cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Genetic Islands Associated with Chronic Pulmonary Infection

Background: Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) colonizes the human respiratory tract and is an important pathogen associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Bacterial factors that interact with the human host may be important in the pathogenesis of COPD. These factors, however, have not been well defined. The overall goal of this study was to identify bacterial genetic elements with increased prevalence among H. influenzae strains isolated from patients with COPD compared to those isolated from the pharynges of healthy individuals. Methodology/Principal Findings: Four nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi) strains, two isolated from the airways of patients with COPD and two from a healthy individual, were subjected to whole genome sequencing using 454 FLX Titanium technology. COPD strain-specific genetic islands greater than 500 bp in size were identified by in silico subtraction. Open reading frames residing within these islands include known Hi virulence genes such as lic2b, hgbA, iga, hmw1 and hmw2 ,a s well as genes encoding urease and other enzymes involving metabolic pathways. The distributions of seven selected genetic islands were assessed among a panel of 421 NTHi strains of both disease and commensal origins using a Library-ona-Slide high throughput dot blot DNA hybridization procedure. Four of the seven islands screened, containing genes that encode a methyltransferase, a dehydrogenase, a urease synthesis enzyme, and a set of unknown short ORFs, respectively, were more prevalent in COPD strains than in colonizing strains with prevalence ratios ranging from 1.21 to 2.85 (p#0.0002). Surprisingly, none of these sequences show increased prevalence among NTHi isolated from the airways of patients with cystic fibrosis. Conclusions/Significance: Our data suggest that specific bacterial genes, many involved in metabolic functions, are associated with the ability of NTHi strains to survive in the lower airways of patients with COPD.
On integral manifolds for autonomous systems with slowly modulated motions

Abstract Autonomous systems having slow amplitude modulated motions are studied. A theorem is proved which gives the existence and estimates of size of integral manifolds for such systems. The mathematical results are then applied to study a nonlinear system with follower forces.
EPOXI and Stardust NExT: the management challenges of two comet flybys in three months

The EPOXI and Stardust NExT missions were missions of opportunity utilizing the Deep Impact and Stardust spacecraft, respectively. These new missions took advantage of the cost savings of utilizing spacecraft that were already flying for new science investigations. Both were retargeted to fly by an additional comet. EPOXI visited Hartley 2, significantly smaller than the other Jupiter family comets visited previously. Stardust NExT flew by Tempel 1, providing a second look at the comet previously studied by Deep Impact in 2005. Both projects were part of NASA's Discovery Program. In order to further save costs, the projects were combined into a single project office at JPL. This provided some efficiencies due to the similarity of the missions, but having the flybys space only three months apart posed challenges for the project management team to ensure each project was ready for its critical event and ensuring each received the proper support from the management team. The project office relied on an integrated calendar for tracking and scheduling meetings, reviews, and other key events. The project management team also coordinated their availability for both projects to maintain involvement with each team to ensure effective risk identification and management.
Observational quantification of the separation of simple and complex atmospheric ice particles

The impact of ice clouds on weather and climate is a function of ice particle shape through light scattering properties and cloud lifetime through ice particle sedimentation rates. Many weather forecast and climate models use two categories to represent ice cloud particles: cloud ice and snow, though the distinction between particle categories is generally without observational justification. Improved characterization of cloud ice and snow as well as the transition between them will make models more realistic. An analysis of particle imagery data from high-resolution aircraft particle imaging probes indicates that atmospheric ice particles can easily be separated by particle complexity. In this work, a technique is described which enables the clear separation of vapor grown particles from aggregates of particles. When applied to two example data sets, the technique shows that the separation between these categories occurs at 150 and 250 microns, for two example data sets.
Inhibition of Renin Release by Arachidonic Acid Metabolites, 12(s)-HPETE and 12-HETE: Role of TRPV1 Channels

We test the hypothesis that 12-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12(s)-HPETE) and 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) perfused into the renal pelvis increase afferent renal nerve activity (ARNA) and suppress renin release in rats fed a low-salt (LS) diet via activation of the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) expressed in renal sensory nerves. 12(s)-HPETE or 12-HETE given into the left renal pelvis dose-dependently increased ARNA, which was abolished by AMG9810, a selective TRPV1 antagonist, or by RP67580, a selective neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist, in normal salt or LS-treated rats. 12(s)-HPETE, 12-HETE, or substance P perfused into the left renal pelvis suppressed plasma angiotensin I (Ang I) levels in LS rats, which was abolished by AMG9810 or attenuated by ipsilateral renal denervation (RD). 12(s)-HPETE or 12-HETE increased release of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide from the ipsilateral kidney, which was abolished by AMG9810 but not RP67580, RD, or RP67580 plus RD. Immunofluorescence staining showed that TRPV1-positive nerve fibers located in the renal cortex, medulla, and pelvis, and that the sympathetic nerve marker, neuropeptide Y, but not neurokinin 1 receptors expressed in the juxtaglomerular region colocalized with renin. Thus, our data show that 12(s)-HPETE and 12-HETE enhance ARNA and substance P/calcitonin gene-related peptide release but suppress renin activity in LS rats, and these effects are abolished when TRPV1 is blocked. These results indicate that TRPV1 mediates 12(s)-HPETE and 12-HETE action in the kidney in such a way that dysfunction in TRPV1 may lead to disintegrated regulation of renin and renal function.
One-boson-exchange contributions to high-energy p-anti-p elastic scattering in a nonlocal field theory

