cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the unique contribution of intolerance of uncertainty relative to other cognitive vulnerability factors in anxiety psychopathology.

Abstract Background Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a cognitive vulnerability factor associated with a wide range of anxiety psychopathology. Other cognitive vulnerabilities such as anxiety sensitivity (AS), distress tolerance (DT), and discomfort intolerance (DI) have also been investigated as constructs of interest across anxiety disorders. As researchers increasingly uncover viable transdiagnostic vulnerabilities to anxiety, it becomes important to determine the degree of overlap between these constructs. Methods The present studies examined the unique relationships between IU, other vulnerability factors (AS, DT, and DI) and social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and worry symptoms across two nonclinical samples ( n =217, n =241). Results Findings were highly consistent across samples. IU was significantly associated with anxiety symptoms in all analyses, even when accounting for other transdiagnostic risk variables. Anxiety sensitivity, was uniquely related to social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in all analyses, but was related to worry in only one study. Distress tolerance was only uniquely associated with worry. Discomfort intolerance was not uniquely related to the anxiety symptoms in any analyses. Limitations Future research should attempt to replicate the findings in a clinical population and utilize a longitudinal design. Conclusions The robust and incremental relationships between IU and anxiety symptoms suggests the potential benefit of targeting IU in the context of transdiagnostic anxiety treatments.
Metagenomic sorcery and the expanding protein universe.

A metagenomic study of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans reveals dominant bacterial species, remarkable microdiversity and a wealth of new proteins.
Stable ion study of regioisomeric carboxonium-substituted pyrenium ions: directive effects, charge delocalization mode, and conformational aspects.

Regioisomeric monoacyl- and monobenzoyl-substituted pyrenes are diprotonated in FSO3H·SbF5 (4:1)/SO2ClF to give persistent carboxonium−pyrenium dications, whereas diacetyl- and dibenzoylpyrenes are diprotonated to give dicarboxonium dications. The resulting dications were studied by low-temperature NMR at 500 MHz. Conformational aspects of the carboxonium group in various regioisomers are addressed by a combination of NOED spectra and 2D-NMR and AM1 calculations. Charge delocalization pathways are gauged and compared on the basis of the magnitude of Δδ 13C values.
The Retention of Public Child Welfare Workers: The Roles of Professional Organizational Culture and Coping Strategies

Abstract The purpose of the current study was to investigate how professional organizational culture and coping strategies (control coping and avoidance coping) related to workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. With a sample of 234 frontline workers employed in Department of Human Services-Division of Family and Children Services (DHS-DFCS) offices in a state in the Southeastern region of the U.S., the current study tested a model in which coping strategies mediate the relationship between professional organizational culture and workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Results revealed that professional organizational culture and control coping were significantly and positively related to workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. In addition, control coping mediated the relationship between professional organizational culture and worker retention. On the other hand, a significant relationship between avoidance coping and workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare was not found. Implications of the findings for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Why do Mindful People Worry Less

Mindfulness is negatively related to forms of repetitive thought (RT) such as worry. However, the nature of this relationship is unclear because discrete forms of RT are composed of several underlying dimensions, including valence and total amount, either or both of which might be responsible for the negative relationship between worry and mindfulness. Using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and multidimensional scaling of a battery of RT measures, the present study found that mindfulness correlated with less total RT and more positively valenced RT (N = 199). Analysis of individual mindfulness facets supported a two-component model of mindfulness consisting of attention regulation and an accepting attitude toward one’s experiences. This attitudinal component of mindfulness was primarily responsible for its association with less total RT and less negative RT.
Nonequilibrium dynamic mechanism for allosteric effect

Allosteric regulation is often viewed as thermodynamic in nature. However, protein internal motions during an enzymatic reaction cycle can slow the hoping processes over numerous potential barriers. We propose that regulating molecules may function by modifying the nonequilibrium protein dynamics. The theory predicts that an enzyme under the new mechanism has a different temperature dependence, waiting time distribution of the turnover cycle, and dynamic fluctuation patterns with and without an effector. Experimental tests of the theory are proposed.
Credit union industry structure: an examination of potential risks

Abstract The Credit Union Industry has undergone significant changes over the past decade. With more than 11,500 credit unions now serving 74 million members, it continues to attract shareholders/depositors because of its generally lower cost services and higher returns on savings. The Credit Union Membership Access Act of August 1998 should help membership continue to grow. At the same time, however, shareholders/depositors should be aware of the unique structure of the credit union industry. This paper examines the inherent risk as a result of the interrelationships among its components.
A method of evaluating effects of antecedent precipitation on duststorms and its application to Yuma, Arizona, 1981–1988

