cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interferometric strain gage and rosettes extended to out-of-plane deformation measurements

This paper extends an optical strain gage/rosette technique to measure derivatives of out-of- plane displacements. The principle of the technique is interference of light reflected and diffracted from two or three closely spaced indentations on a specimen surface. The technique measures derivatives of in-plane and out-of-plane displacements simultaneously through analyzing the phase shift of the interference fringes. Movement of the interference fringes is monitored by a photodiode system and collected via a microcomputer in real time to obtain the specimen deformations. There are a variety of the indentation configurations. The configuration of two pyramidally shaped indentations enables measurements of one derivative of in-plane and one derivative of out-of-plane displacements. Three indentations with six or eight reflective faces allow determination of three derivatives of in-plane and three derivatives of out-of-plane displacements. The derivatives are with respect to the directions of the indentation separations. The theory of the technique is presented. Associated instrumentation for data acquisition and analysis is also described. Experiments are conducted on a cantilever beam to verify the capability of the technique to measure small deflection angles. The comparative results between measurements and theoretical predictions show that the method is feasible to measure derivatives of out-of-plane displacements.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Analyticity of a hard-core multicomponent lattice gas

A multicomponent “anti-Widom-Rowlinson” lattice gas is introduced. An arbitrary numberM of particle types is permitted, all having the same activity. The only interactions are nearest-neighbor exclusions oflike particles (analogous to map-coloring problems). For any lattice it is shown that there is a finite numberM 0 (depending only on the coordination number of the lattice) such that for allM≥M 0 the infinite volume correlation functions exist and are analytic functions of the activity, for all positive values of the common activity.
A mechanistic treatment of the dominant soil nitrogen cycling processes: Model development, testing, and application

The broad impact of NO and N2O gas emissions on climate change are widely recognized [e.g., Mosier,1998; Vitousek et al., 1997], as are the effects of NO3 water contamination on human health [e.g., Kapoor and Viraraghavan, 1997] and eutrophication [e.g., Cloern, 2001]. Methods for evaluating the impacts of climate change, and fertilizer and water application techniques onN losses in agriculture are needed for both scientific investigations and management to limit N losses [e.g., Mosier et al., 1996; Matson et al., 1998; Subbarao et al., 2006]. In view of the needs for future increases in crop yield for food,fiber, and biofuel production, understanding the processes that regulate losses of solute and gaseous N species assumes even greater importance.
Biologic Activity of Porphyromonas endodontalis Complex Lipids

Abstract Introduction Periapical infections secondary to pulpal necrosis are associated with bacterial contamination of the pulp. Porphyromonas endodontalis , a gram-negative organism, is considered to be a pulpal pathogen. P. gingivalis is phylogenetically related to P. endodontalis and synthesizes several classes of novel complex lipids that possess biological activity, including the capacity to promote osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activation. The purpose of this study was to extract and characterize constituent lipids of P. endodontalis and evaluate their capacity to promote proinflammatory secretory responses in the macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, as well as their capacity to promote osteoclastogenesis and inhibit osteoblast activity. Methods Constituent lipids of both organisms were fractionated by high-performance liquid chromatography and were structurally characterized using electrospray mass spectrometry or electrospray-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. The virulence potential of P. endodontalis lipids was then compared with known biologically active lipids isolated from P. gingivalis . Results P. endodontalis total lipids were shown to promote tumor necrosis factor alpha secretion from RAW 264.7 cells, and the serine lipid fraction appeared to account for the majority of this effect. P. endodontalis lipid preparations also increased osteoclast formation from RAW 264.7 cells, but osteoblast differentiation in culture was inhibited and appeared to be dependent on Toll-like receptor 2 expression. Conclusions These effects underscore the importance of P. endodontalis lipids in promoting inflammatory and bone cell activation processes that could lead to periapical pathology.
A comparison of DNA adduct formation in white blood cells and internal organs of mice exposed to benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[c,g]carbazole, safrole and cigarette smoke condensate.

