cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Governor Stone: Analysis of an 1877 Two‐masted Schooner from the Gulf of Mexico

This article details the historic preservation documentation and construction analysis of the 1877 American 2-masted schooner Governor Stone, a National Historic Landmark. Governor Stone's construction reflects its intended use as a general freight and oyster schooner, and to a lesser degree its geographic origin along the Gulf of Mexico. While the physical environment of the Gulf Coast necessarily constrained the size of these vessels, 2-masted schooners of the Gulf Coast generally exhibit similarities with their contemporary functional equivalents of other American regions rather than stylistic elements unique to their geography. © 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society
Juvenile hypertension caused by overproduction of renin within a renal segment

A 6 8/12-year-old boy with severe hypertension was found to have stenosis of a segmental renal artery, which caused overproduction of renin and secondary hyperaldosteronism. Renal vein catheterization failed to demonstrate a significant difference in right and left renal vein renin activities; only at surgery was the diagnosis of segmental overproduction of renin confirmed. Pathologic studies disclosed juxtaglomerular cell hyperplasia limited to the affected segment and provided corroborative evidence of the segmental source of the hyperreninemia.
Gender‐Based Differential Item Performance in Mathematics Achievement Items

A procedure for the detection of differential item performance (DIP) is used to investigate the relationships between characteristics of mathematics achievement items and gender differences in performance. Eight randomly equivalent samples of high school seniors were each given a unique form of the ACT Assessment Mathematics Usage Test (ACTM). Students without requisite mathematics courses were deleted from the samples to reduce the confounding effects of differences in instruction at the high school level. Signed measures of DIP were obtained for each item in the eight ACTM forms. These DIP estimates were then analyzed in a 6 × 8 (item category by form) experimental design. A significant item category effect was found indicating a relationship between item characteristics and gender-based DIP. Predictions, based on previous research about the categories of items that would contribute to gender-based DIP, were supported: Geometry and mathematics reasoning items were relatively more difficult for female examinees and the more algorithmic, computation-oriented items were relatively easier.
Song‐selective auditory input to a forebrain vocal control nucleus in the zebra finch

Neurons in nuclei on the motor pathway for vocalizations in songbirds are known to respond to sound stimuli. The auditory responses in one such nucleus, robustus archistriatalis (RA), were characterized by making multi-unit recordings in awake and anesthetized adult male zebra finches and in birds that had received lesions of the input to RA from the lateral part of the magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (LMAN) or the Higher Vocal Center (HVC). In awake birds, RA neurons have a high level of spontaneous activity and vigorous auditory responses to song stimuli. Significantly greater responses are seen to the bird's own song (BOS) than to BOS played in reverse (REV) or to the songs of conspecifics (CON). Under ketamine-xylazine anesthesia, spontaneous activity is reduced, response latency increases and responses to BOS, REV and CON are indistinguishable. Responses obtained under urethane anesthesia are similar to those seen in awake birds. Thus, the pattern and selectivity of auditory responses in RA depend on the animal's state. Auditory responses in RA are qualitatively unchanged following lesion of the input to RA from LMAN, indicating that this pathway is not required for the sensory processing that underlies the preference for BOS on the vocal production pathway. Our results show that an input other than that from LMAN must be primarily responsible for auditory responses in RA. The direct projection from HVC is the most likely pathway by which song selective auditory information arrives in RA, since lesioning HVC abolished auditory responses in RA.
Refractive indices of pyrolytic graphite, amorphous carbon, and flame soot in the temperature range 25° to 600°C☆

Abstract A technique was developed that allows the determination of the temperature dependence of the refractive indices of carbonaceous materials from ellipsometric intensity measurements on bulk samples. The refractive indices of the carbonaceous samples pyrolytic graphite, amorphous carbon and flame soot were determined over the temperature range 25–600°C and the spectral region 400–700 nm. For all three samples it was found that the inferred refractive index shows insignificant variation with temperature for this range of temperature and wavelength. These results differ by 30 percent or more from the predictions of the Drude Lorentz dispersion model which has been used extensively to predict the variation of the optical properties of carbonaceous particulates. A new set of dispersion constants is presented that accurately predict the indices in the temperature range 25–600°C and in the wavelength range 400–700 nm.
Sexuality, an important component of the quality of life of the kidney transplant recipient ☆

People who receive a kidney transplant experience overall better quality of life (QOL) than those on dialysis. However, one area of QOL that does not seem to improve after transplant is sexuality. The purposes of this review were to evaluate the literature specific to sexuality after kidney and kidney/pancreas transplant, identify gaps in the literature, and suggest directions for future research. Sources for this review included studies published in nursing and medical journals as well as studies from the related fields of social work and psychology. This literature review revealed several factors that may affect posttransplant sexuality and sexual functioning including chronic illnesses, pretransplant dialysis, and medication side effects. In addition, numerous studies have shown that problems with sexual functioning are prevalent in the transplant population affecting up to 50% of kidney transplant recipients. These problems have a strong negative association with QOL and life satisfaction. Future research should focus on identifying the specific sexual concerns of kidney transplant recipients and on the development and testing of interventions to help alleviate these concerns.
Schumpeterian perspectives on entrepreneurship in economic development: a commentary

