cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Shock-induced deformation twinning and softening in magnesium single crystals

Abstract Magnesium is widely regarded as an excellent structural material, primarily because it forms the basis for a range of light-weight high-strength alloys. Recently, high-strain rate deformation of magnesium has received a great deal of attention due to the complicated deformation modes that involve combinations of dislocation slip and deformation twinning. In this study, single crystal magnesium samples were shock-compressed along the c- and a-axis, then released back to ambient conditions. Post-mortem transmission electron microscopy revealed that extension twins developed for both c- and a-axis shock loading. Also, the nanoindentation hardness values for these shocked samples were compared to those for samples compressed under quasi-static conditions; it was found that the hardness decreased with increasing strain rate for both c- and a-axis loading. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to elucidate the detailed mechanisms of deformation twinning in terms of inertial confinement of sample geometry and different stress relaxation speed between impact and lateral directions. The conversion from work-done to heat was discussed to explain the influence of shock-induced heating on the residual hardness. These results give new insights into the residual mechanical response in shock-compressed materials and may help to develop a more fundamental understanding of shock phenomena in metallic materials.
Household garden plant agency in the creation of Classic Maya social identities

Abstract This paper explores how the plant agency paradigm, also known as ‘plant thinking’, can be applied to understanding the household gardens of a modest residential group at the Classic period Maya site of Yaxuna. Informed by a relational approach to social identities, as well as new documentation of plant intelligence, ‘plant thinking’ opens up consideration of agency to multiple agents, some of which are non-human. The daily practice of tending household gardens provides a rich arena for exploring the connections or networks that existed between ancient Maya people of the Classic period, their domestic landscapes, and the other entities that inhabited these same spaces. Economically useful plants domesticated in the Maya area, such as chaya and chili, made demands on Maya people that shaped daily life. Spatial arrangements visible in excavated features at a Late Classic household group provide a space to explore human-plant interactions and the influence of demanding plants upon their human caretakers.
Exploring additive manufacturing as a high-throughput screening tool for multiphase high entropy alloys

Abstract High entropy alloys (HEA) exhibit exceptional and sometimes record-setting physical, thermal and mechanical properties. However, the vast composition space presents a significant practical challenge for optimization, particularly when relying on sequential use of conventional metallurgical fabrication and characterization methods. An efficient method for rapidly evaluating the properties of complex concentrated alloys is presented. Powder based directed energy deposition additive manufacturing was used to synthesize a broad range of compositions in a single metallurgical sample via in situ alloying. An investigation of the phase-property space was done by compositionally grading a transition metal-based HEA (CoCrFeMnNi) with several refractory metals (i.e., Ta, Nb, and Ti-6Al-4V). A high throughput microstructural-mechanical analysis method was also utilized to rapidly assess microstructure and hardness as a function of alloy composition. Compositions promoting solid solutions, multiple phases, and intermetallics were found to have a wide range of hardness and fabrication quality. These results are discussed in the context of alloy-specific microstructural characteristics and configurational entropy, along with relevant processing challenges.
Seronegative autoimmune encephalitis.

A 68-year-old woman with a history of rheumatoid arthritis presented to the emergency department with 3 months of rapidly progressing cognitive decline. Examination revealed new short-term memory loss, poor attention, difficulty conceptualizing tasks and inability to complete multistep actions.
Speech intelligibility loss due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the effect of tongue movement reduction on vowel and consonant acoustic features

The purpose of this study was to identify aspects of impaired tongue motor performance that limit the ability to produce distinct speech sounds and contribute to reduced speech intelligibility in individuals with dysarthria secondary to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We analyzed simultaneously recorded tongue kinematic and acoustic data from 22 subjects during three target words (cat, dog, and took). The subjects included 11 participants with ALS and 11 healthy controls from the X-ray microbeam dysarthria database (Westbury, 1994). Novel measures were derived based on the range and speed of relative movement between two quasi-independent regions of the tongue - blade and dorsum - to characterize the global pattern of tongue dynamics. These "whole tongue" measures, along with the range and speed of single tongue regions, were compared across words, groups (ALS vs. control), and measure types (whole tongue vs. tongue blade vs. tongue dorsum). Reduced range and speed of both global and regional tongue movements were found in participants with ALS relative to healthy controls, reflecting impaired tongue motor performance in ALS. The extent of impairment, however, varied across words and measure types. Compared with the regional tongue measures, the whole tongue measures showed more consistent disease-related changes across the target words and were more robust predictors of speech intelligibility. Furthermore, these whole tongue measures were correlated with various word-specific acoustic features associated with intelligibility decline in ALS, suggesting that impaired tongue movement likely contributes to reduced phonetic distinctiveness of both vowels and consonants that underlie speech intelligibility decline in ALS.
A Particle Filtering-based Framework for Real-time Fault Diagnosis of Autonomous Vehicles