Measurement of tissue/cell DNA adducts represents a suitable monitor of carcinogen exposure because the majority of chemical mutagens/carcinogens react with DNA, forming covalent adducts, a key event in the initiation of chemical carcinogenesis. Investigations of DNA-adduct formation in vivo in white blood cells (WBC) versus target tissues, i.e. internal organs for most carcinogens, is expected to yield useful information about the suitability of WBC for biomonitoring and risk assessment. For this purpose, female ICR mice were given 0.4 mmole/kg benzo[a]pyrene (BP), 0.045 mmole/kg dibenzo[c,g]carbazole (DBC) or 2.47 mmole/kg safrole by oral gavage or 4 daily doses (equivalent to 3 cigarettes) of cigarette-smoke condensate (CSC) by topical application. At 24 h after dosing, DNA adducts were detected by a nuclease P1-enhanced 32P-postlabeling assay [M.V. Reddy and K. Randerath, Carcinogenesis, 7 (1986) 1543] in WBC and internal tissues treated with individual carcinogens, while CSC treatment elicited aromatic adducts in most tissues but not in WBC. Adduct patterns of WBC DNA were qualitatively similar to those of internal organs, but adduct amounts varied. BP, a systemic carcinogen, bound nearly as much to WBC DNA as to target-tissue DNA samples; whereas the liver carcinogens, DBC and safrole, bound to WBC DNA considerably less (22- and 51-fold, respectively) compared with liver DNA. The number of adducts in 10(7) nucleotides of WBC, liver, lung, kidney and spleen DNA, respectively, were: 2, 5, 3, 2 and 3 with BP; 6, 131, 6, 14 and 4 with DBC; 5, 238, 3, 5 and 0.6 with safrole. For CSC, these values were 0, 1 and 0.02 in WBC, lung and spleen, respectively. Our results show that carcinogen binding to WBC DNA does not reflect binding to target-tissue DNA in a quantitative sense for the carcinogens studied except for BP, and that WBC are not suitable surrogates for monitoring CSC exposure by DNA-adduct measurement after topical application. The CSC data in mice was consistent with the previous findings in humans that smokers' tissues but not WBC show smoking-related bulky/aromatic DNA adducts, as measured by 32P-postlabeling.
Reproductive competition in queenless honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.)

Previously we reported that there are subfamily differences in drone production in queenless honey bee colonies, but these biases are not always explained by subfamily differences in oviposition behavior. Here we determine whether these puzzling results are best explained by either inadequate sampling of the laying worker population or reproductive conflict among workers resulting in differential treatment of eggs and larvae. Using colonies composed of workers from electrophoretically distinct subfamilies, we collected samples of adult bees engaged in the following behavior: “true” egg laying, “false” egg laying, indeterminate egg laying, egg cannibalism, or nursing (contact with larvae). We also collected samples of drone brood at four different ages: 0 to 2.5-h-old eggs, 0 to 24-h-old eggs, 3 to 8-day-old larvae, and 9 to 14-day-old larvae and pupae. Allozyme analyses revealed significant subfamily differences in the likelihood of exhibiting egg laying, egg cannibalism, and nursing behavior, as well as significant subfamily differences in drone production. There were no subfamily differences among the different types of laying workers collected from each colony, suggesting that discrepancies between subfamily biases in egg-laying behavior and drone production are not due to inadequate sampling of the laying worker population. Subfamily biases in drone brood production within a colony changed significantly with brood age. Laying workers had significantly more developed ovaries than either egg cannibals or nurses, establishing a physiological correlate for the observed behavioral genetic differences. These results suggest there is reproductive conflict among subfamilies and individuals within queenless colonies of honey bees. The implications of these results for the evolution of reproductive conflict, in both queenright and queenless contexts, are discussed.
Evaluating Interventions with Differential Attrition: The Importance of Nonresponse Mechanisms and Use of Follow-up Data

Evaluations of psychological interventions are often criticized because of differential attrition, which is cited as a severe threat to validity. The present study shows that differential attrition is not a problem unless the mechanism causing the attrition is inaccessible (unavailable for analysis). With a simulation study, we show that conclusions about program effects (a) are unbiased when there is no differential attrition, even with usual complete cases analysis; (b) may be severely biased when based on usual complete cases analyses and there is differential attrition; (c) are unbiased when based on the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, even when there is differential attrition, as long as the attrition mechanism is accessible; and (d) are biased, even with the EM algorithm, when the attrition mechanism is inaccessible. Following Little and Rubin (1987), we advocate the collection of new data from a random sample of subjects with initially missing data. On the basis of these data, we propose a simple correction to the EM algorithm estimates. In our study, the correction produced unbiased estimates of program effects parameters, even with an inaccessible attrition mechanism and substantial differential attrition.
Influence of host species and age on host preference of Trissolcus semistriatus

Trissolcus semistriatus(Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) has a high potentialfor being an effective biological control agentfor the sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps.This study was conducted to determine thepreferences of T. semistriatus in termsof host species and age of variousheteropteran host eggs (E. integriceps,Dolycoris baccarum, Graphosoma lineatum,Eurydema ornatum, Holcostethus vernalis). Theresults indicated that a small portion ofparasitism of E. ornatum eggs wasobtained (28.5%), although high parasitismrates were found in other host eggs(90.0–80.0%). A high percentage of adultemergence was also recorded. When tested for its ability toparasitize host eggs of different ages,T. semistriatus was found to preferyounger hosts: it showed parasitism ratesgreater than 50% with up to 3 daysold E. integriceps and D.baccarum, and with up to 4 days old G. lineatum and H. vernalis. However, theparasitism rates in all the ages of E. ornatum eggs were much lower than for other hostspecies. The developmental times in all hostspecies at different ages was extended withincreased host age. It was concluded that G. lineatum and D. baccarum could beused for mass production of egg parasitoids.
Surgical residents' clinical activity during research: shedding light on moonlighting practices.