Abstract The unique relationship between the Schumpeterian entrepreneur and the process of innovation is examined in the first part of this paper. Because innovation is the result of an innate ‘unlearned act of insight’ by this Schumpeterin entrepreneur, contemporary theorists are unable to incorporate such a person into formal analytic theories of innovation and economic development. Nevertheless, it is shown that Schumpeter's perspectives on entrepreneurship remain the major seminal source of creative explanatory frameworks for the process of industrial change. The greater part of this paper provides a commentary on selected contemporary research efforts, at micro- and macroeconomic levels, which appear to strengthen certain weaknesses in Schumpeter's theory of the role of innovation in economic development.
Professional School Counselors: Inservice Providers Who tan Change the School Environment

Professional school counselors can have a significant effect on a school's environment. The skills and knowledge they possess can be shared with teachers and students. Through inservice training opportunities for teachers and classroom activities with students, counselors can develop a more positive environment for student learning and growth.
Space–time noncommutativity from particle mechanics

Abstract We exploit the reparametrization symmetry of a relativistic free particle to impose a gauge condition which upon quantization implies space–time noncommutativity. We show that there is an algebraic map from this gauge back to the standard ‘commuting’ gauge. Therefore the Poisson algebra, and the resulting quantum theory, are identical in the two gauges. The only difference is in the interpretation of space–time coordinates. The procedure is repeated for the case of a coupling with a constant electromagnetic field, where the reparametrization symmetry is preserved. For more arbitrary interactions, we show that standard dynamical system can be rendered noncommutative in space and time by a simple change of variables.
Chemical reactions between aluminum and fly ash during synthesis and reheating of Al-fly ash composite

Thermodynamic analysis indicates that there is the possibility of chemical reactions between aluminum melt and cenosphere fly ash particles. These particles contain alumina, silica, and iron oxide, which, during solidification processing of aluminum-fly ash composites or during holding of such composites at temperatures above the melting temperature of aluminum, are likely to undergo chemical reduction. These chemical reactions between the fly ash and molten aluminum have been studied by metallographic examination, differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray analysis after holding the aluminum-fly ash composites for different periods above the liquidus temperature. The experiments indicate that there is progressive reduction of silica and mullite in the fly ash, and formation of alumina with holding time of composites at a temperature of 850 °C. The walls of the cenosphere fly ash particles progressively disintegrate into discrete particles as the reaction progresses. The rate of chemical reaction was high at the start of holding the composite at a temperature of 850 °C, and then the rate significantly decreased with time. The reaction was almost complete after 10 hours.
Hypertension and Heart Failure: The ALLHAT Imperative

Heart failure brings with it personal suffering and disability, lost productivity, and a growing burden on an already excessive US per capita medical care expenditure. As America's baby-boom generation advances in age, we anticipate that the population band of people >65 years of age will swell significantly (Figure 1). Indeed, Census Bureau projections estimate that this number will rise from the current 40 million to 88 million by 2050. This census projection is especially worrisome when juxtaposed to a graph of the age of first heart failure events in a community population where the median age for incident heart failure was 80 years (Figure 2).1 Are we facing a tsunami of heart failure? You do the math. Is there reason for hope in the face of a tidal wave? Perhaps. A half-century of epidemiology has taught us much about the risk factors for heart failure, and clinical trials have provided evidence-based approaches to reduce the impact of those risk factors. Figure 1. Estimated future US population ≥65 years of age. The left axis is in millions of persons and the right axis is the percentage of the total US population. Data obtained from US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/). Figure 2. Age distribution of incident heart failure cases in a community population. From Senni et al.1 Article see p 1811 Age may be the paramount risk factor for heart failure, but superimposed on age are modifiable antecedent clinical conditions: hypertension, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and obesity.1–4 Framingham data show a lifetime risk for the development of heart failure of 20% in men and women.2 Population-attributable risk estimates take into account the magnitude of a risk factor's impact and its prevalence.3,4 Attributable risk estimates will vary, therefore, depending on the risk factor definition, the age …
A robust decoding for long convolutional codes

Sequential decoding is an attractive technique to achieve the reliability of communication promised by the channel coding theory. But, because it utilizes the Fano metric, its performance is sensitive to channel parameter variations and it cannot simultaneously minimize both decoding effort and probability of decoding error. Based on the distance properties of the codes, we have derived a new set of metric which not only can overcome the two drawbacks caused by the Fano metric but also can significantly reduce the decoding effort required by sequential decoding.
Transport network evolution: From TDM to packet

