cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of extremes of prepregnancy BMI with the clinical presentations of preterm birth.

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine associations between the prepregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) across the 3 clinical presentations of preterm birth (PTB). Study Design We conducted a retrospective cohort study of the records of 11,726 women. The World Health Organization International Classification was used to categorize BMI. The primary outcome of the study was PTB ( P Results We found (1) a significant increase in the overall incidence of PTB at the extremes of BMI, (2) a higher risk for PTB from spontaneous preterm labor at the lower extremes (low plus moderate thinness) of BMI (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4–4.2; P = .003), (3) a higher risk for preterm premature rupture of the membranes at the upper extremes (obese class II plus III) of BMI (aOR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1–2.3; P = .02), and (4) a higher risk for a medically indicated PTB at the lower (aOR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.4–5.6; P = .004) and upper (aOR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1–2.2; P = .02) extreme of BMI. Conclusion Women at the extremes of prepregnancy BMI are at risk for PTB.
A Discrete Probability Function Method for the Equation of Radiative Transfer

A discrete probability function (DPF) method for the equation of radiative transfer is derived. The DPF is defined as the integral of the probability density function (PDF) over a discrete interval. The derivation allows the evaluation of the PDF of intensities leaving desired radiation paths including turbulence-radiation interactions without the use of computer intensive stochastic methods. The DPF method has a distinct advantage over conventional PDF methods since the creation of a partial differential equation from the equation of transfer is avoided. Further, convergence of all moments of intensity is guaranteed at the basic level of simulation unlike the stochastic method where the number of realizations for convergence of higher order moments increases rapidly. The DPF method is described for a representative path with approximately integral-length scale-sized spatial discretization. The results show good agreement with measurements in a propylene/air flame except for the effects of intermittency resulting from highly correlated realizations. The method can be extended to the treatment of spatial correlations as described in the Appendix. However, information regarding spatial correlations in turbulent flames is needed prior to the execution of this extension.
Ceramic Matrix Composite Vane Subelement Fabrication

Vane subelements were fabricated from a silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix (SiC/SiC) composite and were coated with an environmental barrier coating (EBC). In order to address realistic critical design features of a turbine airfoil, the vane subelement cross section was derived from an existing production aircraft engine vane. A new fabrication technique has been developed at NASA Glenn Research Center that enables ceramic composite vanes to be constructed using stoichiometric SiC fiber in the form of a two dimensional cloth. A unique woven cloth configuration was used to provide a sharp trailing edge with continuous fiber reinforcement. Fabrication of vanes with a sharp trailing edge was considered to be one of the more challenging features for fabricating a ceramic composite vane. The vanes were densified through the chemical vapor infiltration/slurry cast/silicon melt-infiltration process. Both NDE inspection and metallographic examinations revealed that the final as-fabricated composite quality of the vanes was consistent with that typically obtained for the same composite material fabricated into flat panels. Two vane configurations were fabricated. One consisted of a thin wall (1.5 mm) shell with a continuously reinforced sharp trailing edge. The second vane configuration included a reinforcing web bridging the pressure and suction-side vane walls and the same reinforced sharp trailing edge. This paper will discuss the vane fabrication and characterization efforts.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Identification of genomic regions affecting plant height in sorghum and maize.

The objective of this study was to use restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) to determine the genetic location and effects of genomic regions controlling plant height in sorghum. F2 plants (152) from the cross CK60 x PI229828 were used. Genomic and cDNA clones (106) identified 111 loci distributed among ten linkage groups covering 1299 cM. Interval mapping identified four regions, each in a separate linkage group. These regions may correspond to loci (dw) previously identified by alleles with qualitative effects. Also, these regions identified in sorghum may be orthologous to those previously reported for plant height in maize. Gene effects and gene action varied among genomic regions. In each region, PI229828 alleles resulted in increased plant height. Each region accounted for 9.2–28.7% of the phenotypic variation. Positive, additive effects ranged from 15 to 32cm. Tallness was dominant or overdominant and conferred by alleles from PI229828 for three quantitative trait loci (QTL). At the fourth QTL, PI229828 contributed to increased plant height, but short stature was partially dominant. One digenic interaction was significant. The presence of a PI229828 allele at one region diminished the effects of the other region. A multiple model indicated that these four regions collectively accounted for 63.4% of the total phenotypic variation. The utility of this information for germplasm conversion through backcross breeding is discussed.
Estimation of cirrus and stratus cloud heights using Landsat imagery

Abstract A new method based upon high-spatial-resolution imagery is presented that matches cloud and shadow regions to estimate cirrus and stratus cloud heights. The distance between the cloud and the matching shadow pattern is accomplished using the 2D cross-correlation function from which the cloud height is derived. The distance between the matching cloud-shadow patterns is verified manually. The derived heights also are validated through comparison with a temperature-based retrieval of cloud height. It is also demonstrated that an estimate of cloud thickness can be retrieved if both the sunside and antisunside of the cloud-shadow pair are apparent. The technique requires some intepretation to determine the cloud height level retrieved (i.e., the top, base, or mid-level). It is concluded that the method is accurate to within several pixels, equivalent to cloud height variations of about ±250 m. The results show that precise placement of the templates is unnecessary, so that the development of a semiaut...
Simvastatin enhances bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II expression

