cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PROOF-OF-CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DNA TOOLS FOR ATLANTIC STURGEON MANAGEMENT

The Atlantic Sturgeon (​Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, Mitchell​ ) is an anadromous species that spawns in tidal freshwater rivers from Canada to Florida. Overfishing, river sedimentation and alteration of the river bottom have decreased Atlantic Sturgeon populations, and NOAA lists the species as endangered. Ecologists sometimes find it difficult to locate individuals of a species that is rare, endangered or invasive. The need for methods less invasive that can create more resolution of cryptic species presence is necessary. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a non­invasive means of detecting rare, endangered, or invasive species by isolating nuclear or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the water column. We evaluated the potential of eDNA to document the presence of Atlantic Sturgeon in the James River, Virginia. Genetic primers targeted the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxydase I gene, and a restriction enzyme assay (​DraIII​) was developed. Positive control mesocosm and James River samples revealed a nonspecific sequence—mostly bacteria commonly seen in environmental waters. Methods more stringent to a single species was necessary. Novel qPCR primers were derived from a second region of Cytochrome Oxydase II​, and subject to quantitative PCR. This technique correctly identified Atlantic Sturgeon DNA and differentiated among other fish taxa commonly occurring in the lower James River, Virginia. Quantitative PCR had a biomass detection limit of 32.3 ug/L and subsequent analysis of catchment of Atlantic Sturgeon from the Lower James River, Virginia from the fall of 2013 provided estimates of 264.2 ug/L Atlantic Sturgeon biomass. Quantitative PCR sensitivity analysis and incorporation of studies of the hydrology of the James River should be done to further define habitat utilization by local Atlantic Sturgeon populations.
End-of-life care: A public health crisis and an opportunity for managed care

American society is failing to provide humane care for people who are dying. Unnecessary physical suffering continues even in our most prestigious institutions, and the enormous burden on family caregivers remains unrecognized. The cost of health services and burdensome regulations remain major barriers to improving the quality of care. Healthcare planners and policy makers are gradually awakening to the realities of an increasingly older population and a looming labor shortage of qualified paid caregivers. Several features of palliative care render it attractive within managed care. Evidence is emerging that palliative care, focused on meticulous prospective care planning and coordination, delivers high quality and cost-effective end-of-life care. Innovative demonstration projects around the country are exploring models for integrating palliative care within the routine operational processes and protocols of health systems and are providing examples of feasible "best practices" crucial for raising public expectations and framing possible solutions for policymakers and planners. Ultimately, it will be a marketing asset for a managed care organization to be known as a center of excellence in palliative care, and in some markets it will be a necessity. The goals of managed care and palliative care are already well aligned, joint efforts among clinicians, provider institutions, insurers, and employee health benefit managers can address the needs and preferences of dying patients and families, while increasing public trust in managed care.
In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528-1990

A landmark history of African Americans in the West, In Search of the Racial Frontier rescues the collective American consciousness from thinking solely of European pioneers when considering the exploration, settling, and conquest of the territory west of the Mississippi. From its surprising discussions of groups of African American wholly absorbed into Native American culture to illustrating how the largely forgotten role of blacks in the West helped contribute to everything from the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation ruling to the rise of the Black Panther Party, Quintard Taylor fills a major void in American history and reminds us that the African American experience is unlimited by reion or social status. "[Rich] in scope and scholarly detail - it will certinaly stand as the definitive work on the subject for some time to come." - James A. Miller, Boston Globe "[B]y far the most complete general history of blacks in the West." - Scott L. Malcolmson, Newsday "An absorbing chronicle." - Publisher's Weekly "Those looking for a solid overview of the African-American presence in our region would do well to let Quintard Taylor be their guide." - John C. Walter, Seattle Times
Genetic algorithms for optimal operation of soil aquifer treatment systems

The genetic algorithm (GA) is a nonconventional search technique which is patterned after the biological processes of natural selection and evolution. It has the ability to search large and complex decision spaces and handle nonconvexities. In this paper, the genetic algorithm is investigated and applied to solve the optimal operation problem of soil aquifer treatment (SAT) systems. This problem involves finding optimal water application time and drying time which maximize infiltration for a predetermined starting influent rate of waste water and subject to various physical and operational constraints. A new scaling method is developed and some improvements on the evolution procedure are presented. A comprehensive GA–SAT computer model was developed and applied to an example SAT problem. The results are encouraging, when compared with using the successive approximation linear quadratic regulator algorithm. It was found that genetic algorithms are easy to program and interface with large complicated simulators.
Accurate f-Values for Ultraviolet Transitions from the 3d5(6S)4p Levels in Mn II

