cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Study of fundamental limit and packaging technology solutions for 40-Gbps transceiver package design

This paper discusses the fundamental constraints of current packaging technology and how they affect the performance of multichannel 10-Gbps FPGAs. FPGA packages act as interconnects between dies and system boards. While IC chips take advantage of Moore's law for dimension and cost reduction, system boards traditionally have not. From design optimization practice, we conclude that the inherent dimension mismatch among layout features that link the die to boards hampers the upper limit of bandwidth. To overcome these constraints, we propose advanced technologies such as coreless, fine-pitch packages and demonstrate extended 40-GHz bandwidth, making performance comparable to state-of-the-art microwave devices.
Feedback estimation systems and the separation principle of stochastic control

Estimation systems with a feedback link have a structure similar to that encountered in the study of stochastic feedback control systems. A feedback estimation algorithm of a specific form is derived in this paper. This algorithm is shown to be superior to one based upon the separation principle of stochastic control and inferior to one employing a different feedback signal structure. The observed differences in performance of these algorithms give insight into a basic limitation on control policies derived from formal application of the separation principle.
Skeletal muscle munc18c and syntaxin 4 in human obesity

Background Animal and cell culture data suggest a critical role for Munc18c and Syntaxin 4 proteins in insulin mediated glucose transport in skeletal muscle, but no studies have been published in humans.
Phage λ Red-Mediated Adaptive Mutation

Replacement of the recBCD genes of Escherichia coli with the red recombination genes of bacteriophage lambda results in a strain in which adaptive mutation occurs at an elevated frequency. Like RecBCD-dependent adaptive mutation, Red-mediated adaptive mutation is dependent upon recA and ruvABC functions.
Heating and chemical reactivity of a low frequency, DBD plasma jet in liquid water

A coaxial, gas fed dielectric barrier discharge was used to produce a plasma jet in liquid water. It was found that a significant fraction of the discharge power was deposited into the water as heat. Actual deposited power was determined via the Manley method.1 The water heating rates showed a weak dependence on frequency. The plasma discharge, which consisted of streamers inside the source, appeared as a directed plasma jet inside the liquid water, suggesting significant excitation of the gas entering the water. Emission spectra of the air jet revealed nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen emission lines in deionized water. Methylene Blue (MB) was used a chemical reactivity indicator. It was found that the water discharge could significantly reduce the concentration of MB in the water as verified using a spectrophotometer. A comparison of plasma treated MB solution and those treated with simple boiling suggests that MB destruction is a plasma induced-effect, not a thermal one.
In search of gigabit applications

Applications in existing specialized, metacomputer environments and those yet to be developed for services such as telecommunications, distributed data, and image transfer that will require networks which can handle volumes of data on the order of gigabits per second are discussed. Specific examples are presented from the fields of computational science, data navigation, and collaborative environments and instrument control. It is concluded that distributed computing and collaborative environments that support the interaction of multiple computers, as well as the interaction of computers with humans, are the paradigms that will characterize gigabit applications. >
Fast registration of tabular document images using the Fourier-Mellin transform

A new technique is presented for quickly identifying global affine transformations applied to tabular document images, and to correct for those transformations. This technique, based on the Fourier-Mellin transform, is used to register (align) a set of tabular documents to each other. Each component of the affine transform is handled separately, which dramatically reduces the total parameter space of the problem. This method is robust, and deals with all components of the affine transform in a uniform way. The Fourier-Mellin transform is also extended to handle shear, which can approximate a small amount of perspective distortion, and to not need Blackman windowing for document images. In order to limit registration to foreground pixels only, and to eliminate Fourier "edge effects ", a novel, locally adaptive foreground-background segmentation algorithm is introduced, based on the median filter. An original method is also presented for automatically obtaining blank document templates from a set of registered document images. Finally, image registration is demonstrated as a tool for compression of document images which share the same template.
Treating Acute Hypertension in the Hospital. A Lacuna in the Guidelines

Physicians treat chronic hypertension almost exclusively in ambulatory care settings according to evidence-based guidelines1 based on blood pressure (BP) measurements obtained under prescribed conditions.2 Other recommendations cover how to deal with hypertension in dialysis units2 and emergency departments,3 but none address a very commonly encountered problem: what to do about acutely elevated BP (which I refer to below in the common parlance of “acute hypertension”) in patients hospitalized for reasons other than hypertension. Indeed, excluding articles on patients with hypertensive emergencies and urgencies, there is little published about treatment of acutely elevated BP in hospitalized patients, although the practice seems to be common and based on firmly held, but poorly justified, beliefs.4 In this commentary, I argue for developing a rational approach to treating acute hypertension that de-emphasizes “treating the numbers” and focuses on patient safety. ### How Common Is Acute Hypertension in Hospitalized Patients? Most patients hospitalized for reasons other than hypertensive emergency or urgency who subsequently sporadically manifest acute hypertension deemed worthy of clinical concern probably also have chronic hypertension. In recent national data of hospitalizations, hypertension was listed as a primary diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases [ICD]–9 CM code 401) for 301 000 admissions but as a secondary diagnosis for 9 003 000 hospitalizations.5 These figures are probably an underestimate of the actual prevalence of hypertension in inpatients because 29% of the US adult population is now affected.6 One estimate of the rate of hypertension in patients in our center (the University of Michigan Health System[UMHS]) can be derived from patients attending our anesthesiology preoperative evaluation clinic, who have an incidence of 26.7% of stage 1 and 10.9% of stage 2 hypertension (unpublished data, 2010). Using these prevalence figures, during a 1-year period (October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2008) in which there were 29 545 adult admissions to …
Coding stimulus information with cooperative neural populations