The $p\ensuremath{-}\overline{p}$ elastic scattering in the GeV region is studied through the exchange of heavy bosons. Within the framework of a local field theory, the experimental results cannot be reproduced satisfactorily. Better agreement is obtained when suitable vertex functions representing a nonlocal Lagrangian are introduced. The fundamental length contained in the vertex function is found to be the nucleon Compton wavelength.
Fluorescence Lifetime and Quenching Rates for N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethyl-P-Phenylenediamine in the Vapor Phase

The fluorescence lifetime of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) in the vapor phase has been determined to be 3.2 ± 0.3 ns for excitation at 337 nm. The rate constants for quenching of electronically excited TMPD by ground-state TMPD, O2, and CO2 have been determined to be <1 × 10−10 cm3/s, (9.9 ± 1.0) × 10−10 cm3/s, and <4 × 10−13 cm3/s, respectively. The rate for TMPD implies that self-quenching is negligible up to pressures of at least 10 Torr. The quenching rate by oxygen is sufficiently high to ensure that use of TMPD as a quantitative marker for fuel evaporation in exciplex-based vapor/liquid visualization systems is probably not possible if significant quantities of oxygen—as would be the case in combustion environments—are present.
It's Time to Include Nutrition Education in the Secondary Physical Education Curriculum.

Although the primary focus of physical educators is to increase students' physical activity levels and their knowledge about the importance of movement, they also have the opportunity to affect students' overall wellness by teaching nutrition and how healthy eating contributes to overall health and weight management. Nutrition concepts and dietary behavior-change strategies can be included in the physical education curriculum. This approach would integrate the two primary concepts that contribute to maintaining a healthy weight. This article provides a curriculum outline that incorporates nutrition education without forsaking physical activity in PE class.
The (t·T) interaction between (d, p) and (d,n¯) channels and the anomaly in (d, p) cross sections

Abstract The anomaly of the 90 Zr(d,p) 91 Zr cross sections at E d = 7.05 MeV can be understood by considering the ( t·T ) interaction between the (d,p) and (d, n ¯ ) channels.
Actuator and controller scheduling in nonlinear transport-reaction processes

Abstract The objective of the present manuscript is to examine the performance improvement of a class of nonlinear transport processes subject to spatiotemporally varying disturbances through the employment of a comprehensive and systematic actuator activation and controller scheduling policy. To attain this objective, it is assumed that multiple groups of actuators are available with only one such actuator group being active over a time interval of fixed length while the remaining actuator groups are kept dormant. Using well-established enhanced controllability and performance improvement measures, the candidate actuator groups are first placed at locations that individually provide certain robustness with respect to an appropriately defined “worst” spatial distribution of disturbances. Once the multiple actuator groups are in place, a switching scheme that dictates the switching of a different actuator group at different time intervals, as well as the corresponding control signal supplied to it while being active, is developed. Embedded in the decision policy is the activation of actuators that lie spatially closer to the spatiotemporal disturbances, thereby improving the control authority of the actuators and enhancing the ability of the system to minimize the effects of this class of disturbances. Indeed, entering disturbances that excite different system modes at different time intervals are best handled by employing the actuators that have increased spatial controllability for the above disturbance modes while simultaneously satisfy certain performance measures. In this manner, the control system designed engages the actuators that are better suited to efficiently perform spatiotemporal disturbance compensation over the duration of certain time intervals. The proposed method is demonstrated through simulations using two typical quasi-linear highly dissipative partial differential equation examples.
The source of Pb, Cu, and Zn in fogwater

The variation in the concentrations of Zn, Pb, and Cu in water and acid extracts of airborne particulates and in fogwater collected in the rural northern San Joaquin Valley of California during the fall and winter of 1983–1984 was determined by anodic stripping voltammetry. There is a good correlation between water extracts of airborne particulates and fogwater for the concentrations of Cu and Pb and the concentration ratio (Cu/Pb), suggesting that the concentrations of these metals in fogwater is controlled by the concentration of extractable metal in the particulates on which the fog droplet forms. The major ion composition of the fogwater samples was measured by ion chromatography and compared with literature values for urban fogwater.
On the development of a static formation theory for active materials

The notion of formation theory is formulated for static models. It involves the design of material and actuator structures to provide the “best” optimal control properties. Models appropriate for the study of a formation theory are derived for the Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beams. An abstract treatment is then developed and is applied to these models. Finally, finite dimensional finite element problems are obtained and the results of numerical experiments are presented for the more complicated Timoshenko case.
The talent crisis: how prepared are you?