Statins confer therapeutic benefits in systemic and pulmonary vascular diseases. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptors serve essential signaling functions in cardiovascular development and skeletal morphogenesis. Mutations in BMP receptor type II (BMPR2) are associated with human familial and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, and pathologic neointimal proliferation of vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells within small pulmonary arteries. In severe experimental pulmonary hypertension, simvastatin reversed disease and conferred a 100% survival advantage. Here, modulation of BMPR2 gene expression by simvastatin is characterized in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T, pulmonary artery smooth muscle, and lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMVECs). A 1.4 kb BMPR2 promoter containing Egr-1 binding sites confers reporter gene activation in 293T cells which is partially inhibited by simvastatin. Simvastatin enhances steady-state BMPR2 mRNA and protein expression in HLMVEC, through posttranscriptional mRNA stabilization. Simvastatin induction of BMPR2 expression may improve BMP-BMPR2 signaling thereby enhancing endothelial differentiation and function.
Phosphorylation of Ser28 in Histone H3 Mediated by Mixed Lineage Kinase-like Mitogen-activated Protein Triple Kinase α

The mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades elicit modification of chromatin proteins such as histone H3 by phosphorylation concomitant with gene activation. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the mixed lineage kinase-like mitogen-activated protein triple kinase (MLTK)-α phosphorylates histone H3 at Ser28. MLTK-α but neither a kinase-negative mutant of MLTK-α nor MLTK-β interacted with and phosphorylated histone H3 in vivo and in vitro. When overexpressed in 293T or JB6 Cl41 cells, MLTK-α phosphorylated histone H3 at Ser28 but not at Ser10. The interaction between MLTK-α and histone H3 was enhanced by stimulation with ultraviolet B light (UVB) or epidermal growth factor (EGF), which resulted in the accumulation of MLTK-α in the nucleus. UVB- or EGF-induced phosphorylation of histone H3 at Ser28 was not affected by PD 98059, a MEK inhibitor, or SB 202190, a p38 kinase inhibitor, in MLTK-α-overexpressing JB6 Cl41 cells. Significantly, UVB- or EGF-induced phosphorylation of histone H3 at Ser28 was blocked by small interfering RNA of MLTK-α. The inhibition of histone H3 phosphorylation at Ser28 in the MLTK-α knock-down JB6 Cl41 cells was not due to a defect in mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase 1 or 90-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase (p90RSK) activity. In summary, these results illustrate that MLTK-α plays a key role in the UVB- and EGF-induced phosphorylation of histone H3 at Ser28, suggesting that MLTK-α might be a new histone H3 kinase at the level of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinases.
Comparison of the physicochemical properties of uterine nuclear estrogen receptors bound to estradiol or 4-hydroxytamoxifen.

We have compared the physicochemical properties of rat uterine nuclear estrogen receptors (ER) labeled with (E2) or the high affinity antiestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen [OH Tarn; l-[4-(2-dimethylaminoethoxy)phenyl]-l-(4-hydroxyphen-yl)2-phenyl-but-l-(Z)ene]. Nuclear ER labeled in vivo with either ligand had sedimentation rates of 4.5–5S and mol wt (calculated from sedimentation coefficients and Stokes radii) of about 80,000. The 3S and 4S forms labeled by in vitro exchange with [3H]E2 or [3H]0H Tarn, respectively, had mol wt of 31,000 and 50,000. Based on apparent Kd values, numbers of binding sites per uterus, and dissociation kinetics, the ligand-binding sites of the nuclear E2- arid OH Tam-ER complexes could not be distinguished. An appreciable proportion (25–75%) of 4.5–5S estrogen- or antiestrogen-ER complexes were retained on DNAcellulose columns and were eluted with 0.21 M KC1, while the 3S and 4S forms had lost the DNA-binding site. Nuclear ER bound to E2 or OH Tam were differentially sensitive to pr...
Evidence from alkali-metal NMR spectroscopy for ion pairing in alkaline silicate solutions

Interactions between alkali-metal cations and silicate anions in silicate solutions were investigated by cation NMR spectroscopy. The concentration of cation-anion pairs was determined from the chemical shift and the resonance line widths. The concentration of ion pairs involving large anions increases with increasing cation size. For silicate solutions in which there is a distribution in cation size, the concentration of ion pairs exhibits a maximum with increasing cation size. This maximum is interpreted in terms of the selectivity of ion-pairing reactions.
Explaining the periodic table, and the role of chemical triads

Some recent work in mathematical chemistry is discussed. It is claimed that quantum mechanics does not provide a conclusive means of classifying certain elements like hydrogen and helium into their appropriate groups. An alternative approach using atomic number triads is proposed and the validity of this approach is defended in the light of some predictions made via an information theoretic approach that suggests a connection between nuclear structure and electronic structure of atoms.
Relativity Theory and Time Perception: Single or Multiple Clocks?