Understanding the mechanism underlying distributed neural coding is a fundamental goal in computational neuroscience. With the ability to simultaneously observe the activity of large networks of neurons in response to external stimuli, a natural question arises: how the outside world is represented in the collective activity of these neurons? In this work, we provide an information theoretic approach for determining the role of cooperation among neurons in encoding external stimuli. Specifically, we show that statistical independence between neuronal outputs may not provide the best coding strategy when these outputs depend on the history of other neuronal constituents in the network. Rather, cooperation among neurons can provide a near optimal and lossless coding strategy under specific constraints governing their network structure. Using a statistical learning model, we demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach in decoding a motor task with both discrete targets and continuous trajectory using spike trains from a small subset of a large network. We demonstrate its superiority in minimizing the decoding error compared to a statistically independent model and to other classical decoders reported in the literature.
Temperature-aware test scheduling for multiprocessor systems-on-chip

Increasing power densities due to process scaling, combined with high switching activity and poor cooling environments during testing, have the potential to result in high integrated circuit (IC) temperatures. This has the potential to damage ICs and cause good ICs to be discarded due to temperature-induced timing faults. We first study the power impact of scan chain testing for the ISCAS89 benchmarks. We find that the scan-chain test power consumption is 1.6times higher for at-speed testing than normal operating power consumption. We conclude that if the testing frequency is less than half of the normal frequency, then the testing power consumption may in fact be lower. However, due to differences in the cooling environments, the peak die temperatures may still be higher. Second, we present an optimal formulation for minimal-duration temperature-constrained test scheduling. Our results improve on the test schedule time of the best existing algorithm by 10.8% on average for a packaged IC thermal environment. We also present an efficient heuristic that generally produces the same results as the optimal algorithm, while requiring little CPU time, even for large problem instances.
Introduction to special issue on map accuracy

With the advent of satellite remote sensing and computing technology, mapping land cover over extensive regions of the earth has become practical and cost effective. For example, land-cover maps have been produced covering pan-Europe (Mucher et al., 2000), Great Britain (Fuller et al., 1994), Canada (Cihlar et al., 1999), Mexico (Mas et al., 2002) the United States (Vogelmann et al., 2001), and the globe (Belward et al., 1999). Franklin and Wulder (2002) assemble a diverse array of other examples of large-area, land-cover maps. Land-cover maps are typically an intermediate product, used, for example, as input into various hydrological and carbon cycling models (e.g., Riley et aI., 1997) or habitat suitability models that quantify relationships between land cover and wildlife abundance. Another common application is to quantify and map land-cover change (Lunetta and Elvidge, 1998; Donoghue, 2002), focusing on forest change (e.g., Hayes and Sader, 2001), urban development (Clarke et al., 1996), or wetland loss (Jensen et al., 1995). Analyzing landscape pattern metrics is still another common application of land-cover information (e.g., Wickham and Norton, 1994), and relationships between landscape pattern and biological and hydrological phenomena may be investigated (e.g., Jones et al., 2001; Lawler and Edwards, 2002).
An enzymatic function associated with transformation of fibroblasts by oncogenic viruses. I. Chick embryo fibroblast cultures transformed by avian RNA tumor viruses.

Chick embryo fibroblast cultures develop fibrinolytic activity after transformation by Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). This fibrinolytic activity is not present in normal cultures, and it does not appear after infection with either nontransforming strains of avian leukosis viruses or cytocidal RNA and DNA viruses. In cultures infected with a temperature sensitive mutant of RSV the onset of fibrinolysis appears after exposure to permissive temperatures and precedes by a short interval the appearance of morphological evidence of transformation. See PDF for Structure The rate of fibrinolysis in transformed cultures depends on the nature of the serum that is present in the growth medium: some sera (e.g., monkey or chicken serum) promote high enzymatic activity, while others (calf, fetal bovine) do not. Some sera contain inhibitors of the fibrinolysin. Based on the effect of a small number of known inhibitors, at least one step of the fibrinolytic process shows specificity resembling that of trypsin. The sera of sarcoma-bearing chickens contain an inhibitor of the fibrinolysin, whereas normal chicken sera do not. For general discussion, conclusions, and summary see the accompanying paper, part II, ( J. Exp. Med . 137 :112).
Regulation of Telomerase and Telomeres: Human Tumor Viruses Take Control