Precipitation causes several short- and long-term effects on wind-induced surface erodibility and subsequent dust emission. Among the principal effects considered by this paper are soil moisture, soil crusts, and vegetation. A quantitative method is developed to assess these effects using differences between the potential and the actual amounts of dust emitted from dust sources as inferred from surface meteorological measurements obtained downwind from those sources. The results of this assessment must be interpreted with caution, however, when the size and location of dust sources are unknown.
REACTION NORMS OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS TO LIGHT AVAILABILITY IN IMPATIENS CAPENSIS*

For plants, light availability is an important environmental factor that varies both within and between populations. Although the existence of sun and shade "ecotypes" is controversial, it is often assumed that trade-offs may exist between performance in sun and in shade. This study therefore investigated variation in reaction norms to light availability within and between two neighboring natural populations of the annual Impatiens capensis, one in full sun and the other in a forest understory. Seedlings were collected randomly from both populations and grown to maturity in a greenhouse under two light conditions: full light and 18% of full light. Selfed full-sib seed families were collected from plants from both populations grown in both parental light environments. To characterize family reaction norms, seedlings from each family were divided into the same two light treatments and individuals were scored for a variety of morphological and life-history traits. The maternal light environment had little impact on progeny reaction norms. However, the two study populations differed both qualitatively and quantitatively in plastic response to light availability (indicated by significant population x environment interactions in mixed-model ANCOVA). Much of this difference was attributable to population differences in light sensitivity of axillary meristem allocation patterns, which produced concurrent differences in reaction norms for a suite of developmentally linked traits. Within each population, different sets of traits displayed significant variation in plasticity (indicated by significant family x environment interactions). Thus, the genetic potential for evolutionary response to selection in heterogeneous light environments may differ dramatically between neighboring plant populations. Between-environment genetic correlations were largely positive in the woods population and positive or nonsignificant in the sun population; there was no evidence for performance trade-offs across environments or sun or shade "specialist" genotypes within either population. There was little evidence that population differences represented adaptive differentiation for sun or shade; rather, the results suggested the hypothesis of differential selection on patterns of meristem allocation caused by population differences in timing of mortality and intensity of competition.
Correlated Versus Uncorrelated Social Categorizations: The Effect on Intergroup Bias

Previous research has shown that independent cross-cutting social categories reduce discrimination between groups. How-ever, the effect of correlated cross-cutting categories on intergroup relations has not been studied. Female college students who were categorized into two groups on the basis of an art preference task and a dot estimation task were told that there was either no correlation, a moderate correlation, or a high correlation between the two categorizations. On two generalized measures of bias, subjects exhibited more intergroup bias as the degree of correlation between categorizations increased. Furthermore, in the high-correlation condition, subjects exhibited just as much bias against the partial out-group as against the total out-group. A situationally specific measure of bias failed to yield the same pattern of results. Overall, the results suggest that the degree of correlation between cross-cutting categorizations has an important impact on intergroup bias.
Liability issues in American schools

One of the major challenges confronting educators, whether teachers or administrators, in public or non-public schools, regardless of what Nation they work in, is how they can maintain safe learning environments for students. Whether students are sitting in class, playing in a school yard, or participating in extracurricular activities, educators and their school systems run the risk of liability for injuries suffered by children if they breach their legal duty to protect the youngsters in their care from unreasonable risks of harm. The virtual impossibility of insulating educators and their school systems from all liability notwithstanding, especially in the highly litigious atmosphere that pervades much of the United States, awareness of the principles constituting the legal duty to supervise students properly and the defenses to the tort of negligence1 can go a long way toward protecting a school and its personnel. In order to provide professionals in jurisdictions other than the United States with a basic understanding of the legal responsibilities that American educators face when supervising students, this brief paper is divided into two major sections. The first part provides an overview of the elements of negligence that an injured party must be able to prove in order to hold an educator or school system legally accountable. The second section reviews the basic defenses to negligence: immunity, comparative/contributory negligence, and assumption of risk.
In vivo substrates and the contribution of the common phospholipase D, PLDα, to wound-induced metabolism of lipids in Arabidopsis

The common plant phospholipase D (PLD), PLDalpha, has been proposed to be involved in wound-induced production of jasmonic acid. To better understand the role(s) of PLDalpha in the wound response, detailed lipid analysis was carried out to determine the in vivo substrates and the contribution of PLDalpha in wound-induced lipid metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Mechanical wounding of Arabidopsis leaves resulted in significantly less hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in PLDalpha-deficient than in wild-type plants. Hydrolysis of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and phosphatidylinositol within 30 min of wounding was not significantly different in PLDalpha-deficient and wild-type leaves. Phosphatidic acid (PA) levels increased rapidly in wild-type and, to a lesser extent, in PLDalpha-deficient plants. The acyl composition of the PA generated by wounding suggests that the major in vivo substrate of PLD in wild-type leaves was PC, and that PG hydrolysis accounted for 10-15% of the wound-induced PA in wild-type leaves. Comparison of the acyl compositions of the wound-induced PA of wild-type and PLDalpha-deficient leaves indicated that PLDalpha hydrolyzed PG more readily than other PLD isoforms did. Wounding produced substantial increases in free linoleic and linolenic acids in wild-type plants, whereas PLDalpha-deficient plants showed only a slight increase in linoleic acid and no significant increase in linolenic acid. These results demonstrate that PLDalpha and at least one other PLD isoform, as well as other hydrolytic enzymes, are active in mechanically wounded Arabidopsis leaves, and PLDalpha is involved in wound-induced metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Item Analyses of Age Relations on Reasoning Tests

