cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Testing Turbulence: Exploring the Determinants of Managerial Networking

A scholarly consensus holds that turbulent environments have damaging effects on public service performance. Turbulence, both internal and external organizations, has been demonstrated to negatively impact chances for organizations to meet goals and sometimes to survive. Less scholarly attention, however, is paid to how turbulence affects managerial strategy. This paper seeks to address how managerial strategy changes toward external environments and investigates what alternations managers make to combat turbulence. This question is theoretically and practically appropriate to comprehensively understand the effects of environmental turbulence for public organizations.
Path relaxation: path planning for a mobile robot

Path Relaxation is a method of planning safe paths around obstacles for mobile robots. It works in two steps: a global grid search that finds a rough path, followed by a local relaxation step that adjusts each node on the path to lower the overall path cost. The representation used by Path Relaxation allows an explicit tradeoff among length of path, clearance away from obstacles, and distance traveled through unmapped areas.
Factors in IT-enabled collaboration in the public sector: the neighbor effect

Interorganizational relationships enabled by information systems (IS) are formed under various contingencies. Past research in interorganizational collaborations has benefitted from employing rational choice and institutional theory separately but as organizations face dual pressures to improve performance and gain legitimacy in their social environments a fuller explanation must encompass both perspectives. This study examines the question of why ICT-enabled collaborations form in the public safety domain by employing rational choice and institutional theory perspectives as complementary. This study specifically examines the possibility of a neighbor effect in stimulating the establishment of interagency policing collaborations, while also attending to economic, geographic, and demographic factors influencing this decision to join-up. When completed, this study will contribute to IS knowledge by extending homophily research into the domain of public safety IS, and by incorporating institutional and rational perspectives as an analytical platform from which to apply findings from the public to the private sector.
Intratumor distribution and test–retest comparisons of physiological parameters quantified by dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI in rat U251 glioma

The distribution of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) parametric estimates in a rat U251 glioma model was analyzed. Using Magnevist as contrast agent (CA), 17 nude rats implanted with U251 cerebral glioma were studied by DCE-MRI twice in a 24 h interval. A data-driven analysis selected one of three models to estimate either (1) plasma volume (vp), (2) vp and forward volume transfer constant (Ktrans) or (3) vp, Ktrans and interstitial volume fraction (ve), constituting Models 1, 2 and 3, respectively. CA distribution volume (VD) was estimated in Model 3 regions by Logan plots. Regions of interest (ROIs) were selected by model. In the Model 3 ROI, descriptors of parameter distributions – mean, median, variance and skewness – were calculated and compared between the two time points for repeatability. All distributions of parametric estimates in Model 3 ROIs were positively skewed. Test–retest differences between population summaries for any parameter were not significant (p ≥ 0.10; Wilcoxon signed-rank and paired t tests). These and similar measures of parametric distribution and test–retest variance from other tumor models can be used to inform the choice of biomarkers that best summarize tumor status and treatment effects. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Phenoxazinone Synthetase from Streptomyces antibioticus: Multiple Activities of the Enzyme

A procedure for the preparation of relatively large quantities of highly purified phenoxazinone synthetase from Streptomyces antibioticus is described. Enzyme preparations consisted of multiple forms, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Each of the electrophoretically separable forms catalyzed the oxidation of catechols, ferrocyanide, and ethylenic thiols, in addition to o-aminophenols.
Evaluating the Hyperbolic Model on a Variety of Architectures

We illustrate the application of the hyperbolic model, which generalizes standard two-parameter dedicated-link models for communication costs in message-passing environments, to four rather different distributed-memory architectures: Ethernet NOW, FDDI NOW, IBM SP2, and Intel Paragon. We first evaluate the parameters of the model from simple communication patterns. Then over-all communication time estimates, which compare favorably with experimental measurements, are deduced for the message traffic in a scientific application code. For transformational computing on dedicated systems, for which message traffic is describable in terms of a finite number of regular patterns, the model offers a good compromise between the competing objectives of flexibility, tractability, and reliability of prediction.
Cost Projections for High Temperature Superconductors

It is generally argued that for high-temperature superconductors (HTS) to be cost-competitive in power applica- tions, the wire will have to sell for about $10 per kiloam- pere× meter ($10/kA× m) for operation at 77 K (e.g., NbTi costs around $1/kA× m and Nb3Sn around $8, each at 4.2 K). Given what is already known about the critical current performance of Pb-stabilized Bi-2223 (BSCCO), this cost target may be ex- tremely difficult to realistically achieve for silver-sheathed BSCCO produced by the oxide-powder-in-tube (OPIT) tech- nique. In this paper, we examine the cost of component materi- als, add reasonable estimates for labor and related costs, and arrive at a likely cost/performance (C/P) figure. We also esti- mate the capital cost of a factory to produce HTS conductor by a particular coated conductor method, and calculate the neces- sary production-output and performance parameters necessary to manufacture 10 km/yr of wire and its associated C/P. Our results indicate that the real C/P seen by the customer will re- main substantially above this $10/kA× m target for some time to come.
A model for crystallization: A variation on the Hubbard model