Human tumor viruses are responsible for one-fifth of all cancers worldwide. These viruses have evolved multiple strategies to evade immune defenses and to persist in the host by establishing a latent infection. Proliferation is necessary for pretumor cells to accumulate genetic alterations and to acquire a transformed phenotype. However, each cell division is associated with a progressive shortening of the telomeres, which can suppress tumor development by initiating senescence and irreversible cell cycle arrest. Therefore, the ability of virus-infected cells to circumvent the senescence program is essential for the long-term survival and proliferation of infected cells and the likelihood of transformation. We review the multiple strategies used by human DNA and RNA tumor viruses to subvert telomerase functions during cellular transformation and carcinogenesis. Epstein-Barr virus, Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 each can increase transcription of the telomerase reverse transcriptase. Several viruses appear to mediate cis-activation or enhance epigenetic activation of telomerase transcription. Epstein-Barr virus and human papillomavirus have each developed posttranscriptional mechanisms to regulate the telomerase protein. Finally, some tumor virus proteins can also negatively regulate telomerase transcription or activity. It is likely that, as future studies further expose the strategies used by viruses to deregulate telomerase activity and control of telomere length, novel mechanisms will emerge and underscore the importance of increased telomerase activity in sustaining virus-infected cells and its potential in therapeutic targeting.
Shorter communication: some orthogonal main-effect plans for asymmetrical factorials

Hadamard matrices are used to construct some saturated asymmetrical main-effect plans of types 4 s × 2 t and n × 4 s × 2 t . For Hadamard numbers t and n with t ≤ n and n ≥ 4, I show that there exists a saturated orthogonal 4 t−1 × 2 nt−3t+2 main-effect plan with nt runs. If t and n are Hadamard numbers such that t, n ≥ 4 and t/2 is also a Hadamard number, then there exists a saturated orthogonal n × 4 h−1 × 2 n(t−1)−3(h−1) main-effect plan with nt runs, where h = min(t, n).
Individual differences in personality predict how people look at faces.

Background: Determining the ways in which personality traits interact with contextual determinants to shape social behavior remains an important area of empirical investigation. The specific personality trait of neuroticism has been related to characteristic negative emotionality and associated with heightened attention to negative, emotionally arousing environmental signals. However, the mechanisms by which this personality trait may shape social behavior remain largely unspecified. Methodology/Principal Findings: We employed eye tracking to investigate the relationship between characteristics of visual scanpaths in response to emotional facial expressions and individual differences in personality. We discovered that the amount of time spent looking at the eyes of fearful faces was positively related to neuroticism. Conclusions/Significance: This finding is discussed in relation to previous behavioral research relating personality to selective attention for trait-congruent emotional information, neuroimaging studies relating differences in personality to amygdala reactivity to socially relevant stimuli, and genetic studies suggesting linkages between the serotonin transporter gene and neuroticism. We conclude that personality may be related to interpersonal interaction by shaping aspects of social cognition as basic as eye contact. In this way, eye gaze represents a possible behavioral link in a complex relationship between genes, brain function, and personality.
Mechanism and pharmacological specificity of dUTPase-mediated protection from DNA damage and cytotoxicity in human tumor cells

Purpose: We have reported previously that the expression of E. coli dUTPase (dutE) can protect HT29 cells from 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (FdUrd)-induced DNA fragmentation and cytotoxicity. In the study reported here, we further characterized the ability of dutE expression in one HT29 clone, dutE7, to alter the effects of treatment with FdUrd and other thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors. In addition, we developed two HuTu80 dutE-expressing clones using a pLNCX-dutE retroviral construct and tested their sensitivity to FdUrd-induced DNA fragmentation and cytotoxicity. Methods: Both a dutE retroviral expression system and a dutE antibody were developed to facilitate the generation and screening of dutE-expressing clones. HT29 and HuTu80 clones expressing dutE were tested for drug-induced DNA damage with either alkaline elution or pulsed field gel electrophoresis and drug-induced loss of clonogenicity. Results: Following a 24-h treatment with 100 μM CB3717 or 500 nM methotrexate (MTX), dutE7 cells were significantly less sensitive to drug-induced loss of clonogenicity than con3 cells. DutE7 cells were also resistant to CB3717-induced DNA fragmentation at 24 h. However, following a 48-h treatment with CB3717 or MTX there was no difference in survival between con3 and dutE7 cells, even though DNA damage was still greatly attenuated in the dutE7 cell line. In addition, expression of dutE in two HuTu80 clones, 80 C and 80 K, did not protect these cells from FdUrd-induced DNA damage or cytotoxicity. Conclusions: We conclude that the role of uracil misincorporation and subsequent DNA damage in cytotoxicity induced by TS inhibitors, in HT29 cells, is time dependent, and that cytotoxicity caused by long-term exposure to these drugs is largely independent of resultant DNA damage, in this cell line. The inability of dutE to protect HuTu80 cells from FdUrd further suggests that the significance of uracil misincorporation resulting from TS inhibition varies among cell lines.
Radical Questioning on the Long Walk to Freedom: Nelson Mandela and the Practice of Critical Reflection