Reliability and supervision of autonomous systems and their corresponding subsystems, can be significantly improved using advanced methods of anomaly detection and fault diagnosis. A reliable fault detection module can improve the autonomy of the vehicle itself, by leading to efficient fault tolerant control designs and mission scheduling. This paper presents a fault detection framework for incipient faults that take place on the actuators of an autonomous-small scale hovercraft. The enabling technologies borrow from the fields of modeling, data processing, Bayesian estimation theory and in particular a technique called particle filtering. Condition indicators or features are derived based on first principles modeling of the actuator’s and the vehicle’s dynamics. The fault detection algorithm fuses information obtained from different subsystems of the vehicle that use distinct sets of sensors, producing a robust degree of confidence. In addition, the algorithm is decoupled from the control system. This achieves the goal of minimizing the fault masking, or the compensation of fault-induced navigational errors by the control system, and allows for early detection even for small fault conditions. The efficacy of the diagnostic approach is demonstrated via simulation results. The proposed fault detection methodology can be easily leveraged to other types of autonomous vehicles.
Cytokine Profiles Before and After Immune Modulation in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19.

We describe the cytokine profiles of a large cohort of hospitalized patients with moderate to critical COVID-19, focusing on IL-6, sIL2R, and IL-10 levels before and after receiving immune modulating therapies, namely, tocilizumab and glucocorticoids. We also discuss the possible roles of sIL2R and IL-10 as markers of ongoing immune dysregulation after IL-6 inhibition. We performed a retrospective chart review of adult patients admitted to a tertiary care center with moderate to critical SARS-CoV-2 infection. Disease severity was based on maximum oxygen requirement during hospital stay to maintain SpO2 > 93% (moderate, 0–3 L NC; severe, 4–6 L NC or non-rebreather; critical, HFNC, NIPPV, or MV). All patients were treated using the institution’s treatment algorithm, which included consideration of tocilizumab for severe and critical disease. The most common cytokine elevations among all patients included IL-6, sIL2R, IFN-γ, and IL-10; patients who received tocilizumab had higher incidence of IL-6 and sIL2R elevations. Pre-tocilizumab IL-6 levels increased with disease severity (p = .0151). Both IL-6 and sIL2R levels significantly increased after administration of tocilizumab in all severity groups; IL-10 levels decreased in severe (p = .0203), but not moderate or critical, patients after they received tocilizumab. Cluster analysis revealed association between higher admission IL-6, sIL2R, and CRP levels and disease severity. Mean IL-6, sIL2R, and D-dimer were associated with mortality, and tocilizumab-treated patients with elevated IL-6, IL-10, and D-dimer were more likely to also receive glucocorticoids. Accessible clinical cytokine panels may be useful for monitoring response to treatment in COVID-19. The increase in sIL2R post-tocilizumab, despite administration of glucocorticoids, may indicate the need for combination therapy in order to modulate more than one hyperinflammatory pathway in COVID-19. We also discuss the role of cytokines as potential biomarkers for use of adjunct glucocorticoid therapy.
Transcervical Extended Mediastinal Lymphadenectomy (TEMLA)

Mediastinal lymph node staging is often the most important determinant of the long-term outcomes of surgical resection. In addition to determining the appropriateness of surgical resection, the “N” descriptor often determines the sequence of therapies in a multimodal treatment strategy. Historically, the gold standard for mediastinal lymph node staging was the cervical mediastinoscopy. Over the last decade, this procedure has been all but replaced with endobronchial ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration. However, an alternative direction to mediastinal staging has also evolved in the form of transcervical mediastinal lymph node dissections, either alone through a mediastinoscope (video assisted mediastinal lymphadenectomy) or combination of transcervical dissection and mediastinoscopy dissection (transcervical extended mediastinal lymph node dissection). This article describes the operative technique of transcervical extended mediastinal lymph node dissection, as well as indications and results.
Scattering in the solar wind at long wavelengths

The performance of a space-based low frequency array will be limited by angular scattering in both the interstellar medium (ISM) and the solar wind. As it happens the two effects are roughly equal when the source is in the antisolar direction. When the source is closer to the Sun the solar wind scattering will dominate. Image correction methods developed to remove ionospheric and atmospheric effects at higher frequencies work well in weak scintillation conditions. However, below about 25 MHz interplanetary scintillation becomes strong in all directions, and the presence of interstellar scattering then makes it impractical to correct the images for the solar wind scattering. As a rough guide serious loss of visibility will occur on baselines longer than about 20f MHz km.
Maternal hypertension and intrapartum fever are associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke during infancy

