cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Automated Motion Tracking and Data Extraction for Red Blood Cell Biomechanics

Red blood cell biomechanics can provide us with a deeper understanding of macroscopic physiology and have the potential of being used for diagnostic purposes. In diseases like sickle cell anemia and malaria, reduced red blood cell deformability can be used as a biomarker, leading to further assays and diagnoses. A microfluidic system is useful for studying these biomechanical properties. We can observe detailed red blood cell mechanical behavior as they flow through microcapillaries using high-speed imaging and microscopy. Microfluidic devices are advantageous over traditional methods because they can serve as high-throughput tests. However, to rapidly analyze thousands of cells, there is a need for powerful image processing tools and software automation. We describe a workflow process using Image-Pro to identify and track red blood cells in a video, take measurements, and export the data for use in statistical analysis tools. The information in this protocol can be applied to large-scale blood studies where entire cell populations need to be analyzed from many cohorts of donors. © 2020 The Authors. Basic Protocol 1: Enhancing raw video for motion tracking Basic Protocol 2: Extracting motion tracking data from enhanced video.
Levels and Styles of Commitment in Marriage

The construct of commitment has drawn considerable attention during the past three decades in both psychology and sociology. Its multiple meanings and implications have often been conflicting and misunderstood (Stebbins, 1970). For example, commitment is considered by some scholars to be a negative process involving fanatical obsession and coerced binding, while others consider it a wholesome, positive phenomenon akin to love and involvement. In this chapter, we do not offer any resolutions for such ambivalence and confusion surrounding the conceptualization of commitment. We do, however, recognize that commitment is a complex process that contributes to our understanding of social interactions and the development and maintenance of close personal relationships.
A first empirical analysis of population stability in North America using radiocarbon records

Questions regarding population stability among animals and plants are fundamental to population ecology, yet this has not been a topic studied by archeologists focusing on prehistoric human populat...
Stimulating sustainable energy at maritime ports by hybrid economic incentives: A bilevel optimization approach

Abstract Over the past few decades, maritime ports have faced ever-increasing critiques regarding their significant production of air emissions resulting from their energy activities. To promote sustainability at ports, regulatory authorities have introduced the concept of regulations and economic incentives. In this paper, we analyze the process in which a regulatory authority defines regulations, incentives, and tax policies to motivate one or more ports in the region to initiate energy sustainability and emission-reduction efforts. We model the behaviors of both the regulatory authority and the participating ports in the form of a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear bilevel optimization problem to capture the hierarchy of the policy-making process and the existing competitions among the ports. The proposed model finds the optimal incentive and tax policies for the policy-maker in the upper-level and provides the ports in the region with the optimal choice of sustainable energy solutions and service prices in the lower-level. Simulation results show that the proposed approach can effectively reduce the region-wide emission from the port activities while ensuring port entities’ welfare, competitiveness, and sustainable growth as regional energy hubs.
Low-threshold ASE and DFB lasers using quasi-2D perovskites with highly oriented nanocrystals

In this work, we demonstrated that through the addition of large organic cation PEABr, the quality of cesium lead halide thin films has been enhanced by controlling the crystallization process and thus the domain size and morphology. As a result, by increasing the PEABr concentration to 40%, the perovskite thin films with a small domain size, highly oriented crystal structure and low defect density demonstrated a lowest amplified spontaneous emission threshold of 7 µJ/cm2. However, further increasing PEABr concentration will result in a slower energy transfer, which limits the population inversion process and thus showed a higher ASE threshold. Using this strategy, by tuning the halide ratio, the ASE emissions were observed over the broad visible range (from 490 nm to 680 nm), demonstrating its wide wavelength-tunability.
Wholesale Silicone Lifter Butt Pads High Waist Control Hip Enhancer Panties

At both laparoscopy and hysteroscopy, controlled movement of fluids is necessary. In addition, at laparoscopy, suctioning of accumulated smoke from lasers or electrosurgery is an essential venting technique to enhance visibility. This chapter will describe and discuss a unique, simple, cost-effective system that can be used for both hysteroscopy and laparoscopy to accomplish movement of fluids and management of smoke. Aquadissection or hydrodissection has been used for many years as an adjuvant to operative laparoscopy.' It has been found useful for operative laparoscopic treatment of conditions such as endometriosis, pelvic adhesions, and tubal obstructron. Most current systems are cumbersome, wastefully use large volumes of fluid, and often require a mechanical pump for pressurizing the fluid suction and irrigation systems. Usually, during combined laparoscopy and hysteroscopy, a separate system is used for accomplishing uterine distention when fluids are used for the hysteroscopic portion of surgery. The Pump Vac Plus can be used for both hysteroscopic distention and laparoscopic suction and irrigation. This article will describe our techniques for using the Pump Vac for both of these endoscopic approaches.
The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus and Glycemia on Myocardial Recovery