Robin Athey explains why current acquisition and retention strategies will fall short in light of the impending talent crisis.
Assembly at the Nanoscale: Heterojunctions of Carbon Nanotubes and Nanocrystals (Keynote)

This paper reports the controlled synthesis of multi-walled Carbon Nanotube-Quantum Dot (CNT-QD) heterojunctions using the Ethylene Carbodiimide Coupling procedure (EDC). Thiol stabilized ZnS capped CdSe quantum dots containing amine terminal groups (QD-NH2 ) were conjugated with acid treated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) ranging from 400 nm to 4μm in length. SEM, TEM, EDS and FTIR were used to characterize the conjugation process.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Economic Analysis on the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) NASA Team

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) performed the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) to provide information to support end-of-the-decade decisions on possible near-term US Government (USG) investments in space transportation. To gain a clearer understanding of the costs and benefits of the broadest range of possible space transportation options, six teams, five from aerospace industry companies and one internal to NASA, were tasked to answer three primary questions: a) If the Space Shuttle system should be replaced; b) If so, when the replacement should take place and how the transition should be implemented; and c) If not, what is the upgrade strategy to continue safe and affordable flight of the Space Shuttle beyond 2010. The overall goal of the Study was "to develop investment options to be considered by the Administration for the President's FY2001 budget to meet NASA's future human space flight requirements with significant reductions in costs." This emphasis on government investment, coupled with the participation by commercial f'trms, required an unprecedented level of economic analysis of costs and benefits from both industry and government viewpoints. This paper will discuss the economic and market models developed by the in-house NASA Team to analyze space transportation architectures, the results of those analyses, and how those results were reflected in the conclusions and recommendations of the STAS NASA Team. Copyright 1999 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. No copyright is asserted in the United States under Title 17, U.$. Code. The U.S. Government has a royalty-free license to exercise all rights under the copyright claimed herein for Governmental purposes. All other rights are reserved by the copyright owner.
Fragment Bb in Amniotic Fluid: Evidence for complement activation by the alternative pathway in women with Intra-amniotic Infection/Inflammation

Objective. Fragment Bb is an activator of the alternative pathway of the complement system. Recently, increased first trimester maternal plasma concentrations of this fragment were reported in patients destined to have a spontaneous preterm delivery before 34 weeks of gestation. The aim of this study was to determine whether the amniotic fluid (AF) concentrations of fragment Bb change with gestational age, spontaneous labor (term and preterm) and in the presence of intra-amniotic infection/inflammation (IAI).Study design. This cross-sectional study included patients in the following groups: (1) mid-trimester (n = 64); (2) term in spontaneous labor (n = 70); (3) term not in labor (n = 43); (4) spontaneous preterm labor (PTL) who delivered at term (n = 76); (5) PTL without IAI who delivered preterm (n = 73); (6) PTL with IAI (n = 76); (7) preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM) without IAI (n = 71); and (8) preterm PROM with IAI (n = 71). Fragment Bb concentration in AF was determined by an enzyme-link...
Injection of neuropeptide Y into the third cerebroventricle differentially influences pituitary secretion of luteinizing hormone and growth hormone in ovariectomized cows.

Abstract Hypothalamic neurons that control the luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) axes are localized in regions that also express neuropeptide Y (NPY). Increased hypothalamic expression of NPY due to diet restriction has been associated with suppressed secretion of LH and enhanced secretion of GH in numerous species. However, these physiological relationships have not been described in cattle. Thus, two studies were conducted to characterize these relationships using ovariectomized (Experiment 1) or ovariectomized estrogen-implanted (Experiment 2) cows. In Experiment 1, four well-nourished, ovariectomized cows received third cerebroventricular (TCV) injections of 50 and 500 μg of NPY in a split-plot design. Venous blood was collected at 10-min intervals from −4 hr (pre-injection control period) to +4 hr (postinjection treatment period) relative to TCV injection. NPY suppressed (P ⩽ 0.04) tonic secretion of LH irrespective of dose and tended to stimulate (P ⩽ 0.10) an increase in tonic secretion of GH. In Experiment 2, six ovariectomized cows that were well nourished and implanted with estradiol received TCV injections of 0, 50, or 500 μg of NPY in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin Square. Both doses of NPY suppressed (P
The prognostic importance of sentinel lymph node biopsy in thin melanoma.