Aim To examine maternal hypertension, diabetes, and intrapartum fever as potential risk factors for ischemic stroke in infants. Method We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 226 117 children born from January 2000 to December 2007 who were enrolled in the South Carolina Medicaid program. We linked maternal and child Medicaid billing records and birth certificate data. Children with ischemic stroke were identified based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), code 434 in the child’s billing data. Independent variables and covariates were identified using ICD-9 codes and birth certificate data. We modeled the odds of ischemic stroke diagnosis in infants, either before 30 days of life or before 365 days. Results Forty-three children were diagnosed with ischemic stroke before 30 days and 161 before 365 days. Maternal hypertension (odds ratio 2.31 before 30d) and intrapartum fever (odds ratio 3.36 <30d) were significantly associated with odds of ischemic stroke before 30 days and before 365 days; maternal diabetes was not. Interpretation Maternal hypertension and intrapartum fever appear to be risk factors for ischemic stroke in infants. Additional research is needed to determine the mechanism(s) underlying these associations and to develop effective preventive methods for high-risk infants.
Breast and cervical cancer mortality in the Mississippi Delta, 1979-1998.

Background: Historically, the Mississippi Delta region has been medically underserved. This may lead to lower cancer prevention efforts and higher breast or cervical cancer mortality rates. Methods: Death rates for 1979 through 1998 were calculated for Mississippi Delta women and for women living elsewhere in the US. Results: Breast cancer mortality in the Delta was similar to that elsewhere in the US in recent years for both black and white women, but rates were lower in the Delta in the early years of the study period. Overall, cervical cancer mortality was similar in the two areas but rates declined more rapidly elsewhere in the US than in the Delta. Breast and cervical cancer mortality was higher among black women than among white women in both areas. Cervical cancer mortality was higher among white rural and black urban women in the Delta than their counterparts elsewhere. Conclusion: These results can guide prevention activities for reducing mortality from these diseases.
Preserving Error for Appeal; Objections and Offers of Proof

A trial court is not generally regarded as committing error in admitting or excluding evidence unless the error and the specific ground therefore comes to the attention of the court and the court nevertheless persists. The policy is designed to afford the trial court an intelligent basis of decision and to enable the opponent to take possible corrective steps. Moreover, a mere technical violation of a rule of evidence properly brought to the court's attention is not a sufficient basis for reversal. For error to result in reversal the appellate court must find that the admission or exclusion affected a substantial right of a party. Error not affecting a substantial right is characterized as harmless. Absent plain error, error in the admission or exclusion of evidence at trial alleged to have affected a substantial right may not be raised on appeal unless properly preserved on the record. A party is precluded from asserting on appeal that evidence was improperly admitted affecting a substantial right unless a timely objection or motion to strike appears of record stating the specific ground of objection, if the specific ground was not apparent from the context, Fed.R.Evid. 103(a)(1). Similarly, the admission of evidence cannot be assigned as error if an objection was made but not ruled upon, if ruling was reserved but never made, or if the objective is withdrawn at any time. Where evidence has been excluded by the trial court upon objection of opposing counsel, error may be asserted on appeal provided a substantial right has been affected, and the substance of the evidence was made known to the court by an offer of proof, or was apparent from the context within which the questions were asked, Fed.R.Evid. 103(a)(2). Where the substance of the evidence is not apparent from the context, failure to make an offer of proof precludes raising the correctness of the exclusionary ruling on appeal. Where, however, the substance of the excluded evidence is apparent to the trial court, opposing counsel, and the appellate court from the context of the questioning, an offer of proof is not required.
A programmable CCD signal processor

A charge-coupled-device (CCD) signal processor based on a vector-matrix product-computing algorithm is described. The processor is structured to perform the generic weighted-sum operation required in a neural network, and to compute the inner product of two matrices needed for two-dimensional spatial filtering. Used as a neural net processor, the chip provides 2016 programmable interconnections between 144 input nodes and 14 output nodes, performs 2.8-billion arithmetic operations/s and dissipates less than 2 W at a 10-MHz clock rate. The CCD device consists of analog tapped delay lines as input buffers, multiplying D/A converters (MDACs), and on-chip memory for storing the digital weights. >
A Model of Summary Data and its Applications in Statistical Databases

The summary (statistics) data model described herein is an extension of the relational model. The concept of category (type or class) and the additivity property of some statistical functions form the basis of this model. In this approach category shields details of a database instance from users, and plays an important role in deriving new statistics data. Statistics data is a trinary tuple consisting of 〈statistical function, category, summary〉. The additivity property allows new statistics data to be generated without having to access the original database. Statistics data is meta-knowledge summarized by statistical functions of the detailed information typically stored in a conventional database. Unfortunately, deciding whether a category is derivable from a set of categories, in general, is NP-hard. The proposed generating category set can resolve the intractability problem of the category derivation. The derivation of new statistics data within a relation or on multi-relations is investigated, and the efficiency and correctness of the stored statistics data are guaranteed when the original database is updated or when new statistics data is obtained. Finally potential applications and security concerns applying to this model are also discussed.
Nucleotide sequence of the Escherichia coli cad operon: a system for neutralization of low extracellular pH.

