cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of Cell-Mediated Immunity and Resistance to Clinical Coccidiosis Infection in Chickens Selected for Resistance and Susceptibility to Eimeria tenella

The development of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) and resistance to clinical coccidiosis was determined in Auburn Strain Leghorn chickens previously selected for resistance and susceptibility to Eimeria tenella. Auburn Strain Leghorns selected for resistance (R Line) developed CMI and resistance to E. tenella challenge 2 weeks after receiving a commercial coccidiosis vaccine (CocciVac D). In contrast, Auburn Strain Leghorns selected for E. tenella susceptibility (S Line) did not develop significant CMI or resistance to clinical challenge infection until 6 weeks after receiving CocciVac D. The CMI was measured by the ability of chickens to develop a delayed hypersensitivity (DH) skin test response to an Eimeria oocyst antigen extract. Resistance to coccidiosis challenge infection was measured by percent weight gain, lesion scores, fecal scores, mortality, and oocyst output per gram of cecal contents at 7 days after challenge. Our research indicates that there is a strong correlation between innate resistance to coccidiosis and the ability of the chicken to recognize and mount a DH response to the parasite.
Synthetic musk fragrances in Lake Michigan.

Synthetic musk fragrances are added to a wide variety of personal care and household products and are present in treated wastewater effluent. Here we report for the first time ambient air and water measurements of six polycyclic musks (AHTN, HHCB, ATII, ADBI, AHMI, and DPMI) and two nitro musks (musk xylene and musk ketone) in North America. The compounds were measured in the air and water of Lake Michigan and in the air of urban Milwaukee, WI. All of the compounds except DPMI were detected. HHCB and AHTN were found in the highest concentrations in all samples. Airborne concentrations of HHCB and AHTN average 4.6 and 2.9 ng/m3, respectively, in Milwaukee and 1.1 and 0.49 ng/m3 over the lake. The average water concentration of HHCB and AHTN in Lake Michigan was 4.7 and 1.0 ng/L, respectively. A lake-wide annual mass budget shows that wastewater treatment plant discharge is the major source (3470 kg/yr) of the synthetic musks while atmospheric deposition contributes less than 1%. Volatilization and outflow ...
Waterborne Disease — Historical Lessona

While it is true that waterborne diseases are still with us, and probably always will be, we cannot classify them as a current threat in the sense that they were 100 years ago. The discovery that chlorine would disinfect water supplies removed these diseases from a “current threat” category to the “historical lesson” category. We are not faced with unknowns which we are unable to attack. We have only to look at what others have done to protect themselves and follow the same or improved practices. If the record of waterborne outbreaks in public water supplies in this country from the end of World War II up to the present is examined, it will be found that all are caused by breakdowns in disinfection procedures or carelessness. The record is replete with statements such as “improper disinfection after repair,”“breakdown or lack of disinfecting equipment,”“back siphonage,” and other similar statements all pointing to failure to follow practices which the history of water treatment has shown to be necessary for protection against waterborne disease. Carelessness allows recurrence of disease outbreaks. If the lessons of history were followed, the conquest of waterborne disease transmission by public water systems could be complete.
Propagation of surface acoustic waves across random gratings.

The propagation of surface acoustic waves of sagittal and of shear horizontal polarization across the grooves of a random grating is investigated theoretically. It is found that the attenuation rate of a sagittally polarized surface acoustic wave in the long-wavelength limit is proportional to (ka${)}^{4}$, where k is the wave vector of the wave and a is the transverse correlation length of the surface roughness. This is in contrast with the (ka${)}^{5}$ dependence of the attenuation rate found in this limit for sagitally polarized surface acoustic waves propagating across a two-dimensional, randomly rough surface. The dominant contribution to the attenuation rate of such a surface acoustic wave comes from its scattering into bulk waves. The attenuation rate of surface acoustic waves of shear horizontal polarization is found to be proportional to (ka${)}^{5}$ in the long-wavelength limit. The surface roughness gives rise to the wave slowing of surface acoustic waves of both polarizations.
Neuroimaging: revolutionary research tool or a post-modern phrenology?

In “Imaging or Imagining? A Neuroethics Challenge Informed by Genetics,” Illes and Racine undertake an interesting exploration. They ask to what degree the class of bioethics problems raised by new...
Decreased expression of vesicular GABA transporter, but not vesicular glutamate, acetylcholine and monoamine transporters in rat brain following focal ischemia