Nelson Mandela's autobiography The Long Walk to Freedom describes how an iconic political activist and freedom fighter reflected on, and sometimes modified, four core assumptions at the heart of his struggle to overturn the White supremacist, minority hegemony and create a free South Africa. Critical reflection's focus is on understanding the dynamics of power (and how to manipulate these) and on uncovering (and combating) ruling class hegemony. Although clearly unaware of adult education's utilization of the idea of critical reflection, Mandela's reasoning on tactics and strategy, his awareness of the need to reappraise assumptions that previously were viewed as gospel, and his use of multiple lenses through which to view his actions as a freedom fighter, exemplify the practice of critical reflection. The article does not presume any sort of historical accuracy, conducting instead a thematic content analysis of Mandela's own personal account of events, which others have challenged.
Regional radiative impact of volcanic aerosol from the 2009 eruption of Mt. Redoubt

Abstract. High northern latitude eruptions have the potential to release volcanic aerosol into the Arctic environment, perturbing the Arctic's climate system. We present assessments of shortwave (SW), longwave (LW) and net direct aerosol radiative forcing efficiencies and atmospheric heating/cooling rates caused by volcanic aerosol from the 2009 eruption of Mt. Redoubt by performing radiative transfer modeling constrained by NASA A-Train satellite data. The optical properties of volcanic aerosol were calculated by introducing a compositionally resolved microphysical model developed for both ash and sulfates. Two compositions of volcanic aerosol were considered in order to examine a fresh, ash rich plume and an older, ash poor plume. Optical models were incorporated into a modified version of the SBDART radiative transfer model. Our results indicate that environmental conditions, such as surface albedo and solar zenith angle (SZA), can influence the sign and the magnitude of the radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface and the magnitude of the forcing in the aerosol layer. We find that a fresh, thin plume (~2.5–7 km) at an AOD (550 nm) range of 0.18–0.58 and SZA = 55° over snow cools the surface and warms the TOA, but the opposite effect is seen for TOA by the same layer over ocean. The layer over snow also warms by 64 W m−2AOD−1 more than the same plume over seawater. The layer over snow at SZA = 75° warms the TOA 96 W m−2AOD−1 less than it would at SZA = 55° over snow, and there is instead warming at the surface. We also find that plume aging can alter the magnitude of the radiative forcing. An aged plume over snow at SZA = 55° would warm the TOA and layer by 146 and 143 W m−2AOD−1 less than the fresh plume, while the aging plume cools the surface 3 W m−2AOD−1 more. Comparing results for the thin plume to those for a thick plume (~3–20 km), we find that the fresh, thick plume with AOD(550 nm) = 3, over seawater, and SZA = 55° heats the upper part of the plume in the SW ~28 K day−1 more and cools in the LW by ~6.3 K day−1 more than a fresh, thin plume under the same environmental conditions. We compare our assessments with those reported for other aerosols typical to the Arctic environment (smoke from wildfires, Arctic haze, and dust) to demonstrate the importance of volcanic aerosols.
Design and experimental characterization of an omnidirectional unmanned ground vehicle for outdoor terrain

This paper presents the design and experimental characterization of an omnidirectional unmanned ground vehicle built to operate on a wide variety of real-world terrains. The vehicle can change its orientation and direction of travel regardless of its current kinematic configuration and without significantly decreasing its speed. This gives it the advantage of having high mobility in relatively tight and confined spaces compared to vehicles that utilize skid or Ackermann type steering mechanisms. The vehicle described here utilizes conventional wheels, which gives it several advantages over other omnidirectional vehicle designs that use specialized wheels with small, slender rollers that can become clogged with dirt and debris commonly encountered in outdoor environments. The focus of the paper is on how the concept of kinematic isotropy affects the mechanical design of the system and the experimental results used to validate the design.
Feelings or Words? Understanding the Content in Self-Report Ratings of Experienced Emotion.