Abstract Lysine decarboxylase of Escherichia coli has been the subject of enzymological studies, and the gene encoding lysine decarboxylase (cadA) and a regulatory gene (cadR) have been mapped. This enzyme is induced at low pH in the presence of lysine and achieves maximal level under anaerobic conditions. The induction of lysine decarboxylase increases the pH of the extracellular medium and provides a distinctive marker in tests of clinical strains. We report the sequence of the cad operon encoding lysine decarboxylase, a protein of 715 amino acids, and another protein, CadB, of 444 amino acids. The amino acid sequence of lysine decarboxylase showed high homology to that of the lysine decarboxylase of Hafnia alvei with less homology to the sequence of speC, which encodes the biosynthetic ornithine decarboxylase of E. coli. The cadA and cadB genes were separately cloned and placed under the control of lac and tac promoters, respectively, to facilitate independent study of their physiological effects. The cadB gene product had a mobility characteristic of a smaller protein on protein gels, analogous to that found for some other membrane proteins. The CadB sequence showed homology to that of ArcD of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encoding an arginine/ornithine antiporter. Excretion studies of various strains, the coinduction of cadB and cadA, and the attractive physiological role for an antiport system led to a model for the coupled action of cadA and cadB in uptake of lysine, the reduction of H+ concentration, and excretion of cadaverine.
A Reference Architecture for Social Media Intelligence Applications in the Cloud

As the social media upsurge of today continues to mount, opportunities to derive collective intelligence from online social networking (OSN) content sources are inevitably expected to grow. While enterprise organizations and research institutions make a dash for identifying rich insights and opportunities to tap into the millions of conversations and user profile relationships exposed by this new social-influenced big data phenomenon, architectural concerns regarding the storage and processing of large datasets unearthed by OSNs, along with performance, scalability, fault-tolerance, security, privacy, and high-availability solutions have become an area of concern for social media intelligence (SMI) solutions. In this literature, we present a reference architecture, for designing SMI solutions. In addition, we showcase two key case studies for SMI applications built on this architecture. Our selected case studies are focused on the analysis of User-Generated Content (i.e. With Sentiment Analysis in Twitter data) and Social Graph Influence (i.e. In a Facebook-influenced Movie Recommendations solution). We evaluate the 'goodness-of-fit' in applying our model to these case study solutions and present results from our performance evaluation of these cloud-hosted solutions across multiple cloud providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Neuroprotective effects of PKC inhibition against chemical hypoxia.

Abstract The effect of potassium cyanide-induced chemical hypoxia on protein kinase C (PKC) translocation and cell injury was studied in differentiated PC12 cells. The cellular distribution of PKC in control cells and cells exposed to 100 μM and 1 mM KCN for 30 min. was visualized by use of an anti-PKC antibody and confocal laser scanning microscope. In control differentiated PC12 cells, PKC was localized perinuclearly, while following 12-phorbol 13-myristate acetate (PMA) or KCN it was translocated to the plasma and organelle membranes. Western blot analysis was used to quantify the translocation. Chemical hypoxia increased the membrane-bound PKC to 210% of control levels, while chelerythrine, a PKC inhibitor, and block of calcium influx into the cells (with calcium channel blocker and calcium-free medium) prevented this effect. Cyanide-induced PKC translocation persisted for at least 120 min. Cell injury was monitored by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) efflux from the cells 24 hr after addition of cyanide. PKC activation plays a role in hypoxic damage, since PKC down-regulation (by overnight exposure to PMA) or inhibition (with chelerythrine or staurosporine) conferred protection against KCN-induced cytotoxicity. Ca 2+ channel blocker nifedipine also protected against chemical hypoxia. None of the pretreatments rendered complete protection against cyanide-induced hypoxia, indicating that PKC-independent mechanism(s) are also activated during chemical hypoxia and contribute to cell injury.
Clostridium septicum Necrotizing Fasciitis of the Forefoot Secondary to Adenocarcinoma of the Colon: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Clostridium septicum accounts for 1% of all reported clostridial infections. C septicum infections are most often nontraumatic in nature and associated with either an occult colonic or hematologic malignancy. The initial presentation of a C septicum infection can be relatively benign with rapid progression to fatality without emergent treatment. Presented is a case of necrotizing fasciitis of the forefoot caused by C septicum associated with an occult adenocarcinoma of the colon in a patient with uncontrolled diabetes. The process we used to achieve successful functional limb preservation based on rapid surgical intervention and use of a multidisciplinary approach to medical and surgical management of this patient is discussed in detail, as well as a through review of the literature regarding the association between malignancies and C septicum infections.
Mobility and social networking: a data management perspective

This tutorial presents the state-of-the-art research that lies at the intersection of two hot topics in the data management community: (1) social networking and (2) mobility. In this tutorial, we give an overview of existing research work, systems, and applications related to both social networking and mobility. In addition, we introduce several resources (i.e., datasets, software tools) as well as a list of promising research directions.
The burdens of cancer therapy. Clinical and economic outcomes of chemotherapy-induced mucositis.