Background Current theories of interval timing assume that humans and other animals time as if using a single, absolute stopwatch that can be stopped or reset on command. Here we evaluate the alternative view that psychological time is represented by multiple clocks, and that these clocks create separate temporal contexts by which duration is judged in a relative manner. Two predictions of the multiple-clock hypothesis were tested. First, that the multiple clocks can be manipulated (stopped and/or reset) independently. Second, that an event of a given physical duration would be perceived as having different durations in different temporal contexts, i.e., would be judged differently by each clock. Methodology/principal findings Rats were trained to time three durations (e.g., 10, 30, and 90 s). When timing was interrupted by an unexpected gap in the signal, rats reset the clock used to time the "short" duration, stopped the "medium" duration clock, and continued to run the "long" duration clock. When the duration of the gap was manipulated, the rats reset these clocks in a hierarchical order, first the "short", then the "medium", and finally the "long" clock. Quantitative modeling assuming re-allocation of cognitive resources in proportion to the relative duration of the gap to the multiple, simultaneously timed event durations was used to account for the results. Conclusions/significance These results indicate that the three event durations were effectively timed by separate clocks operated independently, and that the same gap duration was judged relative to these three temporal contexts. Results suggest that the brain processes the duration of an event in a manner similar to Einstein's special relativity theory: A given time interval is registered differently by independent clocks dependent upon the context.
Analysis of application-specific broadcast reliability for vehicle safety communications

Broadcasting is the primary way of exchanging time-sensitive information in VANETs. However, contiguous loss of broadcasts among vehicles may lead to situations where a vehicle has not heard from a neighbor for extensive periods of time. The goal of this work is to provide an analysis of this invisible neighbor problem and the impact the selected transmission range and packet generation rate of a vehicle have on the occurrences of this problem. Specifically, this work studies this problem in the context of application-specific safety requirements, i.e., the goal is to minimize the number of invisible neighbors within a certain region of interest (ROI), whose size depends on the type of safety application. Extensive simulation results indicate that the combination of relatively large transmission ranges and small packet generation rates (e.g., 2-4 packets/s) lead to the lowest number of invisible neighbors.
View and index selection for query-performance improvement: quality-centered algorithms and heuristics

Selecting and precomputing indexes and materialized views, with the goal of improving query-processing performance, is an important part of database-performance tuning. The significant complexity of the view- and index-selection problem may result in high total cost of ownership for database systems. In this paper, we develop efficient methods that deliver user-specified quality of the set of selected views and indexes when given view- and index-based plans as problem inputs. Here, quality means proximity to the globally optimum performance for the input query workload given the input query plans. Our experimental results and comparisons on synthetic and benchmark instances demonstrate the competitiveness of our approach and show that it provides a winning combination with end-to-end view- and index-selection frameworks such as those of [1, 2].
The construction of an iterative fractional scheme: the case of Joe

Abstract In his paper on A New Hypothesis Concerning Children’s Fractional Knowledge , Steffe (2002) demonstrated through the case study of Jason and Laura how children might construct their fractional knowledge through reorganization of their number sequences. He described the construction of a new kind of number sequence that we refer to as a connected number sequence (CNS). A CNS can result from the application of a child’s explicitly nested number sequence, ENS (Steffe, L. P. (1992). Learning and Individual Differences, 4 (3), 259–309; Steffe, L. P. (1994). Children’s multiplying schemes. In: G. Harel, & J. Confrey (Eds.), (pp. 3–40); Steffe, L. P. (2002). Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 102 , 1–41) in the context of continuous quantities. It requires the child to incorporate a notion of unit length into the abstract unit items of their ENS. Connected numbers were instantiated by the children within the context of making number-sticks using the computer tool TIMA: sticks. Steffe conjectured that children who had constructed a CNS might be able to use their multiplying schemes to construct composite unit fractions. (In the context of number-sticks a composite unit fraction could be a 3-stick as 1/8 of a 24-stick.) In the case of Jason and Laura, his conjecture was not confirmed. Steffe attributed the constraints that Jason and Laura experienced as possibly stemming from their lack of a splitting operation for composite units . In this paper we shall demonstrate, using the case study of Joe, how a child might construct the splitting operation for composite units, and how such a child was able to not only confirm Steffe’s conjecture concerning composite unit fractions, but also give support to our reorganization hypothesis by constructing an iterative fractional scheme (and consequently, a fractional connected number sequence ( FCNS )) as a reorganization of his ENS.
On the security of Y-00 under fast correlation and other attacks on the key