People differ in the extent to which their verbal reports of experienced emotion are valence focused or arousal focused. Three multimethod studies are reported to explore whether differential focus reflects individual differences in the cognitive structure of emotion language versus differences in phenomenological experience. Although there was some evidence that valence focus and arousal focus were linked to variations differences in cognitive structure, the findings are also consistent with the view that self-report ratings are being driven by the properties of the feelings that are being reported. Implications for the study of experienced emotion are discussed.
Epicormic sprout development in pruned coast redwood: pruning severity, genotype, and sprouting characteristics

• Young coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don.) Endl.) trees were pruned to various heights to examine the effect of pruning severity on epicormic sprouting. Seven separate stands were used with as many as six treatments per stand in coastal Humboldt County, California, USA. • Epicormic sprout development was affected by pruning severity but primarily at the most severe pruning treatments that removed all but the branches in the top 15% of tree height. Less severe treatments produced sprouts but the number and size of these sprouts were comparable to unpruned trees. • Natural clonal patterns were also used to explore patterns of sprouting between genotypes. Linear mixed-effects models were developed to predict sprouting frequency as a function of pruning severity while accounting for the nested data structure (i.e., stem sections sampled nested within genotypes within treatments within sites). • Comparing variances attributed to each of these random effects indicated that at any level of pruning severity, differences in epicormic sprouting between genotypes and sites expressed soon after pruning had disappeared after six growing seasons. Epicormic branches were more common two years after pruning than six years indicating many branches were dying. Branches were more common in the middle of the pruned bole, possibly because of competition from basal sprouts and the expanding tree crown.
The Lost World of Gilded Age Politics

The rambunctious world of Gilded Age politics, with its boisterous partisan rallies and three-hour long declamations on the finer points of tariff schedules and monetary policy, passed from the scene of American politics rather abruptly about a century ago. Despite its superficial similarities with politics today — sex scandals, corporate influence, and partisan gridlock in Washington — the spirit and substance of Gilded Age politics was quite different from political discourse today. Politics was a national obsession to nineteenth century Americans. Partisanship was open and vigorous because common people believed the issues were important and political parties represented divergent viewpoints. Men (and in a few places women) of every ethnic and racial background, and from every walk of life, overwhelmingly participated in America's democratic experiment. This made Gilded Age politicians some of the greatest heroes and villains of the era.
Sexual Disorders: New and Expanded Proposals for the DSM-5—Do We Need Them?

The sexual disorders in the current and proposed DSM contain a potpourri of categories that increasingly intersect with the criminal justice system. Caveats saying the DSM is designed for clinical and not legal purposes notwithstanding, our classification system has difficulty distinguishing what we consider criminal behavior from culturally unacceptable behavior and mental disorder. Several current proposals continue this trend and seem more responsive to criminal justice concerns than mental illness considerations. They also lack sufficient specificity to warrant being called a disorder.
Robust detection to stochastic signals (Corresp.)

In this correspondence we evaluate both the large and small sample performance of a limiter-quadratic detector (LQD) for the detection of a Gaussian signal in non-Gaussian noise. The LQD is shown to be robust for small as well as large sample sizes.
Functional association of CD7 with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase: interaction via a YEDM motif

Human CD7 is a 40 kDa protein expressed on thymocytes, early T, B, NK and myeloid lineage cells in bone marrow, and on mature T and NK cells. Previous studies suggested human CD7 may be involved in T and NK cell activation and/or adhesion, and that CD7-mediated cell activation may be transduced via the lipid kinase phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Pi3-kinase), a heterodimeric cytosolic protein consisting of an 85 kDa adaptor subunit that is coupled to a 110 kDa catalytic subunit. It has recently been shown that a sequence motif present in the cytoplasmic tall of both human and mouse CD7 bound with high affinity to recombinant SH2 domains present in the p85 subunit of Pi3-kinase. In this work, we used co-precipitation with anti-CD7 mAb 3A1 and recombinant p85 SH2-GST fusion proteins and peptide competition analysis to demonstrate that the cytoplasmic tail of CD7 interacts with a functional Pi3-kinase via the pTyr-X-X-Met motif. Furthermore, we show that cross-linking of CD7 markedly increased the amount of Pi3-kinase activity associated with CD7. The interaction of CD7 with the Pi3-kinase signal transduction pathway provides a mechanism for the previously observed functional responses attributed to CD7-mediated T and NK cell activation.
Artifact size and spatial process: Macro‐ and microartifacts in a mississippian house

Despite their evident utility in archaeological analysis, microartifacts (those artifacts smaller than 2 mm) have, as a class, been used only sparingly by archaeologists and then only as if they were larger artifacts. This article explores the variable information microartifacts contain, using a case study from the Loy Site, a Mississippian village in East Tennessee. We show that microartifacts provide different information from that obtained from macroartifacts. We also demonstrate that comparisons among different size classes provide new information on dynamic aspects of artifact deposition. Especially in spatial analysis, comparing distributions of different size artifacts enhances our interpretative capabilities over any single artifact size class.
Sources of immoderation and proportion in marketing thought