BACKGROUND Mucositis is a common but poorly studied problem among patients with solid tumors. The authors examined the clinical and economic outcomes of oral and gastrointestinal (GI) mucositis among patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy. METHODS A retrospective, random sample of 599 patients who developed chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression was followed for development of oral or GI mucositis and for development of subsequent episodes of bleeding or infection. Multilevel regression models of the risk of bleeding and infection were fit with chemotherapy cycles nested within patients. RESULTS Mucositis developed during 37% of 1236 cycles of chemotherapy. Episodes of bleeding were significantly more common during cycles with GI mucositis than during cycles without GI mucositis (13% vs. 8%; P = 0.04). Episodes of infection were significantly more common during cycles with mucositis (especially GI mucositis) than during cycles without mucositis (73% vs. 36%; P < 0.0001). The mean durations of hospitalization were 4 days, 6 days, and 12 days during cycles with no mucositis, oral mucositis, and GI mucositis, respectively. After accounting for the depth and duration of myelosuppression and for other predictive factors, GI mucositis was associated with both bleeding (odds ratio [OR], 2.0; P = 0.01) and infection (OR, 2.24; P < 0.0001), whereas oral mucositis was associated with infection only (OR, 2.4; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Mucositis was clinically and economically significant among patients with solid tumors who were receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy. New preventive and therapeutic agents are needed. Cancer 2003;98:1531–9. © 2003 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.11671
Joint Inference of Identity by Descent Along Multiple Chromosomes from Population Samples

Abstract There has been much interest in detecting genomic identity by descent (IBD) segments from modern dense genetic marker data and in using them to identify human disease susceptibility loci. Here we present a novel Bayesian framework using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) realizations to jointly infer IBD states among multiple individuals not known to be related, together with the allelic typing error rate and the IBD process parameters. The data are phased single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotypes. We model changes in latent IBD state along homologous chromosomes by a continuous time Markov model having the Ewens sampling formula as its stationary distribution. We show by simulation that this model for the IBD process fits quite well with the coalescent predictions. Using simulation data sets of 40 haplotypes over regions of 1 and 10 million base pairs (Mbp), we show that the jointly estimated IBD states are very close to the true values, although the presence of linkage disequilibrium decreas...
Amyloidosis with IgM monoclonal gammopathies

Abstract We sought to review outcomes of patients who have immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis of the IgM type. Fifty patients with a serum IgM monoclonal protein and biopsy-proven amyloid were evaluated. The percentages of patients presenting with cardiac, renal, hepatic, and pulmonary amyloid were 44%, 32%, 14%, and 10%, respectively. Forty-two percent had an M-protein spike in the serum greater than 1.5 g/dL, and 14% had an IgM peak greater than 3 g/dL. Amyloidosis was diagnosed easily by biopsies of the subcutaneous fat, rectum, and bone marrow, which demonstrated deposits in 84%, 72%, and 50%, respectively. The median survival of all patients was 24.6 months. Fifty-three percent of all deaths were due to cardiac amyloidosis. Twelve percent died of respiratory failure, and 7% each died of macroglobulinemia, hepatic failure, and renal failure. Of the 22 patients with amyloid cardiomyopathy, the median survival was 11.1 months and fewer than 10% survived 5 years. Of the 28 patients without amyloid cardiomyopathy at diagnosis, the median survival was 27 months, with approximately 30% surviving 5 years. We conclude that the presence of amyloid cardiomyopathy and an increased creatinine concentration had the greatest impact on survival. Semin Oncol 30:325-328. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Inhibition of influenza virus synthesis by 2-thiouracil.

Abstract Some aspects of the inhibition of influenza virus synthesis by thiouracil has been examined. Uracil has been shown to counteract the inhibitory action. Incorporation of C 14 -guanine and P 32 -phosphate into tissue RNA has been shown to increase on infection with influenza virus and to be depressed by thiouracil. Results further indicate that production of noninfectious virus may result from exposure of infected tissues to thiouracil.
Effect of peroxides on [3H]D-aspartate release from bovine isolated retinae.