In nerve terminals, vesicular transporters pack neurotransmitters into synaptic vesicles, which is an essential prerequisite for transmitter release. To date, three distinct families of vesicular transporters have been identified which are specific for (a) excitatory amino acids (glutamate and aspartate), (b) inhibitory amino acids (GABA and glycine) and (c) acetylcholine and monoamines. The present study evaluated the effect of transient focal cerebral ischemia on the expression of these vesicular transporters in adult rat brain. Ischemia was induced by a 1 h transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in spontaneously hypertensive rats. At various reperfusion periods (3-72 h), mRNA levels of the vesicular transporters were estimated in the contralateral and the ipsilateral cerebral cortex by real-time PCR analysis. Following transient focal ischemia, mRNA expression of the vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) decreased significantly by 3 h of reperfusion and remained at a significantly lower level than sham until at least 72 h of reperfusion. Western blotting showed a significant decrease in the VGAT immunoreactive protein levels in the ipsilateral cortex of rats subjected to focal ischemia and 24 h reperfusion. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated many VGAT immunopositive puncta in the contralateral cortex, which were significantly decreased in the ipsilateral cortex at 24 h reperfusion. Focal ischemia had no effect on the mRNA levels of the vesicular transporters specific for glutamate/aspartate, acetylcholine and monoamines at either 6 h or 24 h of reperfusion.
PITANSEMA, a low-power PISEMA solid-state NMR experiment

Abstract A low radio frequency power polarization inversion spin exchange at the magic angle (PISEMA) pulse sequence is described for the measurement of heteronuclear dipolar couplings from solids. The method employs a time averaged nutation concept to significantly reduce the rf power required to spin-lock low γ nuclear spins in PISEMA experiments. The efficacy of the 2D method is demonstrated on a single crystal of n-acetyl- l -15N-valyl- l -15N-leucine dipeptide to measure 1H–15N dipolar couplings and a liquid crystal sample to measure 1H–13C dipolar couplings.
Clinical relevance of exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias in suspected coronary artery disease.

Abstract Because there is controversy regarding the clinical relevance of exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias, we analyzed their significance in 383 patients who had undergone both exercise thallium-201 stress-testing and cardiac catheterization. Two-hundred twenty-one patients (58%) had no exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias while 162 (42%) did. There was no difference between patients with and without exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias in terms of previous myocardial infarction (p = 0.61), incidence of fixed thallium-201 defects (0.06), number of diseased vessels (p = 0.09) and resting left ventricular ejection fraction (p =0.06). In contrast, evidence of provocable ischemia (redistribution on thallium-201 and ST-segment depression on the electrocardiogram) were more likely (p
The Fragile X Marker and Autism in Perspective

Recent reports link the fragile X chromosome abnormality to autism, with the association ranging from 0 to 53%, but the diagnostic criteria for autism were unclear in some of the studies. The need for fragile X chromosome studies in larger populations of autistic children and adults was recognized. In this study, chromosome analyses were performed on 85 carefully diagnosed autistic males, yielding a 2.4% incidence of the fragile X abnormality. It is concluded that the incidence of the fragile X chromosome abnormality in autistic individuals is likely the same as that in the mentally retarded male population and therefore does not increase the risk for autism above that of mental retardation itself.
Influence of Constructivist Professional Development on Chemistry Content Knowledge and Scientific Model Development.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between teachers’ (N = 69) participation in constructivist chemistry professional development (PD) and enhancement of content (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (representational thinking and conceptual change strategies) and self-efficacy (PSTE). Quantitative measures assessed CK, PCK, and PSTE. Document analysis focused on PCK. Elementary teachers gained CK, PCK, PSTE, and designed lessons to advance thinking from macroscopic to abstract models. Middle/secondary teachers gained PSTE, PCK, and introduced macroscopic models to develop understanding of previously taught abstract models. All implemented representational thinking and conceptual change strategies. Results suggest that: (1) constructivist PD meets the needs of teachers of varying CK, and (2) instruction should connect representational models with alternative conceptions, integrating radical and social constructivism.
Comparison of Results and Risk Factors of Cardiac Surgery in Two 3-Year Time Periods in the 1990s

Abstract With the increasing number of treatment options for heart disease, decision-making requires profiles of risk for conventional cardiac surgery. Refinements in techniques and clinical practices seem to have reduced surgical risk. This study was performed to determine current risk factors. From July 1, 1990, to June 30, 1996, 1,036 consecutive patients underwent 1,042 heart operations using standard incisions and cardiopulmonary bypass with cardioplegia. Univariate and multivariate analyses using a logistic regression model were performed to determine factors significant for combined 30-day and hospital mortality. To determine if there were trends in the results and the risk factors, the last 500 consecutive cases in the series were analyzed separately. Overall, 30-day mortality was 17 of 1,042 (1.6%) and combined 30-day and hospital mortality was 27 of 1,042 (2.6%). Significant risk factors for combined 30-day and hospital mortality by multivariate analyses were: emergent/resuscitative status, preoperative dialysis, left ventricular ejection fraction ≤30%, valve operation, and creatinine ≥1.5 mg/dl. Comparison with baseline characteristics of the patients undergoing the last 500 consecutive operations to the earlier 542 operations in the study group showed that risk factors had a very similar profile for the 2 groups. The overall 30-day mortality for the last 500 consecutive operations was 5 of 500 (1.0%) and combined 30-day and hospital mortality was 8 of 500 (1.6%). The significant risk factors by multivariate analyses were reduced to left ventricular ejection fraction ≤30% and creatinine ≥1.5 mg/dl. These results indicate that modern techniques and clinical practices have mitigated well-recognized risk factors in conventional cardiac surgery and this trend is ongoing.
Video capsule endoscopy in small-bowel tumours: A single centre experience

