonocytes were grown on plastic, collagen-coated filters, or feeder layers using different media formulations. Those colonocytes from the initial primary cultures that were most "epithelial" in appearance were cloned and passaged to establish long-term cultures of nontransformed human colonic epithelial cells. The epithelial nature and secretory function of these established cell lines were confirmed by morphological criteria (light microscopy,, phase contrast microscopy, and electron microscopy). We found that the long-term cultures remained immunopositive to anti-cytokeratin antibodies and immunonegative to anti-vimentin antibodies. Using a soft agar assay we found that the colonocytes did not form colonies, suggesting that the long-term culturing did not cause these cells to become transformed. Under serum-free conditions, we found that epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor-alpha were equally potent in their mitogenic effects for these colonocytes. Some of the subcultured cells could be maintained for at least 8 months and still retain their epithelial characteristics. We believe that this methodology will serve as a valuable tool for the isolation and culturing of human colonic epithelial cells for studies of normal and malignant colonic disease processes.
Nuclear Factor-κB and Cell Death After Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Rats

Background and Purpose—Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is a ubiquitous transcription factor that, when activated, translocates to the nucleus, binds to DNA, and promotes transcription of many target genes. Its activation has been demonstrated in chronic inflammatory conditions, cerebral ischemia, and apoptotic cell death. The present study evaluated the presence and activation of NF-κB in relation to cell death surrounding intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods—Striatal ICH was induced in rats by the double blood injection method. Animals were killed 2, 8, and 24 hours and 4 days after ICH. To examine changes in NF-κB protein, Western blot was performed on brain extract. We determined NF-κB activity using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and immunohistochemistry, using an antibody that only recognizes active NF-κB. DNA fragmentation was detected with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated uridine 5′-triphosphate-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining. Results—Western blot analysis of the ...
Fast VLSI binary addition

This paper presents novel architectures for fast binary addition which can be implemented using multiplexers only. Binary addition is carried out using a fast redundant-to-binary converter. It is shown that appropriate encoding of the redundant digits and recasting the binary addition as a redundant-to-binary conversion reduces the latency of addition from Wt/sub fa/ to Wt/sub mux/ where t/sub fa/ and t/sub mux/, respectively, represent binary full adder and multiplexer delays, and W is the word-length. A family of fast converter architectures is developed based on tree-type (obtained using look-ahead techniques) and carry-select approaches. The carry-generation component is the critical component in redundant-to-binary conversion and binary addition. It is shown that, if the word-length, W, is a power of two, then all carry signals can be generated in log/sub 2/Wt/sub max/ time using W(log/sub 2/W-1)+1 multiplexers using a tree-type converter. It is shown that fastest binary addition can be performed using (Wlog/sub 2/W+1) multiplexers in time (log/sub 2/W+1)t/sub max/. If the specified converter latency is greater than log/sub 2/W/sub mux/, then a family of converters using fewest multiplexers can be designed based on carry-select approach. It is shown that the power consumption in carry-select adders is minimized by increasing the number of segments in the adder.
Lipid Droplet Binding of Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein Genotype 3

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3 is known to cause steatosis (fatty liver) that is more frequent and severe than other genotypes. We previously identified sequence elements within genotype 3 HCV Core domain 3 that were sufficient for lipid accumulation. Aims. We examined various genotype 3 Core domains for lipid droplet localization and compared the lipid droplet binding regions of domain 2 with a genotype 1 isolate. Methods. We generated HCV Core domain constructs fused with green fluorescent protein and performed immunofluorescence to visualize lipid droplets. Results. Constructs containing HCV Core domain 2 are appropriately localized to lipid droplets with varying degrees of efficiency. When compared to genotype 1, there are polymorphisms within domain 2 that do not appear to alter lipid droplet localization. Conclusions. In summary, the differences in a steatosis-associated HCV Core genotype 3 isolate do not appear to involve altered lipid droplet localization.
Control of phage λ development by stability and synthesis of cll protein: Role of the viral clll and host hflA, himA and himD genes