Purpose General surgery residents who are planning an academic career typically interrupt their clinical residency training with a dedicated period of research. During these research interludes, many residents engage in clinical work, but the characteristics, motivations, and perceived value of such “moonlighting” practices are unknown. We sought to objectively characterize residents' clinical experiences during intervals primarily dedicated to research. Methods Surveys were administered to all residents in a university-based general surgery residency program as well as residents from other programs included in the moonlighting pool. Surveys consisted of Likert-type and open-response elements. Residents' personal operative logs were abstracted for the period of their research fellowships. Hospital schedules over 32 months were used to determine hours spent on clinical duty objectively. Residents were excluded from the analysis if not actively engaged research, if not supported by intramural or extramural funding, or if moonlighting at a facility from which duty records could not be obtained. Results Survey response rates were 97.7% (43/44) for preresearch (junior) residents and 90.7% (39/43) for current and postresearch (senior) residents. Average self-reported moonlighting volume was 20.0 hours/week (SD 11.3). Average actual moonlighting volume was 20.2 hours/week (SD 2.4), or 1.45 shifts/week (SD 0.2). Shifts were tabulated independent of shift length. The option to moonlight was felt to be an important component of research fellowships by 92.5% of senior residents and 70% of junior residents. The 2 greatest motivations to moonlight were listed as financial benefit (96.0%) and maintenance of clinical acumen (93.3%). In all, 45% of senior residents felt that moonlighting did not impact their research productivity; 30% of senior residents felt that moonlighting did impact research. Of operations performed while moonlighting, 76.9% of senior residents reported that at least some operations were particularly valuable because of rarity, complexity, or limited prior exposure. Overall, 86.2% of surveyed residents believed operations performed during research should be recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Conclusions Residents derive financial and educational benefit from clinical activity during research fellowships, and the option to pursue such moonlighting is considered important. The moonlighting system within this training program is voluntary, and residents are treated with graduated responsibility according to their postgraduate year. Most residents had some particularly valuable operative experiences while moonlighting; inclusion of these operations in residents' ACGME case logs should be considered.
Non-linear programming approach to simulation of the general adversarial agents problem

The adversarial agents problem is a generalized game-theoretic problem in which a set of agents faces a set of adversarial agents of varying types and capabilities, and must plan and perform actions to try to accomplish a specified goal; instances of this problem are often conceived as military combat situations. In this paper, we formulate the general adversarial agents problem as a non-linear integer programming problem, and show how an optimizing solver can be used to generate strategies for instances of the problem, with examples to illustrate the approach. Finally, we discuss the usefulness of such a formulation for real-world problems, particularly in system modeling and simulation for verification of heuristic strategy and planning algorithms and approaches.
PNG palette permuter

Developing sophomore-level programming assignments that are both interesting to students and that have a good balance between low-level and high-level concepts is a difficult thing to do. The PNG Palette Permuter is a large assignment that does achieve this balance while still being based on topics such as encryption and image processing which students find interesting and relevant. Specifically, the Permuter involves compression, encryption, and steganography. This paper presents this project and discusses the interesting high and low-level issues that occur.
Measuring Fiber Optics Transmission Characteristics With A Computerized Signal Processing System

Fiber optics measurements with a computer-controlled digitizing oscilloscope signal processing system. are described with emphasis on calculation, of fiber transmission characteristics. Automated measurements described include numerical aperture, attenuation, pulse spreading and the use of Fast Fourier Transform processing techniques to obtain the magnitude and phase of the frequency-response function as well as the impulse response function.© (1978) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Spontaneous and hybrid origins of parthenogenesis in Campeloma decisum (freshwater prosobranch snail)

Spontaneous and hybrid origins of parthenogenesis in Campeloma decisum (freshwater prosobranch snail)
Regulation and stabilization of lens glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Abstract Both rat and human lens glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases (G-6-PD) were competitively inhibited by NADPH with a K i of 8·37 and 2·12 μ m , respectively, at 2m m -glucose-6-phosphate, pH 7·4. The enzyme was unstable at 37·5°C; the instabilization was enhanced by either ATP or oxidized glutathione. However, either NADP or NADPH fully protected the enzeme from inactivation. The electrophoretic pattern of lens G-6-PD could be altered by reacting with diamide. The diamide-treated enzyme was more labile (at 37·5°C) than, but was kinetically similar to, the native enzyme.
Relation of maternal personality to perceptions of environmental chaos in the home

Are associations between objectively measured and perceived home chaos moderated by individual differences in stimulus sensitivity or extraversion? 94 mothers completed the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, the Noise Sensitivity Scale and the International Personality Item Pool gregariousness and excitement seeking subscales. Maternal perception of home chaos was assessed using the CHAOS scale. Two observations were used to code home noise, crowding, “traffic pattern” and disorganization. Significant interactions were identified, such that associations between higher home traffic patterns or disorganization and maternal perceptions of home chaos were significant only for mothers high in stimulus sensitivity. Individual perceptions of the level of home chaos are a joint function of both the objective stimulus situation and individual differences in sensitivity to the environment.
Perforant path stimulation differentially alters prodynorphin mRNA and proenkephalin mRNA levels in the entorhinal cortex-hippocampal region.