Background Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is prognostically useful in patients with cutaneous melanoma with Breslow thickness >1 mm. The objective of this study was to determine whether sentinel node histology has similar prognostic importance in patients with thin melanomas (≤1 mm).
A simple and efficient method for estimating the magnitude and precision of welfare changes: comment

A recent article (Breslaw and Smith, 1995) published in this journal provided an iterative numerical technique for computing the welfare effects of price changes. In this note we take issue with the application used to demonstrate this technique. In particular, we show that the demands used are inappropriate and that the authors incorrectly interpret the precision of the estimates of welfare change. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lack of reproductive plasticity in alpine Saxifraga rhomboidea (Saxifragaceae)

Phenotypic plasticity is predicted to be highly advantageous to alpine plants because of the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the alpine environment. Alpine plants are constrained in their vegetative plasticity by developmental preformation, however, they have the potential for reproductive plasticity via abortion of reproductive structures. Saxifraga rhomboidea Greene (Saxifragaceae) is a perennial of alpine dry meadows. It lacks a mechanism for vegetative reproduction, therefore, seed production is particularly important in maintaining populations of this species. Using long-term fertilized plots at the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research Site, we ask if fertilization has changed the abundance of S. rhomboidea, and if S. rhomboidea has shown a plastic reproductive response to nutrient additions. Despite a pronounced increase in community biomass, we found that abundance of S. rhomboidea was not affected by fertilization. Moreover, S. rhomboidea showed no plastic response in seed to ovule ratio or other reproductive measures. Other arctic and alpine species have shown the potential for plasticity of maternal investment; S. rhomboidea appears to lack this reproductive plasticity. We suggest that morphological constraints may limit plasticity in this species.
Commentary: The Ongoing Legacy—The George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention

My association with Dr. George W. Comstock began just before the conduct of the second of two community-based cohort studies in Washington County, Maryland. I was in search of a thesis topic for my clinical epidemiology fellowship and was directed to Dr. Comstock—the ‘‘go to’’ person for research ideas. He pulled out his ‘‘idea box’’ and said: ‘‘How about looking at micronutrients and bladder cancer in the CLUE study?’’ Thus began my long-term affiliation with Dr. Comstock and the Training Center for Public Health Research. The article on the history of the Washington County Training Center for Public Health Research reprinted in this issue of the Journal (1) covers the activities of the Center through 1991, just a few years after the second communitybased cohort (CLUE II) was established. Dr. Comstock outlined the rich history of the public health activities conducted in Washington County, culminating in the establishment of the Training Center. As exemplified by its name, the Center was to be a laboratory for public health research, contributing to the education of countless public health researchers and practitioners. Dr. Comstock was the model of the educator and practitioner. Even in the article on the history of the center (1), he inserted multiple ‘‘teaching moments,’’ and the article is well worth the read. The only thing missing in the article is the acknowledgment of Dr. Comstock’s incredible contributions to the growth and development of the Center, which is now named for him.
Characterizing comment spam in the blogosphere through content analysis

Spams are no longer limited to emails and webpages. The increasing penetration of spam in the form of comments in blogs and social networks has started becoming a nuisance and potential threat. In this work, we explore the challenges posed by this type of spam in the blogosphere with substantial generalization regarding other social media. Thus, we investigate the characteristics of comment spam in blogs based on their content. The framework uses some of the previously explored methods developed to effectively extract the features of the blog spam and also introduces a novel method of active learning from the raw data without requiring training instances. This makes the approach more flexible and realistic for such applications. We also incorporate the concept of co-training for supervised learning to get accurate results. The preliminary evaluation of the proposed framework shows promising results.
Between Dispute and War: The Effect of Joint Democracy on Interstate Conflict Escalation

The "democratic peace" postulate has received much theoretical and empirical attention recently, with the bulk of the evidence coming down in support of its expectations: that democratic pairs of states are unlikely to get involved in militarized disputes (compared with other regime pairs), and more likely to avoid escalation to war when they do occur. This paper does not challenge these findings but examines escalation behavior of democratic disputants at the stages between the two "fire break" points of dispute and war Interestingly, the results of ordinal level analyses are not in line with the expectations of the joint-democracy hypothesis: once a democratic pair has entered a militarized dispute, it is about as likely (possibly a little more so) to escalate that dispute through further stages of antagonism short of war, as is a non-jointly democratic dyad. Once they pass the initial threshold into conflict, disputes between democracies escalate to uses of force relatively frequently, showing a willin...
Inhibitory interactions between two inward rectifier K+ channel subunits mediated by the transmembrane domains

Abstract Inwardly rectifying K channel subunits may form homomeric or heteromeric channels with distinct functional properties. Hyperpolarizing commands delivered to Xenopus oocytes expressing homomeric K 4.1 channels evoke inwardly rectifying K currents which activate rapidly and undergo a pronounced decay at more hyperpolarized potentials. In addition, K 4.1 subunits form heteromeric channels when coexpressed with several other inward rectifier subunits. However, coexpression of K 4.1 with K 3.4 causes an inhibition of the K 4.1 current. We have investigated this inhibitory effect and show that it is mediated by interactions between the predicted transmembrane domains of the two subunit classes. Other subunits within the K 3.0 family also exhibit this inhibitory effect which can be used to define subgroups of the inward rectifier family. Further, the mechanism of inhibition is likely due to the formation of an “inviable complex” which becomes degraded, rather than by formation of stable nonconductive heteromeric channels. These results provide insight into the assembly and regulation of inwardly rectifying K channels and the domains which define their interactions.
Test-Retest Reliability of a Formula-Scored Multiple-Choice Test