Analyses at the level of individual items were conducted on 11 data sets representing various combinations of participant samples and tests of reasoning. The magnitude of the relations between age and solution accuracy did not vary systematically across a wide range of item difficulty, although there was some evidence for independent age-related influences on the more difficult items. The results were tentatively interpreted as reflecting the operation of at least 2 types of age-related effects on tests of reasoning, 1 common to all items and 1 sensitive to the greater processing demands associated with more difficult items.
GIBBERELLIC ACID-INDUCED GERMINATION OF SPORES OF ANEMIA PHYLLITIDIS: NUCLEIC ACID AND PROTEIN SYNTHESIS DURING GERMINATION'

The distribution and synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins during gibberellic acid-induced germination of spores of Anemia phyllitidis were studied in order to relate biochemical activity with morphogenetic aspects of germination. Germination is accompanied by the hydrolysis of storage protein granules and the localized appearance of cytoplasmic RNA, protein, and insoluble carbohydrates in a small area adjoining the spore wall and surrounding the nucleus. The protoplast of the spore enlarges in this region, the spore wall breaks and a protonemal cell is formed which contains many chloroplasts. A second division in the spore at right angles to the first yields a rhizoid cell. Autoradiography of 3H-thymidine incorporation has shown that DNA is synthesized both in the nucleus and in the immediately surrounding cytoplasm of the germinating spore until some time after the first division, although a strictly nuclear DNA synthesis is observed later. Synthesis of RNA and proteins is limited to the presumptive regions of the germinating spore which become the protonema and rhizoid, shifting to specific sites in these cells as germination proceeds. The nucleus of the spore continues to be biosynthetically
The energy balance and branching ratios associated with the chemiluminescent reaction Si(3P) + N2O(1Σ) → SiO*(a3Σ+, b3Π, A1Π) + N2(υ″ ⩾ 5) — possible formation of vibrationally excited N2

Abstract Silicon atoms react under single collision conditions with N 2 O to yield chemiluminescent emission corresponding to the SiO a 3 Σ + −X 1 Σ + and b 3 Π−X 1 Σ + intercombination systems and the A 1 Π−X 1 Σ + band system. A most striking feature of the SiN 2 O reaction is the energy balance associated with the formation of SiO product molecules in the A 1 Π and b 3 Π states. A significant energy discrepancy ( = 10000 cm − = 1.24 eV) is found between the available energy to populate the highest energetically accessible excited-state quantum levels and the highest quantum level from which emission is observed. It is suggested that this discrepancy may result from the formation of vibrationally excited N 2 in a concerted fast SiN 2 O reactive encounter. Emission from the SiO a 3 Σ + (A 1 Π) and b 3 Π(A 1 Π, E 1 Σ 0 + ) triplet-state manifold results primarily from intensity borrowing involving the indicated singlet states. Perturbation calculations indicate the magnitude of the mixing between the b 3 Π, A 1 Π and E 1 Σ 0 + states ranges between 0.5 and 2%. On the basis of these calculations, the branching ratio (excited triplet)/(excited singlet) is found to be well in excess of 500 . An approximate vibrational population distribution is deduced for those molecules formed in the b 3 Π state. The present studies are correlated with those of previous workers in order to provide an explanation for diverse relaxation effects as well as observed changes in the ratio of a 3 Σ + to b 3 Π emission as a function of pressure and experimental environment. Some of these effects are attributable to a strong coupling between the a 3 Σ + and b 3 Π state. Based on the current results, there appears to be little correlation between either (1) the branching ratio for excited state formation or (2) the total absolute cross section for excited-state formation and (3) the measured quantum yield for the SiN 2 O reaction. Implications for chemical laser development are considered.
Concerning the relevance of ethane conformational analysis to acyclic aldol transition states

Abstract Molecular mechanics calculations on model compounds are used to evaluate the steric interactions in acyclic aldol and related transition states.
Using Model-Eliciting Activities As a Tool to Identify and Develop Mathematically Creative Students

Traditional classroom methods for identifying mathematically creative students have been inadequate. Identifying students who could potentially be mathematically creative is instrumental in the dev...
Integration Versus Segregation: Applications of the Spiritual Competencies in Counselor Education Programs