Objective. Early diagnosis of small-bowel tumours is crucial for curative surgery. Although videocapsule endoscopy (VCE) has improved the diagnosis of small-bowel diseases, there are few data about the role of this examination in small-bowel malignancies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic yield of VCE in small-bowel malignancies. Material and methods. From March 2001 to July 2006, 380 patients were studied by VCE in our centre. Data on 13 consecutive patients (3.4%) affected by small-bowel malignancy were retrospectively assessed from a prospectively collected database. Indications for VCE were: obscure gastrointestinal bleeding in 9 patients (70%), abdominal pain, coeliac disease, long-lasting fever and hepatic metastasis in the other 4 patients, respectively, (7.5%). Before VCE, patients had undergone 65 procedures, including oesophagogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy, push-enteroscopy, small-bowel radiographies, abdominal CT scanning, nuclear medicine bleeding-scan, positron emission t...
Detection of prostate carcinoma with contrast-enhanced sonography using intermittent harmonic imaging.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to assess prostate carcinoma detection and discrimination of benign from malignant prostate tissue with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography. METHODS In all, 301 subjects referred for prostate biopsy were evaluated with contrast-enhanced sonography using continuous harmonic imaging (CHI) and intermittent harmonic imaging (IHI) with interscan delay times of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 seconds, as well as continuous color and power Doppler. Targeted biopsy cores were obtained from sites of greatest enhancement, followed by spatially distributed cores in a modified sextant distribution. RESULTS Carcinoma was detected in 363 biopsy cores from 104 of 301 subjects (35%). Carcinoma was found in 15.5% (175 of 1133) of targeted cores and 10.4% (188 of 1806) of sextant cores (P < 0.01). Among subjects with carcinoma, targeted cores were twice as likely to be positive (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, P < 0.001). Clustered receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of imaging findings at sextant biopsy sites yielded the following Az values: precontrast gray scale: 0.58; precontrast color Doppler: 0.53; precontrast power Doppler: 0.58; CHI: 0.62; IHI (0.2 sec): 0.64; IHI (0.5 sec): 0.63; IHI (1.0 sec): 0.65; IHI (2.0 sec): 0.61; contrast-enhanced color Doppler: 0.60; contrast-enhanced power Doppler: 0.62. A statistically significant benefit was found for IHI over baseline imaging (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The carcinoma detection rate of contrast-enhanced targeted cores is significantly higher when compared with sextant cores. Contrast-enhanced transrectal sonography with IHI provides a statistically significant improvement in discrimination between benign and malignant biopsy sites. However, given the relatively low ROC areas, this technique may not be sufficient to predict which patients have benign versus malignant disease. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.
The ‘glass palace war’ over the international decolonization of South West Africa

Slonim, Solomon. South West African and the United Nations: An International Mandate in Dispute. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973, xix + 409 pp. Dugard, John (editor). The South West Africa / Namibia Dispute: Documents and Scholarly Writings on the Controversy Between South Africa and the United Nations. Perspectives on Southern Africa No. 9. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1973, xxi + 585 pp.
Expression of induced systemic resistance in poinsettia cuttings against Rhizoctonia stem rot by treatment of stock plants with binucleate Rhizoctonia

Abstract Three cultivars of poinsettia (V14 Glory, Freedom Red, and Angelica White) were evaluated for induction of host resistance to Rhizoctonia stem rot in cuttings acquired from stock plants treated with binucleate Rhizoctonia (BNR) in a Pesta formulation. Resistance to stem rot in cuttings of V14 Glory was induced within 7 days of treatment with BNR while Freedom Red and Angelica White did not express resistance until 10 or more days after application of BNR to stock plants. None of the cultivars expressed resistance to stem rot when cuttings were taken from stock plants that were treated with BNR for only 3 or 5 days before propagation. Population dynamics of BNR on poinsettia root tissue were consistent with the expression of induced resistance. A dramatic increase of root colonization by BNR was observed in all cultivars between day 5 and 7. The integrated use of both BNR and Burkholderia cepacia, previously characterized as a stem rot control agent during poinsettia propagation, was evaluated to test for enhanced resistance against stem rot. No additive effect on stem rot control was observed when cuttings taken from stock plants treated with BNR were propagated in rooting strips treated with B. cepacia compared to cuttings propagated in root strips treated with B. cepacia alone. Our results may be the first to demonstrate induced systemic resistance by BNR fungi during vegetation propagation where the biocontrol agent applied to roots of a stock plant was able to protect cuttings from Rhizoctonia solani during propagation.
Evolution of Class-Specific Peptides Targeting a Hot Spot of the Gαs Subunit