The regulatory effect of the perforant path on opioid gene expression in the entorhinal cortex-hippocampal region was investigated. The left perforant path was electrically stimulated at the angular bundle under conditions which elicit wet dog shakes but no motor seizures in rats. Animals were given either an acute stimulation composed of several consecutive stimulation trials, or daily stimulations with a single trial every day for 6 days. Rats were then sacrificed at 24 h or 6 days after the last trial. The amounts of prodynorphin mRNA (DYN mRNA) and proenkephalin A mRNA (EK mRNA) in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex were measured by RNA blot analysis. Dynorphin A(1–8) and [Met5]enkephalin immunoreactivities were determined by radioimmunoassay. A decrease in DYN mRNA level of approximately 50–80% was found on both sides of the hippocampus 24 h after both acute and daily stimulation. Hippocampal dynorphin A(1–8) immunoreactivity was also reduced at 24 h, and persisted for at least 6 days. In contrast, bilateral increases in EK mRNA level were observed in the hippocampus (54–101%) and entorhinal cortex (97–165%) 24 h after the acute stimulation. Also, [Met5]enkephalin immunoreactivity in the hippocampus tended to be increased at this time. These results indicate that activation of the perforant path inhibits the gene expression of prodynorphin, but enhances that of proenkephalin in the entorhinal cortex-hippocampal region.
On the resolvability of normally distributed vector parameter estimates

This paper presents a metric useful in analyzing the resolution of multidimensional (vector) parameter estimators that produce normal estimates. This metric is based on the distance between ellipsoidal confidence regions about each of the parameters. When the ellipsoids are disjoint the parameters are deemed resolvable. This paper presents a method for finding the noise level at which all of the ellipsoids are disjoint, but at least two are tangent. This is deemed the resolution threshold noise level. The underlying mathematical result treats the problem of finding a dilation (noise level) at which two coupled quadratic equations have a unique solution.
Rate-based flow-control for the CICQ switch

A combined input and crosspoint queued (CICQ) switch with a flow control latency of round-trip time (RTT) packets requires each crosspoint (CP) buffer to hold the RTT packets in order to support any traffic pattern without blocking. In this paper, a distributed rate-based flow control internal to a CICQ switch is proposed. The new rate-based flow control allocates bandwidth to each virtual output queue (VOQ) using simple counters, and a minimal CP buffer requirement can be achieved without packet loss. The proposed rate-based flow control is shown to be more stable than the existing credit-based flow control previously proposed in the literature for realistic traffic while significantly reducing the CP memory size, thus making the implementation of a distributed CICQ switch practical
Replication of herpes simplex virus type 1 within trigeminal ganglia is required for high frequency but not high viral genome copy number latency.

The replication properties of a thymidine kinase-negative (TK − ) mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) were exploited to examine the relative contributions of replication at the body surface and within trigeminal ganglia (TG) on the establishment of latent infections. The replication of a TK − mutant, 17/tBTK − , was reduced by ∼12-fold on the mouse cornea compared to the rescued isolate 17/tBRTK + , and no replication of 17/tBTK − in the TG of these mice was detected. About 1.8% of the TG neurons of mice infected with 17/tBTK − harbored the latent viral genome compared to 23% of those infected with 17/tBRTK + . In addition, the latent sites established by the TK − mutant contained fewer copies of the HSV-1 genome (average, 2.3/neuron versus 28/neuron). On the snout, sustained robust replication of 17tBTK − in the absence of significant replication within the TG resulted in a modest increase in the number of latent sites. Importantly, these latently infected neurons displayed a wild-type latent-genome copy number profile, with some neurons containing hundreds of copies of the TK − mutant genome. As expected, the replication of the TK − mutant appeared to be blocked prior to DNA replication in most ganglionic neurons in that (i) virus replication was severely restricted in ganglia, (ii) the number of neurons expressing HSV proteins was reduced 30-fold compared to the rescued isolate, (iii) cell-to-cell spread of virus was not detected within ganglia, and (iv) the proportion of infected neurons expressing late proteins was reduced by 89% compared to the rescued strain. These results demonstrate that the viral TK gene is required for the efficient establishment of latency. This requirement appears to be primarily for efficient replication within the ganglion, which leads to a sixfold increase in the number of latent sites established. Further, latent sites with high genome copy number can be established in the absence of significant virus genome replication in neurons. This suggests that neurons can be infected by many HSV virions and still enter the latent state.
Heating the Solar Corona by Magnetic Reconnection