We have measured branching fractions for ultraviolet electric dipole transitions from upper levels belonging to the 3d5(6S)4p 7P and 3d5(6S)4p 5P terms of Mn II. The levels were excited in a hollow cathode lamp and the spectra were observed with a Fourier transform spectrometer. The high signal-to-noise ratio of the Mn II lines in our spectra permitted the measurement of branching fractions even for the weakest transitions in the ultraviolet, which are of particular astrophysical interest. A comparison with previous measurements revealed that many of these measurements, including the most recent, show systematic distortions that may indicate that they are affected by self-absorption. Absolute oscillator strengths, based on the new branching fraction measurements, were determined using existing experimental lifetime data. The uncertainty of the f-values is less than 5% for strong transitions. Oscillator strengths for several very weak intercombination lines with log gf < -2 are reported for the first time.
Theoretical Perspectives on the Social Environment to Guide Management and Community Practice

Abstract This paper introduces a conceptual framework called Or-ganization-in-Environment that is intended to help social work students, particularly those preparing for careers in management and community practice, understand the complexity of the social environment in the context of a global economy. This model is based on two assumptions. First, organizations and communities are embedded in large, complex macro systems that helped to create institutional barriers of the past. Second, organizations are civic actors with the potential to strengthen communities and change institutional inequities set in larger societal systems. Theories of social justice, the political economy, vertical and horizontal linkages, organization/environment dimensions, and interorganizational collaboration are presented and used to help analyze the model. Case examples of privatization, gentrification, and homelessness are used to illustrate theory for practice. Finally, implications are drawn for a future-oriented practice th...
Anti-Tumoral Activity of a Short Decapeptide Fragment of the Alzheimer’s Aβ Peptide

The inhibition of angiogenesis is regarded as a promising avenue for cancer treatment. Although some antiangiogenic compounds are in the process of development and testing, these often prove ineffective in vivo, therefore the search for new inhibitors is critical. We have recently identified a ten amino acid fragment of the Alzheimer Aβ peptide that is anti-angiogenic both in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we investigated the antitumoral potential of this decapeptide using human MCF-7 breast carcinoma xenografts in nude mice. We observed that this decapeptide was able to suppress MCF-7 tumor growth more potently than the antiestrogen tamoxifen. Inhibition of tumor vascularization as determined by PECAM-1 immunostaining and decreased tumor cell proliferation as determined by Ki67 immunostaining were observed following treatment with the Aβ fragment. In vitro, this peptide had no direct impact on MCF-7 tumor cell proliferation and survival suggesting that the inhibition of tumor growth and tumor cell proliferation observed in vivo is related to the antiangiogenic activity of the peptide. Taken together these data suggest that this short Aβ derivative peptide may constitute a new antitumoral agent.
Behavior of Epidermolysis Bullosa Fibroblasts in a Hydrated Collagen Lattice

Abstract To determine if an altered ability to contract a hydrated collagen lattice is characteristic of fibroblasts from patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), we examined contraction by fibroblasts from normal subjects and patients with RDEB, dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DDEB), and dominant epidermolysis bullosa simplex (DEBS). An extremely broad range of contractility (normal, poor, and hypercontraction) was observed in all types of epidermolysis bullosa (EB). When contraction in control fibroblasts was defined as the mean ± 2 SD, (all control values were within this range) and the data were analyzed by the chi-square test, only 32% of EB cells fell within this range, with 47% poorly contractile and 21% hypercontractile. These data, derived from 34 patients, indicate that no single genetic defect resulting in altered contractility in the 3 distinct types of EB is likely. Neither cell viability, collagenase expression, nor PGE 2 synthesis as correlated with gel contraction in any group. Indomethacin had no effect on contraction in RDEB. It is possible that the genetic defects in EB cause blister formation in vivo and may lead in some way to an abnormal interaction of fibroblasts with the extracellular matrix resulting in an altered collagen lattice contraction in vitro.
Magnetic dispersion corrections to elastic electron scattering

The second-order dispersive corrections to the cross section for elastic scattering of high energy electrons by4He are estimated. The nuclear currents are the convection and spin currents of each nucleon. A closure approximation is used to evaluate the amplitude. The spin effects are calculated explicitly assuming an independent particle nuclear model for two different charge form factors. These are found to be less than four percent of the first-order cross section. It is shown how the convection current contribution may be evaluated within the restrictions of gauge invariance. Only part of the convection terms are calculated; these are found to be much smaller than the correction due to the pure Coulomb interaction. It is concluded that the dominant contribution to the second-order correction is due to the Coulomb potential, and that this is true in general, not only for4He. Lastly, the relevance of these corrections to experiments measuring the electron’s electric and magnetic dipole moment form factors is mentioned.
Energy-balanced cooperative routing in multihop wireless ad hoc networks