Purpose Diabetes mellitus (DM) is prevalent among advanced heart failure (HF) patients, however its effect on the potential of left ventricular assist device (LVAD)-mediated cardiac recovery has not been described. Methods Consecutive advanced chronic HF patients (N=425) requiring durable continuous-flow LVAD were prospectively evaluated. After excluding patients with acute HF etiologies or post-LVAD follow up Results Baseline characteristics of the 2 groups are shown in the Table. Cardiac functional and structural improvement, as evidenced by relative LVEF and LVEDD changes, was more prominent in non-DM compared to DM patients, and in well- compared to not well-controlled DM patients (Figure). Overall, DM patients were less likely to experience cardiac recovery (8.4% vs 17.5%; p=0.032), while on LVAD support. This remained significant in a multivariate logistic regression after controlling for potential confounders. Conclusion The presence of DM, and notably not well-controlled DM, appears to negatively affect the potential for LVAD-induced myocardial recovery. Further research is needed to investigate the dynamic cardiac metabolism in HF with DM.
What kind of joy is religious joy

If there is a Being whose perfection is infinite, whose splendor and goodness know no bounds, who is beyond perfection, goodness, and beauty, … then to lose hold of such a Being, and having known h...
Soil temperature and water contents among vertical tillage, strip tillage, and chisel plowing in the Upper Great Plains

Long winters in the Red River Valley (RRV) of eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota result in short growing seasons for corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) systems. Historically,...
It’s about time! Time as a parameter for lexical and syntactic processing: an eye-tracking-while-listening investigation

We examined the time-course of lexical activation, deactivation, and the syntactic operation of dependency linking during the online processing of object-relative sentence constructions using eye-t...
Winter Cyclones and Circulation Patterns on the Western Great Lakes

The climatology of winter cyclones crossing the western Great Lakes was investigated. Data concerning storm strength, place of origin, and surface and 500 mb level synoptic characteristics were obtained from the months of October through February, 1955–1976, for 469 cyclones. November cyclones had the lowest mean pressure and strongest pressure gradient of the 5 months examined, but cyclonic frequencies were greatest in December and January. In all months, cyclones originating in the southwestern United States were significantly deeper than storms of northern origins, and these cyclones crossed the western Lakes most frequently in November. In November, cyclogenesis in the southwest was related to departures of the observed flow from the mean monthly mid-tropospheric circulation with trough development over the west. Yearly variations in the number of severe November cyclones were related to differences of mean monthly 500 mb flow.
Evidence for an Old Galactic Bulge from RR Lyrae Stars in Baade’s Window: The Inside-Out Picture of Galaxy Formation

In their recent, high-quality spectroscopic observations of 59 RR Lyrae stars in Baade’s window field of the Galactic nuclear bulge, Walker and Terndrup (1991) found that the metallicity distribution for their whole sample is sharply peaked at [Fe/H] = −1.0. Comparison of their data with the sample of halo RR Lyraes (Suntzeff et al. 1991) suggests that the metallicity at which the stellar population is most likely to form RR Lyraes increases with decreasing galactocentric distance.
Exchange of Cr3+ in GdAlO3

The fluorescence of Cr3+ in GdAlO3 has been measured as a function of temperature. It is found that the single-ion spectra may be interpreted by including Heisenberg-type magnetic interactions of the Cr3+ ion with its neighbouring Gd3+ ions and also the magnetic interactions between the Gd3+ ions themselves. The effect of these interactions it to split the sharp Cr3+ fluorescent lines into four bands, the separations of which change little between 77 °K and 4 2 °K but decrease below the Neel temperature of GdAlO3. The values of the exchange constants JCr3+ - Gd3+ and JGd3+ - Gd3+ are found to be 2 3 cm-1 and -0 06 cm-1, respectively.
A method for estimating surface transient storage parameters for streams with concurrent hyporheic storage

[1] Application of transient storage models has become popular for characterizing hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in streams. The typical transient storage model represents exchange between the main channel and a single storage zone, essentially lumping together different exchange processes. Here we present a method to inform a transient storage model that accounts for two storage zones (2-SZ) to discriminate between surface transient storage (STS) exchange and exchange with hyporheic transient storage (HTS). This method requires that, in addition to tracer breakthrough curves from the main channel, cross-sectional stream velocity distributions and stream tracer concentration time series data from several main channel locations and adjacent representative STS zones be collected. We apply this method to a constant rate conservative tracer injection in a first-order stream and to an instantaneous slug conservative tracer injection in a fourth-order stream. The 2-SZ model simulations matched observed breakthrough curves of tracer concentration in the main channel and general STS behavior well. Additionally, we compared the optimized parameter sets of the 2-SZ model to one–storage zone model (1-SZ) simulations and found that the lumped storage terms of the 1-SZ model described the time scales of 2-SZ model HTS exchange and attributed the time scales of observed STS exchange to longitudinal dispersion. With additional field data collection efforts and data processing, this method can provide much more useful results than the 1-SZ approach to those interested in discriminating between surface and subsurface transient storage dynamics of streams, which is important for discerning processes important to the cycling and fate of biogeochemicals.
Expression of E-Cadherin by Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium: Delayed Expression In Vitro