A quantum mechanical lattice model of fermionic electrons interacting with infinitely massive nuclei is considered. (It can be viewed as a modified Hubbard model in which the spin-up electrons are not allowed to hop.) The electron-nucleus potential is “on-site” only. Neither this potential alone nor the kinetic energy alone can produce long range order. Thus, if long range order exists in this model it must come from an exchange mechanism. N, the electron plus nucleus number, is taken to be less than or equal to the number of lattice sites. We prove the following: (i) For all dimensions, d, the ground state has long range order; in fact it is a perfect crystal with spacing \(\sqrt 2 \) times the lattice spacing. A gap in the ground state energy always exists at the half-filled band point (N = number of lattice sites), (ii) For small, positive temperature, T, the ordering persists when d ≥ 2. If T is large there is no long range order and there is exponential clustering of all correlation functions.
Women's somatic styles: rethinking breast self-examination education.

In this ethnographic study I explored women’s somatic and sexual experiences, reception of breast self-examination (BSE) messages, and reactions to the practice of BSE. Mainstream BSE education uses messages that deemphasize the woman, her breasts, and her relationship to them as sexual. The turbid confluence of societally eroticized breasts and self-touch taboos makes it unlikely that women filter these messages in an asexual way. Using grounded theory, I examined women’s expression of the self–body relationship and the sociocultural milieu within which women consider BSE education materials. Seven subjects varying in age, sexual orientation, parenting, and relationship status were interviewed about their physical experiences, self-touch, and body image. Subjects also participated in a BSE class and focus group, and composed a journal entry describing their reactions to practicing BSE. Discernible patterns in somatic memories, somatic styles, and reactions to BSE educational messages were found. This stu...
International experience required: lessons from the Carlson School of Management

Purpose – This article aims to explore the implications of sending all undergraduate students abroad to study to assist international educators and their institutions whose goals are to increase student participation in study abroad. Design/methodology/approach – This case examines the Carlson School of Management experience, including internationalization efforts that led to the historic faculty vote, motivations, interdepartmental collaboration, successes, challenges and evaluation strategy. Findings – Findings include best practices and lessons learned, as well as preliminary learning outcomes. Originality/value – The case illustrates an innovative practice for undergraduate business education abroad as an example of the full integration of study abroad into the business curriculum.
Midtrimester pregnancy interruption and the placental progesterone levels

Placental progesterone contents were studied in 10 patients therapeutically aborted at midtrimester by intraamniotic infusions of hypertonic saline, and from 14 patients (12-20 weeks) aborted by intraamniotic instillation of prostaglandin F-2alpha. The mean S.E. of the progesterone was 1.99 plus or minus 0.07 ug/g. placental tissue in the first group, while with prostaglandin abortion the placental progesterone was 1.45 plus or minus 0.08 ug/g. tissue, which is significantly lower than the results in the first group (P equals 0.001). The possible mechanism of action of prostaglandin as an effective abortifacient is discussed.
Design considerations for mobile-to-mobile handoff in integrated services wireless networks

Current handoff techniques in integrated services wireless networks focus on the mobile-to-fixed node handoff and have not addressed issues regarding mobile-to-mobile handoff. Virtual connection extension based mobile-to-mobile handoff is a fast solution, but results in inefficient routes. Crossover switch based techniques provide better routes, but at the cost of call dropping during simultaneous handoff. We propose three crossover switch based techniques aimed at preventing call dropping due to disjointed connection and also improving the latency during handoff. Partial- rerouting/path-extension, which uses the features of mutual exclusion principle effectively, prevents call dropping and also invokes a route optimization phase. The route information based partial-rerouting/path-extension technique is aimed at preventing call dropping and also reducing handoff latency due to rerouting. Finally we propose a dynamic route information based technique that further reduces the handoff latency. A comparative evaluation of handoff latency and complexity of the proposed techniques with crossover switch based mobile-to-mobile handoff scheme is provided.
Characterization of Coke Formed in Vinyl Chloride Manufacture

Cokes formed at several locations in vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) manufacturing have been examined by chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), X-ray powder diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance infrared. Based on SEM micrographs, visual inspection, and chemical analysis, it appears that coke is formed by tar droplet formation in the cracking furnace and subsequent condensation and impingement on the pipe wall surfaces. Results suggest that coke is formed by a different mechanism in the 1,2-dichloroethane boiler. SEM results did not reveal the presence of filamentous coke, suggesting that surface metal-catalyzed coke formation via metal carbide intermediates does not occur. Metal surfaces become chlorided which may inhibit coke formation via carbide intermediates. Chemical analysis shows the presence of metals (Fe, Cr, and Ni), predominantly iron, throughout the coke samples. Mossbauer data indicate that iron is primarily present...
Three-dimensional location of fluorescent inhomogeneities in turbid media by scanning heterodyne holography.