Transport networks and technologies are undergoing transformation. The genesis of that transformation is packet switching embedded on transport equipment together with DWDM, OTN, and SONET/PDH switching. This paper summarizes the drivers and involved technologies.
Capabilities and technical issues regarding the Stirling radioisotope generator

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) has been active in the development of Stirling power conversion technology for over 25 years. Currently, a free-piston Stirling power convertor is being developed for use in a long-life Radioisotope Power System (RPS) to power NASA deep space and planetary surface missions. The Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG) design requirement is for greater than 100,000 hour (11.4 year) life providing over 100 watts dc to the spacecraft. The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for providing radioisotope power systems for NASA missions, and has managed the development of a free-piston Stirling power convertor for this application. Because of the ability to operate in a broad range of environments (vacuum of deep space or atmosphere of Mars), the SRG is being considered for a variety of missions. This paper will briefly describe the role of the NASA GRC in advancing the Stirling technology for space power systems, give examples of technical areas where in-house expertise has been utilized, and highlight some of the contributions that have been made. This paper will also present some examples of how the power system might be used to enhance the capabilities of missions, describe the status of the overall project, and address some critical technical issues.
The Continuous Plankton Recorder survey and the North Atlantic Oscillation: Interannual- to Multidecadal-scale patterns of phytoplankton variability in the North Atlantic Ocean

At interannual to multidecadal time scales, much of the oceanographic and climatic variability in the North Atlantic Ocean can be associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). While evidence suggests that there is a relationship between the NAO and zooplankton dynamics in the North Atlantic Ocean, the phytoplankton response to NAO-induced changes in the environment is less clear. Time series of monthly mean phytoplankton colour values, as compiled by the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, are analysed to infer relationships between the NAO and phytoplankton dynamics throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. While a few areas display highly significant ( p 0.05) trends in the CPR colour time series during the period 1948–2000, nominally significant ( p 0.20) positive trends are widespread across the basin, particularly on the continental shelves and in a transition zone stretching across the Central North Atlantic. When long-term trends are removed from both the NAO index and CPR colour time series, the correlation between them ceases to be significant. Several hypotheses are proposed to explain the observed variability in the CPR colour and its relationship with climate in the North Atlantic.  2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Why Salem Made Sense: Culture, Gender, and the Puritan Persecution of Witchcraft

Sociological explanations of the Salem witch trials, and of witch-hunts in the West more generally, have focused on economic transition, political instability, and the functional aspects of witchcraft belief. A more interpretive approach to the explanation of Salem is proposed: an analysis of the intersection of the gendered symbolization of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts and the larger tensions within Puritan culture at the close of the 17th century. A broad theoretical implication of this interpretive shift is also proposed: that a cultural-sociological approach to witch-hunting as symbolic action can bring together feminist theorizations of witch-hunting as an exercise in patriarchal power with the social history of the broad, structural causes of witchhunting in pre-modern Europe and New England.
Optimal Thinning Levels in Linear Arrays

There exist many methodologies for the thinning of linear arrays, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Instead of presenting a new method, this communication presents actual lower bounds to attainable results and estimates lower bounds for more complex cases. When feasible, results were obtained through an exhaustive search of the solution space. When this was not possible, binary particle swarm optimization was used.
Labeled lines meet and talk: population coding of somatic sensations

The somatic sensory system responds to stimuli of distinct modalities, including touch, pain, itch, and temperature sensitivity. In the past century, great progress has been made in understanding the coding of these sensory modalities. From this work, two major features have emerged. First, there are specific neuronal circuits or labeled lines transmitting specific sensory information from the skin to the brain. Second, the generation of specific sensations often involves crosstalk among distinct labeled lines. These features suggest that population coding is the mechanism underlying somatic sensation.
Cumulative Damage Models and Multi-Stress Fatigue Life Prediction:

Cumulative damage during fatigue is studied analytically. Extensive reviews are per formed on the published damage models. Three different cumulative damage models are defined using several physical variables such as fatigue modulus and resultant strain. Proposed model I is defined using fatigue modulus, while models II and III are defined using resultant strains. Proposed models are derived as functions of nor malized applied stress level, r, and number of fatigue cycle, n. It is verified that the proposed cumulative damage model III has better agreement with the two stress level fatigue experimental data than other models.
Reaction Kinetics of Soybean Oil Transesterification Using Heterogeneous Metal Oxide Catalysts