PURPOSE To determine whether retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, which reportedly express N-cadherin as their major cadherin cell adhesion protein, also express the more common epithelial cadherin, E-cadherin. METHODS Cadherins expressed by human RPE cells in situ were examined by western blot analysis of extracts prepared from the RPE of human adult eyes. Cadherins expressed in vitro were examined by analysis of confluent and postconfluent human RPE cultures, using the methods of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis. Protein distribution was examined by conventional fluorescence microscopy, confocal imaging, or both. Proteins whose expression, distribution, or both correlated with E-cadherin expression in other epithelial cells were examined by similar methods in cultured RPE cells. RESULTS In addition to N-cadherin, E-cadherin (and P-cadherin) was found in adult human RPE in situ. In cultured human RPE cells, N-cadherin was ubiquitous, but E-cadherin was limited to patches of cells and was not expressed until several weeks after confluence, a time when several phenotypic variants become prominent. E-cadherin was absent from RPE cells of fusiform shape but was found in only a subset of epithelioid RPE cells. Unlike epithelial cell lines expressing E-cadherin, cultured RPE cells with E-cadherin did not show diminished coexpression of N-cadherin, increased expression of desmosomal proteins, or a preferential expression of the alphaE- (rather than alpha-N) isoform of the cadherin linker protein alpha-catenin. Na/K ATPase distributed to both apical and basolateral membranes in RPE cells with junctional E-cadherin and not preferentially to the basolateral domain as in most epithelial cells with E-cadherin. CONCLUSIONS RPE cells express E-cadherin, a cadherin found in most other epithelial cells, but which was believed to be absent from RPE. In RPE in vitro, E-cadherin expression is a late developmental event, occurring in late confluence in cells that already express N-cadherin. E-cadherin is an established epithelial morphoregulatory protein, but it does not induce the same properties in RPE cells as in other epithelial cells, suggesting tissue-specific differences in the potential of E-cadherin to determine an epithelial phenotype.
Education and earnings in a transition economy (Vietnam)

One study shows that as Vietnam liberalizes its labor market, private rates of return to primary and higher education are already relatively high-and could be higher yet with greater cost recovery and lower costs (a more efficient system). The transition from a centrally planned to a market economy is likely to have a strong impact on the labor market, on relative earnings, and on returns to education. Major economic reforms in Vietnam since 1986 (the policy known as Doi Moi) have included a number of measures to liberalize the labor market. It is too soon to assess the full impact of these reforms, but Moock, Patrinos, and Venkataraman analyze the returns to education, on the basis of earnings in 1992-93 (collected in the first Vietnam Living Standards Survey). This represents one of the first countrywide analyses of the monetary benefits of schooling in Vietnam at a time when the labor market was in transition. On average, the estimated rates of returns are still relatively low, which is to be expected, since salary reforms were not introduced until 1993. Average private rates of return to primary education (13 percent) and university education (11 percent) are higher than those to secondary and vocational education (only 4 to 5 percent). Returns to higher education are slightly higher for women (12 percent) than for men (10 percent). Evidence from other transition economies suggests that returns are likely to increase as reforms in the labor market take full effect. The results support this hypothesis: Returns for younger Vietnamese workers (14 percent) are considerably higher than for older workers (only 4 percent). Implications for policymaking: It is important to monitor future earnings and trends in the labor market, as updates of this analysis could provide more robust estimates of the transition's effects on earnings and returns to education. At a time when the Vietnamese government is reassessing its pricing policy, the fact that private rates of return to higher education are relatively high suggests the potential for greater cost recovery. Efforts to improve efficiency in secondary and higher education could increase the rate of return by lowering costs. This paper - a joint product of the East Asia and Pacific, Country Department I, Human Resources Operations Division, and Human Development Network, Education Team - is part of a larger effort in the Bank to analyze the economic benefits of schooling in transition economies. The authors may be contacted at pmoock@worldbank.org or hpatrinos@worldbank.org.
Permutation zones and the fermion sign problem

We present a new approach to the problem of alternating signs for fermionic many body Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate that the exchange of identical fermions is typically short-ranged even when the underlying physics is dominated by long distance correlations. We show that the exchange process has a maximum characteristic range of sqrt[2*(1-f)*beta*h] lattice sites, where beta is the inverse temperature, h is the hopping parameter, and f is the filling fraction. We introduce the notion of permutation zones, special regions of the lattice where identical fermions may interchange and outside of which they may not. Using successively larger permutation zones, one can extrapolate to obtain thermodynamic observables in regimes where direct simulation is impossible.
A quantitative measure for short-term cortical plasticity in human vision