The four classes of heterotrimeric G-protein alpha subunits act as molecular routers inside cells, gating signals based on a bound guanosine nucleotide (guanosine 5'-triphosphate versus guanosine 5'-diphosphate). Ligands that specifically target individual subunits provide new tools for monitoring and modulating these networks, but are challenging to design due to the high sequence homology and structural plasticity of the Galpha-binding surface. Here we have created an mRNA display library of peptides based on the short Galpha-modulating peptide R6A-1 and selected variants that target a convergent protein-binding surface of Galphas.guanosine 5'-diphosphate. After selection/evolution, the most Galphas-specific peptide, Galphas(s)-binding peptide (GSP), was used to design a second-generation library, resulting in several new affinity- and selectivity-matured peptides denoted as mGSPs. The two-step evolutionary walk from R6A-1 to mGSP-1 resulted in an 8000-fold inversion in binding specificity, altered seven out of nine residues in the starting peptide core, and incorporated both positive and negative design steps. The resulting mGSP-1 peptide shows remarkable selectivity and affinity, exhibiting little or no binding to nine homologous Galpha subunits or human H-Ras, and even discriminates the Galphas splice variant Galphas(l). Selected peptides make specific contacts with the effector-binding region of Galpha, which may explain an interesting bifunctional activity observed in GSP. Overall, our work demonstrates a design of simple, linear, highly specific peptides that target a protein-binding surface of Galphas and argues that mRNA display-based selection/evolution is a powerful route for targeting protein families with high class specificity and state specificity.
Maize 27 kDa γ-Zein Is a Potential Allergen for Early Weaned Pigs

Soybean and maize are extensively used in animal feed, primarily in poultry, swine, and cattle diets. Soybean meal can affect pig performance in the first few weeks following weaning and elicit specific antibodies in weaned piglets. Though maize is a major component of pig feed, it is not known if any of the maize proteins can elicit immunological response in young pigs. In this study, we have identified a prominent 27 kDa protein from maize as an immunodominant protein in young pigs. This protein, like some known allergens, exhibited resistance to pepsin digestion in vitro. Several lines of evidence identify the immunodominant 27 kDa protein as a γ-zein, a maize seed storage protein. First, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of different solubility classes of maize seed proteins revealed the presence of an abundant 27 kDa protein in the prolamin (zein) fraction. Antibodies raised against the purified maize 27 kDa γ-zein also reacted against the same protein recognized by the young pig serum. Additionally, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of the peptides generated by trypsin digestion of the immunodominant 27 kDa protein showed significant homology to the maize 27 kDa γ-zein. Since eliminating the allergenic protein will have a great impact on the nutritive value of the maize meal and expand its use in the livestock industry, it will be highly desirable to develop maize cultivars completely lacking the 27 kDa allergenic protein.
Real time science displays for the PCA experiment on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

Abstract The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) spacecraft was launched on 30th December 1995 and contains a large Proportional Counter Array (PCA) experiment developed at GSFC. Telemetry from RXTE is returned via the NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) which, apart from specific gaps in coverage, provides a steady stream of nearly continuous real time data packets. The PCA has an area of 7000 cm2 and produces high count rates for many x-ray sources. This provides the opportunity for some serious interpretation and decision making in real time. The display programs developed by the PCA team fall into 4 classes: Housekeeping, General performance (Instrumental and calibration bias), Spectral (Science bias) and Temporal (Science bias). These displays are used by the duty scientist and experiment controllers to monitor the observation in progress to try and ensure that the observation is proceeding as planned and that modifications to the observing modes are not required. Guest Observers (GO's) can be present in the Science Operations Facility (SOF) for their observations. The PCA team can also monitor their experiment using these programs. The SOF are planning to make some or all of these display tools available to GO's at their home institutions for the specific duration of their observations. This paper briefly describes the available display options.
Paramedic Student Performance: Comparison of Online with On-Campus Lecture Delivery Methods

Introduction:Colleges and universities are experiencing increasing demand for online courses in many healthcare disciplines, including emergency medical services (EMS). Development and implementation of online paramedic courses with the quality of education experienced in the traditional classroom setting is essential in order to maintain the integrity of the educational process. Currently, there is conflicting evidence of whether a significant difference exists in student performance between online and traditional nursing and allied health courses. However, there are no published investigations of the effectiveness of online learning by paramedic students.Hypothesis:Performance of paramedic students enrolled in an online, undergraduate, research methods course is equivalent to the performance of students enrolled in the same course provided in a traditional, classroom environment.Methods:Academic performance, learning styles, and course satisfaction surveys were compared between two groups of students. The course content was identical for both courses and taught by the same instructor during the same semester. The primary difference between the traditional course and the online course was the method of lecture delivery. Lectures for the on-campus students were provided live in a traditional classroom setting using PowerPoint slides. Lectures for the online students were provided using the same PowerPoint slides with prerecorded streaming audio and video.Results:A convenience sample of 23 online and 10 traditional students participated in this study. With the exception of two learning domains, the two groups of students exhibited similar learning styles as assessed using the Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scales instrument. The online students scored significantly lower in the competitive and dependent dimensions than did the on-campus students. Academic performance was similar between the two groups. The online students devoted slightly more time to the course than did the campus students, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. In general, the online students believed the online audio lectures were more effective than the traditional live lectures.Conclusion:Distance learning technology appears to be an effective mechanism for extending didactic paramedic education off-campus, and may be beneficial particularly to areas that lack paramedic training programs or adequate numbers of qualified instructors.
Some properties of optimal spacing in polynomial estimation.