In the present study, we investigated the effect of naturally occurring and synthetic peroxides on K+-depolarization-evoked release of [3H]d-aspartate from bovine isolated retinae. Furthermore, effect of peroxides on endogenous glutamate concentrations were measured by HPLC in bovine neural retinae and vitreous humor of eyes treated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) ex vivo. Both naturally occurring H2O2 (1–100 μM) and synthetic (cumene hydroperoxide, cuOOH; 1–100 μM) peroxides caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of K+-evoked [3H]d-aspartate release without affecting basal tritium efflux. The antioxidant, trolox (2 mM) prevented the inhibition of evoked [3H]d-aspartate overflow elicited by both H2O2 (30 μM) and cuOOH (10 μM). Inhibition of catalase by 3-amino-triazole (3- AT 100 mM) enhanced an inhibitory effect of a low concentration of H2O2 (1 μM) but antagonized the effect of H2O2 (30 μM) on K+-induced [3H]d-aspartate release. In ex vivo experiments, exogenously applied H2O2 (1–100 μM) also caused a concentration-related decrease in glutamate levels in the bovine retina. We conclude that peroxides can inhibit K+-evoked release of [3H]d-aspartate and also decrease endogenous glutamate concentrations in the bovine retina.
A personal construct analysis of adaptive selling and sales experience

Customer orientation is a key to successful marketing strategies. In personal selling, customer orientation has been shown to be related to the quality of the customer-salesperson relationship (Saxe & Weitz, 1978). Adaptive selling (Weitz, Sujan, & Sujan, 1986) is a theoretical perspective that suggests sales performance is related to salespeople's ability to shift their customer orientation, by adapting their behavior to different customers in different situations. This article presents personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955) as a framework for understanding how sales personnel perceive and adapt to customers. An interview technique known as laddering (Gutman, 1982; Hinkle, 1965) is used to elicit these constructs from sales personnel. Results of the interviews are compared across levels of sales experience. Consistent with the Sujan, Sujan, and Bettman (1988) findings relating sales effectiveness and breadth of knowledge structures, we find that the number of years of sales experience is related to the breadth of constructs obtained from the laddering interviews. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Auto-interactive Schematics to Layout Translation

An effective heuristic has been developed that provides an auto-interactive process to translate schematic net-lists to symbolic layouts. A net-list description of the logic-level of a circuit is the starting point for the process. This net-list initializes the symbolic layout system by providing device and pin names -- position information is provided interactively by the designer. The designer places these active elements by name and then makes the connections between them. As each connection is made a check is performed to verify that electrical connectivity of the layout exactly matches that of the net-list and the original schematic.
Contribution of Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Activity and Environmental Stress to Vulnerability for Smoking in Adolescents

Although tobacco smoking, which has been linked to depression, is a major public health problem, little is known about the neurobiological factors that confer vulnerability to smoking in youngsters and the effects of adolescent smoking on the course of depression. This study examined whether hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity and stressful life experiences are related to smoking behavior in depressed and non-depressed adolescents, and whether smoking predicts a worsening course of depression. Smoking history and stressful experiences were assessed in 151 adolescents (48 with no personal or family history of psychiatric disorder, 48 with no psychiatric history, but at high risk for depression by virtue of parental depression, and 55 with current major depressive disorder). Evening salivary cortisol and nocturnal urinary-free cortisol were measured for three consecutive evenings. The participants were then followed at regular intervals for up to 5 years to assess smoking history, clinical course of depression and stressful experiences during the follow-up period. Increased evening/night-time cortisol levels were associated with both initiation and persistence of smoking during follow-up. Stressful life experiences further increased the risk for smoking in depressed as well as non-depressed youth. Smoking was also associated with a higher frequency of depressive episodes during follow-up. A model that included stressful experiences and cortisol levels reduced the contribution of smoking per se to depression. High evening/night-time cortisol level appears to be a vulnerability marker for smoking in adolescents, with stressful experiences further increasing the risk for smoking in vulnerable youth. High evening/night-time cortisol levels and stressful experiences accounted, at least partially, for the association between depressive illness and smoking behavior.
Status of mental health services for youth in school and community

Many adolescents experience serious mental health problems and many are not getting the help they need. The central issue is not simply one of the supply of services not being able to keep up with the demand for services. In many schools and communities services for youth are available. However, teenagers are frequently unaware of them. Even when they are aware of available services, they are often reluctant to use them. Suggestions are given for improving the utilization of existing services.
When Friends Deflect Questions about Sensitive Information: Questioners’ Cognitive Complexity and Explanations for Friends’ Avoidance