The human visual system is normally very good at determining the relative positions of objects in space, but under certain conditions contextual influences can cause significant errors in this process. We studied spatial localization around an artificial scotoma, a small mask that occludes part of the visual field while a dynamic pattern is shown over a surrounding region, and found that the ability to determine the position of short line segments was strongly biased toward the interior of the scotoma. We attribute this “shift” or misassignment of position to receptive field (RF) expansions within the artificial scotoma as seen in recent physiological studies. Furthermore, our findings show that this shift begins within 1 sec of stimulus presentation, suggesting that RFs are constantly altered by their local context and that these dynamics are a part of normal vision.
Data Quality and Database Marketing

The objective of this study is to elaborate on the role of DBM in marketing strategy, identifY data quality barriers, and to discuss ways of improving data quality. The paper is organized accordingly: (i) Marketing and DBM, (ii) Data Quality Issues, (iii) Data Quality Management, and (iv) Conclusions.
Isolated plasma membranes induce the loss of oriented detyrosinated microtubules and other contact inhibition-like responses in migrating NRK cells

We have previously shown that detyrosinated microtubules (Glu MTs), which are oriented toward the direction of locomotion in motile fibroblasts, disappear from the area adjacent to cell-cell contact soon after a cell-cell collision. To identify cell surface molecules that trigger this phenomenon, we have established a system in which this and other cellular reactions to cell-cell contact can be reproduced by the addition of isolated plasma membranes. Experimental wounds were made in confluent monolayers of NRK cells, and cells at the wound margin were allowed to develop oriented Glu MTs. Test samples were added to these cells and after a 1 hour incubation the distributions of Glu MTs, tyrosinated MTs (Tyr MTs) and microfilaments were determined by immunofluorescence. When plasma membranes isolated from NRK cells were added, oriented Glu MTs disappeared from the leading lamella of target cells and instead a small number of Glu MTs were found clustered around the nucleus. As observed for cell-cell contact, plasma membranes did not significantly affect the distribution of Tyr MTs. We also found that both cell-cell contact and membrane treatment caused the collapse of lamellipodia and loss of associated staining with antiactin antibody. Time-lapse recordings of directed locomotion of NRK cells showed that membranes suppressed the forward movement of cells. The loss of Glu MTs from the leading lamella was the most amenable response for quantification and we used it to examine the biochemical properties of the membrane activity. The ability of membranes to induce the loss of oriented Glu MTs was observed at as low as 4 micrograms/ml of membrane protein and was detectable 10 minutes after membrane addition. The loss of oriented Glu MTs was reversible upon removal of membranes, demonstrating that the membranes were not toxic to the cells. The oriented Glu MT reducing activity could be solubilized from the membranes by detergent, was enriched in a plasma membrane fraction, and was labile to heat and acid treatment. In summary, we have successfully reconstituted a number of responses of contact inhibition using solubilized preparations of membranes. Our preliminary results suggest that there is a specific factor in plasma membranes that is capable of triggering contact inhibition. With the assay we have developed, it should now be possible to dissect contact inhibition of motility at the molecular level.
Mechanical durability characterization and modeling of ionomeric membranes

Many of the premature failures in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are attributed to the crossover of reactant gases through cracks developing in the membrane during fuel cell operation. Postmortem analysis of membranes subjected to fuel cell humidity cycling tests in the absence of electrochemical reaction suggests that membrane cracks are driven by the in-plane tensile stress state that develop within the membrane during cyclic hygrothermal loading. This article presents an effort to develop a suite of analytical and experimental methods within a framework of viscoelasticity to characterize the mechanical stresses, constitutive properties, strength, and durability/lifetime of proton exchange membranes. The success obtained in accounting for a range of observed phenomena suggests the applicability and usefulness of this framework. Keywords: Proton exchange membrane fuel cell; viscoelasticity; hygrothermal stress; blister test; hygral expansion; humidity cycling; pinhole; time–temperature–moisture superposition; mechanical durability
Porous Anode Model for Coal Syngas Fuelled SOFC: Combined Mass and Energy Transport Normal to Cell Plane