The security of the Y-00 direct encryption protocol under correlation attack is addressed. A Y-00 configuration that is more secure than AES under known-plaintext attack is presented. It is shown that under any ciphertext-only attack, full information-theoretic security on the Y-00 seed key is obtained for any encryption box ENC with proper deliberate signal randomization.
Lucio and the balanced structure of measure for measure

Ressources esthetiques des phenomenes de symetrie dans la piece de S. - notamment a travers les personnages de Lucio et Angelo.
Economic Transformation in Russia and China: Two Comments on A Comparison

Two prominent Western observers of the economic transition and development in Russia and China evaluate and supplement the preceding paper (Malle, 2008), which compares the two economies by tracing their evolution from central planning to market-oriented systems. While in general supporting and agreeing with the premise of the comparative analysis presented in that paper, albeit pointing out some instances of disagreement, the authors add observations on the preconditions and structural differences between the countries, on the political context and framework of the transitions, as well as benchmarks for measuring China's success, and reasoned observations on the latter country's policies and sustainable growth.
Graded fibronectin receptor aggregation in migrating cells

We have examined the distribution of the integrin fibronectin receptor in migrating NIH 3T3 fibroblasts to test the hypothesis that cell locomotion involves regional differences of adhesive receptor aggregation. A distinct asymmetry of fibronectin receptor aggregation was observed on the surface of migrating NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Direct current electric fields were used to stimulate directional cell migration and thus allow the quantitative correlation of receptor asymmetries to the direction of cell locomotion. Digital particle analysis of fluorescent confocal micrographs demonstrates that the leading half of cells has a higher proportion of receptors contained in small clusters than does the trailing half. Conversely, larger receptor aggregates are more prevalent in the rear of the cell than in the front. We have also observed a gradient of extracellular fibronectin fibril assembly, similar to that described for the fibronectin receptor. Extracellular fibronectin appears in progressively larger fibrils across the ventral cell surface from front to rear, with dense meshworks often deposited as a trail behind the cell. Large fibronectin receptor clusters toward the rear of the cell generally do not correlate with focal contacts, and are thus most likely aggregated by cell surface-bound fibronectin fibrils and not by adhesion to the substratum. These results suggest that spatial variations in the degree of adhesive receptor aggregation are created in fibroblasts during the processes of migration and matrix synthesis.
Implications for geothermometry of aluminum substitution in quartz from Kings Mountain, North Carolina

The aluminum concentration of quartz from contact-metamorphosed, Al2SiO5 bearing quartzite at King's Mountain, North Carolina shows a regular variation with distance from an intrusive contact. Presumably this is the result of temperature-dependent solubility of aluminum in quartz, but critical comparison of these results with other recently published data shows that detailed calibration of this geothermometer has not yet been achieved.
Real-time FPGA architecture of modified Stable Euler-Number algorithm for image binarization

The Stable Euler-Number based image binarization gives excellent visual results for video frames containing high amount of image noise. Being computationally expensive, its implementations are limited to general purpose processors for the most cost-effective solution or in application specific integrated circuits for maximum performance. This paper proposes a modified Stable Euler-Number based algorithm for image binarization and its real-time hardware implementation in a Field Programmable Gate Array with a pipelined architecture. The end result is a design that out-performs known software implementations while keeping the amount of noisy pixels introduced during the binarization process to a minimum. The hardware implementation results show that the proposed architecture gives accurate results compared to the software implementation.
ICP0 gene expression is a herpes simplex virus type 1 apoptotic trigger.

Apoptosis is a highly regulated programmed cell death process which is activated during normal development and by various stimuli, such as viral infection, which disturb cellular metabolism and physiology. That herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) induces apoptosis but then prevents its killing of infected cells is well-established. However, little is known about the viral factor/event which triggers the apoptotic process. We previously reported that infections with either (i) a temperature-sensitive virus at its nonpermissive temperature which does not inject viral DNA into nuclei or (ii) various UV-inactivated wild-type viruses do not result in the induction of apoptosis (C. M. Sanfilippo, F. N. W. Chirimuuta, and J. A. Blaho, J. Virol. 78:224-239, 2004). This indicates that virus receptor binding/attachment to cells, membrane fusion, virion disassembly/tegument dispersal, virion RNAs, and capsid translocation to nuclei are not responsible for induction and implicates viral immediate-early (IE) gene expression in the process. Here, we systematically evaluated the contribution of each IE gene to the stimulation of apoptosis. Using a series of viruses individually deleted for α27, α4, and α22, we determined that these genes are not required for apoptosis induction but rather that their products play roles in its prevention, likely through regulatory effects. Sole expression of α0 acted as an “apoptoxin” that was necessary and sufficient to trigger the cell death cascade. Importantly, results using a recombinant virus which contains a stop codon in α0 showed that it was not the ICP0 protein which acted as the apoptotic inducer. Based on these findings, we propose that α0 gene expression acts as an initial inducer of apoptosis during HSV-1 infection. This represents the first description of apoptosis induction in infected cells triggered as a result of expression of a single viral gene. Expression of apoptotic viral genes is a unique mechanism through which human pathogens may modulate interactions with their host cells.
Electromagnetic wave scattering by small bodies