This article explores how educators can integrate the 9 Spiritual Competencies developed by the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling (M. T. Burke, 1998; G. Miller, 1999) into the counselor education curriculum. Rather than relegating this content to courses in which one might expect discussions of spirituality, the authors advocate for an infused approach. Input was sought from counselor educators and supervisors from around the nation with expertise in spirituality in counseling. These experts provided useful exercises, activities, and assignments that they have successfully used to integrate religious and/or spiritual discussions into the curriculum.
Sampling characteristics of octadecylsiloxane-bonded silica particle-embedded glass fiber discs for solid-phase extraction

Abstract Forced flow planar chromatography was used to characterize the physical and retention properties of an octadecylsiloxane-bonded particle-embedded glass fiber medium used for solid-phase extraction. The carbon loading, intraparticle porosity, binding capacity, and hydrophobicity index indicate that the medium has a large volume of bonded phase essentially filling the pore volume. The interparticle porosity and specific permeability indicate favorable flow characteristics. The flow resistance parameter and the diameter of the largest pore by the bubble method are consistent with a macroscopic homogeneous medium structure free of holes and channels. The silanophilic index indicates a significant concentration of accessible silanol groups and/or other strong hydrogen-bond acid sites. A comparison of retention characteristics to a common cartridge sorbent using the solvation parameter model indicated that the cartridge sorbent had a more favorable cavity term for retention but the particle-embedded glass fiber medium was more competitive with the sample solvent, water-methanol (99:1), for the retention of polar compounds with significant dipole-type interactions and those behaving as hydrogen-bond bases. The physical and retention properties of the particle-embedded glass fiber medium confirm its suitability for use in solid-phase extraction.
Chronology and rates of faulting of Ventura River terraces, California

New evidence concerning the chronology of four late Pleistocene terraces of the Ventura River near Oak View, California, that are vertically offset and tilted by reverse and reverse flexural-slip faults provides a means of estimating rates of fault movement and downcutting by the Ventura River. Radiocarbon ages of charcoal contained within terrace deposits date two of the terraces. Correlation of soils that have developed on terrace deposits and extrapolation of the rate of vertical displacement of the Arroyo Parida-Santa Ana fault (not a flexural-slip fault) date the others. Resulting age estimates for the four main late Pleistocene terraces are Qt5b = 30,000 Qt6a = 38,000, Qt6b = 54,000, and Qt6c = 92,000 yr B.P. Vertical-slip rates on flexural-slip faults range from <0.3 to 1.1 mm/yr and apparently are related to the rate, form, and mechanics of folding of the north limb of the Ayers Creek–Canada Larga syncline. Average rates of downcutting of the Ventura River for several intervals during the late Pleistocene, estimated from the chronology and relative elevation of river terraces north of the Arroyo Panda–Santa Ana fault upstream from the zone of faulting, vary from ∼0.5 to 1.3 mm/yr. The range in rates probably reflects variations in local uplift as well as adjustments to changing eustatic sea level, climatic conditions, and/or regional deformation of the western Transverse Ranges. The average rate of downcutting of the Ventura River north of the zone of flexural-slip faulting is ∼0.8 mm/yr, compared with 1.2 to 2.2 mm/yr in the deformation zone immediately to the south. This apparently indicates that during tectonic deformation there is an approximate balance between the rate of uplift due to faulting and folding and the rate of downcutting by the fluvial system.
A systems engineering approach to wireless integration, design, modeling, and analysis of nanosensors, networks, and systems

Wireless nano sensors networks are being increasingly applied in many real-world applications, such as structural health monitoring, medical applications, smart clothes, battlefield communications, and intelligent highway systems. A systems approach to such applications require end-to-end infrastructure that includes sensors and sensor networking, wireless communication, reliable backbone networking,, computing infrastructure and other supporting systems. In fact, it fairly clear that sensor systems, communications systems, and computing systems need to interwork together to form a system of systems. The design and implementation of such complex systems need to take into consideration their intended functionality, operational requirements, and expected lifetime. Systems engineering provides the design and implementation framework to successfully bring large complex systems into operation by integrating multiple engineering disciplines into a structured development process, starting with identification of the need, and defining the initial concept, to formulating the requirements to detailed design, development and then, implementation. This paper brings together aspects of research that is being conducted as part of the Arkansas ASSET initiative, which is a multi-campus project supported by NSF Section 2 provides a systems engineering life-cycle modeling approach. Section 3 develops modeling and analysis of nanowires for a biological application. Section 4 provides insights into the design of wireless interfaces to provide wireless capability to wearable sensors for medical applications. Section 5 discusses the application of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) to improve reliability in wireless Section 6 proposes a data-driven adaptive transmission mechanism to improve both data quality and energy efficiency. Section 7 provides insights into the development of protocols for reliable transport of data over a wavelength division multiplexed optical transport network. Section 8 summarizes our findings.
Multiple site analytical evaluation of a portable blood gas/electrolyte analyzer for point of care testing