Solid oxide fuel cells are being developed for integrated gasification combined cycle hybrid power systems. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the coupled temperature and concentration profiles for SOFC anodes exposed to coal syngas. In this work the SOFC anode was treated as a porous composite of 50/50 (volume) Ni / YSZ. Porous transport was modeled using the dusty gas model (DGM) and included two pore reactions, namely water gas shift and steam reforming of methane. The thermal transport model considered heat exchange by radiation between the interconnect and SOFC surface, convective transfer from bulk gas flow over the anode, heat generation terms due to pore reactions, and heat generation terms at the electrolyte boundary due to electrochemical reactions, ohmic heating, and concentration polarization. Composition profiles throughout the porous anode were considered for the DGM alone and were compared to the DGM including energy (DGME). The cases examined were for current densities ranging from 0.000-0.750 A/cm2 and for pressures from 1-19 atm absolute. Simulation results predict that the average cell operating temperature will increase 10 to 60°C relative to the furnace wall with inclusion of the energy equations. However, the thermal gradients within the anode are small due to themore » good thermal conductivity of the Ni-based anode. The effect of inclusion of energy transport on the hydrogen concentration profile is mixed depending on the independent parameter considered, with relative insensitivity to changes in the current density, but modest sensitivity to changes in operating pressure. Consideration of the thermal transport is important for determination of the interaction of coal syngas trace species with the anode, but is less critical for material stability.« less
Note: Eigenvalue problems of Nordhaus-Gaddum type

Let G be a graph with n vertices and m edges and let @m"1(G)>=...>=@m"n(G) be the eigenvalues of its adjacency matrix. We discuss the following general problem. For k fixed and n large, find or estimatef"k(n)=maxv(G)=n|@m"k(G)|+|@m"k(G@?)|.In particular, we prove that43n-2=10^-^7 independent of n. We also show that 22n-3
Seismic Design of Lifeline Bridge using Hybrid Seismic Isolation

This paper presents the merits of a hybrid seismic isolation system used for the seismic design of a major bridge. The bridge is analyzed for two different arrangements of seismic isolation systems. The first arrangement consists of friction pendulum bearings at all substructure locations; the other incorporates a hybrid system where laminated elastomeric bearings are used at the abutments and friction pendulum bearings at the piers. Analysis results have demonstrated that the hybrid seismic isolation system provided a structure with a fundamental period long enough to attract smaller seismic forces, while controlling the magnitude of isolation bearings displacements. It also provided a more uniform distribution of seismic forces among substructure elements. As a result, higher seismic forces on the piers were reduced, allowing for a more economical design of substructures. The hybrid seismic isolation system helped to control the wind-induced vibrations and reduced the sizes of the isolation bearings.
A Stochastic Model of Credit Sales Debt

Abstract This paper develops a stochastic model of accounts receivable, the debt arising from credit sales; and expresses the expectations and variances of (1) credit sales, (2) collections, (3) bad debts, (4) collections plus bad debts; and, (5) accounts receivable outstanding, in terms of parameters of the stochastic variables: (a) the number of credit sales made, (b) the size of sales; and, (c) the collection period or the effective term of loans. The paper discusses some interesting features of the results of the model and provides an empirical example to illustrate the model in context of actual credit sales made by a small wholesale food company during the years 1963 and 1964.
Some early occurrences of the term “social geography”

Abstract The term “social geography” was used by French sociologists of the Le Play School by 1884 and, perhaps independently, by the geographer Elisee Reclus in 1895. Neither Le Play's sociology nor Reclus’ geography was very influential in university circles, but they were adopted and modified by Patrick Geddes in Great Britain. The term “social geography” has had some popularity in Britain since 1930, but Americans did not readily adopt it, perhaps because their “cultural geography” had similar content. In the postwar period, the term has gained currency in Europe and North America, and the present‐day social geographers often espouse views that are reminiscent of; Reclus and the Le Playists even though the latter are little read today. This paper is an historical sketch of French and English usage, and it does not seek to define social geography or to suggest guidelines for future work.
Dynamic nonprehensile manipulation : controllability, planning and experiments

We are interested in using low-degree-of-freedom robots to perform complex tasks by nonprehensile manipulation (manipulation without aformorforce-closure grasp). By notgrasping, the robot can usegravitational, centrifugal, and Coriolisforces as virtual motors to control more degrees of freedom of the part. The part s extra motionfreedoms are exhibited as rolling, slipping, and free flight.This paper describes controllability, motion planning, and implementation ofplanar dynamic nonprehensile manipukltion. We show that almost any planar object is controllable by point contact, and the controlling robot requires only twvo degrees of freedom (a point translating in the plane). We then focus on a one-joint manipulator (with a two-dimensional state space), and show that even this simplest of robots, by using slipping and rolling, can control a planar object to a fulldimensional subset of its six-dimensional statespace. We have developed a one-jointrobotto perform a variety of dynamic tasks, including snatching...
SAR canonical feature extraction using molecule dictionaries

We apply a molecule dictionary approach to synthetic aperture radar canonical feature extraction. These canonical features capture physically-relevant scattering geometry as a function of shape type, frequency, aspect, and polarization. The extraction problem is a nonlinear nonconvex optimization that includes model order selection, feature classification, and parameter estimation. Previous work used image-based initializations, gradient descent, and a hierarchical classification scheme to extract the features. The dictionary approach shifts much of the computational burden to dictionary formation which can be done offline, prior to feature extraction. We show results for cases when the true feature lies in the dictionary and when it does not. Discussion of the practical challenges of dictionary construction is given in the context of recent sparse recovery literature.
Growth and properties of rare-earth arsenide InGaAs nanocomposites for terahertz generation