Here I review briefly the theory of magnetohydrodynamic reconnection and ask what observational evidence is there that it is heating the corona. In particular, the new directions in which three-dimensional theory for reconnection is heading are outlined. Part of the coronal heating problem has been solved with the identification of reconnection driven by converging flux motions as the key for x-ray bright points. Furthermore, it has been shown that the large-scale diffuse corona is heated rather uniformly, so that turbulent reconnection by braiding or ion-cyclotron waves driven by network micro-flares are prime candidates. Finally, reconnection is the natural explanation for a wide variety of phenomena discovered by SOHO including explosive events, blinkers, the magnetic carpet and even possibly tornadoes.
Determining Stability of Stored Samples Retrospectively: The Validation of Glycated Albumin

BACKGROUND: Determining the stability of stored samples for assays that were not available at the time of original collection is problematic. To assess sample stability for a relatively new assay of glycated albumin (GA), we first measured GA in fresh samples and in samples stored for 19–23 years. We then compared the regression of the contemporaneous glycohemoglobin (Hb A1c) values against the GA results from fresh vs stored samples, reasoning that similar slopes and intercepts would provide strong, albeit indirect, support for the stability of the stored samples for GA measurements. METHODS: We assayed 90 samples frozen for 19–23 years and 90 fresh samples from participants in the Diabetes Control and Complications trial cohort for GA. Hb A1c was measured contemporaneously in fresh samples at each time period. A single normal-errors linear model regressed the Hb A1c values on the GA, with an additional effect for collection period (fresh vs stored for GA) and the interaction of period and GA. RESULTS: Analysis of the regressions lines between GA and Hb A1c revealed intercepts (3.69 and 2.97 for the fresh and stored samples, respectively) and slopes (0.198 vs 0.187) that were not significantly different ( P = 0.182 and P = 0.639, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This simple approach can be used to assess the stability of stored samples in new assays. Samples stored for as long as 23 years are suitable for the GA assay.
Plover: A Proactive Low-Overhead File Replication Scheme for Structured P2P Systems

File replication is a widely used technique for high performance in peer-to-peer file sharing systems. A file replication technique should be efficient and meanwhile facilitates efficient file consistency maintenance. However, most traditional methods don't consider node available capacity and physical location in file replication, leading to high overhead for both file replication and consistency maintenance. This paper presents a proactive low-overhead file replication scheme, namely Plover. By making file replication among physically close nodes based on node available capacities, Plover not only achieves high efficiency in file replication but also supports low-cost and timely consistency maintenance. It also includes an efficient file query redirection algorithm for load balancing between replica nodes. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of Plover in comparison with other file replication schemes. It dramatically reduces the overhead of both file replication and consistency maintenance compared to other schemes. In addition, it yields significant improvements in reduction of overloaded nodes.
A heuristic estimator for means-ends analysis in planning

Means-ends analysis is a seemingly well understood search technique, which can be described, using planning terminology, as: keep adding actions that are feasible and achieve pieces of the goal. Unfortunately, it is often the case that no action is both feasible and relevant in this sense. The traditional answer is to make subgoals out of the preconditions of relevant but infeasible actions. These subgoals become part of the search state. An alternative, surprisingly good, idea is to recompute the entire subgoal hierarchy after every action. This hierarchy is represented by a greedy regression-match graph. The actions near the leaves of this graph are feasible and relevant to a sub...subgoals of the original goal. Furthermore, each subgoal is assigned an estimate of the number of actions required to achieve it. This number can be shown in practice to be a useful heuristic estimator for domains that are otherwise intractable.
Blood Money: Bayer’s Inventory of HIV-Contaminated Blood Products and Third World Hemophiliacs

This article presents an overlooked case of research misconduct and violations of basic principles of medical and business ethics. When Bayer’s Cutter Laboratories realized that their blood products, Factor VIII and IX or antihemophiliac factor (AHF), were contaminated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the financial investment in the product was considered too high to destroy the inventory. Cutter misrepresented the results of its own research and sold the contaminated AHF to overseas markets in Asia and Latin America without the precaution of heat treating the product recommended for eliminating the risk. As a consequence, hemophiliacs who infused the HIV-contaminated Factor VIII and IX tested positive for HIV and developed AIDS.
Quantitative Dynamics of Plasmodium yoelii Sporozoite Transmission by Infected Anopheline Mosquitoes