The core argument of Bernard Cova’s provocative article, ‘Thinking of Marketing in Meridian Terms’, is well worth examining. The notion that marketing would benefit from a better sense of proportion resonates because so much evidence suggests that the discipline, both as a practice and as an ideology, has become increasingly pervasive, not just in its North American heartland, but around the world. As Johny Johansson (2004) so aptly puts it, marketing today is simply ‘in your face’. Advertising, for example, has found ever more ways to present itself to audiences – think of spam email and annoying web pop-up messages – in addition to the already saturated print, broadcast, postal, and out-of-home media. Sisodia and Backer (2004) contend that advertising has exhausted the consumer commons or the collective attention span of consumers. People have fought back by purchasing software and electronic devices (VCRs, TiVo) that block or skip over unwanted messages. Even relatively marketing-tolerant US consumers have rebelled. Over 85 million telephone numbers have been listed on the Federal Trade Commission’s ‘do-not-call’ registry restricting telemarketing (FTC, 2005), and broad political support exists for passing additional restrictive laws. A palpable sense of marketing excess is fueled by more than intrusive advertising, however. Johansson (2004) lists many additional instances – from unnecessarily aggressive products like the Hummer to increasing worldwide rates of obesity to the spread of deeply anti-global and anti-American attitudes – that make him and others uneasy with the present direction of marketing actions and their consequences. Adding to this apprehension is the sheer ubiquity of the marketing ethos. Marketing concepts and managerial approaches have spread well beyond business transactions into myriad nooks and crannies of everyday life. Non-profit organizations of all kinds have learned to interface with their patients, students, supporters, donors, and so on, not just as traditional social and cultural institutions, but in terms of being service providers that create customer satisfaction through integrated marketing programs. In a number of countries, religious
Prevalence of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Physical Activity by Gender and Race/Ethnicity - California, 2005-2006

Diets high in fruits and vegetables and participation in regular physical activity are associated with a lower risk for several chronic diseases and conditions. The present study analyzed the combined prevalence of these two activities by race/ethnicity and gender among adults in California and among adults in California at or below 130% of the federal poverty level (FPL), using self-reported data from the 2005 and 2006 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Findings for California were similar to findings for the nation, showing gender and racial/ethnic differences for each of these variables, singly and in combination. Also, low-income men had a significantly lower prevalence of goal-level fruit and vegetable consumption than did low-income women. Although some demographic disparities are evident among Californians, the prevalence of achievement of two key healthy lifestyle behaviors concurrently remains quite low. These results emphasize the need for promoting diets high in fruits and vegetables and regular physical activity among all Californians.
How to Do Biophysical Economics

It seems imperative that we as individuals who care about the human condition in the poorer parts of the word and about nature must create a new way to undertake what is usually called developmental economics, usually seen as the application of economic principles to less-developed nations. Our reasons include: dissatisfaction with the intellectual foundations of conventional economic models used in development and with the results that have occurred with their use, the general sense of many development economists themselves that conventional economics has failed, the need to do something that will work, the concern that most knowledgeable people have that the future, and especially the future of most developing nations, will be much more constrained by the “end of cheap oil,” and the need to protect whatever nature is left. We generate the “alpha version” of such a model in this chapter, summarizing certain useful approaches and successes of the past, and using a biophysical basis try to generate a synthesis to help the reader. We are not foolish enough to believe that we can in one fell swoop cure all the economic problems that generations of traditional economists have not been able to, but we believe that we do provide a useful basis here for beginning that process and for generating useful results now for field workers. Although our focus here is on developing nations the concepts are applicable anywhere.
An Argument For Tax Reform Based on Judeo-Christian Ethics

This article applies the moral principles of Judeo-Christian ethics as a basis for urging the citzens of Alabama to insist that the state and local tax structure be reformed. This article first empirically documents that Alabama's state and local tax structure harshly burdens the poorest Alabamians through regressive income and sales taxes. This article then proves that Alabama's lowest property taxes per capita in the nation leaves the state and local governments unable to fund minimum needs, such as education, thereby denying the poorest Alabamians a minimum opportunity to improve their lives. An original empirical study of the relative property tax burdens of Alabama's different classes of property proves that timber, which covers 71% of Alabama's real property accounts for less than 2% of the property taxes, averaging less than $1 per acre. Because more than 90% of Alabamains practice Christianity, the moral principles of Judeo-Christian ethics are relevant. Using Old and New Testament scripture (and numerous scholarly works) this article shows how Alabama's tax structure violates these moral principles and then argues that the profession of faith of most Alabamians compells them to use their talents and resources to support tax reform. This article imposes the highest responsibilies on those with education and wealth, political leaders and finally religious leaders.
Risk and the South Asian monsoon

South Asia’s dependence on the monsoon has always been a source of economic uncertainty. This paper examines the history of ways of thinking about the monsoon and risk, focusing on India. The science of meteorology, and a growing interest in ways to mitigate monsoon risk, developed in response to major famines. Piecemeal interventions, including a series of canals and small dams, began India’s hydraulic transformation. By the middle of the twentieth century, massive hydraulic engineering emerged as the dominant solution to controlling the monsoon’s risks. Large dams account for the largest share of government expenditure in independent India, but since the 1960s, intensive and mostly unregulated groundwater exploitation has played a greater role in meeting irrigation needs. The expansion in India’s irrigated area and an expansion in food production. But this has come at a cost: millions have been displaced by dam construction; groundwater exploitation has reached unsustainable levels, and has had an effect on regional climate.
The Impact of Family Communication Patterns on Hospice Family Caregivers: A New Typology.