It is shown that the choice of x values that minimizes the generalized variance of the estimates of the coefficients in polynomial regression also minimizes the maximum of the generalized variance of the estimates of an arbitrary number of ordinates on the regression curve. This optimum spacing is also optimal with respect to the estimation of the coefficients of the first derivative of the polynomial regression function.
Phylogenetic support for a specialized clade of Cretaceous enantiornithine birds with information from a new species

ABSTRACT A new species of enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of northeastern China is reported. The new taxon, Shanweiniao cooperorum, possesses several enantiornithine synapomorphies as well as the elongate rostral morphology (rostrum equal to or exceeding 60% the total length of the skull) of the Chinese early Cretaceous enantiornithines, Longipteryx chaoyangensis and Longirostravis hani. The discovery of this new specimen highlights the existence of a diverse clade of trophically specialized enantiornithines, Longipterygidae, for which we present phylogenetic support in a new comprehensive cladistic analysis of Mesozoic birds. Shanweiniao provides new information on the anatomy of longipterygids, and preserves a rectricial morphology previously unknown to enantiornithines, with at least four tail feathers closely arranged. This supports the hypothesis that enantiornithines were strong fliers and adds to the diversity of known tail morphologies of these Cretaceous birds.
Modeling Habitat Occupancy of Orange‐Crowned Warblers in Managed Forests of Oregon and Washington, USA

Abstract As part of a habitat management planning process for commercially managed forests, we developed and evaluated habitat occupancy models for the orange-crowned warbler (Vermivora celata), a conservation priority species in Oregon and Washington, USA. We used repeated surveys to classify a random sample of managed conifer stands at the McKenzie, PeEll, and Tolt study sites in western Oregon and Washington as either occupied or unoccupied during 1994–1995. We modeled occupancy and detection probabilities as a function of stand-level habitat characteristics subject to manipulation by management activities. The best-fitting model indicated that orange-crowned warblers were 2 times (95% CI: 0.99–5.1) and 3.8 times (95% CI: 1.5–6.1) as likely to occupy a stand for every 5% increase in evergreen shrub cover and 5-m decrease in canopy lift (ht to lowest live branch), respectively. Management actions that maintain evergreen shrub cover >10% and permit development of low canopy lifts (4–10 m) should promote ...
Applications of space-time adaptive processing in wireless communications

This paper studies the application of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) to increase the performance of wireless communications. STAP applied to CDMA systems is an efficient means to increase the capacity by providing diversity paths to combat multipath and by suppressing interference through spatial-temporal filtering. STAP may also be used to harden commercial systems for military applications by rejecting narrowband interferences in overlay situations. The main advantage of interference suppression in the spatial domain is its robustness with respect to the interference bandwidth. The performance of several STAP architectures is reviewed. The performance of wireless systems with array processing or STAP is degraded by errors in the estimation of the covariance matrix due to finite sample effects. Full and reduced-rank methods are analyzed with respect to their robustness to finite sample effects.
Antioxidant Therapy: Is it your Gateway to Improved Cardiovascular Health?

General use and popularity of over-the-counter supplemental antioxidants have rapidly spread all over the world and are believed to promote cardiovascular health and wellbeing. However, there is a paucity of information and lack of proof that physiological and above-physiological levels of oxidants do harm at the cellular and organismal levels. Instead, several reports demonstrated that reduction in Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) did not improve vascular function. Interestingly, recent studies show that increased ROS levels play protective role in vascular endothelium and may improve coronary endothelial function. In the current review, we introduce the concept that increased ROS levels, often seen in association with cardiovascular disease, probably is an endothelial-way or ‘oxidative response’ to cope with vascular pathology.
Effect of quantum fluctuations on structural phase transitions in SrTiO 3 and BaTiO 3