A reduction of the Maxwell's system to a Fredholm second-kind integral equation with weakly singular kernel is given for electromagnetic (EM) wave scattering by one and many small bodies. This equation is solved asymptotically as the characteristic size of the bodies tends to zero. The technique developed is used for solving the many-body EM wave scattering problem by rigorously reducing it to solving linear algebraic systems, completely bypassing the usage of integral equations. An equation is derived for the effective field in the medium, in which many small particles are embedded. A method for creating a desired refraction coefficient is outlined.
VIBRATION AND FLUTTER OF ADVANCED COIIPOSITE LIFTING SURFACES

This paper d iscusses the potential effects of composite material laminate tailoring on the vibration and flutter of moderate-to-high a spect ratio wings. Three stiffness models, including elastic cross-coupling, are discussed and compared. Chordwise flexibility is shown to be important to the correct determination of stiffness properties. Laminate ply orientation is shown to provide equivalent sweepback or sweepforward of node lines associated with free vibration. Ply o rientation is also shown to enhance flutter characteristics of wings, but may also sensitize the wing to changes in c.g. location and may even trigger body freedom flutter.
Pediatric provider’s perspectives on the transition to adult health care for youth with autism spectrum disorder: Current strategies and promising new directions:

Few youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) nationally report receiving services to help them transition from the pediatric health care system to the adult health care system. For example, only one-fifth (21.1%) of youth with ASD receive any transition planning services. To better understand why the transition from pediatric to adult health care is so difficult, we interviewed pediatric health care providers with extensive experience serving youth with ASD. We gathered information about the strategies and interventions they use to transition their patients with ASD to an adult provider. Five interventions or strategies are currently being used. These include providing families with written medical summaries to give to adult providers, compiling lists of available adult providers or community resources, coordinating care and communication between individual pediatric and adult providers, making transition-specific appointments, and using checklists to track transition progress. Other interventions or strategies were identified as needed but not currently in practice, and these focused on education and training. For example, informational workshops were suggested to train families and youth about transition. Training adult providers and medical students was also seen as important. Several respondents additionally identified the need for a transition center where all services could be coordinated in one place. With large numbers of youth with ASD becoming young adults, it seems that pediatric practices might want to consider some of the activities described here. Some of these activities, such as family educational seminars and written medical summaries, are likely relatively easy for a practice to implement.
BLACK HOLES AND TEMPORAL ORDERING.

THE “Arrow of Time” has been much discussed by philosophers and by some scientists1, and various manifestations, which have also been offered as explanations of this directionality, are to be noted in the world around us. For example, asymmetry of time is observed in thermodynamics, an increase in entropy is predicted from statistical mechanics, there is a consistent choice of retarded solutions to time symmetric equations of radiation theory and expansion of the universe is deduced from cosmological theory; in addition a temporal arrow is inferred from the asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the universe. A striking feature of such observations is that the directions of the arrows agree.
Ideals and Oughts and the Reliance of Affect Versus Substance in Persuasion

Motivation research distinguishes two types of goals: (a) ideals, which relate to people’s hopes, wishes, and aspirations, and (b) oughts, which relate to people’s duties, obligations, and responsibilities. We propose that, in persuasion, the accessibility of ideals increases consumers’ reliance on their subjective affective responses to the ad relative to the substance of the message, whereas the accessibility of oughts increases consumers’ reliance on the substance of the message relative to their subjective affective responses. This phenomenon is accompanied by a relative change in the perceived diagnosticity of the two types of information under accessible ideals versus oughts — a change that can be related to the distinct modes of self-regulation that ideals and oughts trigger. The phenomenon appears to be unrelated to the kind of change in depth-of-processing posited by the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Heuristic-Systematic Model.
Striatal and cortical midline activation and connectivity associated with suicidal ideation and depression in bipolar II disorder.

Abstract Background Considerable evidence implicates dysfunction of striatal and cortical midline structure (CMS) circuitry in mood disorders. Whether such aberrations exist in bipolar II depression is unknown. Methods Sixteen unmedicated subjects with bipolar II depression and 19 healthy controls were studied using functional MRI and a motor activation paradigm. Analyses of both activation and functional connectivity were conducted. Results A history of suicidal ideation (SI) was negatively correlated with activation of the left putamen while depression severity was positively correlated with activation of the left thalamus. The superior bilateral putamen was simultaneously correlated with depression severity and anti-correlated with SI. Striatal functional connectivity was altered with the bilateral CMS and right inferior parietal lobule. Depression severity was correlated with strength of connectivity between the bilateral striatum and the right lingual gyrus and left cerebellum. Limitations Only males experiencing an episode of major depression were studied. Conclusions Striatal and CMS circuit abnormalities likely contribute to the neurobiology of bipolar II depression. Altered connectivity of the striatum may directly impact depression severity. Further, dissociable components of activation associated with depression severity and suicidal ideation may exist. Finally, the motor activation paradigm used in this study appears to be a useful probe of some neural processes underlying bipolar II depression.
Marine‐derived nutrients, bioturbation, and ecosystem metabolism: reconsidering the role of salmon in streams