Family caregivers often rely on clinicians to initiate family discussions about hospice and care of the dying1. Mortality communication, or talk between terminally-ill patients and families about impending death, is encouraged in hospice 2. Most terminally-ill patients use this time to discuss spiritual and psychosocial matters not previously broached between family members 3. Families with open communication prior to the disease maintain the pattern throughout the illness as the situation prompts families to view this as a time to be together 4. However, not all families are able to have open conversations about dying and death. Some families attempt to hide hospice care and instruct healthcare providers not to mention hospice in front of the patient, not to tell the patient that they are terminal, and not to talk about dying and death in front of the patient 5. Overall, families of hospice patients report difficulty talking about the process of dying and death 5. This study investigated concerns shared by informal caregivers (friends or family members) who were designated or legally appointed as the family caregiver of a hospice patient to learn more about family communication patterns during hospice caregiving. We hereafter refer to this group as family caregivers.
Comparison of NbCr2 and HfV2 C15 Laves Phases

The elastic properties, phase stability, and alloying behavior of NbCr2 and HfV2 C15 Laves phases have been investigated with a combined experimental and theoretical approach. Experimental results indicate that HfV2 has anomalous elastic properties as well as a structural instability, but NbCr2 does not. In addition, ternary phase fields of NbCr2 with V and HfV2 with Nb were examined experimentally, and they have substantially different alloying behavior. In order to understand these experimental phenomena, the total energy and electronic structure of C15 NbCr2 and HfV2 were calculated using the linear muffin-tin orbital method with the atomic sphere approximation. Calculation results suggest that the phase instability of HfV2 is induced by phonon softening, and the anomalous elastic properties of HfV2 appear to be attributed to a doubly degenerate electronic energy level with a linear dispersion relation very close to the Fermi level. Finally, density of states plots indicate that for HfV2, some bonding d-states are unoccupied while for NbCr2, all bonding and some anti-bonding d-states are occupied. The bonding difference may be responsible for the alloying behavior in the two Laves phase alloys. As a result, alloy design schemes are suggested for enhanced deformability in Laves phases.
85 TARGETING THE DYSMETABOLIC SYNDROME IN A CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE DIABETIC COHORT WITH ROSIGLITAZONE: 1 YEAR ANALYSIS

Purpose The insulin sensitizer rosiglitazone (RSG) has been shown to improve endothelial function and reduce vascular inflammation. However, no study has prospectively looked at its overall effect on cardiovascular events. Methods This was a non-randomized open label prospective parallel pilot study. Patients with known coronary artery disease, dysmetabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes were recruited for the study. Patients who were medical candidates for RSG were given RSG (RSG group) in addition to routine medical care and followed in an intensive outpatient cardiovascular prevention program. If they were not medical candidates for RSG they were followed with routine medical care (control group). Results Control group (Baseline): mean body mass index (BMI) 29.2, mean age 66, n = 18 male and 4 female, mean HgbA1c 7.47, mean low density lipoprotein level (LDL) 100. RSG Group (baseline): mean BMI 31.6, mean age 63, n = 13 male and 6 female, mean HgbA1c 7.28, mean LDL 76. After one year, the control group had a higher LDL and mean Hba1c. Control Group (1 year later): mean HgbA1c 7.63, mean LDL 96. RSG group (1 year later): mean HgbA1c 7.23, mean LDL 86. Cardiovascular events were significantly lower in the RSG group after one year: control = 9 events, RSG = 4 events, p≤.01) Mortality was significantly lower in the RSG group after one year: RSG group = no deaths, control = 7 deaths, p ≤.01). Conclusion Lower LDL and HbA1c were seen in the RSG group. Our pilot data reveals improved cardiovascular outcomes were seen with the use of RSG. Given the small number of total cardiovascular events, short duration of this analysis and open label design, further double blind randomized placebo controlled trials with larger population over a larger period of time are warranted.
In vivo HSV-1 DNA transport studies using murine retinal ganglion cells.

The mammalian retina, brain, spinal cord, and peripheral ganglia are all heterogeneous tissues. Each is composed of neuronal and glial cell partners embedded in a connective tissue bed and supplied by vascular and immune cells. This complicated structure presents many challenges to neuroscientists and cell biologists, e.g., how to carry out a quantitative study of neurons in a mature animal surrounded by the hormonal and immune stimuli. A reductionist view leads investigators to study single neurons in vitro, subtracting the immune and vascular components and simplifying the problem. While this has advantages, it limits relevance of the study. We present a method for studying the axonal transport of Herpes simplex virus in mature neurons in situ. Using genetically identical mice and carefully controlling the delivery of virus, an investigator can obtain insight into the transport of virus to and from the neuron cell body within the cellular environment of an intact animal.
Cells lacking glycan phosphatidylinositol-linked proteins have impaired ability to vesiculate