In an ideal multiple-choice test, defined as a multiple-choice test containing only items with options that are all equally guessworthy, the probability of guessing the correct answer to an item is equal to the reciprocal of the number of the item's options. This article presents an asymptotically exact estimator of the test-retest reliability of an ideal multiple-choice test. When all test items have the same number of options, computation of the estimator requires, in addition to the number of options per item, the same information as computation of the Kuder-Richardson Formula 21: the total number of items answered correctly on a single testing occasion by each person tested. Both for ideal multiple-choice tests and for nonideal multiple-choice tests for which the average probability of guessing the correct answer to an item is equal to the reciprocal of the number of options per item, Monte Carlo data show that the estimator is considerably more accurate than the Kuder-Richardson Formula 21 and, in fa...
Inhibitory effects of nitrogen oxides on a mixed methanogenic culture.

The effect of nitrate, nitrite, nitric oxide (NO), and nitrous oxide on a mixed, mesophilic (358C) methano- genic culture was investigated. Short-term inhibition assays were conducted at a concentration range of 10-350 mg N/L nitrate, 17-500 mg N/L nitrite, 0.02-0.8 mg N/L aqueous NO, and 19-191 mg N/L aqueous nitrous oxide. Simulta- neous methane production and N-oxide reduction was observed in 10 and 30 mg N/L nitrate and 0.02 mg N/L aqueous NO-amended cultures. However, addition of N-oxide resulted in immediate cessation of methanogenesis in all other cultures. Methanogenesis completely recovered subsequent to the complete reduction of N-oxides to nitro- gen gas in all N-oxide-amended cultures, with the exception of the 500 mg N/L nitrite- and 0.8 mg N/L aqueous NO-amended cultures. Partial recovery of methanogenesis was observed in the 500 mg N/L nitrite-amended culture in contrast to complete inhibition of methanogenesis in the 0.8 mg N/L aqueous NO-amended culture. Accumulation of volatile fatty acids was observed in both cultures at the end of the incubation period. Among all N-oxides, NO exerted the most and nitrate exerted the least inhibitory effect on the fermentative/methanogenic consortia. The effect of multiple additions of nitrate (300 mg N/L) on the same methanogenic culture was also investigated. Long-term exposure of the methanogenic culture to nitrate resulted in an increase of N-oxide reduction rates and decrease of methane production rates, which was attributed to changes in the microbial community structure due to nitrate addition. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;96: 444-455.
Mathematical and computational models of incompressible materials subject to shear

Numerical modeling of incompressible nonlinear elastic materials plays an increasing role in computational science and engineering, particularly in the high-fidelity simulation of rubber-like materials and many biological tissues. Our present study focuses on the treatment of the incompressibility constraint in finite-element discretizations for a cube subject to “simple shear”. We demonstrate that this test problem is not easily captured in three-dimensional mathematical and computational models, with challenges related to the incompressibility constraint that are unique to each approach. Specifically, we review the mathematical model, which presupposes the simple shear deformation and requires additional assumptions to determine the response. A computational model avoids these difficulties, but gives rise to questions regarding the mismatch between continuum and discrete representations of material incompressibility. We consider three distinct finite-element formulations to enforce (near) incompressibility, with particular attention paid to the competing goals of physical fidelity and computational efficiency. We demonstrate that some of these standard approaches fail to resolve incompressibility in a point-wise manner, despite it holding in an averaged sense. Numerical results indicate the maximum ratio of deformed to undeformed volumes grows sharply with mesh refinement; this is in contrast to the mathematical model, but occurs in a manner consistent with finite-element convergence theory.
Mixed-signal noise-decoupling via simultaneous power distribution design and cell customization in RAIL

An important and largely unexplored aspect of power distribution synthesis is cell customization. Through cell customization, power I/O cell assignments and local substrate and power supply decoupling may be tailored to reduce deleterious noise effects on analog circuits in mixed-signal environments. In this paper, we describe techniques for simultaneous power grid design (topology and sizing) and cell configuration/customization which allow designers to handle more difficult chip-level noise problems. We have incorporated this new approach in the power distribution synthesis tool RAIL and demonstrate its effectiveness on an industrial mixed-signal example. >
Quantitative Measurements of Xanthomonas Oryzae pv. Oryzae Distribution in Rice Using Fluorescent-Labeling