The cII protein of bacteriophage lambda has a decisive role in the regulatory switch between the lysogenic and lytic pathways of viral development. Recent work has indicated that cII may be the primary control function providing for the initial partition between the two pathways, with other host and viral regulatory genes acting to determine the levels of cII in an infected cell. We have studied the synthesis and stability of cII protein with two experimental systems, phage infection and a cII-producing plasmid. We have found that the stability of cII is controlled by the host hflA and viral cIII genes; hflA protein facilitates degradation of cII, whereas cIII protects cII. The synthesis of cII appears to be under the positive control of the host himA and himD genes. We conclude that posttranscriptional regulation of cII by host and viral genes is critical for the choice of a developmental pathway.
Greek Immigrants in Australia: Implications for Culturally Sensitive Practice

This exploratory research examined adjustment challenges, resiliencies, attitudes, emotional health, economic stability, criminal involvement, victimization and service experiences, and some cultural propensities of Greek Immigrants (GIs) in Australia using a convenient multi-generational sample (n = 123; response rate = .5). Data were collected via surveys, telephone, and personal-interviews in four major Australian cities. Among other things, the study revealed that Greek identity and cultural customs are often significant to first generation GIs. Adjustment challenges upon entry include primarily language, housing, and transportation difficulties, nostalgia for relatives and the motherland, unfamiliarity with socio-cultural systems, unemployment, money challenges, and lack of friendships. Christian faith, the extended family, family values and traditions, cultural pride for ancient Greek achievements, and a hard ‘work ethic’ are notable resiliencies that support GIs in their struggles and solidify their pursuit for happiness and success. Financial concerns, aging, and nostalgia for relatives and the motherland were the primary causes of socio-emotional instability. Attitudinal differences in the respondents based on age, gender, and socio-economic status, cross-cultural comparisons, and recommendations for culturally-sensitive practice with GIs are analyzed and methodological limitations illuminated. Future research needs in the field are also highlighted.
Manifold based analysis of diffusion tensor images using isomaps

This paper addresses the problem of statistical analysis of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance images (DT-MRI). DT-MRI cannot be analyzed by commonly used linear methods, due to the inherent non-linearity of tensors, which are restricted to lie on a non-linear sub-manifold of the space in which they are defined, namely IR . We perform statistical analysis on tensors by identifying the underlying manifold of the set of tensors under consideration using the isomap manifold learning technique. Multivariate statistics are then performed on this estimated manifold using geodesic distances between tensors, thereby warranting that the analysis is restricted to the proper subspace of R . Experimental results on data with known ground truth show that the proposed statistical analysis method properly captures statistical relationships among tensor image data, and it identifies group differences. Comparisons, with standard statistical analyses that rely on Euclidean, rather than geodesic distances, are also discussed.
Externally Pressurized Spherical Gas Bearings

Spherical gas-lubricated bearings are of considerable interest in applications requiring a pivoting or rotating support with three degrees of freedom, for instance hi attitude control simulators of space vehicles. An analytical and experimental study of externally pressurized spherical gas bearings with orifice regulation is presented along with the experimental findings, which are in good agreement with the predictions of the viscous flow theory. * Presented as an American Society of Lubrication Engineers paper at the Lubrication Conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, October 17–19, 1960. 1 This paper presents the results of one phase of research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under Contract No. NASw-6, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Laser Direct Ablation for Patterning Printed Wiring Boards Using Ultrafast Lasers and High Speed Beam Delivery Architectures