Homogeneous acid or base catalysts dissolve fully in the glycerol layer and partially in the fatty acid methyl ester (biodiesel) layer in the triglyceride transesterification process. Heterogeneous (solid) catalysts, on the other hand, can prevent catalyst contamination making product separation much simpler. In the present work, the transesterification kinetics of five different solid catalysts with soybean oil is presented. It is found that heterogeneous catalysts require much higher temperatures and pressures to achieve acceptable conversion levels compared to homogeneous catalysts. Subsequent to preliminary investigations, transesterifications were conducted for selected high performance solid catalysts, i.e., MgO, CaO, BaO, PbO, and MnO2 in a high pressure reactor up to a temperature of 215 °C. The yield of the fatty acid methyl esters and the kinetics (rate constant and order) of the reaction are estimated and are compared for each catalyst.
The seismic structure of 140 Myr old crust in the western central Atlantic Ocean

Summary. A detailed seismic refraction experiment using explosive sources and ocean bottom hydrophone (OBH) receivers was carried out over Mesozoic magnetic anomaly M17 about 300 km south-west of Bermuda. Amplitude and travel-time interpretations show this 140Myr old crust to be uniform, on the seismic scale, over a lateral distance of almost 1OOkm. The best estimate of the velocity structure consists of an average 700 m of sediment overlying a total thickness of igneous crust of 7.2 km. The principle components, beginning with a 5 km s-l velocity at the top of layer 2, are a 0.4 km thickness with gradient 1.1 s-', a 1.9km thickness with gradient 0.64s-', 1.7 km thickness with gradient 0.1 s-', a 3.2 km thickness with zero gradient and constant velocity of 7 km s-' below which lies a 0.5 km thick moho transition zone. The uppermost few kilometres of the upper mantle apparently has little or no velocity gradient. The normal incidence two-way reflection time through this structure agrees to better than 0.1 s with the location of the Moho reflection seen on the IPOD/USGS multichannel reflection profile that passes within 1 km of this experiment. The travel times of the converted shear wave arrivals constrain Poisson's ratio in the igneous crust to - 0.28 k 0.01. A delay time study of a 20km radius circle of shots fired around a small (- 6 km) five-element array of ocean bottom hydrophone receivers confirms the uniformity of structure of this old crust on the scale of a few kilometres. The observed differences in shallow crustal delay time between the five OBH instruments can be wholly attributed to differences in sediment thickness beneath the receivers as determined by a deep towed hydrophone seismic reflection profile. These experiments were located clear of fracture zones or other structural anomalies in a region of well-defined linear constant amplitude magnetic anomalies. We propose that this was the primary cause of our result of lateral uniformity of structure on the scale of a few kilometres. We suggest that the reason that such a simple uniform structural model for oceanic crust is not supported by the historical seismic refraction dataset is that a large proportion of the old experiments were poorly located relative to fracture zones and other structural anomalies (unknown at the time) and the
Stem cells on the move

Mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from the bone marrow is the standard method to collect grafts for stem cell transplants, but sometimes insufficient HSCs are mobilized. A new study suggests that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibition can augment mobilization, bringing us one step closer to an universal method to obtain HSCs for transplantation (pages 1141–1146).
Media, messages, and medication: strategies to reconcile what patients hear, what they want, and what they need from medications

Background: Over the past 30 years, patients’ options for accessing information about prescription drugs have expanded dramatically. In this narrative review, we address four questions: (1) What information sources are patients exposed to, and are they paying attention? (2) Is the information they hear credible and accurate? (3) When patients ask for a prescription, what do they really want and need? Finally, (4) How can physicians reconcile what patients hear, want, and need? Analysis: A critical synthesis of the literature is reported. Observations indicate that the public is generally aware of and attends to a growing body of health information resources, including traditional news media, advertising, and social networking. However, lay audiences often have no reliable way to assess the accuracy of health information found in the media, on the Internet, or in direct-to-consumer advertising. This inability to assess the information can lead to decision paralysis, with patients questioning what is known, what is knowable, and what their physicians know. Many patients have specific expectations for the care they wish to receive and have little difficulty making those expectations known. However, there are hazards in assuming that patients’ expressed desires are direct reflections of their underlying wants or needs. In trying to reconcile patients’ wants and needs for information about prescription medicines, a combination of policy and clinical initiatives may offer greater promise than either approach alone.
Buckling of Force-Excited Liquid-Filled Shells

The matrix equation of motion for liquid-filled shells with a particular reference to the influence of ground excitation are derived through a Galerkin/finite element discretization procedure. The modal coupling among the various combinations of axial and circumferential modes are identified. The equations for the dynamic buckling analysis of liquid-filled shells are presented. The buckling criteria of liquid-filled shells subjected to horizontal ground excitation are established. A comparison to available experimental results gives strikingly good agreement. The importance of modal interaction in the axial as well as circumferential directions is also demonstrated. This provides guidelines for a better understanding of dynamic buckling of liquid-filled shells.
Centrally administered vasopressin cross-sensitizes rats to amphetamine and drinking hypertonic NaCl