We explore the electrical, optical, and structural properties of fast photoconductors of In0.53Ga0.47As containing a number of different rare-earth arsenide nanostructures. The rare-earth species provides a route to tailor the properties of the photoconductive materials. LuAs, GdAs, and LaAs nanostructures were embedded into InGaAs in a superlattice structure and compared to the relatively well-studied ErAs:InGaAs system. LaAs:InGaAs was found to have the highest dark resistivities, while GdAs:InGaAs had the lowest carrier lifetimes and highest carrier mobility at moderate depositions. The quality of the InGaAs overgrowth appears to have the most significant effect on the properties of these candidate fast photoconductors.
An Attributional Intervention to Reduce Peer‐directed Aggression among African‐American Boys

An attributional intervention was designed to reduce aggressive males' tendency to attribute hostile intentions to peers following ambiguously caused peer provocations. African-American elementary school boys (N = 101), aggressive and nonaggressive, were randomly assigned to the attributional intervention, an attention training program, or a no-treatment control group. Data were collected on subjects' attributions about hypothetical and laboratory simulations of peer provocation, disciplinary referrals to the school office, and teacher ratings of aggressive behavior. Aggressive subjects in the attributional intervention were less likely to presume hostile intent by peers in hypothetical and laboratory simulations of ambiguous provocation. They were also less likely to endorse hostile retaliation on judgment measures and to engage in verbally hostile behaviors in the laboratory task. Further, intervention subjects were rated as less aggressive by their teachers following the treatment. Both the benefits of attributional change and its limitations in the African-American population are discussed.
Computer analysis of thyristor chopper circuits with detailed device modeling

A computationally efficient computer large signal simulation of thyristor chopper circuits is presented. Nonlinear circuit models are used to represent the active circuit components in a Gear iteration algorithim. The forced steady-state response of the system is found by linear­izing the system at each time step and evaluating the equivalent state transition matrix. In addition, the steady-state junction temperatures of the active dev­ices are determined and used to modify the device characteristics accordingly. Finally, sample results for a simple chopper system are presented. Due to the general nature of the algorithims employed, the simulation program has a wide range of application.
The Effects of Experimental Irrigation on Plant Productivity, Insect Abundance and the Non-Breeding Season Performance of a Migratory Songbird

Migratory bird populations are often limited by food during the non-breeding season. Correlative evidence suggests that food abundance on territories varies among years in relation to rainfall, which affects plant productivity and arthropod biomass. At the Font Hill Nature Preserve in Jamaica, we used an irrigation experiment to test the hypothesis that rainfall affects the condition of wintering American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) via intermediate effects on plant productivity and arthropod abundance. Experimental plots were irrigated in late February and early March to simulate a mid-season pulse of 200 mm of rain. Irrigation maintained soil moisture levels near saturation and had immediate effects on plant productivity. Cumulative leaf abscission over the dry season was 50% lower on experimental plots resulting in greater canopy cover, and we observed significantly higher ground level shoot growth and the flushing of new leaves on about 58% of logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum) individuals. Arthropod biomass was 1.5 times higher on irrigated plots, but there was considerable inter-plot variability within a treatment and a strong seasonal decline in biomass. Consequently, we found no significant effect of irrigation on arthropod abundance or redstart condition. We suspect that the lack of an irrigation effect for taxa higher on the trophic chain was due to the small spatial scale of the treatment relative to the scale at which these taxa operate. Although redstart condition was not affected, we did observe turnover from subordinate to dominant territorial individuals on experimental plots suggesting a perceived difference in habitat quality that influenced individual behavior.
Controversies surrounding lymphadenectomy and postoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of carcinoma of the endometrium

Hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy have long been acknowledged to be the centerpiece of therapy for carcinoma of the endometrium. However, 30 years ago, realization of the metastatic potential of this disease, particularly to regional lymph nodes, led many clinicians to include lymphadenectomy in the surgical management of uterine cancer. Retrospective studies have since demonstrated that lymphadenectomy is associated with an acceptably low level of surgical morbidity. The incorporation of lymphadenectomy into the surgical management of uterine cancer has accompanied a dramatic reduction in the use of peri-operative radiotherapy. Though not confirmed by prospective data, retrospective series have associated complete lymphadenectomy with an improvement in survival, even in node-negative patients. Contributing to a reduction in the use of postoperative radiation in endometrial cancer have been several randomized trials demonstrating a reduction in locoregional recurrence, but at the cost of si...
Studies of artificial cryoprecipitates containing anti-DNA antibody activity.