A vector scanning based system that incorporates Acousto-Optic Deflectors in addition to galvanometers and linear stages enables in conjunction with an ultrafast laser high accuracy, high bandwidth random beam positioning and precise material removal.
Comparison of Neonicotinoid Insecticides for Use with Biodegradable and Wooden Spheres for Control of Key Rhagoletis Species (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Field-based studies and laboratory bioassays were conducted with apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), and blueberry maggot, Rhagoletis mendax Curran, flies to investigate the performance and duration of activity of insecticide-treated biodegradable and wooden spheres for control of Rhagoletis species. Four neonicotinoid insecticide treatments including imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and thiocloprid at 2% (AI) were evaluated with biodegradable spheres. In 1999, significantly more apple maggot flies were found killed by imidacloprid-treated spheres compared with thiamethoxam-treated spheres during early and late season. In 2000, spheres treated with either of two formulations of imidacloprid killed significantly more apple maggot flies compared with thiamethoxam, thiocloprid, and untreated spheres. In blueberries, there were no significant differences between the numbers of blueberry maggot flies killed by both imidacloprid-treated or thiamethoxam-treated spheres in 1999. However, during the 2000 blueberry field season, both formulations of imidacloprid were significantly more effective in killing blueberry maggot flies compared with spheres treated with thiamethoxam, thiocloprid and untreated controls. Overall, spheres treated with thiocloprid were ineffective and did not kill significantly more apple maggot or blueberry maggot flies compared with the controls. Laboratory bioassays showed that the effectiveness of field-exposed spheres treated with imidacloprid at 4 and 8% (AI) and thiamethoxam at 4% (AI) in killing apple maggot flies was not significantly reduced over a 12-wk aging period. Additionally, wooden spheres aged outdoors for 12 wk with and without mold maintained residual activity in laboratory tests, whereas biodegradable spheres of equal aging, with and without mold lost their effectiveness in killing apple maggot flies. In other studies, we confirmed that the addition of an external feeding stimulant (sucrose) significantly increases the effectiveness of both biodegradable and wooden spheres treated with imidacloprid at 2% (AI).
Detecting Laughter and Filled Pauses Using Syllable-based Features

Identifying laughter and filled pauses is important to understanding spontaneous human speech. These are two common vocal expressions that are non-lexical and incredibly communicative. In this paper, we use a two-tiered system for identifying laughter and filled pauses. We first generate frame level hypotheses and subsequently rescore these based on features derived from acoustic syllable segmentation. Using Interspeech 2013 ComParE challenge corpus, SVC, we find that these rescoring experiments and inclusion of syllable based acoustic/prosodic features allow for the detection of laughter and filled pauses by at 89.3% UAAUC on the development set, an improvement of 1.7% over the challenge baseline.
Pore-Scale Modeling of Fine-Particle Migration in Granular Filters

AbstractFine-particle migration and associated internal erosion are major concerns for dam safety. Granular filters are used to prevent fine-particle migration, and several empirical models have been introduced for the design of these filters. Few computational techniques have tracked particle transport through the filters. This paper presents a three-dimensional transient fully coupled pore-scale model used to study the mechanism of fine-particle migration in granular filters. A pore-scale idealization of the fluid was achieved by using the lattice Boltzmann method, and the solid phase was modeled at a microscale using a discrete element method. The fluid forces applied on the particles were calculated on the basis of the momentum exchange between the fluid and particles. The proposed numerical technique was used to model the migration of base-soil particles through granular filters of different particle sizes. Results of conducted simulations provided the erosion percentages and flow rates during the si...
Molecular Basis of the Regulation of Iron-59 and Gallium-67 Transport in Normal and Simian Virus 40-Transformed Cells

Cancer cells have defective growth control. Tumor cells probably arise with one or a series of changes which give them a competitive edge over their normal counterparts. The fundamental difference between normal and transformed cells may involve an abnormality in Fe and trace metal ion metabolism [1].
Advanced Nanostructured Surfaces for the Control of Biofouling: Cell Adhesions to Three-Dimensional Nanostructures