Cooperative communication (CC) allows multiple nodes to simultaneously transmit the same packet to the receiver so that the combined signal at the receiver can be correctly decoded. Since the cooperative communication can reduce the transmission power and extend the transmission coverage, it has been considered in minimum energy routing protocols to reduce the total energy consumption. However, previous research on cooperative routing only focuses on minimizing the total energy consumption from the source node to the destination node, which may lead to the unbalanced energy distribution among nodes. In this paper, we aim to study the impact of cooperative routing on balancing the energy distribution among nodes. By introducing a new routing scheme which carefully selects cooperative relay nodes and assigns their transmission power, our cooperative routing method can balance the energy among neighboring nodes and maximize the remaining lifetime of the network. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed cooperative routing algorithm significantly balances the energy distribution and prolongs the lifetime of the network.
Urethral Stone Disease Leading to Retention After Hair-bearing Neophalloplasty

A 35-year-old male patient with a past history of traumatic penile amputation and subsequent penile reconstruction with a radial artery free flap phalloplasty presented to the urology clinic for urinary retention and complaint of a firm penile mass. The patient had been lost to follow-up for 2 years before this presentation. Patient had a suprapubic tube in place from initial surgery, with imaging showing 2 large uroliths encrusted around the end. Urethral stricture was suspected in the patient. On cystoscopy, an additional obstructing urolith was found in penile urethra, appearing to have formed in situ.
Policy Preferences of Party Elites and Masses Conflict or Consensus

This study examines the sharing of public policy preferences between American state political party elites and party followers in the mass public on ten matters of state policy. Employing responses...
Big Breasts and Bad Guys: Depictions of Gender and Race in Video Games

ABSTRACT Video games have become a powerful force in the culture. Depictions of women in video games are scarce and highly stereotypical. Women are usually minor characters, are seen as victims rather than heroines, and are depicted in highly sexualized ways. Whereas early games had only a few representations of people of color, people of color were often depicted in derogatory and unflattering ways. Current games continue to employ racial stereotypes by limiting the roles and representations of non-White characters. Gender and racial stereotyping in video games is discussed, and ways to raise awareness of the issues are suggested.
High-resolution spatial interpolation on cloud platforms

The quest for better computing infrastructure for geospatial applications has been a constant endeavor for geoscientists. With the recent proliferation of cloud offerings, a range of new opportunities have become available. The challenge, however, is to make the best use of cloud platforms. Two directions are particularly important for addressing this challenge: a) developing new design approaches that are suitable for geoscience applications destined for the clouds, and b) accurately assessing the level of performance that can be expected when a given application is hosted on a given cloud platform with a specific configuration. This would enable scientists to better choose cloud solutions. In this paper, we focus on the latter direction. We use a typical data- and compute-intensive geoscience application, namely spatial interpolation, as a case study to assess the benefits of cloud computing for geoscience applications. We study the performance of the application on several types of cloud instances and provide a cost/benefit analysis that gives useful insights to geospatial and Earth scientists when they consider cloud options.
An Improved Multistate Empirical Valence Bond Model for Aqueous Proton Solvation and Transport

A new multistate empirical valence bond model (MS-EVB3) is developed for proton solvation and transport in aqueous solutions. The new model and its quantum version (qMS-EVB3) are based on the MS-EVB2 model [Day et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2002, 117, 5839] and recently developed flexible water modelsthe SPC/Fw model [Wu et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2006, 124, 24503] and the qSPC/Fw model [Paesani et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2006, 125, 184507]for classical and quantum simulations, respectively. Using ab initio data as benchmarks, the binding energies and optimized geometries calculated with the new model for protonated water clusters, as well as the potential energy surface for proton shuttling between water molecules in a cluster environment, are improved in comparison to the MS-EVB2 model. For aqueous solutions, classical and quantum molecular dynamics simulations with the MS-EVB3 model yield a more accurate description of the solvation structure and diffusive dynamics of the excess proton. New insight is also provided int...
3453 Mucosal hemodynamics in the watershed area of the normal colon and in hemodialysis and oxygendependent patients.

Patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD) are prone to develop ischemic colitis. The effect of the state of tissue oxygenation upon the regulation of tissue blood flow has not been well described in human studies. Aim:We used the endoscopic reflectance spectrophotometry technique which provides an index of hemoglobin concentration (IHb) and index of oxygen saturation (ISO2) to evaluate the above issues. Methods: Controls (n=11), oxygendependent (n=7) and HD (n=9) patients underwent sigmoidoscopy and IHb and ISO2 readings were obtained at the watershed area (20 cm from the anal verge) of the sigmoid colon. In the O2-dependent patients, measurements were made off and on O2 supplementation while peripheral O2 saturation was monitored by pulse oxymetry. Results: The results are summarized in the Table below. In O2-dependent patients pulse oxymetry readings were significantly lower off O2 than on O2 (85.2 ± 0.3% vs. 94.1 ± 0.2%; p
Mechanism of λc17cI virulence

Abstract Previously reported experiments show that λc 17 replicates constitutively when it infects an immune host but that phage carrying c 17 do not produce lysis of the immune host with liberation of new virus (virulence) unless they also carry a cI mutation. A model presented to explain λc 17 cI virulence proposed that (i) although some genes in λ carrying c 17 operate constitutively, others are still subject to cI + -represser in the immune host, (ii) the repressed genes are derepressed if constitutive replication produces too many λ copies for the cI + -repressor to control, and (iii) this occurs only if the replicating element is unable to augment the level of represser produced by the prophage. In other words, it was proposed that λc 17 cI is virulent because its constitutive replication leads to oversaturation of the cI + repressor produced by the prophage and this leads to expression of genes which were initially subject to repression in the input λc 17 cI . Experiments of two types are presented which support this interpretation. First, studies of the expression of the N -controlled gene specifying λ exonuclease show that (i) this gene is subject to repression in phage carrying c 17 , (ii) this gene is eventually derepressed following infection with phage carrying both c 17 and a cI mutation, and (iii) this derepression is blocked if the λc 17 cI carries a third mutation which blocks its replication. A second set of experiments also supports the model by showing that increasing the number of cI + genes capable of forming repressor delays or prevents lysis of the immune host by λc 17 cI , presumably by augmenting the cI + -repressor produced by the prophage sufficiently to delay, and in some cells even prevent, oversaturation of the cI + -repressor by λc 17 cI copies.
Bonding of sheep to cattle as an effective technique for predation control

Abstract Nine lambs that had been bonded to cattle were placed with 7 heifers in pastures frequented by coyotes ( Canis latrans ) to determine whether multi-species grazing with bonded lambs would reduce predation. Unbonded lambs were grazed alone in a nearby pasture. Bonded lambs with cattle and unbonded lambs were rotated among pastures to reduce pasture bias. None of the bonded lambs were lost to predation during the entire 163-day study (Trials 1, 2 and 3). Four of 8 unbonded lambs were lost, presumably to predators, during a 19-day period, and 9 of 15 unbonded lambs and ewes were lost to predation during a later 43-day period. Bonding sheep to cattle may be an effective method for reducing coyote depredation on sheep.
Smart actuator with integrated coformed accelerometer

Sensor/Actuator coupling is a key parameter in the design of smart actuators (or systems) for sound and vibration control applications. To be practical, however, such a combination of transducers (actuator and sensors) must be available as an inexpensive ready-to-use electromechanical component with predictable well-behaved controllable characteristics. One approach NRL is currently pursuing toward reducing fabrication costs is to use the injection molding process developed by Materials Systems Inc. to co-form the accelerometer and actuator in one fabrication step. This results in an actuator with an imbedded array of accelerometers, where the inclusion of the accelerometer array adds little to the cost of the actuator. This low-cost fabrication approach is also applicable for aerospace vibration control or robotic sensing applications. This paper describes the design, and performance of prototype accelerometers and accelerometer/actuator systems formed using this process.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Quantitative studies of argyrophilic APUD cells in airways and intestine: effects of hypothalamic injuries.

A morphometric study of argyrophilic Amine Precursor Uptake and Decarboxylase (APUD) cells in airways and intestine of guinea pigs after hypothalamic lesions is reported. APUD cell densities are expressed as APUD cell number/mm of airway or gut perimeter length and as APUD cell/100 epithelial cells. The latter ratio is useful to distinguish generalized epithelial changes from specific alterations in APUD cell densities. Lesions to anterior hypothalamic areas are known to inhibit death due to anaphylactic shock in the guinea pig by a yet to be determined mechanism. It is also known that lesions placed in other hypothalamic nuclei located in the posterior hypothalamus do not interfere with lethal anaphylaxis. Recent quantitative studies of respiratory argyrophilic APUD cells have demonstrated changes in densities of these cells during sensitization and anaphylaxis in the guinea pig, suggesting that they participate in the complex events of anaphylaxis. The present study was performed to determine whether lesions in the anterior and posterior hypothalamus result in changes in APUD cell densities that would suggest a role of the neuroendocrine system in the modulation of lethal anaphylaxis in the guinea pig. The guinea pig has 0.53±2.44 APUD cells/100 nuclei in the larynx, 0.64±0.29 in the trachea, 0.39±0.18 in bronchi, 0.03±0.03 in bronchioles and 10.40±0.70 in the ileum. No significant changes were found in APUD cell densities in animals with hypothalamic lesions when compared to controls, suggesting that mechanisms other than APUD cell hyperplasia or hypoplasia are responsible for the effects of these lesions on lethal anaphylaxis in the guinea pig.
Human and avian extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli: infections, zoonotic risks, and antibiotic resistance trends.