We describe and illustrate experimentally a method aimed at the three-dimensional (3D) imaging of fluorescent inhomogeneities embedded in a turbid medium. The method utilizes incoherent scanning holography to capture 3D information in a single two-dimensional scan and phase-sensitive heterodyne detection to reject multiply scattered light and to produce a single-sideband holographic record. The 3D imaging capability of the method is illustrated by an example.
Nonlocal shift of coupled surface plasmon-surface optical phonon modes in a quantizing magnetic field

Abstract The frequency shift due to nonlocal contributions to the dielectric tensor is calculated to first order in wave vector for coupled surface magnetoplasmon-surface optical phonon modes in polar semiconductors in the nonretarded limit. The geometrical configuration of magnetic field perpendicular to the surface is considered. Results appropriate to n-InSb are presented.
Border contrast as a function of retinal locus

When the visibility of a small test spot was measured by direct brightness matching at various locations along the white edge of a black and white border, it was found that the white background was perceived as becoming progessively brighter as the border was approached. The effect was greater when a corner was neared. Moreover, greater effects, i.e., larger differences between the edge effect and base level (no border) were found at distances farther removed from the fovea (0 deg 12 min to 3 deg 52 min).
Biosynthesis and maturation of cellular membrane glycoproteins

The biosynthesis and the processing of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of cellular membrane glycoproteins were examined in monolayer cultures of BHK21 cells and human diploid fibroblasts after pulse- and pulse-chase labeling with [2-3H]mannose. After pronase digestion, radiolabeled glycopeptides were characterized by high-resolution gel filtration, with or without additional digestion with various exoglycosidases and endoglycosidases. Pulse-labeled glycoproteins contained a relatively homogenous population of neutral oligosaccharides (major species: Man9GlcNAc2ASN). The vast majority of these asparagine-linked oligosaccharides was smaller than the major fraction of lipid-linked oligosaccharides from the cell and was apparently devoid of terminal glucose. After pulse-chase or long labeling periods, a significant fraction of the large oligomannosyl cores was processed by removal of mannose units and addition of branch sugars (NeuNAc-Gal-GlcNAc), resulting in complex acidic structures containing three and possibly five mannoses. In addition, some of the large oligomannosyl cores were processed by the removal of only several mannoses, resulting in a mixture of neutral structures with 5-9 mannoses. This oligomannosyl core heterogeneity in both neutral and acidic oligosaccharides linked to asparagine in cellular membrane glycoproteins was analogous to the heterogeneity reported for the oligosaccharides of avian RNA tumor virus glycoproteins (Hunt LA, Wright SE, Etchison JR, Summers DF: J Virol 29:336, 1979).
Separation of tonoplast and plasma membrane potential and resistance in cells of oat coleoptiles

Membrane potential and resistance were recorded from parenchymal cells of oat (Avena) coleoptiles, using one and two intracellular electrodes. Membrane potential is largest (−100 mV) in impalements with low input resistance (2–4 MΩ), and is less negative (−50 mV) in penetrations with high input resistance (> 20 mΩ). The interpretation is that the electrode lodges in the vacuole which is positive to the cytoplasm (but still negative to the external solution), and that measurements of net membrane potential are compromised to varying degrees by leakage shunts introduced across the high resistance vacuolar membrane by the electrode. This conclusion is supported by several additional lines of evidence. (1) It is possible to convert large-R/small-V impalements into small-R/large-V penetrations by passing excess current through the electrode or by briefly ‘ringing’ the capacitance neutralization circuit in the amplifier. The cells usually recover their resistance in a few minutes, with a concomitant decrease in the negativity of the membrane potential. (2) Changes in external [K] affect the measuree potential by an amount that is independent of the input resistance of the impalement. This is consistent with an effect of [K] o on the potential of the plasma membrane and the occurrence of leakage shunts primarily at the tonoplast. (3) Quantitatively, the effects of a change in [K] o on resistance indicate that nearly 90 percent of the input resistance of unshunted cells resides in the tonoplast. (4) The effects of metabolic inhibitors (DNP, CN−) on potential are smaller in large-R than in small-R impalements. This observation suggests there are electrogenic pumps contributing to the membrane potential at both the plasmalemma and tonoplast. Finally, we conclude that with an electrode in the vacuole it is possible to record potentials that are dominated by the contribution of the plasma membrane, provided care is taken to select impalements combining both large, negative potential and low input resistance.
Kinetic analysis of the swimming behaviour of bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, exposed to copper: hypoactivity induced by sublethal concentrations