In marine environments or industrial water systems, microorganisms are likely to adhere onto surfaces and form biofilms. Such biofouling creates significant adverse effects, e.g., increases flow friction by roughening surfaces. Previous studies demonstrated the effectiveness of surface microstructures on the prevention of biofouling, which is also closely associated with the surface energy and wettability. Unfortunately, the study of the anti-biofouling property of the micro- and nanostructured surfaces with regulated surface wettability is underperformed at present. In this paper, we report on the bio-adhesions of various cell types on nanoengineered surfaces with dense-array nanostructures whose physical and chemical properties are systematically controlled for the prevention of biofouling. Two nanopatterns (pillar and grating) with varying three-dimensionalities (e.g., structural heights are varied from 50 to 500 nm while the pattern periodicity is fixed at 230 nm) are tested in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface conditions. The structural tips are especially sharpened (<10 nm in tip radius) to minimize the cell contact to the substrate and potentially biofouling. The experimental results show that cells were much smaller and their proliferation significantly lower on taller nanostructures in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface conditions. Cells were found levitated by sharp tips and easily peeled off, i.e., their adherence to the sharp-tip tall nanostructures was relatively weak regardless of the surface wettability. The ability to control adherence and growth of cells by nanoscale surface topographies can empower the micro- and nanotechnology-based materials, devices, and systems for anti-biofouling and anti-microbial applications. The knowledge obtained through this investigation will also be useful in engineering problems that involve contact with biological substances and in the development of energy efficient surfaces for green tribology.
Studies on the SAL locus in Drosophila pseudoobscura. I. The banding pattern of the tip of salivary chromosome 3 in larvae homozygous and heterozygous for SAL.

In the mutant sal the banding pattern at the tip of chromosome 3 is changed. Certain bands are compacted instead of being partially puffed. In sal+/sal heterozygotes, when the chromosome tips are paired they both show the sal+ pattern or are intermediate; but when unpaired, each shows the pattern characteristic of its own genotype.
Political Competition, Partisanship, and Policy Making in Latin American Public Utilities: Casting a Partisan Light on Regulatory Choices

This chapter shows how the content of market reforms in public utilities varies depending on who adopts these policies. Reformers can be either right-wing governments of true believers in the market as the best way of allocating resources or populists who pragmatically converted to the market creed under financial pressure. Which sort of politicians implement privatization reforms has a crucial effect on policy content due to their different constituencies, prior beliefs about state intervention, and allied experts. These factors reinforce each other in producing different preferences for the ideal degree of government control of private investors and for the distributive effects expected from privatization. As a result, the regulatory content of reforms generates different beneficiaries and institutional choices depending on the partisan identity of the reformers. When right-wing true believers are in charge, we should expect reforms to be market-conforming, and when pragmatic populist converts adopt reforms, we should expect them to be market-controlling. This partisan variation in policy content has been ignored by most studies of market reforms in Latin America due to the less publicly salient character of this dimension of policy making as compared with initial policy adoption. Partisanship: Constituencies, Ideas, and Experts Partisan preferences about policy content are based on constituencies, ideological legacies, and allied technocrats. Partisan constituencies generate distributive demands, ideological legacies provide a lens with which to interpret the distributive consequences of policy choices under new circumstances, and politicians' linkages to allied technocrats define to whom they will delegate technically complex choices based on a shared understanding of distributive goals.
Comment on ''Fission barrier of /sup 153/Tb''

It is suggested that conclusins reached about the rotating liquid drop model fission barrier resulted from the improper extrapolation.(AIP)
Pattern placement accuracy in block copolymer directed self-assembly based on chemical epitaxy.

The realization of viable designs for circuit patterns using the dense features formed by block copolymer directed self-assembly (DSA) will require a precise and quantitative understanding of self-...
Bio-Inspired Algorithm for Task Allocation in Multi-UAV Search and Rescue Missions

One of the main challenges facing researchers in the field of multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (multi-UAVs) Search and Rescue (SAR) missions is how to best distribute between the rescue and search tasks to fulfill the urgent need of finding and rescuing victims. The critical nature of the mission, incomplete situational awareness of the environment and the constrained timeframe necessitate adaptive control and swift elasticity in UAV allocation between the search and rescue tasks. This paper introduces a bio-inspired algorithm for task allocation in multi-UAV search and rescue missions based on locust behavior. The locust species was chosen as it represents an extreme example of adaptive control and high plasticity in behavior to respond to internal and external stimulus. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, we designed a strictly controlled experimental framework, to prove the potential role of the proposed algorithm in such missions by providing a high net throughput and an efficient communication scheme.
A Survey of Geometric Algebra and Geometric Calculus

This paper is an introduction to geometric algebra and geometric calculus, presented in the simplest way I could manage, without worrying too much about completeness or rigor. An understanding of linear algebra and vector calculus is presumed. This should be sufficient to read most of the paper.
PD6-1-5: Dose-response relationships in extensive small cell lung cancer and implications for resistance mechanisms.