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the analytical performance of the SenDx 100 portable blood gas and electrolyte analyzer (SenDx Medical, Carlsbad, CA). DESIGN Accuracy was evaluated by correlation of whole blood patient samples with the Nova Stat Profile 5 (Nova Biomedical, Waltham, MA) and the Ciba Corning 865 (Chiron Diagnostics, Medford, MA). Precision was evaluated using quality control materials (RNA Medical, Acton, MA). SETTING Critical care laboratories and operating rooms in two institutions. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Precision studies performed at three different concentration levels for each analyte demonstrated intra-assay precision of < or =2.5% coefficient of variation and interassay precision of < or =4.0% coefficient of variation in all cases. Analysis of patient specimens in general showed good to excellent correlation to reference analyzers. Regression variables are tabulated. CONCLUSIONS The SenDx 100 portable blood gas and electrolyte analyzer is a simple and easy to use analyzer demonstrating acceptable performance compared with reference methods.
Adaptive bitstream switching of scalable video

With scalable video coding that provides fine-granular quality degradation, such as fine granularity scalability (FGS) and progressive FGS (PFGS), or H.264 scalable video coding's (SVC) adaptive reference FGS (AR-FGS) coding, video can flexibly be streamed to receivers of heterogeneous bandwidths. However, the transmitted video is only efficiently encoded when the transmission bit rate is in the vicinity of the encoding bit rate. In this paper, we develop and evaluate a comprehensive suite of network-aware adaptive bitstream switching policies for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint streaming of fine granular scalable coded video to address this coding efficiency issue. Our approach stores a small number of encodings (versions) with different encoding bit rates for each video sequence and estimates the reconstructed quality using the motion activity levels of the underlying visual content (or, in general, any content descriptor(s) that highly correlate with the reconstructed quality). For unicast streaming, we then: (i) adaptively switch between the different encodings at the server, to improve the reconstructed video quality and (ii) adaptively drop packets during network congestion to ensure fairness between multiple unicast streams. For multicast streaming, we also adaptively switch between the different encodings to maximize the average video quality. Our adaptive bitstream switching policies consider the visual content descriptors as well as the network channel variability, while requiring only sample points from the rate-distortion curve of the video stream. From our extensive simulations with PFGS coding, we find that our adaptive unicast bitstream switching policy achieves on average a 0.8dB improvement over the optimal non-adaptive streaming for a diverse 200-shot sequence from Star Wars IV. We have also verified our key findings with the latest scalable video coding standard, H.264 SVC.
Charles P. Daly's Gendered Geography, 1860–1890

The American Geographical Society (AGS) serves as a case study for considering the nature of “gendered geography” in the nineteenth-century United States. This article links the ideals and programmatic interests of the society—which were fundamentally commercial in nature—with the personal subjectivity of its chief protagonist, Charles P. Daly, AGS president from 1864 until his death in 1899. Daly is presented as an “armchair explorer” who shifted the focus of the society away from statistical representations of the world toward the action-packed narrative descriptions of the world supplied by embodied explorers in the field. The gender dynamics associated with the center versus the field provide a useful way to contrast both sides of Daly's persona—as a scholar performing detached, careful study yet someone who also derived a great deal of personal authority by staging popular and dramatic spectacles in New York City, speechifying and presenting himself on stage at geographical society meetings with retu...
The NMR shifts are not a measure for the nakedness of the fluoride anion

Abstract The solvent dependency of the 19 F NMR shifts of the fluoride anion in CH3OH, H2O, CH3OCH3, CHCl3, CH2Cl2, CHF3, CH3CN, CH3NO2, (CH3)2SO, and CH3COCH3 solutions was studied at the MP2/6-31++G(d, p) and B3LYP/6-31++G(d, p) levels of theory and compared to the experimental values. It is shown that the free gaseous fluoride anion is most shielded. The stepwise build-up of a solvation sphere was modeled for the F−/nH2O system and results in a progressive deshielding of the F− nucleus with an increasing number of water ligands. The first solvation sphere of F− is comprised of six or seven monodentate water molecules. The F−···H bond distances increase from 1.42 A in the monohydrate to 1.69–1.87 and 1.82 A in the penta- and hexahydrates, respectively, and the transfer of negative charge from F− to the water ligands reaches its maximum for the tetrahydrate. The wide range of about 70 ppm observed for the chemical shift of F− in different solvents and the order of deshielding are confirmed by model calculations. Furthermore, it is shown that the deshielding observed for different solvents does not correlate with the calculated binding energies between F− and the corresponding solvent molecules, but parallels the increase in the calculated shielding anisotropy in the case of monodentate solvent F− adducts. Since the calculated shielding anisotropy can be taken as a qualitative measure for the paramagnetic shielding, the large solvent dependency of the F− shifts is best explained by the varying amounts of solvent induced paramagnetic shielding. The preferred structure of the F−·CH3OH adduct involves hydrogen bridging through the hydroxyl and not the methyl group, and the minimum energy structures of F−·CH3SOCH3 and F−·CH3COCH3 exhibit bidentate solvent coordination. In solid fluorides, the chemical shift of F− spans more than 190 ppm and an increasing cation size results in increased deshielding. As previously shown, this deshielding is due to the electronic overlap effects. The MAS 19 F NMR spectra of solid N(CH3)4F and P(CH3)4F were also measured. The F− anion in the P(CH3)4+ salt is 19 ppm less shielded than in the N(CH3)4+ salt in accord with the increased cation size. However, in spite of its large size the deshielding caused by the N(CH3)4+ cation is only comparable to that of Rb+ due to the methyl groups not providing as good an overlap as the smaller but softer Cs+ cation. These results show that in both, the solid state and in solution, the chemical shift of F− is not a measure of its nakedness and that the fluoride anion is far from being naked.
Three-dimensional photoacoustic tomography of small animal brain with a curved array transducer