The concentration of copper which caused 50% mortality of bluegill in 96 h (96-h LC50) was between 4 and 16 ppm of the metal, copper. During the 6–8 day treatment period, sublethal concentrations of copper elicited a hypoactive locomotor response which was dependent on both concentration and time of exposure. Fish treated in 0.04, 0.08 and 0.4 ppm of copper were only 67, 61 and 44% as active, respectively, as they were prior to treatment. Locomotor activity decreased dramatically during the first 4 days of exposure to copper and remained low during further exposure.
Cooperative, dynamic Twitter parsing and visualization for dark network analysis

Developing a network based on Twitter data for social network analysis (SNA) is a common task in most academic domains. The need for real-time analysis is not as prevalent due to the fact that researchers are interested in the analysis of Twitter information after a major event or for an overall statistical or sociological study of general Twitter users. Dark network analysis is a specific field that focuses on criminal, terroristic, or people of interest networks in which evaluating information quickly and making decisions from this information is crucial. We propose a plaiform and visualization called Dynamic Twitter Network Analysis (DTNA) that incorporates real-time information from Twitter, its subsequent network topology, geographical placement of geotagged tweets on a Google Map, and storage for long-term analysis. The plaiform provides a SNA visualization that allows the user to interpret and change the search criteria quickly based on visual aesthetic properties built from key dark network utilities with a user interface that can be dynamic, up-to-date for time critical decisions and geographic specific.
Evolutionary dynamics over continuous action spaces for population games that arise from symmetric two-player games

Abstract Any absolutely continuous, piecewise smooth, symmetric two-player game can be extended to define a population game in which each player interacts with a large representative subset of the entire population. Assuming that players respond to the payoff gradient over a continuous action space, we obtain nonlinear integro-partial differential equations that are numerically tractable and sometimes analytically tractable. Economic applications include oligopoly, growth theory, and financial bubbles and crashes.
ColIb plasmid genes that inhibit the replication of T5 and T7 bacteriophage

Abstract The colicin Ib (ColIb) plasmid genes that inhibit the replication of the T5-like and T7 bacteriophage have been cloned on an ~7200-bp Cla I fragment and their sites relative to each other and to the colicin immunity ( imm ) gene have been mapped. The inhibition of wild-type T7 by the clone is shown to be caused by the same gene or genes ( pic ) that cause the inhibition of T7 kinase-negative mutants and is a different gene than the one that causes inhibition of T5 ( ibf or abi ). The pic gene does not hybridize to the pif genes of the F plasmid that also cause the replication of T7 to be inhibited. The abi gene and the pic gene map very closely together but are under the control of different promoters. The abi gene has a maximum size of 900 bp and lies approximately 3000 bp away from the immunity gene, distal to the colicin gene. A site which maps in or near the gene binds very tightly to Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. The pic gene or genes lie between the abi gene and the imm gene and are contiguous with abi . Promoters for pic have been mapped and hypotheses to explain the inhibition of T7 by a cloned gene but not the whole ColIb plasmid are presented.
Levels of herbivory and parasitism in host hybrid zones.

Hybrid zones often are intermediate in their habitat, and have individuals that are intermediate genetically to those of either parental species. Recently, a number of studies has addressed the distribution of herbivores and parasites in hybrid zones of their hosts. Mechanisms that underlie these distributions include behavioral, environmental and genotypic differences between hybrids and their parental species.
Sparse Signal Reconstruction from Quantized Noisy Measurements via GEM Hard Thresholding

We develop a generalized expectation-maximization (GEM) algorithm for sparse signal reconstruction from quantized noisy measurements. The measurements follow an underdetermined linear model with sparse regression coefficients, corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise having unknown variance. These measurements are quantized into bins and only the bin indices are used for reconstruction. We treat the unquantized measurements as the missing data and propose a GEM iteration that aims at maximizing the likelihood function with respect to the unknown parameters. Under mild conditions, our GEM iteration yields a convergent monotonically nondecreasing likelihood function sequence and the Euclidean distance between two consecutive GEM signal iterates goes to zero as the number of iterations grows. We compare the proposed scheme with the state-of-the-art convex relaxation method for quantized compressed sensing via numerical simulations.
Effects of stress and relaxation on capsaicin-induced pain.