Copyright © 2007 by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer S426 Restoration of the tumor suppressor genes P53, Retinoblastoma, FHIT and FUS1 had only minimal effect on cell death, although the tumor suppressors are functional defective in >80 % of SCLC. Modulating the oncogene activity of Bcl-2 was attempted by introducing a truncated version of Bax, with increased apoptotic activity. Inhibition of Hsp70-mediated cancer survival was attempted by the introduction of Hsp40 J domain, a dominant negative gene inhibiting Hsp70 activity. Although the gene products activated cellular death pathways in transfected cells, no significant cell death was observed. In contrast suicide gene strategies showed great potential for SCLC gene therapy. The suicide gene system herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk) with the prodrug ganciclovir (GCV) had already been tested and implemented at the laboratory showing >50 % cell death in vitro and tumor regression in vivo. HSVtk efficacy was improved by the replacement of GCV with penciclovir (PCV), which demonstrated significant less toxicity to untransfected cells. Another suicide gene system was implemented for testing: the yeast cytosine deaminase (YCD)gene either alone or fused with the yeast uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (YUPRT) gene and combined with the prodrug 5-FC. The YCD/YUPRT fusion gene showed superior efficacy, mediating 90 % SCLC cell death. This dual suicide gene strategy targets in contrast to HSVtk/GCV or PCV, both DNA and RNA synthesis, also causing cell death to non-proliferating, dormant cancer cells. The strategy demonstrated significant bystander cytotoxicity due to the diffusion of toxic metabolites to nearby cancer cells, showing potential to overcome the low transfection efficiency currently characterizing in vivo gene therapy. An update will be presented.
Picosecond coherent Raman studies of polymer laser microchemistry

Laser polymer microchemistry processes are widely used in photomicrolithography, electronics and many other high technology industries. Due to the complicated nature of the laser-material interactions and the diversity and complexity of the polymer thin-film materials, the fundamental mechanisms of these processes are poorly understood. Here we are interested in laser- assisted processes where an image is produced by chemically altering a micrometer sized spot of a thin film by a laser pulse.
The herbicide atrazine induces hyperactivity and compromises tadpole detection of predator chemical cues.

The ability to detect chemical cues is often critical for freshwater organisms to avoid predation and find food and mates. In particular, reduced activity and avoidance of chemical cues signaling predation risk are generally adaptive behaviors that reduce prey encounter rates with predators. The present study examined the effects of the common herbicide atrazine on the ability of Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) tadpoles to detect and respond to chemical cues from larval dragonfly (Libellulidae sp.) predators. Tadpoles exposed to an estimated environmental concentration of atrazine (calculated using US Environmental Protection Agency software; measured concentration, 178 μg/L) were significantly hyperactive relative to those exposed to solvent control. In addition, control tadpoles significantly avoided predator chemical cues, but tadpoles exposed to atrazine did not. These results are consistent with previous studies that have demonstrated that ecologically relevant concentrations of atrazine can induce hyperactivity and impair the olfactory abilities of other freshwater vertebrates. The authors call for additional studies examining the role of chemical contaminants in disrupting chemical communication and the quantification of subsequent impacts on the fitness and population dynamics of wildlife. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2239-2244. © 2016 SETAC.
Alzheimer’s Disease and the Search for Environmental Risk Factors