The rice host sensor, XA21, confers robust resistance to most strains of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the casual agent of bacterial blight disease. Using in planta fluorescence imaging of Xoo strain PXO99Az expressing a green fluorescent protein (Xoo-gfp) we show that XA21 restricts Xoo spread at the point of infection. This noninvasive and quantitative method to measure spatial distribution of Xoo populations in planta facilitates detailed assessment of plant disease resistance.
EXTENSION OF POROELASTIC ANALYSIS TO DOUBLE-POROSITY MATERIALS: NEW TECHNIQUE IN MICROGEOMECHANICS

Double-porosity materials were introduced as models for oil and gas reservoirs having both storage and transport porosities, and were at first usually treated as static mechanical systems in order to study the flow patterns of fluids during reservoir pump-down. Because fluid withdrawal normally increases the effective stress acting on the reservoir, it also turns out to be important to study the geomechanics of the reservoir and how changing fluid pressure affects the solid compaction and fluid permeability of these systems. At the microscale, the mechanical properties of the solid constituents and their distribution in space determine the overall macromechanics of the reservoir system. For systems containing two porosities and two types of solid constituents, exact results for all but one (which may be taken as the overall drained bulk modulus of the system) of the mechanical constants can be derived when the constituents’ properties are known using methods developed in this paper. For multi-porosity systems, closure of the system of equations remains an open question, although it is clear that the system can always be closed by the addition of further macroscale measurements.
Major domain swiveling revealed by the crystal structures of complexes of E. coli Rep helicase bound to single-stranded DNA and ADP.

Crystal structures of binary and ternary complexes of the E. coli Rep helicase bound to single-stranded (ss) DNA or ssDNA and ADP were determined to a resolution of 3.0 A and 3.2 A, respectively. The asymmetric unit in the crystals contains two Rep monomers differing from each other by a large reorientation of one of the domains, corresponding to a swiveling of 130° about a hinge region. Such domain movements are sufficiently large to suggest that these may be coupled to translocation of the Rep dimer along DNA. The ssDNA binding site involves the helicase motifs Ia, III, and V, whereas the ADP binding site involves helicase motifs I and IV. Residues in motifs II and VI may function to transduce the allosteric effects of nucleotides on DNA binding. These structures represent the first view of a DNA helicase bound to DNA.
Bilateral Creeping Attachment Using Free Mucosal Grafts: A Case Report with 4-Year Follow-Up

Two extensive peridontal recessive lesions in bilateral maxillary cuspid areas were treated surgically with free autogenous masticatory mucosal grafts. No attempt was made initially to achieve total root surface coverage. Evaluation of the sites during a 4-year postoperative period demonstrated unusual degrees of “creeping attachment.” The maxillary left cuspid graft completely covered the root with 9 mm of gingival-equivalent tissue while the maxillary right cuspid area displayed 90% (7 mm) root surface coverage.
Grassland invader responses to realistic changes in native species richness.

The importance of species richness for repelling exotic plant invasions varies from ecosystem to ecosystem. Thus, in order to prioritize conservation objectives, it is critical to identify those ecosystems where decreasing richness will most greatly magnify invasion risks. Our goal was to determine if invasion risks greatly increase in response to common reductions in grassland species richness. We imposed treatments that mimic management- induced reductions in grassland species richness (i.e., removal of shallow- and/or deep-rooted forbs and/or grasses and/or cryptogam layers). Then we introduced and monitored the performance of a notorious invasive species (i.e., Centaurea maculosa). We found that, on a per-gram-of-biomass basis, each resident plant group similarly suppressed invader growth. Hence, with respect to preventing C. maculosa invasions, maintaining overall productivity is probably more important than maintaining the productivity of particular plant groups or species. But at the sites we studied, all plant groups may be needed to maintain overall productivity because removing forbs decreased overall productivity in two of three years. Alternatively, removing forbs increased productivity in another year, and this led us to posit that removing forbs may inflate the temporal productivity variance as opposed to greatly affecting time-averaged productivity. In either case, overall productivity responses to single plant group removals were inconsistent and fairly modest, and only when all plant groups were removed did C. maculosa growth increase substantially over a no-removal treatment. As such, it seems that intense disturbances (e.g., prolonged drought, overgrazing) that deplete multiple plant groups may often be a prerequisite for C. maculosa invasion.
Semi-automated blastocyst microinjection

The focus of this paper is the design and development of a semi-automated system for microinjection of embryonic stem cells into blastocysts. Semi-automation is achieved through treating cell microinjection as a computer game. In this first phase, cell manipulation and microinjection is carried out using a joystick and an interactive graphical user interface (GUI). For this system to be developed further, to achieve full automation, this first phase had to succeed. The interactive GUI records and displays: real-time video images of the cells; processed images of cells; and the microinjection strategies adopted by operators during cell manipulation through a real-time video processing algorithm. Experiments showed that this first phase of the research was successful. Future research develop knowledge-based controllers using machine-learning techniques as the research drives towards its goal of fully automated cell microinjection
Sensitivity of Annual Evaporation to Soil and Root Properties in Two Models of Contrasting Complexity