Artificial cryoprecipitates have been prepared from SLE sera by incubation of anti-double stranded DNA with 3H-PM2 DNA, IgM rheumatoid factor, and complement to study further the relationships between natural cryoprecipitation and the DNA/anti-DNA system in this disorder. Addition of rheumatoid factor and/or complement to a mixture of SLE serum and 3H-DNA results in increased precipitation of the 3H-DNA following incubation at 4 °C. Precipitations formed with added complement or complement plus rheumatoid factor could be rapidly resolubilized or reprecipitated by warming to 37 °C or recooling to 4 °C, i.e., exhibited the behavior of natural cryoprecipitates. The resolubilized cryoprecipitates contained excess antibody, because they bound significant quantities of additional 3H-DNA in the Farr assay. Of special interest was the observation that DNA binding activity frequently could be recovered from resolubilized cryoprecipitates even though 3H-DNA was not added during the original cryoprecipitate preparation. With certain cryoprecipitations prepared in this way, the DNA binding activity was further increased by deoxyribonuclease treatment, raising the possibility that endogenous DNA may be a constituent of such cryoprecipitates. The implications of these findings with respect to the nature of antibody-DNA immune complexes in SLE are discussed.
Rarer Than a Blue Moon The use of a diagnostic code for the metabolic syndrome in the U.S.

The metabolic syndrome is a constellation of anthropometric, physiologic, and biochemical abnormalities that occur together more frequently than expected by chance and are thought to increase the risk for developing cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The syndrome is highly prevalent among U.S. adults (1), and national surveys showed that its prevalence increased between 1988–1994 and 1999–2000 (2). People with hypertension (3) or diabetes (4), two conditions that are likely to result in frequent medical visits, are particularly likely to have the metabolic syndrome. Although the concept of a metabolic syndrome has existed for some time, the development of an operational definition by the National Cholesterol Education Program in 2001 brought new attention and life to this syndrome (5). But how firmly this syndrome has been embraced by the medical community and is being diagnosed and treated by health care professionals remains unknown. Through the efforts of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, a new ICD-9-CM code (277.7) for the dysmetabolic syndrome X was created and became available for use starting on 1 October 2001 (6). The purpose of this report is to examine the uptake …
Impact Event Identification through Real-time Strain Measurements

Impact event identification is a primary concern in many structural health monitoring applications. Model-based inverse analysis is a common approach for system identification as long as the physical model can accurately capture the behavior of structure. A layered analysis including estimation of impact location (IL) in the first layer and reconstruction of impact load time history (ILTH) in the second layer was proposed. An implementation of the theory on a simply supported plate structure is conducted in this study. The results indicate that the proposed inverse scheme is capable of detecting impact location and reconstructing impact load time history with a satisfactory precision. Due to presence of system error, a suitable cost function has to be chosen to guide the fitting process toward the desired parameters.
Statistical Assessment of Huntsman's 3-y Salmon-Rainfall Correlation, and Other Potential Correlations, in the Miramichi Fishery, New Brunswick

Abstract In the mid 1930s, A.G. Huntsman hypothesized that in the Miramichi River, New Brunswick, predation by kingfishers and American mergansers upon Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parr became especially severe in years of low July–August rainfall, these years being reflected 3 y later by reduced commercial catches. Huntsman attempted to demonstrate this predation effect with visual comparisons of aligned graphs of July–August rainfall for the city of Chatham, N.B., and commercial landings of 2½-sea-y salmon in Northhumberland County at the mouth of the Miramichi River. With detrended fishery data, and rainfall data augmented by additional weather stations, we confirmed that Huntsman's 3 y alignment provides the strongest and most significant correlation available in these data. We found that Huntsman's 2-mo correlation is strengthened by inclusion of September rainfall, and is strongest as a 5-mo May-to-September correlation. In the discussion, we distinguish between Huntsman's 3-y correlation and the b...
An Empirical Study of Distributed Application Performance

A major reason for the rarity of distributed applications, despite the proliferation of networks, is the sensitivity of their performance to various aspects of the network environment. We demonstrate that distributed applications can run faster than local ones, using common hardware. We also show that the primary factors affecting performance are, in approximate order of importance: speed of the user's workstation, speed of the remote host (if any), and the high-level (above the transport level) protocols used. In particular, the use of batching, pipelining, and structure in high-level protocols reduces the degradation often experienced between different bandwidth networks. Less significant, but still noticeable improvements result from proper design and implementation of the underlying transport protocols. Ultimately, with proper application of these techniques, network bandwidth is rendered virtually insignificant.
The Position of Turkey, Chicken, Pheasant, and Partridge Embryos That Failed to Hatch