Abstract This chapter describes recent advances in the description and diagnosis of Alzheimer disease that may also influence the search for environmental risk factors. New technologies to develop biomarkers for the disease and study genetic association have proceeded at a faster rate than have risk factor studies. We describe methodological issues that will assist researchers in establishing causality for environmental risk factor associations they may observe. The chapter also carefully distinguishes between the interpretation of etiologic and potentially prognostic factors. Although many past risk factor studies are considered flawed in light of new methods, a brief review of some of those factors is presented with the hope that future researchers will overcome the methodological flaws and discover causal associations.
Regulation Versus Other Government Policies

Regulatory policy and changes in it now overwhelm government spending, tax, deficit, and monetary policies in determining U.S. unemployment, real income, and productivity. If made at a professional meeting of economists, this statement would likely stir up some agnostic if not hostile responses. Most undergraduate and graduate students of economics would be caught off guard by the assertion, if they based their judgement about regulation’s macroeconomic importance on the amount of time devoted to regulation versus these other policies in most macroeconomics classes. They would be lucky to even hear the word, regulation, uttered in classes covering macroeconomic policy issues.
Digital Media Use by Chinese Youth and Its Impact

As the world continues to be wired up electronically and as people continue to move their daily lives online, electronic media become more and more prominent in China. This chapter presents the latest statistics about the media use by Chinese young people, describes the unprecedented growth trends of media useage, and outlines the reasons why young people in China are so enthusiastic about new gadgets and embrace activities on the Internet, as well as some potential impact of their media use. Results of the study indicate immediate needs for enhanced media literacy education in China, which will enable Chinese young people to become mature users of new media and will help avoid the issues that media use may bring.
The Later Years of Richard Musgrave

The tripartite roles of government described by Richard Musgrave have been broadly embraced. The ensuing discussion he fomented was not one of the accuracy of his description of the role of government. Rather, it was one of degree. His exploration was of how to weigh each of his three criteria within a well-functioning government. None but the most ideological would place a zero weight on his three goals of government — to provide public goods, to promote economic stability, and to ensure appropriate income redistribution.
Antiproton low-energy collisions with Ps-atoms and true muonium atoms (μ + μ −)

Three-charge-particle collisions with participation of ultra-slow antiprotons (\(\overline {\rm {p}}\)) is the subject of this work. Specifically we compute the total cross sections and corresponding thermal rates of the following three-body reactions: \(\overline {\rm p}+(e^+e^-) \rightarrow \overline {\rm {H}} + e^-\) and \(\overline {\rm p}+(\mu ^+\mu ^-) \rightarrow \overline {\rm {H}}_{\mu } + \mu ^-\), where \(e^-(\mu ^-)\) is an electron (muon) and \(e^+(\mu ^+)\) is a positron (antimuon) respectively, \(\overline {\rm {H}}=(\overline {\rm p}e^+)\) is an antihydrogen atom and \(\overline {\rm {H}}_{\mu }=(\overline {\rm p}\mu ^+)\) is a muonic antihydrogen atom, i.e. a bound state of \(\overline {\rm {p}}\) and μ+. A set of two-coupled few-body Faddeev-Hahn-type (FH-type) equations is numerically solved in the framework of a modified close-coupling expansion approach.
The Implications of the Propatagial Muscles of Flying and Gliding Mammals for Archontan Systematics

Gregory (1910) proposed the term Archonta for four Recent mammalian orders: Menotyphla, Dermoptera, Chiroptera, and Primates. Archonta is a clade for which few synapomorphies have been identified (Novacek and Wyss, 1986), even when Macroscelidea (included in Gregory’s Menotyphla) is excluded. There is little consensus concerning internal relationships among the archontan taxa, and the affinities of Chiroptera are especially controversial. Of special importance is whether the two suborders of Chiroptera (Mega-chiroptera and Microchiroptera) constitute a monophyletic group. Several investigators (Smith and Madkour, 1980; Pettigrew et al., 1989; Pettigrew, 1991a,b) have proposed that Megachiroptera is the sister group of Primates, and that Microchiroptera is not closely related to either group. In this hypothesis, Dermoptera is closely related to the megachiropteran-primate clade. If this is correct and if primates did not have flying ancestors, then active flight evolved twice in mammals (Pettigrew et al., 1989).
Application of DNA Flow Cytometry to Aid Species Delimitation in Isoetes