Abstract A sizable body of research has been devoted to understanding the relationship between pain sensitivity and the psychological state of the individual. Considerable disagreement as to the direction of the association still exists. This study examines the effects of 2 experimental manipulations, cognitive/emotional stress and relaxation, on capsaicin-induced pain. Subjects were pretrained in relaxation and then randomized to experimental stress produced by a 20-minute Stroop test, relaxation (tape), or a control condition (neutral video), followed by a capsaicin injection in the forearm. Cardiovascular measures were taken at regular intervals, and cortisol, norepinephrine (NE), and self-reports of arousal (relaxation index) were taken immediately before and after the experimental task. The manipulation significantly interacted with sex to predict capsaicin-induced maximum pain. Women in the stress condition reported greater pain than both men in the stress condition and women in the relaxation condition. Pain was correlated negatively with task-induced changes in NE and cortisol and positively with self-reported arousal (decreased relaxation). However, separate analyses showed that some physiologic indexes of heightened arousal (increased blood pressure and NE) predicted lower pain only in men, whereas subjective increases in arousal predicted higher pain only in women. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that physiologic and self-reported arousal predicted pain independently and in opposite directions, and a model including both accounted for 56% of the overall variance. These findings suggest that a unidimensional model of arousal may be insufficient to explain the effects of stress on pain and that these effects operate differently in men and women. © 2001 by the American Pain Society
Measurement of non-maxwellian electron distribution functions in hot plasma and the importance for Thomson scattering diagnostics

Abstract Thomson scattering measurements show that non-Maxwellian electron distribution functions can occur in Tokamak plasma when the ratio of electron drift velocity to thermal velocity, ν D ν th , is ν D ν th ≳ 0.1 . Consequences for Thomson scattering diagnostics are discussed.
On the Nonmonotonicity of (|Im(zn)|)

Abstract We show that the sequence (|Im(zn)|) is never monotone when z is a non-real complex number, and (|Re(zn)|) is never monotone, unless z=reiπθ, where θ=k/m for some odd m, and r is sufficiently large or sufficiently small. Similar results hold for the length of the projection of zn onto any line through the origin.
Extent of myocardial fibrosis and cellular hypertrophy in dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract The distribution of fibrosis and cellular hypertrophy was studied in the hearts of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DC). Transmural sections were removed from the left and right ventricular free walls and the ventricular septum of 9 patients with heart failure and 6 control subjects. These sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (to determine cell size) and trichrome (to determine percent fibrosis). The sections were separated into equal areas from epicardium to endocardium in the free walls and right to left across the septum. Percent fibrosis was greater in patients with DC (20 ± 4%) than control subjects (4 ± 1%, p = 0.0001). A pattern of increasing fibrosis in the left ventricular free wall from epicardium (14 ± 6%) to endocardium (22 ± 9%, p
Evidence for positive selection in the C-terminal domain of the cholesterol metabolism gene PCSK9 based on phylogenetic analysis in 14 primate species.

Background Cholesterol homeostasis is maintained through finely tuned mechanisms regulating intestinal absorption, hepatic biosynthesis and secretion as well as plasma clearance. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a secreted enzyme of the serine protease family that reduces cellular uptake of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by promoting LDL receptor (LDL-R) degradation. Species-specific positive selection has been noted in the LDLR promoter, leading to differential expression of LDLR among primates. Whether PCSK9 experienced significant selective pressure to maintain a functional relationship with its target protein, LDL-R, is unknown. Methodology/principal findings We compiled the sequences of the coding regions of PCSK9 from 14 primate species in the clade of Hominoids, Old World monkeys and New World monkeys. To detect selective pressure at the protein level, the ratios of nonsynonymous/synonymous substitution rate (d(N)/d(S)) under different evolutionary models were calculated across the phylogeny of PCSK9. Maximum likelihood analyses of d(N)/d(S) ratios for the aligned coding region sequences among 14 primate species indicated that PCSK9 was subject to a strong functional constraint (i.e., purifying selection). However, positive selection was noted in the functional carboxyl-terminal (C-terminal) domain in many branches across the phylogeny, especially in the lineage leading to the orangutan. Furthermore, at least five positively selected amino acids were detected in this lineage using the branch-site model A. In a sliding-window analysis, several d(N)/d(S) peaks in the C-terminal domain in both the human and the orangutan branches were noted. Conclusions These results suggest that among primates, differential selective pressure has shaped evolutionary patterns in the functional domains of PCSK9, an important regulator of cholesterol homeostasis.
Repeated intracerebroventricular forskolin administration enhances behavioral sensitization to cocaine.

Abstract Repeated cocaine exposure produces behavioral sensitization expressed as an increased locomotor response to subsequent drug administration. Chronic cocaine administration also results in increased activity of adenylyl cyclase and cyclic-AMP (cAMP) dependent protein kinase (PKA) in the nucleus accumbens. To investigate the relationship between cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization and cAMP signaling, the present study examined the effect of forskolin, a direct adenylyl cyclase activator, on cocaine-induced hyperlocomotion and behavioral sensitization to cocaine. Rats were given intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of a water soluble form of forskolin (7DMB-forskolin) or vehicle 10 min prior to intraperitoneal (i.p.) cocaine or saline administration on 7 consecutive days. Acute or chronic forskolin alone had no effect on locomotor activity at the doses tested. On days 1 and 2, the activity of rats that received ICV forskolin paired with cocaine was not significantly different from rats that received ICV injections of vehicle co-administered with cocaine. By the third day of forskolin/cocaine co-administration, rats displayed enhanced cocaine-induced hyperlocomotor activity compared to rats that received cocaine alone, an effect that persisted through day 7. When challenged with cocaine on day 14, animals that had previously received forskolin paired with cocaine on days 1–7 displayed similar locomotor activity to animals that received cocaine only. These results suggest that alterations in adenylyl cyclase activity and/or cAMP levels may underlie the hyperlocomotor response to cocaine and may play a role in behavioral sensitization.
AN EXTENDED SCHWARZ‐CHRISTOFFEL TRANSFORMATION FOR NUMERICAL MAPPING OF POLYGONS WITH CURVED SEGMENTS