Prior sodium restriction cross-sensitizes rats to the psychomotor effects of amphetamines and vice versa. Repeated central injections of vasopressin (VP) induce a psychomotor sensitization similar ...
A visualization and analysis tool for NS-2 wireless simulations: iNSpect

The network simulator 2 (NS-2) is a popular and powerful simulation environment, and the number of NS-2 users has increased greatly in recent years. Although it was originally designed for wired networks, NS-2 has been extended to work with wireless networks, including wireless LANs, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), and sensor networks; however, the network animator (NAM) for NS-2 has not been extended for wireless visualization. In this paper, we discuss a new visualization and analysis tool for use with NS-2 wireless simulations. Visual analysis of a wireless environment is important for three areas of NS-2 based simulation research: (1) validating the accuracy of a mobility model's output and/or the node topology files used to drive the simulation; (2) validation of new versions of the NS-2 simulator itself; and-(3) analysis of the results of NS-2 simulations. Our iNSpect program handles all three of these areas quickly and accurately. We've made our iNSpect program available for other researchers in order to improve the accuracy of their simulations.
Newer aspects of migraine preventive therapies

Migraine preventive therapy includes treatment with pharmacological therapies that result in the reduction of the frequency, severity, or intensity of attacks. There are sufficient data to make recommendations for the following seven pharmacological agents for migraine prevention: topiramate, divalproex sodium, amitriptyline, metoprolol, propranolol, timolol, and Petasites. Additional evidence and treatment recommendations are reviewed on the specific efficacy and safety of several other therapies tested for migraine prevention. Drug Dev Res 68:315–320, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Factors Influencing the Crystal Structure of Cellulose Triacetate

A general examination of the effects of cellulose source and conditions of acetylation on the crystalline structure of cellulose triacetate has been carried out. Heat has been shown to markedly improve the lateral order of the structure and thereby to demonstrate the existence of two stable polymorphic crystalline forms, cellulose triacetate I and cellulose triacetate II. A general summary of conditions for achieving each structure is given.Conditions for transformation of triacetate I to triacetate II by heat and swelling are discussed, and the possibility of the reverse transformation is questioned.The action of a variety of organic swelling liquids on the ability of each form of triacetate to attain high lateral order is investigated: a mechanism is proposed to explain the observations.Proposals are made for unit cell dimensions of cellulose triacetate I an cellulose triacetate II crystals, and some speculation on their relationship to cellulose tructure is given.
An Accurate Substitution Method for Analyzing Censored Data

When analyzing censored datasets, where one or more measurements are below the limit of detection (LOD), the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method is often considered the gold standard for estimating the GM and GSD of the underlying exposure profile. A new and relatively simple substitution method, called β -substitution, is presented and compared with the MLE method and the common substitution methods (LOD/2 and LOD/√2 substitution) when analyzing a left-censored dataset with either single or multiple censoring points. A computer program was used to generate censored exposure datasets for various combinations of true geometric standard deviation (1.2 to 4), percent censoring (1% to 50%), and sample size (5 to 19 and 20 to 100). Each method was used to estimate four parameters of the lognormal distribution: (1) the geometric mean, GM; (2) geometric standard deviation, GSD; (3) 95th percentile, and (4) Mean for the censored datasets. When estimating the GM and GSD, the bias and root mean square error ...
Models of emerging contexts in risky and complex decision settings

Key components of the multiple constraint satisfaction frameworks are explored in a series of experiments set in complex and ambiguous domains. All cases show the prevalence and importance of a purposeful structuring of the information by the participants. The participants gradually generate coherence even without increasing information. In accordance with multiple constraint satisfaction predictions, the assessments of inferences increasingly spread apart. Also, the correlations between the dependent variable (the decision) and the independent variables, as well as between the independent variables, consistently grow stronger as the participants progress through the decision stages. The information structuring, a gradual simplification of the component structure, is captured as principal components associated with the various decision stages. Neural networks predict the judgments in the various decision stages relatively well. Finally, the role of the ongoing structuring of the underlying information was explored through the application of trained networks to data in other decision stages.
Automating testing by reverse engineering of software documentation

Reverse engineering of software documentation can play an important role in automating software testing. Since testers often compare the operation of a software system to the expected behavior as described in a document, information extraction from texts can provide valuable input to automated test systems. This paper describes the SIFT (Specification Information From Text) document parser and its use in generating tests for two different software systems: the OpenVMS operating system and the XCON expert configuration system.
Synergistic inhibitory activity of α- and β-LFA-1 peptides on LFA-1/ICAM-1 interaction