Abstract Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) constitutes ongoing health concerns for women, newborns, elderly, and immunocompromised individuals due to increased numbers of urinary tract infections (UTIs), newborn meningitis, abdominal sepsis, and septicemia. E. coli remains the leading cause of UTIs, with recent investigations reporting the emergence of E. coli as the predominant cause of nosocomial and neonatal sepsis infections. This shift from the traditional Gram-positive bacterial causes of nosocomial and neonatal sepsis infections could be attributed to the use of intrapartum chemoprophylaxis against Gram-positive bacteria and the appearance of antibiotic (ATB) resistance in E. coli. While ExPEC strains cause significant healthcare concerns, these bacteria also infect chickens and cause the poultry industry economic losses due to costs of containment, mortality, and disposal of carcasses. To circumvent ExPEC-related costs, ATBs are commonly used in the poultry industry to prevent/tr...
Effect of a CCR1 receptor antagonist on systemic trafficking of MSCs and polyethylene particle-associated bone loss

Particle-associated periprosthetic osteolysis remains a major issue in joint replacement. Ongoing bone loss resulting from wear particle-induced inflammation is accompanied by continued attempts at bone repair. Previously we showed that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recruited systemically to bone exposed to continuous infusion of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) particles. The chemokine-receptor axis that mediates this process is unknown. We tested two hypotheses: (1) the CCR1 receptor mediates the systemic recruitment of MSCs to UHMWPE particles and (2) recruited MSCs are able to differentiate into functional mature osteoblasts and decrease particle-associated bone loss. Nude mice were allocated randomly to four groups. UHMWPE particles were continuously infused into the femoral shaft using a micro-pump. Genetically modified murine wild type reporter MSCs were injected systemically via the left ventricle. Non-invasive imaging was used to assay MSC migration and bone mineral density. Bioluminescence and immunohistochemistry confirmed the chemotaxis of reporter cells and their differentiation into mature osteoblasts in the presence of infused particles. Injection of a CCR1 antagonist decreased reporter cell recruitment to the UHMWPE particle infusion site and increased osteolysis. CCR1 appears to be a critical receptor for chemotaxis of MSCs in the presence of UHMWPE particles. Interference with CCR1 exacerbates particle-induced bone loss.
Ferrous intraocular foreign bodies and magnetic resonance imaging

We placed various sized ferrous foreign bodies in and around the eye, sclera, and orbit in a rabbit model before performing magnetic resonance imaging studies. All foreign bodies were detected on plain x-rays. Only one of the largest fragments (3 × 1 × 1 mm) demonstrated movement on exposure to the magnetic field.
The conjugation of prostaglandin A1 and glutathione catalyzed by homogeneous glutathione s-transferases from human and rat liver.

Abstract The conjugation of glutathione to prostaglandin A 1 is susceptible to enzymatic catalysis.
Special session: "hands-on" tutorial: teaching software correctness with RESOLVE

Program correctness is central to computing, with instructors striving to convey the importance of getting it right starting in CS1. Teaching this material carefully demands a uniform framework to specify, implement, and reason about software correctness. To make these ideas accessible to educators and students, the tutorial will use RESOLVE, an integrated specification and programming language with a toolset especially designed for building verified components. The tutorial will also discuss how to get students involved through hands-on activities with software construction and modular verification using a web-integrated environment that requires no software installation and that features a prototype 'push-button' verifying compiler. The proposers have taught the ideas contained here using engaging pedagogical methods in introductory and advanced CS courses to thousands of students and dozens of educators over the past 20 years, and this SIGCSE tutorial will leverage that experience.
AN IMPROVED SYNTHESIS OF 1, 2-DEHYDRO-N-ACETYLDOPAMINE

(1988). AN IMPROVED SYNTHESIS OF 1, 2-DEHYDRO-N-ACETYLDOPAMINE. Organic Preparations and Procedures International: Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 191-195.
A Flexible Design of Filterbank Architectures for Discrete Wavelet Transforms