People dealing with stressful circumstances may deflect friends’ inquiries about the situation for a variety of reasons, which could have subsequent effects on relational dynamics. This study investigated the explanations that individuals formulated about hypothetical situations in which friends indicated a desire to avoid discussing a sensitive subject. A typology of explanations for avoidance messages was developed, which indicated that common attributions centered on beliefs that the friend was avoiding the conversation in order to support avoidant coping strategies. Cognitive complexity predicted certain explanations and also indirectly predicted subsequent intent to bring up the topic through explanation diversity.
Analysis of Delta S=1 Nonleptonic Weak Decays and the Delta I=1/2 Rule

Current-algebra and quark-model methods are used to investigate hyperon and kaon transition amplitudes for various contributions to the weak nonleptonic Hamiltonian of the Weinberg-Salam model. Substantial enhancements are found for matrix elements of certain operators which are induced by quantum-chromodynamic radiative corrections and contain right-handed currents. These operators improve the agreement with experiment in most cases, although problems remain in $P$-wave hyperon amplitudes. In this approach, the $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=\frac{1}{2}$ rule is understandable in both kaons and baryons under plausible assumptions.
Elevating Engagement and Community in Online Courses

Community, while inherent in assumptions about online education, rarely materializes as an integral component of the experience. Misconceptions and misguided motivations can derail participation and engagement in the online setting. Creating a successful online community is dependent on knowing what works in the face-to-face environment and implementing effective parallels online. We will discuss best practices for building community in online information literacy courses and leveraging motivators to keep students and instructors engaged. While this paper focuses on online information literacy courses, many of these strategies can be applied to online workshops, embedded librarianship, and other instructional initiatives.
Goodness-of-fit tests for logistic regression models when data are collected using a complex sampling design

Logistic regression models are frequently used in epidemiological studies for estimating associations that demographic, behavioral, and risk factor variables have on a dichotomous outcome, such as disease being present versus absent. After the coefficients in a logistic regression model have been estimated, goodness-of-fit of the resulting model should be examined, particularly if the purpose of the model is to estimate probabilities of event occurrences. While various goodness-of-fit tests have been proposed, the properties of these tests have been studied under the assumption that observations selected were independent and identically distributed. Increasingly, epidemiologists are using large-scale sample survey data when fitting logistic regression models, such as the National Health Interview Survey or the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Unfortunately, for such situations no goodness-of-fit testing procedures have been developed or implemented in available software. To address this problem, goodness-of-fit tests for logistic regression models when data are collected using complex sampling designs are proposed. Properties of the proposed tests were examined using extensive simulation studies and results were compared to traditional goodness-of-fit tests. A Stata ado function svylogitgof for estimating the F-adjusted mean residual test after svylogit fit is available at the author's website http://www.people.vcu.edu/~kjarcher/Research/Data.htm.
ON RICCI RANK OF CARTAN–HADAMARD MANIFOLDS

In this article, we prove that the maximum rank r of the Ricci tensor of a Cartan–Hadamard manifold Mn satisfies the inequality 2r - 1 ≥ n - s, where n is the dimension and s is the core number, which measures the flatness of Mn. Examples show that this lower bound is sharp.
Reduction of contact factors in sickle cell disease

Surface-mediated reactions of clotting were compared in 21 black children with homozygous sickle cell disease, 12 age-matched controls, and 15 adults. Both the coagulant and antigen titers of Hageman factor (factor XII) were decreased in asymptomatic patients compared with those in the control groups. These findings were associated with slight but significant reduction in the plasma titers of prekallikrein and high molecular weight kininogen. A further decrease from the initially low titers of these contact factors was observed during vaso-occlusive crises. Additionally, we observed a disparate relationship between Hageman factor coagulant activity and its antigen titers. These data provide evidence for reduction of the contact factors in patients with homozygous sickle cell disease.
Steiner points in tree metrics don't (really) help

Consider an edge-weighted tree T = (V, E, w : E r R+), in which a subset R of the nodes (called the required nodes) are colored red and the remaining nodes in S = V\R are colored black (and called the Steiner nodes). The shortest-path distance according to the edge-weights defines a metric dT on the vertex set V.We now ask the following question: Is it possible to define another weighted tree T* = (R, E*, w* : E* r R+), this time on just the red vertices so that the shortest-path metric dT* induced by T* on the vertices in R is “close” to the metric dT restricted to the red vertices? I.e., does there exist a weighted tree T* = (R, E*, c*) and a (small) constant a such that dT(u, v) ≤ dT* (u, v) ≤ a dT(u, v) for any two red vertices u, v ∈ R?We answer this question in the affirmative, and give a linear time algorithm to obtain a tree T* with a ≤ 8. We also give two applications of this result: an upper bound, in which we show that emulating multicasts using unicasts can be almost as good as general multicasts for certain performance measures; and a lower bound, in which we give a simple combinatorial proof of the fact that the metric generated by a graph of girthg must suffer a distortion of at least O(g) when approximated by a tree.
Geotechnical field applications of AE/MS techniques at the Pennsylvania State University: a historical review