We present the application of an optimized curved array photoacoustic tomographic imaging system, which can provide rapid, high-resolution photoacoustic imaging of small animal brains. The system can produce a B-mode, 90-degree field-of-view image at sub-200 μm resolution at a frame rate of ~1 frame/second when a 10-Hz pulse repetition rate laser is employed. By rotating samples, a complete 360-degree scan can be achieved within 15 seconds. In previous work, two-dimensional ex vivo mouse brain cortex imaging has been reported. In the current work, we report three-dimensional small animal brain imaging obtained with the curved array system. The results are presented as a series of two-dimensional cross-sectional images. Besides structural imaging, the blood oxygen saturation of the animal brain cortex is also measured in vivo. In addition, the system can measure the time-resolved relative changes in blood oxygen saturation level in the small animal brain cortex. Finally, ultrasonic gel coupling, instead of the previously adopted water coupling, is conveniently used in near-real-time 2D imaging.
Architecture of a dual-mode cascaded-loop frequency synthesizer

A new architecture for a frequency synthesizer with adjustable output frequency range and channel spacing is introduced. It is intended for the generation of closely spaced frequency channels in the GHz range while producing minimal spurious phase noise components. The architecture employs two independent phase-locked loops that are driven in cascade by a single reference oscillator. This approach provides fine resolution and wide bandwidth as well as low phase noises. The synthesizer can be operated in either of two different modes: nonfractional and mini-denominator fractional modes. The architecture produces no fractional spurs in the first mode and relatively small phase spurs in the second mode. It is simulated that, in an application to a P-GSM 900 system tuning from 890 to 915 MHz with a channel spacing of 200 kHz, the worst case phase spurs are of ?100 dBc at an offset frequency of 833 kHz and the linear frequency-switching settling time (to 0.01% of frequency increments) is of 128 μs.
Memory-guided attention: control from multiple memory systems

Attention is strongly influenced by both external stimuli and internal goals. However, this useful dichotomy does not readily capture the ubiquitous and often automatic contribution of past experience stored in memory. We review recent evidence about how multiple memory systems control attention, consider how such interactions are manifested in the brain, and highlight how this framework for ‘memory-guided attention’ might help systematize previous findings and guide future research.
An electronic apparatus for the study of the human operator in a 1-dimensional closed-loop continuous pursuit task

THE quantitative understanding of the behavior of a human being functioning as an element of a closed-loop control system has become a matter of considerable importance in recent years. In addition to the purely military problems of high-speed flight, fire control, and similar tasks there are many situations such as automobile driving, operating machine tools, and other complicated mechanical devices, where a specific knowledge of human characteristics would make possible improvements in design and performance of the system. The study of human behavior in this area has been carried on by psychologists and industrial engineers for some time. However, the rapid development of the theory and practice of feedback control systems in the past several years has given new impetus and interest to the study of the nature of human behavior in analogous situations.1?8 See reference 8 for a very complete bibliography on subjects of interest in this field.
Purification and Characterization of Thermostable Pyrimidine Nucleoside Phosphorylase from Bacillus stearothermophilus JTS 859

A thermostable pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase has been purified from Bacillus stearothevmophilus JTS 859. The enzyme had a molecular weight of 85,000, consisting of 2 identical subunits (Mw 54,000). Its isoelectric point was 4.8. The Michaelis constants for 5-methyluridine, uridine, thymidine, and 2′-deoxyuridine were 0.32, 0.19, 0.46, and 0.58mm, respectively. The optimal temperature of the reaction was 70°C. The enzyme was found not to be a SH-enzyme based on the following three points. First, the enzyme reaction was not inhibited by PCMB or iodoacetic acid. Second, the optimal pH of the reaction was broad, from 7.0 to 11.5. Third, the enzyme did not contain cysteine. The half-life of the enzyme was 15.1hr in 20mm potassium phosphate and 1mm 5-methyluridine (pH 7.0) at 70°C. Due to the high optimal temperature, the broad optimal pH range, and the long half-life of the enzyme, the enzyme is useful for practical applications.
The effects of frequency-dependent dynamic muscle stimulation on inhibition of trabecular bone loss in a disuse model