In this paper, distributed arithmetic (DA) has been used to implement a fully parallel LUT-based DA wavelet filterbank with interlaced input registers. In our scheme, decimation has been seamlessly integrated into the filter structure to achieve the same throughput performance as polyphase-based filterbanks. However, because partitioning of the filters is avoided, our scheme gives more flexibility to implement the LUT-DA structure, and consequently, lets designers maximize area utilization on LUT-based FPGAs. Our architecture has been designed for orthonormal and biorthogonal wavelets, and implemented on an Altera Stratix II FPGA. Significant reduction in terms of area requirements and increased throughput performance are achieved when compared to other DWT filterbanks based on DA, convolution or the lifting scheme.
Scalable, memory efficient, high-speed IP lookup algorithms

One of the central issues in router performance is IP address lookup based on longest prefix matching. IP address lookup algorithms can be evaluated on a number of metrics--lookup time, update time, memory usage, and to a less important extent, the time to construct the data structure used to support lookups and updates. Many of the existing methods are geared toward optimizing a specific metric, and do not scale well with the ever expanding routing tables and the forthcoming IPv6 where the IP addresses are 128 bits long. In contrast, our effort is directed at simultaneously optimizing multiple metrics and provide solutions that scale to IPv6, with its longer addresses and much larger routing tables. In this paper, we present two IP address lookup schemes-Elevator-Stairs algorithm and log W-Elevators algorithm. For a routing table with N prefixes, The Elevator-Stairs algorithm uses optimal O(N) memory, and achieves better lookup and update times than other methods with similar memory requirements. The logW-Elevators algorithm gives O(log W) lookup time, where is the length of an IP address, while improving upon update time and memory usage. Experimental results using the MAE-West router with 29 487 prefixes show that the Elevator-Stairs algorithm gives an average throughput of 15.7 Million lookups per second (Mlps) using 459 KB of memory, and the logW-Elevators algorithm gives an average throughput of 21.41 Mlps with a memory usage of 1259 KB.
Nucleosome arrangement in α-satellite chromatin of African green monkey cells

Abstract By analyzing the accessibility of restriction endonuclease sites in African green monkey alpha-satellite chromatin, we demonstrate the absence of a unique phase relationship between nucleosomes and alpha-satellite DNA. The data indicate a minimum of three different positions for nucleosome cores relative to the alpha-satellite sequence and suggest a random distribution in at least some regions. In addition, while we confirm published reports that staphylococcal nuclease cuts the alpha-satellite sequence in chromatin at a highly preferred site, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of nuclear digests demonstrates that this site is preferentially cut by staphylococcal nuclease even when it is within the nucleosome core. These data indicate that staphylococcal nuclease is not useful for determining nucleosome positions on alpha-satellite DNA, and perhaps on other specific DNA sequences as well.
Microstructure and microdynamics of uninterrupted traffic flow

In this paper, ``uninterrupted homogeneous traffic flow'' is viewed as a dynamic system of spontaneously aggregating and breaking clusters of cars. This approach gives qualitative and quantitative descriptions of density fluctuations and dynamics of free traffic flow in terms of car clusters, and their distributions with respect to the number of cars in a cluster. The distributions have a nontrivial shape and a nonlinear dependence on the density of cars on the expressway. Their shape and evolution as a function of car density are described adequately by a model proposed here. This one-parameter model based on a modified Smoluchowski equation predicts a critical density at which a phase transition occurs from free to synchronized traffic flow for a multilane expressway: ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\mathrm{cr}}=16\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3{\mathrm{vehicles}\mathrm{}\mathrm{km}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}{\mathrm{}(\mathrm{lane})}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1},$ and that below this critical density traffic flow can be treated as a one-dimensional system. The model may also find application in the study of the low density pneumatic transport of granular and powdered materials.
Tao Trek: One and Other in Comparative Rhetoric, A Response

“Tao Trek” traces recent debates regarding comparative and contrastive rhetorical studies and proposes that revisiting some of the earliest encounters of Eastern and Western philosophies of rhetoric can help resolve recent binaries in rhetorical history and theory.
An elementary solution to a problem in restricted partitions

The present paper deals with an apparently hitherto untreated problem in the theory of restricted partitions: What is the number Tn(r) of distinct partitions of the composite integer nr that can be made by partwise addition of n—not necessarily distinct—partitions of r? The answer is given in the form of a finite series of binomial coefficients multiplied by certain integer coefficients which dependend only on r: Tn(r)=∑i=0r−g−1ci(r)(n+gg+i),whereg=[r+12] In general the non-vanishing ci(r) must be determined by direct calculation; in this paper we give them for all r≤11. Several other interpretations of Tn(r) are given, and some additional open questions concerning the interpretation of the results are discussed.
Diagrammatic expansion of the long-range intermolecular potential and the total contribution of the first hyperpolarizability