An extension of the Schwarz‐Christoffel transformation is described to formally map polygons which contain curved boundaries. The curved boundaries are divided into small ‘curved elements’ and each element is approximated by a second degree polynomial (higher degree polynomials can also be used). The iterative algorithm of evaluating the unknown constants of the basic S‐C transformation described in a companion paper is applied to the extended S‐C transformation to compute its unknown constants, including the coefficients of the polynomials. Excellent results are achieved as far as accuracy and convergence are concerned. Examples including a practical application, are provided. The mapping of curved polygons is important because they provide a better model of a physical device.
Using symbolic execution to aid automatic test data generation

It is shown how symbolic execution is used to solve the internal variable problem in the Godzilla test data generator. In constraint-based testing, which is used by the system, the internal variable problem appears when the constraints that specify the test cases contain internal variables. The necessary background is developed by describing the constraint systems used by Godzilla and by discussing symbolic execution in general terms. The application of symbolic execution to the internal variable problem is presented. The discussion focuses on the software used, including algorithmic details. Following this, a practical example of using this system to detect a fault in a small program is presented. >
Rapid adaptive down regulation of oxidative burst induced by high dextrose in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Abstract To determine whether hyperglycemia-induced increase in oxidative burst undergoes adaptive changes, the time course of superoxide (SO) production in human umbilical vein endothelial cells treated with 13.75mM (D250) or 27.5mM dextrose (D500) was measured using the hydroethidine (HE) fluorescence method. The rate of SO production (mean±S.D., in arbitrary units) in cells treated with D500 during the first hour (0.758±0.367) or with D250 (0.618±0.126) was significantly higher than the rate observed in control cells treated with 100mg/dl dextrose, (D100; 0.474±0.125) ( P P
Effects of Social Bonding in Business-to-Business Relationships

This study investigates the social relationship between buyers’ key contact employees and sellers’ key contact employees in business-to-business marketing relationships in service industries. We specifically examine the impact of social bonding on the buyer's (a) loyalty toward the seller, (b) trust in the seller, (c) satisfaction with the seller, and (d) perceptions of the service quality provided by the seller while controlling for structural and economic bonds. To address this question, we use embeddedness theory, social exchange theory, marketing exchange theory, and attribution theory. Using partial least squares analysis, we demonstrate that when structural and economic bonds were controlled, social bonds significantly impacted the buyer's loyalty, trust, and satisfaction toward the seller and the buyer's perceptions of the seller's service quality.
Baseline computed tomography changes and clinical outcome after thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator in acute ischemic stroke.

Objective. Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is the only therapy of proven value for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Controversy exists with regard to the prognostic significance of early computed tomography (CT) changes in patients receiving rt-PA for AIS. The authors retrospectively reviewed all cases of AIS who received intravenous rt-PA for AIS in University of South Alabama hospitals between January 1996 and May 1999. A neuroradiologist, blinded to clinical outcomes, reviewed all baseline CT scans for the presence of the following signs: hyperdense middle cerebral artery (HMCA), loss of gray-white differentiation (LGWD), insular ribbon sign (IRS), parenchymal hypodensity (PH), and sulcal effacement (SE). Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was recorded 90 days after thrombolysis, and clinical outcome was dichotomized as favorable (0–1) or unfavorable (2–6). The authors performed both univariate and multivariate analyses to investigate the relationship between early CT signs, baseline clinical variables, and functional outcome as measured by the 90-day mRS scores. Any one early CT finding was detected in 23 (64%) patients. The frequency of specific findings were as follows: SE in 13 patients (36%), LGWD in 12 patients (33%), PH in 9 patients (25%), HMCA in 4 patients (11%), and IRS in 3 patients (8%) patients. There was no statistically significant association between the occurrence of these imaging findings and subsequent functional outcome after thrombolysis. The data suggest that the presence of subtle acute CT changes in AIS patients is not predictive of clinical outcome following administration of rt-PA as per National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke protocol.
Oil production by a consortium of oleaginous microorganisms grown on primary effluent wastewater