Abstract Simulations of soil water and evapotranspiration with physically based models at broad scales vary in both complexity of processes modeled and in parameterization of soil and root properties. Sensitivity of annual evaporation Eann to some of these processes and parameters was tested with both a model allowing multiple soil layers (BROOK90) and a single-layered water balance model (WBM). For nine widely scattered locations in North America Eann was controlled primarily by climate and cover type, but within a location–type combination, Eann was controlled primarily by the available water capacity Wac, which is the product of available water fraction and effective root depth. The definition of the upper limit of available water is important; it is precisely defined here as the water volume fraction at 30-cm depth after 48 h of drainage from an initially saturated, homogeneous profile with a fixed gravity potential gradient at 2-m depth. Specification of root depth was as important as specification o...
From Mesopotamia through Carroll Quigley to Bill Clinton: World Historical Systems, the Civilizationist, and the President

The noted comparative civilizationist and world-historical systems analyst Carroll Quigley, whose theorizing rested on the whole historical span from Mesopotamia to the 1960's, was a teacher well-remembered by his student Bill Clinton. Quigley, by an intensive process of reduction, or rather idealization, of masses of historical data, derived a procedure for the diagnosis and therapy of ailing civilizations/world-systems, especially the one which he inhabited. The coherent, persistent and personal motifs of the policy discourse and variant initiatives of his student, the President, bear more than a passing resemblance to the hopeful, idealistic, voluntaristic, intellectual, scientific, economistic, demi-materialistic propensities of the civilizationist and teacher.
Locus of control, anger and suicide.

Those who had attempted suicide in the past were found to have higher indirect hostility scores and less of a belief in control by powerful others. The results were examined from the perspective of Seligman's learned helplessness theory and Henry and Short's theory. Language: en
Discovering Topical Aspects in Microblogs

We address the problem of discovering topical phrases or “aspects” from microblogging sites like Twitter, that correspond to key talking points or buzz around a particular topic or entity of interest. Inferring such topical aspects enables various applications such as trend detection and opinion mining for business analytics. However, mining high-volume microblog streams for aspects poses unique challenges due to the inherent noise, redundancy and ambiguity in users’ social posts. We address these challenges by using a probabilistic model that incorporates various global and local indicators such as “uniqueness”, “diversity” and “burstiness” of phrases, to infer relevant aspects. Our model is learned using an EM algorithm that uses automatically generated noisy labels, without requiring manual effort or domain knowledge. We present results on three months of Twitter data across different types of entities to validate our approach.
Religion and Reproduction in Philippine Society: A New Test of the Minority-Group Status Hypothesis

Data from an English-language questionnaire self-administered by college students in January-March 1985 provide the basis for this pilot study designed to explore Catholic and Protestant differences in desired numbers of sons and daughters in reasons underlying those desires and in attitudes toward the initiation of contraception and toward specific natural and artificial contraceptive methods. The respondents were 99 students from the private nonsectarian college and 118 from the Jesuit university a preponderance of the latter being Catholics. A convenience sample was used to obtain 147 non-Catholic Christian respondents from the conservative Protestant university and 136 non-Catholic Christians from the liberal university. Due to the fact that combining the sampled students from these Protestant universities with the others rendered the total sample nonrandom the 19 nonrandomly sampled students from the 2nd pretest also were included. The total sample size was 519 college students. Since there were important socioeconomic and demographic differences between Catholics and Protestants in the study these differences were held constant when examining the relationship between religion and the desired number of sons or daughters; this need was met by computing partial correlation coefficients. Catholic men desired to have larger numbers of sons and daughters than did Protestant men. Catholic and Protestant women did not differ much in the number of sons they wanted but Catholic women wanted more daughters. Catholicism had a stronger pronatalist effect on men than on women and a stronger effect on the number of daughters desired than on the number of sons hoped for. These relationships suggest that differences in sex-role expectations might explain why Catholicism affected the desired number of offspring and why that effect differed by sex of respondent and by sex of offspring. The advantages of sons most frequently stated first by men was that sons preserve the family name or bloodline but Catholic men were less likely than Protestant men to mention this advantage first. Catholic men were more likely to mention first that sons were a source of practical and financial help especially in old age. Unlike sons daughters were viewed as extremely important sources of help around the house and of campanionship/substitution for the mother. Protestant men were more likely than Catholic men to think that married couples should start using family planning before the 1st birth. A majority of Protestant women advocated marital contraception before the 1st birth and their proportion far exceeded that of Catholic women.
Eicosanoid synthesis in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a) anthracene-induced mammary carcinomas in Sprague-Dawley rats fed primrose oil, menhaden oil or corn oil diet