Abstract The potential for pure dispersion forces can be defined in terms of a simple classical cluster expansion. The diagrams for the first hyperpolarizability contribution are summed for a one frequency model.
THE SPECIFIC SOLVATION EFFECTS ON THE STRUCTURES AND PROPERTIES OF ADENINE-URACIL COMPLEXES : A THEORETICAL AB INITIO STUDY

Ab initio quantum chemical studies at the HF level with the 6-31G* basis set were performed for three different Watson−Crick hydrogen bonded adenine−uracil complexes in the gas phase and in a water solution approximated by the first solvation shell. Full geometry optimizations without any constraints on the planarity of these complexes were carried out. The solvent effect was modeled by explicit inclusion of seven water molecules which creates the first coordination sphere around the adenine-uracil base pair. Single point calculations were also performed at the correlated MP2/6−31*//HF/6-31G* level. The interaction and solvation energies were corrected for the basis set superposition error. It was shown that base pair corresponding to the standard Watson−Crick pair (denoted as AU1) is the lowest energy structure on the potential energy surface both in the gas phase and in a water solution. Only a slight deviation from planarity is observed for these complexes in both phases. Furthermore, the relative stab...
WldS mice are protected against the Parkinsonian mimetic MPTP

Abstract The progressive loss of the nigrostriatal pathway is a distinguishing feature of Parkinson's disease. Because terminal field loss appears to precede cell body loss, we tested whether the mouse mutant Wld S , which delays axonal degeneration in a variety of disorders, would ameliorate nigrostriatal degeneration following treatment with the Parkinsonian mimetic 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The present findings show that the Wld S gene product enhances survival, prevents nigrostriatal axon degeneration, and attenuates neurotransmitter loss but does not rescue cell bodies. As MPTP is thought to impair mitochondrial energy production, these data suggest that disease pathology due to metabolic dysfunction could be improved by the Wld S gene product. These results suggest new therapeutic avenues for Parkinson's disease.
Spectroscopic ellipsometry characterization of amorphous aluminum nitride and indium nitride thin films

We have measured and analyzed the optical characteristics of a series of amorphous aluminum nitride, a-AlN, and amorphous indium nitride, a-InN, thin films deposited on crystalline silicon, c-Si (111), by RF reactive magnetron sputtering at temperature T < 325 K. Spectroscopic Ellipsometry measurements were carried out at two angles of incidence, 70° and 75°, over the wavelength range 300–1400 nm. The measured ellipsometric data were fitted to models consisting of air/a-AlN/Sio2/c-Si (111) and air/roughness/a-InN/Sio2/c-Si (111). The roughness was modeled using the Bruggeman effective medium approximation, assuming 50% a-InN and 50% voids. The optical constants and the thicknesses of amorphous (Al, In) N films were obtained by the analysis of the measured ellipsometric spectra through the Cauchy-Urbach and the Tauc-Lorentz models, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the amorphous nature of the films under study. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Filling of hole arrays with InAs quantum dots

Focused ion beams are used to pattern GaAs(001) surfaces with an array of nanometer-deep holes upon which deposition of InAs results in quantum dot formation at the hole location. Experiments show that the size and quantity of quantum dots formed depend on growth parameters, and ion dose, which affects the size and shape of the resulting holes. Quantum dots fabricated in this fashion have a photoluminescence peak at 1.28 eV at 77 K, indicating that the ion irradiation due to patterning does not destroy their optical activity. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations that include elastic relaxation qualitatively model the growth of dots in nanometer-deep holes, and demonstrate that growth temperature, depth of the holes, and the angle of the hole sidewalls strongly influence the number of quantum dots that form at their perimeter.
Kinetics of degradation in solution of epinephrine by molecular oxygen.

The rate of degradation of epinephrine in aqueous solution at pH 5 by molecular oxygen has been shown to be extremely complex functions of both the amine and oxygen concentrations. The kinetic studies, based on chromatographic isolation of epinephrine as its triacetate, indicate that at the pH used (a) the degradation products had no detectable effect on the observed oxidative rate, (b) the dependency on the catecholamine ranged from 1.0 to 0.5 depending on oxygen tension, and (c) conversely, the dependency on oxygen varied from over 1 to less than 0.4 depending on epinephrine concentration.
Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Predicts Progression of Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy and Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Heart Transplant Patients