Erythrocytes shed membrane vesicles in response to many stimuli. It has been previously demonstrated that glycan phosphatidylinositol-linked (GPI-linked) proteins such as decay accelerating factor and acetylcholinesterase are concentrated in these vesicles relative to the erythrocyte membrane. We have examined the requirement for GPI-linked proteins for the process of vesiculation. Erythrocytes that do not express GPI-linked proteins, obtained from patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), release between 10% and 50% of the quantity of vesicles as normal cells in response to the Ca2+ ionophore A23187. Platelets from the same patients produced 10% to 20% of the amount of vesicles as normal platelets. In addition, a mutant B- lymphoblastoid cell line that lacks GPI-linked molecules produces about half of the number of vesicles as compared with the wild-type cell line in response to the Ca2+ ionophore. Prior findings indicate that vesiculation is one of the mechanisms that the cell uses to remodel the plasma membrane, as well as protect itself from membrane-damaging agents such as the terminal complement components C5b-9. On the basis of the present results, we conclude that GPI-linked proteins play an important role in membrane vesiculation.
Using Cloze Procedure Questions in Worked Examples in a Programming Tutor

In order to increase the engagement of learners, we incorporated cloze procedure questions into the worked-example-style feedback provided by problem-solving tutors currently used by introductory programming students unsupervised. We conducted a multi-institution controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention from fall 2012 through spring 2014. The results of the study were mixed. We found that when students had to answer cloze procedure questions embedded in the feedback, they did spend significantly more time per problem and they learned concepts with significantly fewer practice problems. However, they did not learn significantly more concepts and their change in score from pretest to post-test was not any different on the learned concepts from that of control group. Finally, the increased time on task due to the intervention may benefit different demographic subgroups differently.
Observations of Southern Polar Descent and Coupling in the Thermosphere, Mesosphere and Stratosphere Provided by Haloe

The most prominent indicators of vertical descent in HALOE data are changes in the vertical profiles of CH 4 , HF, H 2 O, HCl and NO. In this paper, we use long-term 3-D trajectories initialized at HALOE occultation points, to examine the 1993 seasonal evolution of CH 4 , Lagrangian mean descent, and meridional transport in the middle stratosphere at 60°-70°S and within the Antarctic vortex as a whole. At 60°-70°S, poleward and downward transport accounts for the midstratosphere seasonal cycle in HALOE CH 4 . Within this band, tropical and subtropical air observed by HALOE near 52 km in May descends to 40 km by July and mid-latitude air observed near 45 km in May, descends to 30 km by August. Lagrangian descent rates vary significantly during the winter. The mean rates are -5.2 km/month at 40 km and -3.0 km/month at 30 km. These values are consistent with rates published in a number of studies using HALOE data when viewed in the context of the Lagrangian analysis. The data show that the effects of descent can reach as low as 25 km, that the descent rate varies interannually, and the signature of descent is most clear at the center of the vortex. Occurrence of descent is obvious in both the northern and southern polar regions. Southern Hemisphere CH4 pressure versus longitude plots demonstrate coupling of the Antarctic polar mesosphere to the subtropical lower stratosphere. Mid-latitude time series of HALOE NO and the F10.7 cm flux demonstrate solar and dynamical coupling of the thermosphere and lower mesosphere.
CLD1 Reverses the Ubiquinone Insufficiency of Mutant cat5/coq7 in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Model System.

Ubiquinone (Qn) functions as a mobile electron carrier in mitochondria. In humans, Q biosynthetic pathway mutations lead to Q10 deficiency, a life threatening disorder. We have used a Saccharomyces cerevisiae model of Q6 deficiency to screen for new modulators of ubiquinone biosynthesis. We generated several hypomorphic alleles of coq7/cat5 (clk-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans) encoding the penultimate enzyme in Q biosynthesis which converts 5-demethoxy Q6 (DMQ6) to 5-demethyl Q6, and screened for genes that, when overexpressed, suppressed their inability to grow on non-fermentable ethanol—implying recovery of lost mitochondrial function. Through this approach we identified Cardiolipin-specific Deacylase 1 (CLD1), a gene encoding a phospholipase A2 required for cardiolipin acyl remodeling. Interestingly, not all coq7 mutants were suppressed by Cld1p overexpression, and molecular modeling of the mutant Coq7p proteins that were suppressed showed they all contained disruptions in a hydrophobic α-helix that is predicted to mediate membrane-binding. CLD1 overexpression in the suppressible coq7 mutants restored the ratio of DMQ6 to Q6 toward wild type levels, suggesting recovery of lost Coq7p function. Identification of a spontaneous Cld1p loss-of-function mutation illustrated that Cld1p activity was required for coq7 suppression. This observation was further supported by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS profiling of monolysocardiolipin, the product of Cld1p. In summary, our results present a novel example of a lipid remodeling enzyme reversing a mitochondrial ubiquinone insufficiency by facilitating recovery of hypomorphic enzymatic function.