In coastal areas of the North Pacific Ocean, annual returns of spawning salmon provide a substantial influx of nutrients and organic matter to streams and are generally believed to enhance the productivity of recipient ecosystems. Loss of this subsidy from areas with diminished salmon runs has been hypothesized to limit ecosystem productivity in juvenile salmon rearing habitats (lakes and streams), thereby reinforcing population declines. Using five to seven years of data from an Alaskan stream supporting moderate salmon densities, we show that salmon predictably increased stream water nutrient concentrations, which were on average 190% (nitrogen) and 390% (phosphorus) pre-salmon values, and that primary producers incorporated some of these nutrients into tissues. However, benthic algal biomass declined by an order of magnitude despite increased nutrients. We also measured changes in stream ecosystem metabolic properties, including gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), from three salmon streams by analyzing diel measurements of oxygen concentrations and stable isotopic ratios (d 18 O-O2) within a Bayesian statistical model of oxygen dynamics. Our results do not support a shift toward higher primary productivity with the return of salmon, as is expected from a nutrient fertilization mechanism. Rather, net ecosystem metabolism switched from approximately net autotrophic (GPPER) to a strongly net heterotrophic state (GPPER) in response to bioturbation of benthic habitats by salmon. Following the seasonal arrival of salmon, GPP declined to ,12% of pre-salmon rates, while ER increased by over threefold. Metabolism by live salmon could not account for the observed increase in ER early in the salmon run, suggesting salmon nutrients and disturbance enhanced in situ heterotrophic respiration. Salmon also changed the physical properties of the stream, increasing air-water gas exchange by nearly 10-fold during peak spawning. We suggest that management efforts to restore salmon ecosystems should consider effects on ecosystem metabolic properties and how salmon disturbance affects the incorporation of marine-derived nutrients into food webs.
Rhythms and plasticity: television temporality at home

Digital technologies have enabled new temporalities of media consumption in the home. Through a field study of home television viewing practices, we investigated temporal orderings of television watching. In contrast to traditional pictures of television use, our evidence suggests that rhythms across households play an important role in shaping television watching. Further, we found a flexibility and openness within the patterns of television viewing that we refer to as "plasticity." Our data suggest that plasticity and rhythms co-exist and together compose the qualitative experience of domestic television time; an understanding of both aspects of temporality suggests an approach for the design of future television technologies.
Limitations of equation-based congestion control in mobile ad hoc networks

Equation-based congestion control has been a promising alternative to TCP for real-time multimedia streaming over the Internet. However, its behavior remains unknown in the mobile ad hoc wireless network (MANET) domain. We study the behavior of TFRC (TCP Friendly Rate Control (S. Floyd et al., 2000; M. Handley et al., 2003) over a wide range of MANET scenarios, in terms of throughput fairness and smoothness. Our result shows that while TFRC is able to maintain throughput smoothness in MANET, it obtains less throughput than the competing TCP flows (i.e., being conservative). We analyze several factors contributing to TFRC's conservative behavior in MANET, many of which are inherent to the MANET network. We also show that TFRC's conservative behavior cannot be completely corrected by tuning its loss event interval estimator. Our study shows the limitations of applying TFRC to the MANET domain, and reveals some fundamental difficulties in doing so.
Characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Enoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Reductase (FabI): a Target for the Antimicrobial Triclosan and Its Role in Acylated Homoserine Lactone Synthesis

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa fabI structural gene, encoding enoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase, was cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that fabI is probably the last gene in a transcriptional unit that includes a gene encoding an ATP-binding protein of an ABC transporter of unknown function. The FabI protein was similar in size and primary sequence to other bacterial enoyl-ACP reductases, and it contained signature motifs for the FAD-dependent pyridine nucleotide reductase and glucose/ribitol dehydrogenase families, respectively. The chromosomal fabI gene was disrupted, and the resulting mutant was viable but possessed only 62% of the total enoyl-ACP reductase activity found in wild-type cell extracts. The fabI-encoded enoyl-ACP reductase activity was NADH dependent and inhibited by triclosan; the residual activity in the fabI mutant was also NADH dependent but not inhibited by triclosan. An polyhistidine-tagged FabI protein was purified and characterized. Purified FabI (i) could use NADH but not NADPH as a cofactor; (ii) used both crotonyl-coenzyme A and crotonyl-ACP as substrates, although it was sixfold more active with crotonyl-ACP; and (iii) was efficiently inhibited by low concentrations of triclosan. A FabI Gly95-to-Val active-site amino acid substitution was generated by site-directed mutagenesis, and the mutant protein was purified. The mutant FabI protein retained normal enoyl-ACP reductase activity but was highly triclosan resistant. When coupled to FabI, purified P. aeruginosa N-butyryl-l-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL) synthase, RhlI, could synthesize C4-HSL from crotonyl-ACP and S-adenosylmethionine. This reaction was NADH dependent and inhibited by triclosan. The levels of C4-HSL and N-(3-oxo)-dodecanoyl-l-homoserine lactones were reduced 50% in a fabI mutant, corroborating the role of FabI in acylated homoserine lactone synthesis in vivo.
An executable system specification to support the JSD methodology