Abstract THE long axis of the avian embryo in the normal hatching position coincides with that of the egg, the beak being under the right wing with the tip of the beak towards the air cell in the large or blunt end. Sanctuary (1925) pointed out that many embryos that fail to hatch are not in the normal hatching position and that this may be a factor in their failure to hatch. He reported the frequency of three malpositions, one of which had been observed by Reamur in 1751 (Hutt and Pilkey, 1934). Further observations have since been reported by Hutt (1929), Smith (1930), Hutt and Cavers (1931), and others. The causes that determine the final position of the embryo in the egg have been investigated. Taylor (1932) found that a larger proportion of the malposition head in small end of egg occurred when the 6-day-old embryos were improperly oriented, than . . .
Syntheses and Reactivity of Organohletallic Cohlpounds Containing Ihlinoacyl Ligands. Reactions of Hletal Carbonyl Anions with Ihlidoyl Halides

Abstract Metal carbonyl anions readily react with imidoyl halides through nucleophilic displacement of the halide atom to produce complexes containing η1-iminoacyl ligands. However, weakly nucleophilic anions, such as tetracarbonylcobaltate, induce a head-to-tail coupling reaction of two imidoyl groupings via the incorporation of two anions. This has been established by an X-ray crystallographic analysis of the compound CO2(CO)5(P(CH3)2C6H5)[(C6H5)CN(C6H5)]2. The bis-imidoyl ligand chelates one cobalt atom while one of the carbon atoms bridges the two mutually bonded cobalt atoms. Photolytic decarbonylation of the complexes containing η1-iminoacyl ligands may proceed by either of three processes. When the substituent on the nitrogen atom is an alkyl group, either a migration with formation of an isocyanide ligand or formation of an η2-iminoacyl ligand can occur. When the substituent is an aryl group, ortho-metallation of the N-aryl ring occurs. This has been demonstrated by an X-ray crystallographic analysis of the compound (C5H5)Fe-(CO)[C(C6H5)N(H)p-CH3C6H3)] which contains a phenyl-N-p-tolylaminocarbene ligand in which the p-tolyl ring is bonded to the iron atom in an ortho position.
An application of logit analysis to prediction of merger targets

Abstract Logit estimation is applied to predicting the probability that a given firm will be a merger target. Care is taken to account for variation in industry characteristics. The statistical performance of the model and its predictive power in a holdout sample support the approach used.
A detailed experimental and theoretical comparison of the angular and energy dependencies of grid transmission.

Grid transmission characteristics have been predicted, with good agreement demonstrated between experiment and theory. Differences between the present work and an earlier theoretical analysis have been noted. It is shown that comparison between experiment and theory can lead to a sensitive method for determining grid parameters. Generally, the derived grid parameters deviate somewhat from manufacturer supplied data. Use of the manufacturer’s nominal parameters can lead to large errors in predicting grid transmission.
Uncovering Mechanisms of Theory Development in an Academic Field: Lessons from Leadership Research

AbstractA long‐standing debate in organization studies has centered on the tension between paradigmatic consensus and theoretical pluralism in an academic field, but little attention has been paid to the underlying processes of field development that account for this. Using a mechanisms‐based approach, we examined the field of leadership over the last 50 years (1957–2007) focusing on: scholarly consensus on theory and methods; models and variables; and examinations of the state of the field. In spite of considerable advances in research, we find a general lack of commensuration or standards by which theories can be compared or synthesized; an emphasis on leaders’ effects on performance rather than meaning‐making or value infusion; and sparse instances of taking stock of the overall field. We conclude by proposing three research strategies for the future—theoretical compartmentalization, theoretical integration, and theoretical novelty—and advocating greater methodological variety.
Update on Randomized Clinical Trials Impacting Clinical Care in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care

Clinical trials addressing the management of infants and children with congenital heart disease are challenged by low numbers of patients with a similar diagnosis (inadequate power), variation in management strategies between institutions (difficulty developing multicentered protocols), a rapidly evolving field (equipoise), and insufficient funding. This article summarizes the challenges and the results of some single-center and multicenter trials evaluating perioperative care of infants and children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease.
Localization of tissue plasminogen activator mRNA in adult rat brain

Abstract The distribution of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) messenger RNA in rat brain was studied using in situ hybridization with 35S UTP-labeled RNA probes derived from a fulllength tPA cDNA. Sense strand controls produced low, even backgrounds, with small elevations in the hippocampus. Full-length antisense probes produced strong signals over cerebral ventricular ependyma (including ependyma of the subcommissural organ), meninges, blood vessels, and Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellum, as well as strong signals over scattered cells throughout the brain. Some of these scattered labeled cells were large with lightly stained nuclei, while others were small with darkly stained nuclei. The large labeled cells, which were probably neurons, constituted 8% and 8% of cells in the brain stem and neocortex, respectively, and 100% of Purkinje cells. The small cells, which were present in all areas of the brain, constituted 3–11 % of cells in individual brain areas.