Using path-integral Monte Carlo simulations and an ab initio effective Hamiltonian, we study the effects of quantum fluctuations on structural phase transitions in the cubic perovskite compounds SrTiO 3 and BaTiO 3 . We find quantum fluctuations affect ferroelectric ~FE! transitions more strongly than antiferrodistortive ~AFD! ones, even though the effective mass of a single FE local mode is larger. For SrTiO 3 we find that the quantum fluctuations suppress the FE transition completely, and reduce the AFD transition temperature from 130 to 110 K. For BaTiO3 , quantum fluctuations do not affect the order of the transition, but do reduce the transition temperature by 35‐50 K. The implications of the calculations are discussed. Quantum fluctuations typically have a very important effect on the structural and thermodynamic properties of materials consisting of light atoms like hydrogen and helium. For example, quantum effects introduce large corrections to the calculated hydrogen density distribution in the Nb:H system. 1 For materials with heavier atoms, however, the quantum fluctuation can have only a small effect on the distribution of atomic displacements, and thus typically do not have a noticeable effect on the structural and thermodynamic properties of the material. However, exceptions may occur. As we shall see, the cubic perovskites can exhibit decisive quantum-fluctuation effects, despite the fact that the lightest constituent is oxygen. This can occur because these materials have several competing structures with very small structural and energetic differences. 2
Evaluation of Current Reasons for Removal of Sows from Commercial Farms

Sow longevity is a large and often overlooked component of profitability and efficiency for commercial swine operations. Culling and mortality rates average near 50 and 9%, respectively, leaving the responsibility of profitability on sows that can remain productive past parity 3. A new study was conducted using 2,000 commercial sows, with one-half of the females being gilts and the remaining half consisting of sows that produced at least 5 litters in the same breeding herd. Although culling reasons for young sows have not changed, this study revealed the primary reason that sows over parity 5 were being culled was because of old age, regardless of their production. Sows from the parity 5 and older group had a greater number of pigs born alive through 3 parities (P < 0.05) and had a reduced wean-to-first-service interval (P < 0.05) after their first parity when compared with the females that had just entered the farm at the inception of the study. Comparisons within the young group revealed that sows that were removed from production after a single litter were inferior for the number of pigs born alive (P < 0.05) and wean-to-first-service interval (P < 0.05) compared with sows that remained in the herd for 4 parities. This study revealed that sows can be selected for longevity without detrimental effects on reproductive performance, because sows that remained in production to more advanced parities also reproductively outperformed their contemporaries that were removed early from the breeding herd.
Simulation of a MOS transistor with spatially nonuniform channel parameters

A simulation technique is described for the MOS transistor with spatially nonuniform channel parameters, such as voltage, channel width, oxide thickness, flatband voltage, and interface state density. The model is one-dimensional and relies on a charge-sheet description of the inversion layer. Simulation results are shown for the case of a transistor with a nonuniform profile of trapped negative charge. >
Classification of the subgenus Toxorhynchites (Diptera: Culicidae). II. Revision of the Toxorhynchites acaudatus group.

The 6 species of the Toxorhynchites (Toxorhynchites) acaudatus species-group are described and illustrated. Keys are provided for adults, pupae, and larvae. Toxorhynchites (Tox.) angustiplatus from Peninsular Malaysia, Tx. (Tox.) indicus from Sarawak, Malaysia, and Tx. (Tox.) ramalingami from Brunei and from Sabah, Malaysia, are described as new.
(Re)Tweeting in the service of protest: Digital composition and circulation in the Occupy Wall Street movement:

Based on 17 in-depth interviews with people involved in the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, we present a typology of how Twitter is used in the service of protest that draws attention to its utilization in conjunction with face-to-face actions. The OWS case study demonstrates how the rapid digital circulation of texts allows protestors to quickly build a geographically dispersed, networked counterpublic that can articulate a critique of power outside of the parameters of mainstream media. Furthermore, we find that the relay of pre-existing material was perceived to be just as meaningful a form of participation as drafting original compositions. By including these forwarding activities in their online efforts, these Twitter users worked to expand the circulation of information building and sustaining an OWS counterpublic. However, dependence on this external platform leaves protestors vulnerable to restrictions on their ability to communicate, as well as to unwanted surveillance from potentially hostile...
Trust Development in Swift Starting Action Teams A Multilevel Framework

Swift starting action teams (STATs) are increasingly prevalent in organizations, and the development of trust is often a critical issue for their effectiveness. However, current theory and research do not provide a clear picture regarding how trust toward the team (i.e., the team as the target) is developed in these settings. The primary contribution of this article is to present a theoretical framework describing how individual-level trust toward one’s team is developed in STAT contexts. This article integrates several existing trust theories into one comprehensive context-specific multilevel theory of how trust develops in STATs from cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual perspectives. This framework furthers our understanding of the unique antecedents of initial trust in STATs, how trust attitudes are adjusted over the short amount of time the team interacts, and how the team context influences this developmental process.
Puritan Radicalism and the Enlightenment

The relationship between Christianity and the Enlightenment presents a subtle and difficult problem. No historian has as yet fully answered the important question of how the world view of the eighteenth century is related to that of traditional Christianity. It is certain, however, that the deism of that century rejected traditional Christianity as superstitious and denied Christianity a monopoly upon religious truth. The many formal parallels which can be drawn between Enlightenment and Christianity cannot obscure this fact. From the point of view of historical Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic, the faith of the Enlightenment was blasphemy. It did away with a personal God, it admitted no supernatural above the natural, it denied the relevance of Christ's redemptive task in this world. This essay attempts to discover whether traditional Christian thought itself did not make a contribution to the Enlightenment.
Fragility Analysis of Concrete Gravity Dams