BACKGROUND: Municipal wastewater could be a potential growth medium that has not been considered for cultivating oleaginous microorganisms. This study is designed to determine if a consortium of oleaginous microorganism can successfully compete for carbon and other nutrients with the indigenous microorganisms contained in primary effluent wastewater. RESULTS: The oleaginous consortium inoculated with indigenous microorganisms reached stationary phase within 24 h, reaching a maximum cell concentration of 0.58 g L−1. Water quality post-oleaginous consortium growth reached a maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction of approximately 81%, supporting the consumption of the glucose within 8 h. The oleaginous consortium increased the amount of oil produced per gram by 13% compared with indigenous microorganisms in raw wastewater. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results show a substantial population increase in bacteria within the first 24 h when the consortium is inoculated into raw wastewater. CONCLUSION: This result, along with the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) results, suggests that conditions tested were not sufficient for the oleaginous consortium to compete with the indigenous microorganisms. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry
The Lalapalooziation of American youth

(1994). The Lalapalooziation of American youth. Popular Music and Society: Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 69-89.
Costing the earth.

The value of biodiversity must be accounted for, says Pavan Sukhdev. It is time for governments to invest to secure the flow of nature's 'public goods'. This week's Nature is the third of three special issues (previously 20 November 2008 and 12 February 2009) marking the Darwin bicentenary. The theme is biodiversity and how to preserve it. Though still endangered, the golden lion tamarin is a conservation success story in an area where successes are rare: with re-introductions and efforts to preserve its Brazilian forest habitat, the population of the primate has been stabilized. The ecosystem services approach exemplified by the 1997 Nature review by Robert Costanza and colleagues, which puts a value on everything including biodiversity, is seen by many as a key to encouraging conservation: Gretchen Daily, a leading proponent, is optimistic. In an Opinion piece, Pavan Sukhdev puts the case for governmental investment in environmental services, with biodiversity properly costed as part of the broader picture. Taxonomists use part of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase gene as a 'DNA bar code': more controversially, Dan Mishmar and colleagues propose that the bar code is not just a useful handle on the relatedness of species but a driver of diversity. With the Copenhagen conference looming, Will Turner, Michael Oppenheimer and David Wilcove explain how natural ecosystems and biodiversity can mitigate climate change. Robert Smith and colleagues stress the importance of local agencies — as opposed to NGOs and incomers — in setting biodiversity goals. The best biodiversity data set we have is provided by palaeontologists: Douglas Erwin thinks they could do more with it though, by adopting the techniques used by physicists. For a listing of all Darwin-related content from this issue, see the Editorial. All of this content, plus web-only material, is available at http://www.nature.com/darwin .
Current and future entry-level IT workforce needs in organizations

The IS discipline is under scrutiny. Most IS academic programs are struggling to reverse recent declining enrollment trends. At the same time, the nature of entry-level IS positions is changing. Thirteen IS executives were interviewed to learn their views on the state of the entry-level IS job market and what skills today's IS graduates lack most. Findings indicate programming skills are still needed, and project management skills are both highly desired and lacking. Other soft skills, such as communications skills, business knowledge, and leadership skills are also desired and, like project management, projected to increase in importance.
Treating chemistry in combustion with detailed mechanisms—In situ adaptive tabulation in principal directions—Premixed combustion

A new method to treat chemical reactions in combustion problems with detailed mechanisms is developed. The method is called in situ adaptive tabulation in principal directions (ISATPD). The tabulation is done in situ during combustion calculations and is made in the first few principal directions of the composition space. The integration of the governing equations of chemical reactions is made using detailed mechanisms. Test calculations of the premixed pairwise mixing stirred reactor (PPMSR) are performed for methane/air combustion with a skeletal mechanism consisting of 16 species and 40 reactions, and for natural gas combustion with the GRI 2.11 mechanism consisting of 49 species and 279 reactions. Results show that this method has excellent accuracy (for all species) and efficiency. A speedup in performing chemistry of 1,665 is obtained for the methane/air combustion system with the skeletal mechanism. The speedup will increase as the calculation continues since less integrations will be performed.
ΔNp73 Facilitates Cell Immortalization and Cooperates with Oncogenic Ras in Cellular Transformation In Vivo