Abstract Interactions of cell-adhesion molecule LFA-1 and its ligand ICAM-1 play important roles during immune and inflammatory responses. Critical residues of LFA-1 for ICAM-1 binding are known to be in the I-domain of the α-subunit and the I-like domain of the β-subunit. On the basis of our previous work demonstrating the inhibitory activity of I-domain cyclic peptide cLAB.L on LFA-1/ICAM-1 interaction, here we have explored the activity of I-like-domain peptide LBE on the binding mechanism of cLAB.L. LBE enhances cLAB.L binding to T-cells and epithelial cells. The adherence of T-cells to epithelial monolayers was suppressed by the two peptides. The addition of LBE to the monolayers prior to the addition cLAB.L produced a better inhibitory effect than the reverse procedure. LBE, but not cLAB.L, changes the ICAM-1 conformation, suggesting that LBE binds to ICAM-1 at sites that are distinct from these of cLAB.L and induces improved conformation in ICAM-1 for binding to cLAB.L.
Methodology is destiny: The effect of survey prompts on reported levels of giving and volunteering

This article extends earlier methodological tests of giving and volunteering in Indiana to a large (N = 4,200) cross-sectional sample collected in the United States in the fall of 2001. The authors find that the results are consistent with those found in the earlier analyses, namely, that longer, more detailed prompts led respondents to recall giving and volunteering at higher incidence rates (proportion donating at all or volunteering at all) and at higher levels (dollars given or hours volunteered) than when compared to survey methodologies with fewer prompts.
Shifting cultivation, forest fallow, and externalities in ecosystem services: Evidence from the Eastern Amazon

This study examines the value of fallow ecosystem services in shifting cultivation, including hydrological externalities that may affect other farms. Using farm-level survey data from the Brazilian Amazon, I estimate a production function to assess the value of forest fallow and test whether it provides local externalities to agricultural production. Soil quality controls, instrumental variables, and spatial econometric approaches help address endogeneity issues. I use GIS data on external forest cover at the farm level and model the hydrological externality as an upstream-to-downstream process. The estimated parameters indicate that fallow contributes significantly to productivity both on farm and downstream. In addition, most farms allocate sufficient land to fallow, accounting for both the value of hydrological spillovers and the opportunity cost of land left out of cultivation. These results suggest that farming communities may have some self-interest in preserving forest cover locally—a finding that may bolster policy efforts aimed at conserving tropical forests for their global public goods.
Design of a laminated composite with controlled-damage concept

Abstract Effects of adhesive strips embedded at the interface in graphite/epoxy laminates on damage tolerance are investigated. Specimens were impact tested under approximately fixed-fixed boundary conditions. Comparisons were made between the specimens with and without the adhesive from X-ray radiographs. Delamination plotted against velocity shows substantially reduced delamination in specimens with adhesive compared with specimens without adhesive. It was observed that below a certain velocity the adhesive acts as a softening strip which confines the delamination to the area of the mesh formed by the adhesive. Three-point-bend tests show that the failure load of plain specimens is higher than for the specimens with adhesive before impact; however, after impact the strength degradation is more severe in the plain specimens. Damage mechanisms of impacted specimens were examined through the use of microphotographs.
Alterations in autonomic adjustments to acute hypoxia in conscious rats with aging

The experimental objective was to determine whether sympathetic nervous system activity and cardiovascular adjustments to hypoxia are altered with advancing age. Norepinephrine (NE) synthesis was blocked with alpha-methyl-DL-p-tyrosine, and NE turnover rates were determined in the left ventricle of the heart, kidney, liver, and adrenal gland in groups of conscious unrestrained mature (12-mo-old) and senescent (24-mo-old) Fischer 344 rats in conditions of normoxia and acute hypocapnic hypoxia (10% O2-90% N2). Calculated NE turnover rates were similar in all four tissues sampled for both age groups in the normoxic condition. Thirty minutes of hypoxia produced elevations in NE turnover rates in the kidney, liver, and adrenal gland, but not in the heart, for both the mature and senescent groups. However, NE turnover rates were attenuated in the kidney (92 vs. 195%) and liver (119 vs. 190%) of senescent compared with mature rats. Hypoxia produced no change in mean arterial pressure from normoxic levels in the mature rats, whereas older rats had a progressive decline in mean arterial pressure (-24 +/- 3 mmHg from baseline) over the course of the hypoxic exposure. In contrast, heart rate responses were similar in the normoxic and hypoxic conditions for both age groups. These findings indicate that sympathetic nerve activity, as estimated from NE turnover rates, increases in a tissue-specific manner with moderate hypoxia, but this increase is markedly attenuated in the kidney and liver with advancing age. In addition, the ability to maintain MAP during a hypoxic challenge is impaired with aging, perhaps due, in part, to a reduced sympathetic vasoconstriction to selected internal organs.
Pain Prevention for Interventional Radiologists