ABSTRACT The genus Isoetes is known for morphological convergence and a relative paucity of useful gross morphological characters for identification. Thus, the chromosome complements of Isoetes spp. are key attributes for species delimitation. Like many other plant lineages, polyploidy and reticulate evolution are important drivers of speciation in Isoetes. In the southeastern US Isoetes flora, polyploidy is common. We used a rapid DNA flow cytometry protocol to generate C values for four diploid, one tetraploid, and one hexaploid Isoetes species and conducted preliminary cytological investigations of two communities of Isoetes. Our work showed noteworthy variation in diploid Isoetes 1C values (1.39 to 3.32), including the smallest 1C value reported for the genus, Isoetes melanopoda ssp. silvatica. The hexaploid species, Isoetes microvela had the highest 1C value (4.21), and the tetraploid species evaluated had an intermediate 1C value (3.37). However, based on the variation in diploid 1C values measured...
Modeling solvent evaporation during thin film formation in phase separating polymer mixtures

Preparation of thin films by dissolving polymers in a common solvent followed by evaporation of the solvent has become a routine processing procedure. However, modeling of thin film formation in an evaporating solvent has been challenging due to a need to simulate processes at multiple length and time scales. In this work, we present a methodology based on the principles of linear non-equilibrium thermodynamics, which allows systematic study of various effects such as the changes in the solvent properties due to phase transformation from liquid to vapor and polymer thermodynamics resulting from such solvent transformations. The methodology allows for the derivation of evaporative flux and boundary conditions near each surface for simulations of systems close to the equilibrium. We apply it to study thin film microstructural evolution in phase segregating polymer blends dissolved in a common volatile solvent and deposited on a planar substrate. Effects of the evaporation rates, interactions of the polymers with the underlying substrate and concentration dependent mobilities on the kinetics of thin film formation are studied.
Examining Acoustic and Kinematic Measures of Articulatory Working Space: Effects of Speech Intensity.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of speech intensity on acoustic and kinematic vowel space measures and conduct a preliminary examination of the relationship between kine...
Wear and Corrosion

Wear can be defined as the loss of material that occurs when two surfaces rub against each other. Two common forms of wear are:
Integrating diverse developmental perspectives on emotion regulation

Emotion regulation has been studied in diverse ways within different subdisciplines of psychology—most notably social development, personality and individual differences, social psychophysiology, interpersonal relationships, and stress and coping. The goal of this Special Issue is to demonstrate the value of integrating these diverse approaches for building multilevel, lifespan models of emotion regulation. We review each of the contributions to this special issue, highlighting recurring themes and previewing our own perspective on directions for future theory and research.
Structural Effects in Organic Electrochemistry

The intent of this chapter is to examine some of the ways in which the structures of organic compounds can influence their electrochemical properties, and how electrochemistry has been used to unravel structural processes which occur within molecular systems. Three different areas will be examined; however, there are many others which could be included here. The three systems include cyclooctatetraenes, unusual olefins, especially those related to bianthrones, and, finally, vicinal dihalides.
COMPUTATION OF CASIMIR INVARIANTS OF LIE ALGEBRAS

Publisher Summary The Casimir invariants of any degree of an arbitrary finite-dimensional Lie algebra can be determined from the solutions of a system of homogeneous linear equations depending on the structure constants of the algebra. This chapter presents the general form of the system of linear equations that must be satisfied by the coefficients of a homogeneous polynomial Casimir invariant of degree d. This makes the calculation of Casimir invariants amenable to computation by digital computer. The systems of equations for Casimir invariants of degrees one, two, and three are written out explicitly. The chapter also describes the algorithms and their computer implementation for generating and solving the systems of equations for Casimir invariants.
Mandelbrot on price variation