Malaria transmission begins with the injection of Plasmodium sporozoites into the skin of a vertebrate host by infected anopheline mosquitoes. Although the size of the sporozoite inoculum likely affects the course of the disease, the number of sporozoites injected by infected mosquitoes has not been determined in vivo. Using a quantitative PCR assay, we determined the number of sporozoites injected into mice by single mosquitoes. Analysis of 59 mosquito feedings showed that a single infected mosquito injected between 0 and 1,297 sporozoites, with a mean of 123 and a median of 18. Twenty-two percent of infected mosquitoes injected no sporozoites. The number of sporozoites injected was only weakly correlated to the salivary gland load. To better understand the large variability in sporozoite injection among mosquitoes, we quantified the sporozoites injected by individual mosquitoes on three different days. Approximately 20% of moderately to heavily infected mosquitoes injected few to no sporozoites on all 3 days, suggesting that some mosquitoes are poor transmitters of sporozoites. Other mosquitoes injected high numbers of sporozoites on at least one of the days observed and minimal numbers on the other day(s), supporting the hypothesis that sporozoite injection is discontinuous, a pattern that may aid in the establishment of malaria infection.
Statistical Analysis of Randomized Experiments with Nonignorable Missing Binary Outcomes

Missing data are frequently encountered in the statistical analysis of randomized experiments. In this article, I propose statistical methods that can be used to analyze randomized experiments with a nonignorable missing binary outcome where the missing-data mechanism may depend on the unobserved values of the outcome variable itself. I first introduce an identification strategy for the average treatment eect and compare it with the existing alternative approaches in the literature. I then derive the maximum likelihood estimator and its asymptotic properties, and discuss possible estimation methods. Furthermore, since the proposed identification assumption is not directly verifiable from the data, I show how to conduct a sensitivity analysis based on the parameterization that links the key identification assumption with the causal quantities of interest. Then, the proposed methodology is extended to the analysis of randomized experiments with noncompliance. Although the method introduced in this article may not directly apply to randomized experiments with non-binary outcomes, I briefly discuss possible identification strategies in more general situations. Finally, I apply the proposed methodology to analyze data from the German election experiment and the influenza vaccination study, which originally motivated the methodological problems addressed in this article.
Perspectives: improving SSH-style host authentication with multi-path probing

The popularity of "Trust-on-first-use" (Tofu) authentication, used by SSH and HTTPS with self-signed certificates, demonstrates significant demand for host authentication that is low-cost and simple to deploy. While Tofu-based applications are a clear improvement over completely insecure protocols, they can leave users vulnerable to even simple network attacks. Our system, PERSPECTIVES, thwarts many of these attacks by using a collection of "notary" hosts that observes a server's public key via multiple network vantage points (detecting localized attacks) and keeps a record of the server's key over time (recognizing short-lived attacks). Clients can download these records on-demand and compare them against an unauthenticated key, detecting many common attacks. PERSPECTIVES explores a promising part of the host authentication design space: Trust-on-first-use applications gain significant attack robustness without sacrificing their ease-of-use. We also analyze the security provided by PERSPECTIVES and describe our experience building and deploying a publicly available implementation.
A simple method for site-directed mutagenesis using the polymerase chain reaction

We have developed a general and simple method for directing specific sequence changes in a plasmid using primed amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The method is based on the amplification of the entire plasmid using primers that include the desired changes. The method is rapid, simple in its execution, and requires only minute amounts of plasmid template DNA. It is significant that there are no special requirements for appropriately placed restriction sites in the sequence to be manipulated. In our system the yield of transformants was high and the fraction of them harboring plasmids with only the desired change was consistently about 80%. The generality of the method should make it useful for the direct alteration of most cloned genes. The only limitation may be the total length of the plasmid to be manipulated. During the study we found that the Taq DNA polymerase used for PCR adds on a single extra base (usually an A) at the end of a large fraction of the newly synthesized chains. These had to be removed by the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase to insure restoration of the gene sequence.
Pathology of the mononuclear cell leukemia of Fischer rats. II. Hematology.