I read with interest Dr. Pelz's letter in a recent issue of the AJNR [(1)][1] regarding the prevention of neck and low back pain in interventional radiologists. The physical stresses Dr. Pelz alludes to are very real. I have been able to participate in many sports with negligible low back and neck
Computed tomography findings of internal hernia after gastric bypass that may precede small bowel obstruction

Purpose This study evaluates computed tomography signs of internal hernia in gastric bypass patients, including several previously unreported signs suggestive of internal hernia.
BlackBox: lightweight security monitoring for COTS binaries

After a software system is compromised, it can be difficult to understand what vulnerabilities attackers exploited. Any information residing on that machine cannot be trusted as attackers may have tampered with it to cover their tracks. Moreover, even after an exploit is known, it can be difficult to determine whether it has been used to compromise a given machine. Aviation has long-used black boxes to better understand the causes of accidents, enabling improvements that reduce the likelihood of future accidents. Many attacks introduce abnormal control flows to compromise systems. In this paper, we present BlackBox, a monitoring system for COTS software. Our techniques enable BlackBox to efficiently monitor unexpected and potentially harmful control flow in COTS binaries. BlackBox constructs dynamic profiles of an application's typical control flows to filter the vast majority of expected control flow behavior, leaving us with a manageable amount of data that can be logged across the network to remote devices. Modern applications make extensive use of dynamically generated code, some of which varies greatly between executions. We introduce support for code generators that can detect security-sensitive behaviors while allowing BlackBox to avoid logging the majority of ordinary behaviors. We have implemented BlackBox in DynamoRIO. We evaluate the runtime overhead of BlackBox, and show that it can effectively monitor recent versions of Microsoft Office and Google Chrome. We show that in ROP, COOP, and state- of-the-art JIT injection attacks, BlackBox logs the pivotal actions by which the attacker takes control, and can also blacklist those actions to prevent repeated exploits.
Editorial: Macsyma: A personal history

The Macsyma system arose out of research on mathematical software in the AI group at MIT in the 1960s. Algorithm development in symbolic integration and simplification arose out of the interest of people, such as the author, who were also mathematics students. The later development of algorithms for the GCD of sparse polynomials, for example, arose out of the needs of our user community. During various times in the 1970s the computer on which Macsyma ran was one of the most popular nodes on the ARPANET. We discuss the attempts in the late 70s and the 80s to develop Macsyma systems that ran on popular computer architectures. Finally, we discuss the impact of the fundamental ideas in Macsyma on the author's current research on large scale engineering and socio-technical systems.
Polarization Dynamics in La5/3Sr1/3NiO4

Dynamic susceptibility measurements at microwave frequencies (2 – 10GHz) are a sensitive probe of charge dynamcis in La5/3Sr1/3NiO4 . Below the charge ordering temperature of 240K, a dielectric loss peak due to a relaxation mode with a large dielectric susceptibility is observed, and is associated with charge stripe formation. The dielectric response for H ω∥b (Eω ⊥ b) is well represented by e(T) = eo/(1 – iωτ(T)), with eo, ∼ 50, and τ(T) = 2 × 10−9(sec) exp(−T/37K). Parallel conductivity σ(T) contributions dominate at higher temperatures and for H ω∥c (E ω ⊥ c). The dielectric loss peak observed indicates that the charge relaxation rates lie in the GHz frequency ranges.
When To Pull the Trigger: Making the Decision To Transfuse Red Blood Cells

The decision to transfuse red blood cells cannot be made on the basis of a single parameter such as the hemoglobin level. Making an intelligent decision about transfusion requires an understanding of the body’s ability to respond to acute and chronic anemia, and an appreciation of the degree of risk that such anemia poses to patients with various concurrent medical problems. Based on this information, and a thorough evaluation of the patient’s condition, a clinically sound decision can be made. Strategies for making the decision to transfuse patients with acute and chronic anemia are described. This is the fourth article in a four-part CE Update series on blood banking. Other articles focused on ensuring quality during intraoperative blood salvage, blood substitutes, and electronic crossmatch
Microstructure of Si Films Deposited on Si(100) Surfaces by Remote Plasma-Enhanced Chemicalvapor Deposition, Rpecvd: Dependence on Process Pressure and Substrate Temperature

The microstructure of Si thin films, deposited on in-situ cleaned Si(100) surfaces by remote plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (RPECVD), is dependent on the process pressure, substrate temperature and H 2 flow rate. Surface characterization by on-line low energy electron diffraction, LEED, has been used to detect changes in the character of the deposited films which can either be amorphous, microcrystalline or crystalline, hereafter designated as a-Si, Sμc-Si, and c-Si, respectively. We have used these results to generate phase diagrams for the Si microstructure as a function of the process pressure and substrate temperature, including the flow rate of H 2 as an additional deposition parameter.
Rapid determination of cell-associated tumor necrosis factor production by flow cytometry