There has been a tradition among economists which holds that prices in speculative markets, such as grain and securities markets, behave very much like random walks. References include Bachelier 1900, Kendall 1953, Osborne 1959, Roberts 1959, Cootner 1962, and Moore 1962. The random walk theory is based on two assumptions: (1) price changes are independent random variables, and (2) the changes conform to some probability distribution. This paper will be concerned with the nature of the distribution of price changes rather than with the assumption of independence. Attention will be focused on an important new hypothesis concerning the form of the distribution which has recently been advanced by Benoit Mandelbrot. We shall see later that if Mandelbrot’s hypothesis is upheld, it will radically revise our thinking concerning both the nature of speculative markets and the proper statistical tools to be used when dealing with speculative prices.
Implied returns, costly reversibility and the value premium

The countercyclical price of risk is revealed through declining earnings, dividends, equity book and equity market values, short-run earnings expectations and increasing market returns (k), risk premiums (MRP) and book-to-market (BM) with contractions. Consistent with costly reversibility, high BM firms with more fixed assets are less profitable and dispose of more fixed assets during contractions than low BM firms. Support for costly reversibility looking at k and MRP is found when firms are ranked according to fixed-asset-to-total-assets (FATA) but not BM. Low BM firms with generally lower k and MRP experience greater increases in k and MRP than high BM firms during contractions whereas high FATA firms with generally lower k and MRP experience greater increases in k and MRP than low FATA firms during contractions. With expected earnings growth increasing for high BM firms, BM as a measure to distinguish between growth and value is challenged. Thus, while support is provided for costly reversibility, it is limited in explaining the value premium.
Planning the Evaluation and Rapport Building

A recurrent theme in this text is that an assessor needs to have knowledge of several areas of basic research to appropriately select and interpret psychological tests for children and adolescents. In this chapter, we consider another area of competence crucial to clinical assessment that goes beyond knowing how to administer specific tests. It is rather difficult to discuss this competence in objective terms because it relates to difficult topics for research and, as a result, there is only limited objective data to guide this practice. Instead, much in this chapter is guided by clinical experience, not just our own experience, but the experience of other practicing psychologists who have written in this area.
Two Quadratic Programming Acquisition Models with Reciprocal Services

The use of the cost allocation and external acquisition models has centered on the linear programming cost allocation (LPCA) models (Baker and Taylor, 1974; Manes, Park and Jensen, 1982; Chen, 1983; Yang and Pineno, 1984A) and the simultaneous equation approach (Ijiri, 1968; Livingstone, 1969; Kaplan, 1973; Capettini and Salamon, 1977; Yang, 1988). The LP approaches, while being extremely operationally efficient (the number of iterations needed in the simplex method can be found in Dantzig (1980)), have a property of being insensitive to exogenous shock administered to the model. This property and other characteristics of LPCA are discussed in the next section. The difficulty associated with the simultaneous equation approach lies in the fact that the solution may not be positive (Yang, 1988) and hence may not have a reasonable interpretation.
Paradoxical Associations of Masculine Ideology and Casual Sex Among Heterosexual Male Geosocial Networking App Users in China

Momo, the most popular geosocial networking app in China, is used as a common platform to seek casual sex. The present study, which is based on the social constructionist view of gender, examines how the endorsement of masculinity among heterosexual male Momo users is associated with the number of casual sex partners they meet on the app. The study also explores the mediating role of the sex motive for using Momo. Analyses of survey data from 125 heterosexual male Momo users showed that the endorsement of masculinity had an indirect positive relationship with the number of sex partners mediated by the sex motive; at the same time, it had a direct but negative association with the number of sex partners. These paradoxical associations were explained by different patterns across the individual dimensions of masculinity ideology. Specifically, the dimension of the Importance of Sex was responsible for the positive indirect association whereas the dimension of Avoidance of Femininity was responsible for the negative direct association. These findings are discussed in relation to the wen-wu dyad of Chinese masculinity. Because unsafe sex has been found to be associated with the use of geosocial networking apps, my study also calls for integrating the concept of practicing safer sex with the cultural ideal of masculinity.