The authors present an experimental executable system specification that supports the Jackson system development methodology. The immediate advantage of making a rigorous system specification executable is that it becomes a verifiable system prototype. They show that the JSD specification is a restricted object system. They use Prolog to implement and execute the specification. The specification can be transformed into a system design if a set of transformation rules exists. Such transformation rules for the JSD approach are discussed. >
Old Wine, Cracked Bottle?: Tokyo, Paris, and the Global City Hypothesis

The theoretical model of the global city, an international metropolis in which form and functioning are predominantly determined by the forces of international capital and in which socioeconomic st...
A Note of Caution in Causal Modelling

Many empirical investigations in the behavioral sciences today aim at tracing the causes of variations in some key dependent variable. The search for satisfying causal explanations is difficult because of the complexity of social phenomena, the crudeness of the measures of many important variables, and the prevalence of simultaneous cause and effect relations among variables. Although these difficulties remain, a number of important methodological contributions have clarified the conditions under which causal inferences can be made from non-experimental data. In particular the Simon-Blalock technique has recently gained considerable attention, and has been profitably used by a number of political scientists in their research. Examination of some of these applications does, however, reveal the need for a better understanding of the purposes and limitations of the technique. This paper reviews two studies: (1) the re-analysis of the Miller-Stokes data by Cnudde and McCrone, and (2) the analysis of the determinants of Negro political participation in the South by Matthews and Prothro. We shall argue that both these applications have two faults: (1) a failure to distinguish conclusions from assumptions, and (2) an inadequate correspondence between the assumptions made in constructing the mathematical models and our prior knowledge about the phenomena being studied. In addition, we shall use the first study to illustrate a principle of general importance in causal analysis: the investigator should check the possibility that different causal mechanisms occur in different subgroups of his data. And we shall use the second study to illustrate the difficulty of separating the effects of two highly correlated independent variables.
Field measurements in snow skiing injury research.

Abstract Field measurements during skiing experiments simultaneously recorded the complete excitation of the toe and heel of one foot, the absolute spatial orientation of the pelvis and the foot, muscle activity at the hip, knee and ankle and the complete rotation of the femur relative to the tibia across the knee in three test subjects. Data were transmitted from test subjects during the skiing experiments by a 100K bit s−1. PCM-FM system and recorded in digital form. Analyses of field data show the magnitude of the loading applied to the lower extremity during normal skiing often exceeds the expected, quasi-static ultimate strength of the tibia. Anterior-posterior bending of approximately 600 Nm has been recorded during skiing without binding release or injury to the test subjects. The standard heel binding design can not effectively control the bending moment in the lower extremity during skiing. Longitudinal rotation across the knee was in-phase with, though not proportional to, the applied torsion at the foot by the ski.
Using 2-node hypergraph clustering coefficients to analyze disease-gene networks

Disease-gene networks are bipartite networks that connect diseases to the genes with which they are associated. Due to the absence of tools to analyze bipartite networks, however, they are usually analyzed by "projecting" the bipartite network into a unipartite one by taking one side of the bipartition as the nodes and connecting two nodes if they share a common neighbor in the bipartite network. This projection, however, loses information, such as exactly which groups of diseases share a common gene.Here, we present an alternative method to analyze these networks by using hypergraph techniques. We review several metrics from previous work and demonstrate their ability to find related diseases in disease-gene network.
Assessing autonomy-supportive coaching strategies in youth sport

OBJECTIVES: Autonomy support is a component of the motivational climate in youth sport that may promote youth's internalization of behaviors and attitudes. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Autonomy-Supportive Coaching Questionnaire (ASCQ), a measure of two forms of autonomy-supportive coaching perceived by young athletes. DESIGN: The study design was non-experimental. METHODS: Over a six-week season, youth (N = 165) participating in a recreational summer swim league completed measures of perceived coaching behavior (weeks 1 and 5), autonomy-supportive coaching (week 5) and psychological need satisfaction (weeks 1 and 6). RESULTS: Responses to the ASCQ could be reduced to two correlated factors representing an "interest in athlete's input" and "praise for autonomous behavior." These factors exhibited slightly different relations with perceived coaching behaviors and positively predicted coaching-associated contrasts in the satisfaction of all three basic psychological needs. CONCLUSIONS: The ASCQ appears to provide a valid assessment of young athlete's perceptions of autonomy-supportive coaching. Autonomy-supportive coaching should be evaluated as a potential source of motivational consequences of coaching and as a potential moderator of coaching effects on youth internalization.
Characterization of nicotinic receptors in chick retina using a snake venom neurotoxin that blocks neuronal nicotinic receptor function.