BACKGROUND Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a cytokine implicated in many disease states, including septic shock and transplant rejection. Regulation of TNF production is complex, and under certain conditions TNF is expressed in cells, but not released. Determination of TNF, particularly on cells, may allow more rapid and specific diagnosis of diseases, and provide a better guide to therapy. We developed a method to quickly measure TNF associated with cells using flow cytometric techniques. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN RAW cells, a murine macrophage cell line, were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and examined by staining with an anti-murine TNF antibody followed by a fluorescein isothiocyanate FITC-labeled secondary antibody. RESULTS Different permeabilization protocols showed that treating cells with 0.1% Triton X-100 for 5 minutes provided staining of cells comparable to 0.005% digitonin and 0.1% saponin; however, it was no better than untreated cells. Comparison of fluorescein isothiocyanate, phycoerythrin, and Red 613 fluorochromes showed that fluorescein isothiocyanate was comparable to phycoeryrthrin, but better than Red 613. Multiple experiments demonstrated that LPS-stimulated cells exhibited a 1.3- to 6.8-fold increase in the number of cells staining positively for TNF, as compared with unstimulated cells. Kinetic studies showed that LPS induced cell-associated TNF within 30 minutes, which plateaued between 2 and 4 hours. TNF staining correlated with the appearance of TNF biologic activity associated with the cells and immunoperoxidase staining of cytospin preparations. Cyclosporin A has been reported to inhibit secretion of TNF. LPS-stimulated cells treated with cyclosporin A showed no decrease in TNF staining by either flow cytometry analysis or immunohistochemistry, but there was a reduction of TNF in the culture supernatant. The human macrophage cell line, THP-1 was also tested and showed statistically significant results when comparing control versus anti-TNF antibodies. CONCLUSIONS Flow cytometric detection of cell-associated TNF represents a relatively rapid and simple method with potential applications in the study of TNF gene expression. This method may be used to detect early TNF production in disease states such as septic shock and transplant rejection.
Accessing State-Specific Transpersonal Knowledge: Inducing Altered States

Various esoteric spiritual systems have cognitive, emotional and action bases that are only fully accessible in appropriate altered states of consciousness. These are types of state- specific knowledge. This paper draws on the author's systems approach to understanding states of consciousness to elucidate general principles in inducing altered states in the hope that they will be useful in understanding both commonalities and dynamics of various esoteric development systems, as well as enhancing practical approaches to accessing state-specific transpersonal knowledge. In the Spring of 2007 I was invited to attend an invitational conference sponsored by the Esalen Center for Theory and Research on a renaissance of scholarly interest in Western esoteric systems. I was pleased to see that much forgotten (and possibly repressed) spiritual knowledge was being seriously looked at again in a scholarly way, and saw that much interaction and mutual enrichment with transpersonal psychology and the study of the nature of consciousness may eventually result from this. At the same time it was clea rt o me that a scholarly approach carried out only in ''normal'' Western consciousness, while valuable, was bound to miss some of the most important parts of the spiritual/transpersonal knowledge being studied; for the heart of most, if not all, spiritual systems is state-specific knowledge-knowledge that is only fully accessible in appropriate altered states of consciousness (ASCs). The present paper, based on my contribution to the conference, focuses on aspects of the induction of ASCs, since they are essential to full understanding, and should be of interest to transpersonal psychologists in general as well as students and scholars of esoteric practices. Looking at general principles of ASC induction can allow commonalities (as well as important differences) in various spiritual practices to be seen in what otherwise would appear to be wildly differing approaches. I will not attempt in-depth scholarship here (details of this systems approach can be found elsewhere, see Tart, 1975), as it would result in much too large a paper, but let the ultimate usefulness of the approach be judged by its long- term results in aiding understanding of various esoteric practices. To start with the concrete before moving to more abstract principles…
Imaging of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

A.M. Lowy et al. (eds.) Pancreatic Cancer. 255 doi: 10.1007/978-0-387-69252-4, © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis, staging, and follow-up of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In addition to identifying the primary tumor, the goals of imaging in pancreatic cancer include assessment of local and regional invasion, evaluation of lymph nodes and vascular structures, and evaluation for possible metastatic disease. Furthermore, imaging assessment identifies those patients who are candidates for resection — the only known therapy associated with longterm survival — and spares others from unnecessary surgical intervention. There is no indication for plain film evaluation and limited value in using ultrasonography (US) in the evaluation of pancreatic cancer. Because of its invasive nature, angiography has fallen out of favor in the evaluation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Cross-sectional imaging, including computed tomography (CT) and MRI, however, meet the stated goals in the assessment of pancreatic cancer. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) can also add valuable information in specific cases. Other important modalities that utilize imaging include EUS, endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERCP), and PET are discussed elsewhere in this text.