Complete hemograms were evaluated for 57 rats with mononuclear cell leuke- mia and compared to hemograms obtained from 52 age- and sex-matched nonleukemic rats. All leukemic rats had marked hemolytic anemia and associated spherocytosis, reticu- locytosis, anisocytosis, and polychromasia. The anemia vaned with the stage of illness and was more severe in rats with advanced leukemia. Death appeared to be related to anemia. There was a marked neutrophilia with left shift, mild lymphopenia, and moderate to severe thrombocytopenia. Atypical mononuclear cells were detected in circulation in all but three rats. Total white blood cell counts ranged from 5.0-370 X 10' cells/ml. There was an increase in erythrocyte osmotic fragility with separation into two distinct populations of erythrocytes. Eight of nine rats were Coomb's positive indicating an immune-mediated pathogenesis for the anemia. Hemostasis tests revealed a markedly prolonged prothrombin time, hypofibrinogenemia, slightly increased to normal partial thromboplastin time, and undetected fibrin degradation products. These findings suggest significant liver disease associated with the leukemia. The first reports of mononuclear cell leukemia in Fischer and Wistar rats (4, 51 mentioned hemolytic anemia associated with the disease. It was noted that rats were clinically normal in the early phases, but clinical illness occurred later and anemia was a consistent feature. The duration of illness as measured by appearance of leukemia cells in peripheral blood averaged five weeks. Leukocyte counts ranged from 18,000 to 158,000 cells/pl with 20-90% abnormal cells. Nucleated red cells and marked polychromasia were noted but no further characterization of the anemia was reported. Both previous studies were complicated by the presence of lesions consistent with murine pulmonary mycoplasmosis which may have altered the hematologic response. Our studies were undertaken to more completely char- acterize the hematologic status of mononuclear cell leukemia in mycoplasma-free rats, to correlate hematologic findings with histological involvement (7), and to define the pathogenesis of the anemia.
Contribution of Hurricane Ike storm surge sedimentation to long- term aggradation of Southeastern Texas coastal marshes

ABSTRACT Williams, H.F.L. and Denlinger, E. Contribution of Hurricane Ike storm surge sedimentation to long-term aggradation of Southeastern Texas coastal marshes Hurricane storm surges transport littoral sediment inland and may represent an important mechanism for long-term aggradation of coastal marshes. Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston, Texas, on September 13th 2008, generating a large storm surge that flooded 100 km of coastal marshes in southeastern Texas between Galveston Bay and the Louisiana border at Sabine Pass. The objective of the study was to measure the contribution of the hurricane-derived sediment input to long-term marsh aggradation. A field survey of the storm surge deposit in southeastern Texas coastal marshes was conducted in January 2009 and repeated in January 2010. The results show that the deposit is well-preserved and forms a landward-tapering wedge of sandy to muddy sediments that extends hundreds to thousands of meters inland. Cesium-137 dating was used to estimate dec...
Update on the Right to Refuse Antipsychotic Medication

The legal history and current developments in the right to refuse antipsychotic medication are reviewed. In Washington v. Harper the US Supreme Court analyzed the right to refuse antipsychotic medication under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. A narrow issue was clarified but substantial uncertainty remains. As a result, law and policy problems at both state and institutional levels have become evident and may need to be addressed by drug policy decision makers.
Biological Production of Uniform Polypeptides for Optical Applications

Recent advances in recombinant DNA technology have created the potential for engineering of protein molecules to specific uses beyond those normally considered for biomaterials. This research project has demonstrated the feasibility of producing polypeptides useful for narrow band filters and nonlinear optical applications. Synthetic genes, ranging in size from 36 to 576 base pairs, have been constructed from oligonucleotides using a restriction doubling technique. The synthetic genes have been inserted into a Protein A fusion expression system. Fused polypeptides from induced cells have been purified by affinity chromatography (IGG), and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
The Effect of Restricting Cycle Times in the Economic Lot Scheduling Problem

Abstract The economic lot scheduling problem (ELSP) involves specifying economic cycle times for each of several products produced by a set of machines. The extensive, usually experimentally based, literature on the ELSP indicates that it may be desirable to restrict the possible choice of cycle times for each product to a small and very structured set of possible cycle times. In this paper we examine the economic impacts of such a restriction and give evidence that is highly supportive of this type of restriction; in particular, the “powers of 2” sets of possible cycle times used in practice appear to be very desirable from an economic viewpoint.
A study of astrometric distortions due to 'tree rings' in CCD sensors using LSST Photon Simulator

Imperfections in the production process of thick CCDs lead to circularly symmetric dopant concentration variations, which in turn produce electric fields transverse to the surface of the fully depleted CCD that displace the photogenerated charges. We use PhoSim, a Monte Carlo photon simulator, to explore and examine the likely impacts these dopant concentration variations will have on astrometric measurements in LSST. The scale and behavior of both the astrometric shifts imparted to point sources and the intensity variations in flat field images that result from these doping imperfections are similar to those previously observed in Dark Energy Camera CCDs, giving initial confirmation of PhoSim's model for these effects. Additionally, organized shape distortions were observed as a result of the symmetric nature of these dopant variations, causing nominally round sources to be imparted with a measurable ellipticity either aligned with or transverse to the radial direction of this dopant variation pattern.
Affinity-Based Enrichment of Circulating Tumor Cells

Study of CTC in cancer has always been hampered by its rare existence in blood. In this chapter, we discuss one of first principles employed to capture CTC from cancer patients’ peripheral blood—the affinity-based enrichment of CTC. We briefly discuss the different technologies utilizing antibodies to capture CTC based on specific antigen expression. Then we address the downstream molecular and functional characterization of CTC by utilizing these technologies. We also discuss the limitations of affinity-based CTC enrichment.
Real-time PCR in Diagnosis and Efficiency Evaluation of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Treatment