Nicotinic receptor function has been described in the retinas of a variety of vertebrate species. Neuronal bungarotoxin (NBT, also known as bungarotoxin 3.1, toxin F, or kappa-bungarotoxin) blocks nicotinic receptors in several neuronal preparations, while the neuromuscular antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin (BGT) fails to block most of these receptors. NBT (100 nM), but not BGT (10 microM), substantially blocks nicotinic function on ganglion cells in intact chick retina. 125I-NBT binds to 2 sites in homogenates of chick retina; one site that is shared with BGT (Kd = 5–7 nM, Bmax approximately 500 fmol/retina) and one which is not (Kd = 2–3 nM, Bmax approximately 100 fmol/retina). 125I-NBT binding to the NBT-specific site (binding in the presence of 1 microM unlabeled BGT) is localized to 2 bands in the inner plexiform layer, corresponding to regions richly innervated by neurons containing immunoreactivity for choline acetyltransferase. Furthermore, this binding is blocked by competitive nicotinic agonists and antagonists, but nicotine or other nicotinic agonists do not displace 125I-NBT binding with very high affinity relative to the displacement of 3H- nicotine reported by others in brain. Thus, of the 2 NBT binding sites, the site not recognized by BGT most likely represents functional nicotinic receptors in the chick retina, but these receptors have relatively low affinity for nicotinic agonists, similar to nicotinic receptors found in autonomic ganglia.
The sleep of commercial vehicle drivers under the 2003 hours-of-service regulations.

Previous research has found that commercial drivers get an average of 5.18 h of sleep per night. The revised hours-of-service (HOS) regulations (in the United States) are in place to provide drivers with more opportunities to get sleep. However, are drivers really getting more sleep under these new regulations? Also, is there a relationship between sleep quantity and involvement in critical incident (crashes, near-crashes, or crash-relevant conflicts)? Data from 73 truck drivers, collected during a naturalistic driving study after the implementation of the 2003 HOS regulations, were analyzed to determine overall sleep quantity (using actigraphy), along with sleep quantity prior to being involved in a critical incident. Sixty-two drivers had at least seven consecutive days (Monday through Sunday) of reliable actigraphy data; mean sleep quantity per 24-h period (midnight centered using the Cole-Kripke algorithm) for these drivers was 6.28 h (S.D. = 1.42 h). Fifty-eight critical incidents were recorded in the 10th and 11th driving hours. Analysis results indicated that drivers received significantly less sleep in the period prior to a critical incident as compared to their mean overall sleep quantity. The results of this study indicate drivers may be getting more sleep under the revised 2003 HOS regulations as compared to the old regulations. In addition, significantly less sleep in the 24-h period prior to involvement in a critical incident suggests driver fatigue may have been a potential contributing factor in these critical incidents.
The Astoria Fan: An elongate type fan

The Astoria Fan, a modern system, is located on a subducting oceanic crust and fills a north-south-trending trench along the Oregon continental margin. Well-developed channels cross the entire fan length; they display classic inner-fan leveed profiles but evolve into distributaries in the midfan area where the gradient decreases sharply. During periods of low sea level, inner- and middle-fan channels funnel sand to distal depositional sites in the outer-fan area where the sand/shale ratios are highest. This pattern of sand displacement and efficiency of transport appears to be characteristic of elongate fans fed by a major river and submarine canyon.
Efficacy of clofazimine–modified cyclodextrin against Mycobacterium avium complex in human macrophages

Clofazimine, a water insoluble substituted iminophenazine derivative with anti-mycobacterial and anti-inflammatory activity, is recommended by the WHO for the treatment of leprosy. It is also active against disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease in HIV-infected patients. Recently, we achieved a 4000-fold increase of clofazimine water solubility using a novel modified clofazimine-cyclodextrin complex synthesized and patented by our group [Wasserlosliche, Iminiophenazinderivate enthaltende pharmazeutische Zusammensetzungen, deren Herstellung und Verwendung, German Patent, DE19814814C2]. In this paper we examine the activity of this complex against MAC in human macrophages, and evaluate its cytotoxicity. MAC-infected macrophages were treated for 24h with free or complexed clofazimine. The in vitro minimum inhibitory concentrations of both free and complexed clofazimine were 0.1 microg/ml. Free and complexed clofazimine inhibited the growth of MAC inside macrophages to a similar extent, while modified cyclodextrin alone had no observable effects on MAC or macrophages. Complexed clofazimine was not toxic to cells at concentrations effective against MAC. The TD(50) of the modified cyclodextrin in THP-1 cell line was 297 microg/ml.