Abstract Since the early 1970s there has been an accelerating interest in the use of acoustic emission/microseismic (AE/MS) techniques for the laboratory and field investigation of geological materials and structures. Basic AE/MS research and the application of AE/MS techniques to a variety of geotechnical problems has been under way in the Penn State Rock Mechanics Laboratory since 1965. To date, studies have involved a wide variety of field topics, including: cavern stability, stability of natural gas storage reservoirs, strata control in longwall coal mines, rock bolt stability monitoring, effects of blasting, mine and tunnel roof stability, subsidence monitoring and rock slope stability evaluation. This paper reviews the development of AE/MS research at Penn State, describes briefly a number of the major field studies undertaken, and discusses on-going and future research programmes.
Plasmonic nearfield scanning optical microscopy

Nearfield scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) offers a practical means of optical imaging at a resolution well beyond the diffraction limit of the light. However, its applications are limited due to the strong attenuation of the light transmitted through the sub-wavelength aperture. To solve this problem we report the development of plasmonic nearfield scanning optical microscope with a high optical coupling efficiency. By exciting surface plasmons, plasmonic NSOM probes are capable of focusing light into a 100 nm spot. Both numerical simulation and nearfield exposure experiments have demonstrated that the intensity at the focal point is at least 10 times stronger than can obtained from the conventional NSOM probes under the same illumination condition. By providing a strong nano-scale light source, plasmonic NSOM can be used as a high speed nano-scale imaging tool for cellular visualization, molecule detection, and many other applications requiring high temporal resolution.
The S7 gene and VP7 protein are highly conserved among temporally and geographically distinct American isolates of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus

Complete sequences of genome segment 7 (S7) from six isolates of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus serotype 1 (EHDV-1) and 37 isolates of serotype 2 (EHDV-2) were determined. These isolates were made between 1978 and 2001 from the southeast, mid-Atlantic, Midwest and intermountain United States. Analysis of the S7 sequence similarities showed 98.1% identity among the EHDV-1 isolates and 91.0% identity among the EHDV-2 isolates. Comparison of the deduced amino acid similarities showed an even greater degree of similarity among the isolates (100% among the EHDV-1 isolates and 98.9% identity among the EHDV-2 isolates). There was only 75.8% identity between the EHDV-1 and EHDV-2 isolates at the nucleic acid level; however, there was 93.7% identity between the two groups at the amino acid level. The ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous nucleotide indicates a strong selection for silent substitutions. There was no evidence for reassortment between EHDV-1 and EHDV-2 isolates. The high degree of conservation of S7 gene codons and the VP7 protein, suggests that little variation is allowed in preserving the function of this protein. The high degree of conservation also validates the use of diagnostic tests for EHDV based on S7 and VP7.
Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis With Novel Monodentate Phosphorus Ligands

A library of new fine-tunable monodentate phosphite and phosphoramidite ligands based on chiral biphenol has been designed and developed. These monodentate phosphorus ligands have exhibited excellent enantioselectivity in the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation, Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation and hydroformylation, and Cu-catalyzed conjugate addition reactions.
Gallium-arsenide deep-level materials for THz and 1.5 μm fiber-optic applications

Abstract We demonstrate novel materials utilizing semiconductor deep centers for THz applications and 1.5 μ m fiber-optic emitters on GaAs. We achieve the first [J.L. Pan, J.E. McManis, T. Osadchy, L. Grober, J.M. Woodall, P.J. Kindlmann, Nat. Mater. 2 (2003) 375] light-emitting diode (LED) in the material GaAs emitting at 1.5 μ m fiber-optic wavelengths from arsenic-antisite deep levels. This technology enables 1.5 μ m fiber-optic components lattice matched to GaAs ICs. We experimentally demonstrate significant internal optical power (24 mW), efficiency (almost 1%), and available speed (THz) from GaAs deep-level optical emitters. We also achieve the first tunnel diodes explicitly making use of deep-levels in low-temperature-grown (LTG) GaAs. At room temperature, we demonstrate the largest peak current density ( 16 kA / cm 2 ) ever in a GaAs tunnel diode. Our devices also show room-temperature peak-to-valley current ratios greater than 20. We determine the transport mechanisms which limit the peak and valley currents. Finally, we present the first fully analytical eight-band model [J.L. Pan, Opt. Exp. 9 (2001) 796; J.L. Pan, J. Appl. Phys. 92 (2002) 5991] of the deep-center wave function (e.g., symmetry and admixture of atomic orbitals). Our model determines the general optical properties of deep-centers (optical selection-rules and transition strengths) in terms of simple materials properties (band gap energy, Kane dipole, deep-level position) and angular momenta quantum numbers. Thus, our model is applicable in a wide variety of materials, and is in agreement with experiment.