TP73, despite significant homology to TP53, is not a classic tumor suppressor gene, since it exhibits upregulation of nonmutated products in human tumors and lacks a tumor phenotype in p73-deficient mice. We recently reported that an N-terminally truncated isoform, ΔNp73, is upregulated in breast and gynecological cancers. We further showed that ΔNp73 is a potent transdominant inhibitor of wild-type p53 and TAp73 in cultured human tumor cells by efficiently counteracting their target gene transactivations, apoptosis, and growth suppression functions (A. I. Zaika et al., J. Exp. Med. 6:765-780, 2002). Although these data strongly suggest oncogenic properties of ΔNp73, this can only be directly shown in primary cells. We report here that ΔNp73 confers resistance to spontaneous replicative senescence of primary mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) and immortalizes MEFs at a 1,000-fold-higher frequency than occurs spontaneously. ΔNp73 cooperates with cMyc and E1A in promoting primary cell proliferation and colony formation and compromises p53-dependent MEF apoptosis. Importantly, ΔNp73 rescues Ras-induced senescence. Moreover, ΔNp73 cooperates with oncogenic Ras in transforming primary fibroblasts in vitro and in inducing MEF-derived fibrosarcomas in vivo in nude mice. Wild-type p53 is likely a major target of ΔNp73 inhibition in primary fibroblasts since deletion of p53 or its requisite upstream activator ARF abrogates the growth-promoting effect of ΔNp73. Taken together, ΔNp73 behaves as an oncogene that targets p53 that might explain why ΔNp73 upregulation may be selected for during tumorigenesis of human cancers.
Sociological Explanations for Student Problems

This research describes the conceptual orientation of a sample of practicing school counselors and counselors in training. It looks specifically and comparatively at a set of competing approaches drawn from neo-Freudian and sociological thinking. The data suggest that counselors are influenced by both sets of ideas, but certain notions appear to predominate in specific hypothetical situations.
Maya Angelou: Writing the “black voice”; for the multicultural community

This paper provides a rhetorical analysis of Maya Angelou's inauguration poem, by applying the feminist framework for analysis outlined by Karen and Sonja Foss. The inclusion of Angelou's poem in a presidential inauguration represents one of the first attempts on the part of a national political party to incorporate, rather than minimize, the multicultural community and the influence of culture, class, and gender on the traditional conception of the American Dream.
The singular cases for g-spline interpolation

Abstract We derive a natural extension of Boehm's free-form γ-spline, the G2 interpolating γ-spline. Primarily, the conditions under which singularities in the spline formulation occur are investigated. Also, the effect that these singularities have on the interpolant are studied. Comparisons are made to the behavior of the interpolating ν-spline.
Assembly and crystallization of a T = 1 icosahedral particle from trypsinized southern bean mosaic virus coat protein.

Abstract The N-terminal 61 amino acid residues of the coat protein of southern bean mosaic virus were removed by mild trypsinolysis, resulting in a 22,000 MW fragment, P22. In the absence of nucleic acid, the cleaved protein could be assembled into 175 A diameter, T = 1, spherical particles. These particles were formed between pH 4 and 7, at low ionic strength (I ≦ 0.01), and also between pH 8 and 11 when Ca2+ ions were present. Mg2+ ions had no effect on the assembly of these spheres. The T = 1 particles, assembled with Ca2+ ion, were crystallized by vapor diffusion in ammonium sulfate at pH 9.4. The cubic crystals diffracted to at least 4 A resolution. The three particles in the P23 unit cell contained 222 crystallographic symmetry.
Verification of electronic systems

The complexity of electronic systems is rapidly reaching a point where it will be impossible to verify correctness of the design without introducing a verification-aware discipline in the design process. Even though computers and design tools have made important advances, the use of these tools in the commonly practised design methodology is not enough to address the design correctness problem since verification is almost always an after-thought in the mind of the designer. A design methodology should on one hand put to good use all techniques and methods developed thus far for verification, from formal verification to simulation, from visualization to timing analysis, but should also have specific conceptual devices for dealing with correctness in the face of complexity. This paper is organized as follows: we review the available verification tools. Formalization is investigated in several contexts. Abstraction is presented with a set of examples. Decomposition is introduced. Finally a design methodology that includes all these aspects is proposed.
Evaluation of the Accuracy of Medical Tests in a Region around the Optimal Point

Rationale and Objectives The accuracy of medical tests is often assessed using the area under the entire receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. However, this includes values that might be of no clinical importance. Evaluation of a portion of the curve, or a single point, requires identifying a range of clinical interest, which may not be obvious. The author suggests evaluating the accuracy of medical tests in the vicinity of the optimal point. Materials and Methods Assuming binormality, the author estimated the optimal threshold as the value that maximizes the generalized Youden index. The confidence interval around the optimal point defined a region of clinical interest; the accuracy of the medical test was assessed using the partial area index (PAI) and standardized partial area (sPA). Bootstrapping was used to estimate variances and construct confidence intervals. Coverage probabilities for the PAI and sPA were assessed, as was the size of the test to compare measures. An example using biomechanical measures from radiographic images of the pelvis and lumbar spine to detect disk hernia and spondylolisthesis is presented. Results Coverage probabilities of confidence intervals for the partial area measures were good. The size of the test to compare partial area measures was appropriate. Values of PAI and sPA varied with the cost/prevalence ratio. In the example, the biomechanical measures were not found to have significantly different accuracy around the optimal point. Conclusions The PAI and sPA associated with the optimal point were found to be reasonable and useful measures of accuracy.