Clinical electrical muscle stimulation has been shown to alleviate muscle atrophy resulting from functional disuse, yet little is known about its effect on the skeleton. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of dynamic muscle stimulation on disused trabecular bone, and to investigate the importance of optimized stimulation frequency in the loading regimen. Fifty-six skeletally mature Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into seven groups for the 4-week experiment: baseline control, age-matched control, hindlimb suspended (HLS), and HLS with muscle stimulation at 1 Hz, 20 Hz, 50 Hz, and 100 Hz. Muscle stimulation was carried out for 10 min per day for 5 days per week, total of 4 weeks. The metaphyseal and epiphyseal trabecular regions of the distal femurs were analyzed with microcomputed tomography and histomorphometry methods. HLS alone for 4-week resulted in a significant amount of trabecular bone loss and structural deterioration. Muscle contraction at 1 Hz was not sufficient to inhibit trabecular bone loss and resulted in similar amount of loss to that of HLS alone. Bone quantity and structure were significantly improved by applying muscle stimulation at mid-frequency (20 Hz and 50 Hz). Dynamic stimulation at 50 Hz demonstrated the greatest preventive effect on the skeleton against functional disused alone animals (up to +147% in bone volume fraction, +38% in trabecular number and -36% in trabecular separation). Histomorphometric analysis showed that the stimulation, regardless of its frequency, did not have an effect on the bone formation indices, such as mineral apposition rate and bone formation rate. Overall, the data demonstrated the potentials of frequency-dependent dynamic muscle contraction in regulating skeletal adaptive responses under disuse conditions. Dynamic muscle stimulation, with a specific regimen, may be beneficial to future orthopedic research in developing a countermeasure for disuse osteopenia and osteoporosis.
Reliable assessment of lower limb motor representations with fMRI: use of a novel MR compatible device for real-time monitoring of ankle, knee and hip torques.

This study describes the use of a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible system capable of measuring isometric ankle, knee and hip joint torques in real-time during functional MRI (fMRI) testing in healthy volunteers. The motor representations of three isometric torques – ankle dorsiflexion, ankle plantarflexion and knee extension – were studied at two time points. The reliability of motor performance and fMRI-derived measures of brain activity across sessions was examined. Reproducible motor performance was observed for each of the tasks; torques of the requested amplitude, assisted by visual feedback, were generated at the relevant joint with good accuracy, both within and across the two sessions. Significant blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal increases were observed in the left primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) in the paracentral lobule and in secondary motor areas for all tasks. Within these areas there was substantial overlap of the motor representations though differential activation was observed in SM1, with greater activation of inferior paracentral lobule during knee extension than for either ankle task. Also, BOLD signal decreases were observed bilaterally within SM1 in the hand knob region for all tasks. No major session-related effects were identified at the group level. High intraclass correlation coefficients were observed for t-values of voxels in cortical motor areas for each contraction type for individuals, suggesting that fMRI-derived activity across time points was reliable. These findings support the use of this apparatus in serial studies of lower limb function.
Gene therapy strategies for urological dysfunction

Novel molecular techniques such as conventional and ex vivo gene therapy, and tissue engineering have only recently been introduced to the field of urology. The lower urinary tract is ideally suited for minimally invasive therapy, and also ex vivo approaches would limit the risk of systemic side effects. Muscle-derived stem cells have been used successfully to treat stress incontinence, and rats with diabetic bladder dysfunction benefited from nerve growth factor (NGF)-based gene therapy. Nitric oxide synthase and capase-7 might provide suitable gene therapy targets for erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia, respectively.
INTERNATIONAL FINANCE AND NEW YORK: ROLE OF OUTFLOW OF PRIVATE FINANCIAL CAPITAL FROM UNITED STATES IN DETERMINATION OF SIGNIFICANCE OF NEW YORK AS CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCE†