The comparative effects of high-fat diets (20%, w/w) on eicosanoid synthesis during mammary tumor promotion in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced rats were studied using diets containing 20% primrose oil (PO), 20% menhaden oil (MO) or 20% corn oil (CO). Sprague-Dawley rats fed the PO or MO diet had 21% or 24% fewer adenocarcinomas, respectively, than rats fed the CO diet. Histologically (i.e., mitotic figures, inflammatory cell infiltration and necrosis), the CO-fed rats exhibited the highest frequency of changes within tumors. Plasma fatty acid composition was significantly altered by diet, reflecting the composition of the oils which were being fed. Only the plasma of PO-fed rats contained detectable levels of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Arachidonic acid (AA) levels were significantly higher (p<0.05) in PO-fed than in CO- or MO-fed rats. MO-fed rats had significantly higher levels of plasma palmitic acid, while palmitoleic, eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids were detected only in MO-fed rats. As expected, linoleic acid (LA) and AA levels were lower (p<0.05) in the MO-fed rats than in PO- or CO-fed groups. The plasma of the CO-fed rats contained significantly higher levels of oleic acid. Eicosanoid synthesis in mammary carcinomas of rats fed the 20%-fat diets was 2–10 times higher than in mammary fat pads of control rats. The synthesis of PGE1 and LTB4 was significantly (p<0.05) higher in PO-fed rats than in CO-fed or MO-fed rats, although PGE values were significantly (p<0.05) higher in CO-fed rats than in Mo or PO groups. The synthesis of eicosanoids in both mammary fat pads and mammary carcinomas of MO-fed rats was lower (p<0.05) than in tissues of rats fed either CO or PO diets due to less AA precursor being fed and/or to competition between n−6 and n−3 fatty acids for cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase. The ratios of monoenoic to dienoic eicosanoids in both mammary fat pads and mammary carcinomas were higher in the PO group than in the MO or CO groups. These results suggest that inclusion of GLA (PO feeding) or EPA and DHA (MO feeding) in the diet may decrease malignancy by altering eicosanoid profiles.
Predicting the Adoption of Mobile DTV by Local Television Stations in the United States

Just a few years after local TV stations transitioned from analog to digital transmissions, dozens of stations across the United States have begun to provide live programming via mobile digital television (DTV). An exploratory study of television station managers (adopters and non-adopters of mobile DTV) focused on various perspectives of the technology, adoption motivations, and audience factors. Findings revealed that station owners and management were the ones who primarily determined whether to adopt mobile DTV. In addition, stations that had adopted the technology were more likely than non-adopters to be motivated by a desire to be the first to use mobile DTV.
In-Flight Testing of a Bio-Inspired Approach for Assessment of an UAV Outside Bounds of Nominal Design

This paper presents in-flight testing results of the implementation of an immunity-based approach for aircraft failure assessment on an unmanned aerial vehicle research system under upset conditions. The bio-inspired approach relies on the fault tolerance capabilities of the artificial immune system and a hierarchical multi self strategy combined with neural networks for feature definition. A low cost hardware and software system has been used to generate nominal and upset flight test data. The system includes an autopilot and sensor fusion solution that uses a non-linear Kalman Filter combined with a complementary filter to estimate the attitude states. Flight data were used to define a large set of 2-dimensional self/non-self projections as well as for the generation of antibodies designated for health assessment of aerial system under upset conditions. The methodology presented in this paper is assessed in terms of detection rates and false alarms. Nomenclature ADALINE Adaptive Linear Neuron AIS Artificial Immune System AMA Aircraft Modeling Association ANN Artificial Neural Networks APM Ardupilot Mega CSUM Cluster Set Union Method DEKF Discrete Extended Kalman Filter DR Detection Rate ERAU Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University FA False Alarm FDIE Failure Detection, Identification and Evaluation FN False Negative FP False Positive GPS Global Positioning System HMS Hierarchical Multi-Self MR Model Reference TN True Negative TP True Positive UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle WVU West Virginia University Assistant Professor, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, AIAA Senior Member Graduate Student, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, AIAA Senior Member
Real-time imaging of action potentials in nerves using changes in birefringence

Polarized light can be used to measure the electrical activity associated with action potential propagation in nerves, as manifested in simultaneous dynamic changes in their intrinsic optical birefringence. These signals may serve as a tool for minimally invasive neuroimaging in various types of neuroscience research, including the study of neuronal activation patterns with high spatiotemporal resolution. A fast linear photodiode array was used to image propagating action potentials in an excised portion of the lobster walking leg nerve. We show that the crossed-polarized signal (XPS) can be reliably imaged over a ≥2 cm span in our custom nerve chamber, by averaging multiple-stimulation signals, and also in single-scan real-time "movies". This demonstration paves the way toward utilizing changes in the optical birefringence to image more complex neuronal activity in nerve fibers and other organized neuronal tissue.