Concrete gravity dams are an important part of the nation's infrastructure. Many dams have been in service for decades. During the service life of a dam, operating conditions and natural environmental factors may have led to some deterioration in its structural integrity, mechanical equipment, and foundation. Moreover, advances in the methodologies by which design-basis events for natural phenomena hazards are identified have caused these events to be revised upward, in some cases significantly. An increasing number of existing dams fail to meet the more recent performance criteria. A fragility model of a dam provides a tool for rational safety assessment and decision making by using a probabilistic framework to manage the various sources of uncertainty that affect dam performance. In this paper, basic fragility concepts are presented, and databases required to support the fragility assessment are identified. The method is illustrated using a concrete monolith from the Bluestone Dam in West Virginia, designed in the late 1930s. Traditional design practices have been sufficiently conservative that the probability of dam failure under a probable maximum flood 11 m (36 ft) higher than the original design-basis flood remains small.
Towards a translational health information language

Scientific objectives Recent calls in the EU and US for the creation of a “universal exchange language” for health information representation [1,2] seemed to overlook the contribution of translational medicine in general, and translational informatics in particular. This paper calls for the development of a ‘translational health information language’ (THIL), which could serve the translational information continuum. Its backbone spans from the biological research results and new types of raw data coming from sources like omics assays, sensors data and imaging techniques, and then clinical trials data and on to clinical data. Alongside this backbone of information there are also contributions of economic, social and psychological considerations that quite often prevent a new and successful intervention at the bedside from scaling out to the community and policy. The main assumption of this paper is that given the current diversity of such a continuum, it is not reasonable to expect a simplified exchange language that covers all portions of that continuum. Instead, THIL strives to mix & match existing and emerging languages through fundamental touchpoints in order to enable the integration of patients’ data through a conceptual workflow of continuous data encapsulation & bubbling up loop [3]. These processes lead to gradual distillation of the raw data that makes the data usable and useful at the point of care, or for early detection, prevention and well-being.
Nonhuman Primates and other Animal Models in Diabetes Research

Animal models are important for determining the pathogenesis of and potential treatments for obesity and diabetes. Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are particularly useful for studying these disorders. As in humans, type 2 diabetes mellitus is the most common form of diabetes in NHPs and occurs more often in older obese animals, with a metabolic progression from insulin resistance (IR) and impaired glucose tolerance to overt diabetes. Histopathologic changes in pancreatic islets are also similar to those seen in humans with diabetes. Initially, there is islet hyperplasia with abundant insulin production to compensate for IR, followed by insufficient insulin production with replacement of islets with islet-associated amyloid. Diabetic NHPs also have adverse changes in plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations, biomarkers of obesity, inflammation, and oxidative stress, and protein glycation that contribute to the numerous complications of the disease. Furthermore, sex hormones, pregnancy, and environmental factors (e.g., diet and stress) affect IR and can also contribute to diabetes progression in NHPs. Additionally, due to their similar clinical and pathologic characteristics, NHPs have been used in many pharmacological studies to assess new therapeutic agents. For these reasons, NHPs are particularly valuable animal models of obesity and diabetes for studying disease pathogenesis, risk factors, comorbidities, and therapeutic interventions.
Glycosylphosphatidylinositol Biosynthesis Defects in Gpi11p- and Gpi13p-deficient Yeast Suggest a Branched Pathway and Implicate Gpi13p in Phosphoethanolamine Transfer to the Third Mannose

Glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) are critical for membrane anchoring and intracellular transport of certain secretory proteins. GPIs have a conserved trimannosyl core bearing a phosphoethanolamine (EthN-P) moiety on the third mannose (Man-3) through which the glycolipid is linked to protein, but diverse GPI precursors with EthN-Ps on Man-1 and Man-2 have also been described. We report on two essential yeast genes whose products are required late in GPI assembly. GPI11 (YDR302w) encodes a homologue of human Pig-Fp, a protein implicated in the addition of EthN-P to Man-3. PIG-F complements the gpi11 deletion, but the rescued haploids are temperature sensitive. Abolition of Gpi11p or Pig-Fp function in GPI11 disruptants blocks GPI anchoring and formation of complete GPI precursors and leads to accumulation of two GPIs whose glycan head groups contain four mannoses but differ in the positioning and number of side chains, probably EthN-Ps. The less polar GPI bears EthN-P on Man-2, whereas the more polar lipid has EthN-P on Man-3. The latter finding indicates that Gpi11p is not required for adding EthN-P to Man-3. Gpi13p (YLL031cp), a member of a family of phosphoryltransferases, is a candidate for the enzyme responsible for adding EthN-P to Man-3. Depletion of Gpi13p in a Gpi11p-defective strain prevents formation of the GPI bearing EthN-P on Man-3, and Gpi13p-deficient strains accumulate a Man4-GPI isoform that bears EthN-P on Man-1. We further show that the lipid accumulation phenotype of Gpi11p-deficient cells resembles that of cells lacking Gpi7p, a sequence homologue of Gpi13p known to add EthN-P to Man-2 of a late-stage GPI precursor. This result suggests that in yeast a Gpi11p-deficiency can affect EthN-P addition to Man-2 by Gpi7p, in contrast to the Pig-Fp defect in mammalian cells, which prevents EthN-P addition to Man-3. Because Gpi11p and Pig-Fp affect EthN-P transfer to Man-2 and Man-3, respectively, these proteins may act in partnership with the GPI-EthN-P transferases, although their involvement in a given EthN-P transfer reaction varies between species. Possible roles for Gpi11p in the supply of the EthN-P donor are discussed. Because Gpi11p- and Gpi13p-deficient cells accumulate isoforms of Man4-GPIs with EthN-P on Man-2 and on Man-1, respectively, and because the GPIs that accumulate in Gpi11p-defective strains are likely to have been generated independently of one another, we propose that the yeast GPI assembly pathway is branched.
Spallation of 1100-O aluminum under plate impact loading

Spallation is a failure mode that is of great importance in the understanding of a number of impact problems associated with both defense and geophysical applications. Plate impact experiments are usually conducted to study the spall behavior of materials. Spall occurs when rarefaction waves interact to generate tensile stresses that are greater than the threshold stress required for damage initiation. Damage involves the initiation, growth, and coalescence of microcracks or microvoids during tensile loading. In this work, plate impact experiments are conducted to study the effects of peak stress, pulse duration, and loading rate on the spall behavior of 1100-O aluminum. The free surface velocity and resulting pullback velocity are measured and analyzed for each experiment.
A Product Life Cycle Information Management System Infrastructure with CAD/CAE/CAM, Task Automation, and Intelligent Support Capabilities

NASA is not unique in its quest for a product development cycle that is better, faster, and cheaper. Major advances in technical information management will be required to achieve significant and obvious process improvement goals. A vision of order for the associated systems of unstructured and unconnected files and databases is the first step towards organization. This is provided by examining the basic nature of technical information, item relationships, change and knowledge processing demands to be placed on any management system that supports all aspects of data representation and exchange during the product’s full propose, design, develop and deploy life cycle. An infrastructure that partitions product technical information relative to the perspectives of creation time phase, type and the cause of change provides sufficient structure. This enables maximal use of existing CAD/CAE/CAM/… software tool systems and digital library data mining capabilities. Introducing the concept of packaging technical information in a machine interpretable manner, at key life cycle deliverable and product review milestone points, provides the fastener needed for the attachment of the relevant soft computing and intelligent support capabilities discussed at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Soft Computing and reported elsewhere within this volume. It also provides the basis upon which task automation capabilities can evolve.
Orthogonal Groups &#x1d4aa;(n) over GF(2) as Automorphisms

Let (V, Q) be a quadratic vector space over a fixed field. Orthogonal group &#x1d4aa;(V, Q) is defined as automorphisms on (V, Q). If Q = I, it is &#x1d4aa;(V, I) = &#x1d4aa;(n). There is a nice result that &#x1d4aa;(n) ≅ Aut(&#x1d52c;(n)) over ℝ or ℂ, where &#x1d52c;(n) is the Lie algebra of n × n alternating matrices over the field. How about another field The answer is “Yes” if it is GF(2). We show it explicitly with the combinatorial basis ℭ. This is a verification of Steinberg's main result in 1961, that is, Aut(&#x1d52c;(n)) is simple over the square field, with a nonsimple exception Aut(&#x1d52c;(5)) ≅ &#x1d4aa;(5) ≅ &#x1d516;6.
Spring Destruction of Overwintered Boll Weevils in West Texas with Wing Traps

A large-scale trapping experiment was conducted on 75,000 acres of cotton in the rolling plains area of west Texas to determine if the wing trap baited with live male Anthonomus grandis Boheman would be effective and feasible for use in large-area boll weevil suppression programs. Wing traps were situated in or near the hibernation quarters around each cotton field in the area. Use of live male boll weevils as the trap lure was considered to be impractical when compared with the use of a synthetic lure, but still feasible for use in a large-scale suppression program. The peak emergence period of emerging overwintered boll weevils, as determined by trap data, occurred from late May to late June. Trap data indicated that boll weevil hibernation was rather localized in the best hibernation sites available around or near any particular field. The number of cotton fields found infested with boll weevils prior to September showed that the wing traps were effective in capturing emerging overwintered weevils. Attempts at growing aldicarb-treated trap rows of cotton were impractical under the climatic conditions of west Texas and therefore were abandoned.