Objective To evaluate the prospect of real-time PCR in the clinical diagnosis and efficiency evaluation of the pulmonary tuberculosis treatment.Methods Real-time PCR was established to detect M.tuberculosis specific sequence IS6110 in the sputum samples taken from suspected and diagnosed tuberculosis patients.The result was compared with acid-fast staining and cultivation Result The sensitivity of real-time PCR was 4 copies/reaction,that was significantly higher than acid-fast staining and cultivation.The positive rate of real-time PCR,acid-fast staining and cultivation.was 64.29%,35.12% and 12.5%.The copy of TB diminished obviously in the treatment follow-up.Conclusion The real-time PCR has high sensitivity and specificity in the detection of M.tuberculosis.The method could feedback the efficiency rapidly and in time,and provide evidence for the further treatment from doctors.
Glomerulonephritis and Immunopathology

The immunologic basis for renal injury in glomerulonephritis is well established. What are the events leading to destruction of the basement membrane? In the fourth article of the immunology series, two mechanisms are postulated, with emphasis on the roles of antibody, antigen, and complement, as well as on the significance of these mechanisms to clinical management.
Baker’s Yeast: A Successful Industrial Microorganism is Now a Favorable Host for Molecular Cloning

The fact that baking and brewing yeasts are successful industrial microorganisms is without question. They have been used for centuries for the production to carbon dioxide and ethanol in their respective applications, and more recently have been used as a source for naturally contained vitamins, enzymes and cofactors of commercial and scientific value (1). Since their adaptation to the genetics laboratory in the 1930s and 40’s by Winge, Lindegren and collaborators (2,3) in the form of cooperative strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, baker’s yeast has become a very well developed eukaryotic genetic system, and one which is most amenable to biochemical fractionation and analysis.
The Foundations of Modern Terrorism: Nineteenth-century Russian revolutionary and tsarist terrorisms

As France was the first country in Europe to make the transition from monarchy to republic, Russia was one of the last. Nevertheless, a similar dynamic was at work in Russia’s development into a modern nation state. Here as well we find some of the same problems of contested political legitimacy that created the resort to violence that prevailed elsewhere on the continent, although they have their own historically and culturally distinct colorations. For example, the roots of political absolutism lie deeper in Russia, and lasted longer than was the case in Western Europe. Similarly, the forms of political violence made use of by rulers and insurgents in Russia, while entangled with their West European counterparts, assumed their own characteristics as well. The peasantry and its agricultural world continued to play an important role in the evolution of Russian politics, both in court policy and among the opposition factions that challenged it, long after dominating rural influences were integrated into the centralized state systems in France, Prussia and Austria. Assemblies of social elites played a far less significant role in Russia’s history, and laws were decreed rather than legislated even into the early twentieth century largely because the legitimacy of autocracy required the absence of any parliament or political parties, unless called into temporary existence by the ruler.
The Crucial Triangle: Democracy, Statehood, and Hegemony in Multinational Settings

As long as differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences. Eugene McCarthy, 1916–2005, U.S. Senator The thesis presented in this volume focuses on several fundamental concepts that require closer scrutiny, analysis, and reflection than the one given in Chapter 1. The function of this chapter is to provide such analysis. It begins by asserting that we face today the emergence of what might be called “a global governing code,” a set of commonly held values emphasizing, primarily, democracy as the only universally acceptable regime form. Multinational polities, like other polities, are normatively assessed against the requirements of democracy. But this reality raises an immediate question that is at the basis of this and many other studies: “What is democracy?” This chapter will begin by addressing this cardinal question. If Ethnic Constitutional Orders (ECOs) are nondemocratic or if they promote, at best, “flawed” democracy, as argued in this study, we need to know as precisely as possible what are the standards of genuine democracy that such regimes fail to meet. On several occasions in the introduction and in Chapter 1, references were made to the multinational or multiethnic state. Most states today deviate from Mazzini's ideal of “one nation, one state,” and most are surely not “nation-states” at all; they are multiethnic and multinational. If multiethnicity is prevalent and if it is a source of conflict, then an exploration of the multinational state and its nature is important.
Practical use and pitfalls of hepatocyte-specific contrast agents (HSCAs) for pediatric hepatic and biliary magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging is commonly used to evaluate for hepatic and biliary pathology in the pediatric population. Recently, there has been increased use of hepatocyte-specific contrast agents (HSCAs), such as Gadoxetate disodium in children. Traditionally, HSCAs have been used to characterize focal liver lesions. However, these agents can also be used to problem solve specific hepatic or biliary diagnostic dilemmas. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the practical uses of HSCA in children with both hepatic and biliary indications, and review the corresponding imaging findings. We will highlight the diagnostic uses of HSCA in children, as well as pitfalls encountered.