s of Doctoral Dissertations 87 forces will encourage the establishment of a single predominant center of international finance. The United States possesses national economic and financial characteristics that make it the nation most likely to contain such a center. If such a center is to be established in the United States, New York will be the site. The existence of the center within the United States will not be of significantly large net direct advantage or disadvantage to the United States. But the center will be useful to the world as a whole. One factor which will affect the usefulness of the New York center to the nations and firms using it will be the ability of the United States to export private financial capital. A consideration of the methods by which and amounts which such capital is and has been exported indicates whether this ability is likely to exist to a significant extent. The export of private financial capital from the United States, chiefly by or through institutions in New York, occurs in a variety of forms. Commercial banks have been among the chief suppliers of this capital. The major portion of their supply has been provided through the activities of United States exporters and importers or in co-operation with other financial institutions, foreign and domestic, public and private. In addition to commercial banks, other financial firms-foreign financing corporations, factors, commercial finance companies, and specialized export-import finance companieshave supplied small amounts of capital for international use. Investment companies have begun in a small way to purchase foreign securities, which have also been purchased in increasing amounts by other Americans. The total amount of private financial capital exported since 1946 has not been large, but these exports indicate that New York is to some extent performing the capital export function of a center and that she is doing so with some versatility. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.58 on Tue, 11 Oct 2016 05:51:33 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Principles of Polymorphism and Epistasis for Multilocus Systems

Abstract The nature of stable equilibrium configurations is described for general nonepistatic and generalized symmetric viability regimes in multilocus systems under conditions of tight and loose linkage. The influence of epistasis and symmetry can be better understood in terms of these standards. A dichotomy in the nature of stable polymorphisms emerges. More recombination, bisexuality, and multideme interactions facilitate the establishment of central type polymorphisms.
Detecting low-velocity impact damage in composite plates using infrared thermography

This research investigated low velocity impact damage in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. Small-scale glass/epoxy laminates (approximately 210mm x 210mm x 2mm) were subjected to varying degrees of dynamic impact energies ranging from 5 to 20 J and infrared thermography inspections were performed on the damaged specimens. Three distinct damage modes were observed: penetration resulting in highly localized fiber rupture through the thickness of the composite; penetration/delamination in which localized fiber rupture was observed on the impacted surface and additional delamination occurred around the point of impact; and delamination/reverse side fiber rupture in which no visible damage occurred on the impacted surface but fiber rupture and delamination occurred beneath the surface. A modified lock-in thermography procedure was used in the nondestructive evaluation (NDE). Phase images were constructed by applying a least-squares sinusoidal curve fit to a series of thermal images collected over one cycle of sinusoidal heating. This method was shown to increase contrast for subsurface delaminations compared to raw thermal data. Finally, thermography results for FRP composite samples containing simulated damage (back-drilled holes) were compared with thermography results from impact-damaged samples.
Thermal effects in radiation processing

Abstract The balance of ionizing radiation energy incident on an object being processed is discussed in terms of energy losses, influencing the amount really absorbed. To obtain the amount of heat produced, the absorbed energy is corrected for the change in internal energy of the system and for the heat effect of secondary reactions developing after the initiation. The temperature of a processed object results from the heat evolved and from the specific heat of the material comprising the object. The c p of most materials is usually much lower than that of aqueous systems and therefore temperatures after irradiation are higher. The role of low specific heat in radiation processing at cryogenic conditions is stressed. Adiabatic conditions of accelerator irradiation are contrasted with the steady state thermal conditions prevailing in large gamma sources. Among specific questions discussed in the last part of the paper are: intermediate and final temperature of composite materials, measurement of real thermal effects in situ, neutralization of undesired warming experienced during radiation processing, processing at temperatures other than ambient and administration of very high doses of radiation.
Duplication of the male urethra with posterior urethral valves

The only known case of complete duplication of the male urethra associated with posterior urethral valves is reported. The embryological implications of this association are discussed.
Repair mechanism in the embryonic spinal cord after a chemical insult.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the level of mitotic activity of the proliferative population of the central nervous system during and after treatment with 5-FUdR (a DNA-synthesis inhibitor) and to examine whether the high mitotic activity seen during the repair phase was used to produce neurons or neuroepithelial cells. Chick embryos were treated with 0.01 μg 5-fluoro-2′-deoxyuridine in 5 μl saline on day 2.5 of incubation and fixed at various time intervals, ranging from 1 to 120 hours after treatment. In the treated embryos the mitotic activity decreased rapidly two hours after treatment and few if any mitotic figures were seen during the following 12-hour period. Hence, during this period few if any neuroblasts were formed. In addition, large numbers of neuroepithelial cells died as a result of the treatment, reducing the proliferative neuroepithelial population by about 50%. From 22 to 48 hours after treatment the mitotic index was almost twice that of controls, indicating that large numbers of new cells were formed to compensate for cell losses suffered during the treatment. When the number of neuroepithelial cells in the treated embryos was counted, it decreased during the first 20 hours after treatment, but thereafter increased rapidly until it reached the control value at about 50 hours after treatment. Hence, the increased mitotic activity was used mainly to increase the depleted neuroepithelial population. The neuroblast population suffered particularly, since no neuroblasts were formed during the initial degeneration phase, and only a restricted number was formed during the repair phase when the mitotic activity was used mainly for the production of neuroepithelial cells.