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), a unique form of accelerated atherosclerosis, is a major cause of late morbidity and mortality in heart transplant patients. In the 2006 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation registry, after 5 years of posttransplantation, CAV, and late graft failure (likely due to CAV) together account for 30% of deaths (1). The pathogenesis of CAV seems to be multifactorial, including both immune mediated and nonimmune mechanisms (2). Although the relationship between a number of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and clinical CAV is well established, it remains unclear whether the presence of risk factors correlates with the extent of plaque burden. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) provides a high-resolution technique for quantitative assessment of vessel wall anatomy in transplant patients, and provides a unique opportunity to study the interaction of risk factors with plaque burden and CAV severity (3). There is a growing body of evidence supporting the major contribution of inflammatory pathways to the etiology of atherosclerosis (4). Inflammatory markers improve the prediction of CV risk achieved through the analysis of traditional risk factors alone (5). Several studies have indicated that inflammatory processes are closely linked with the genesis of CAV (6–9). Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a novel marker of inflammation, produced and secreted by monocytes, macrophages, platelets, and mast cells, (10) which are all involved in atherogenesis. Several studies have found an association of Lp-PLA2 with coronary endothelial dysfunction, (11, 12) coronary events, (13–16) and angiographically documented coronary artery disease (17–20). However, the role of Lp-PLA2 in the development of CAV and its association with other atherogenic substances among transplant recipients has not been delineated. We prospectively evaluated the association between Lp-PLA2 and other risk factors for CAV, effect of Lp-PLA2 on progression of CAV assessed by 3D IVUS and subsequent incidence of CV adverse events over 5 year follow-up in a cohort of posttransplant patients.
Cyclic GMP analogs inhibit gamma thrombin-induced arachidonic acid release in human platelets

Summary Elevation in intracellular cyclic GMP levels is the proposed proximal mechanism for the vasodilatory and platelet inhibitory action of nitrovasodilators and of nitric oxide, the putative endothelium-derived relaxing factor. In this study, the stable cyclic GMP analogs, 8-bromo-cGMP and N 2 , 2′-O-dibutyryl-cGMP were found to inhibit the release of [ 3 H]-arachidonic acid from γ thrombin-stimulated human platelets in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of the formation of arachidonic acid metabolites, 12-HETE and thromboxane B 2 , paralleled that of arachidonic acid release and was accompanied by a dose-dependent inhibition of platelet aggregation. The formation of phosphatidic acid, a metabolite of phospholipase C, however, was relatively preserved. At a concentration of 8-bromo-cGMP (2 mM) that produced near-total inhibition of arachidonic acid release, phosphatidic acid formation remained at 60% of control levels. Thus, cGMP analogs have a preferential inhibitory effect on the release and subsequent metabolism of arachidonic acid. The phospholipase A2/arachidonic acid pathway appears to be an important target for the physiologic action of cGMP, and EDRF, and for the pharmacologic action of nitrovasodilators.
Invited Paper-The Omnitron: A Versatile Medium-Energy Synchrotron for the Acceleration of Light and Heavy Ions

A novel guide-magnet configuration has been devised which makes possible the acceleration of all charge-to-mass ratios from 0.04 to 1. A concentric storage ring, with the associated beam-switching equipment, allows for the extension of beam duty factor to essentially 100%. The storage ring can also be used in a bootstrap acceleration of heavy ions in which the ions are injected at low e/m, accelerated to a moderate velocity, stored while the accelerating ring returns to minimum field, stripped to maximum e/m, and re-injected for further acceleration. With a pressurized 2.5 MV Cockcroft-Walton injector, the proposed system is capable of accelerating all ions from protons to uranium--to energies up to 1.5 BeV for protons and 0.3 to 0.5 BeV/nucleon for the heavier ions. Intensities of 1012 to 1013 nucleons/sec for the lighter ions (M ? 128) are anticipated. The heavy-ion charge-exchange probabilities determine the vacuum requirements of this system. To minimize these requirements and to increase beam intensity, a 60/sec cycling rate has been chosen. The vacuum requirements and the special rf resonator and beam-switching problems attendant with the high cycling rate are discussed.
Magnetochemistry of Ions in the 4A2 Electronic State.

Each of the following ions with spin S = 3/2, octahedral chromium(III), five-coordinate iron(III), and tetrahedral cobalt(II), possesses a 4A2 ground state. The theory describing their paramagnetic properties is therefore the same, though some of the parameters change appreciably from ion to ion. This theory is described along with examples of experimental data. The implications of the paramagnetic properties for the magnetic ordering phenomena exhibited by complexes of these ions are also described.
Imaging of vascular pseudoaneurysms in the thorax and abdomen.

Abstract Introduction This review article illustrates a spectrum of arterial pseudoaneurysms that may occur in various locations throughout the thoracoabdominal region. This article discusses the common etiologies and typical clinical presentations of arterial pseudoaneurysms as well as the imaging modalities employed in their diagnosis and potential treatment options. Objective The goal of this review article is to familiarize radiologists with the diagnosis of thoracoabdominal arterial pseudoaneurysms, the prompt identification and treatment of which are crucial in this patient population. Conclusion In summary, a thorough understanding of the etiologies, imaging characteristics, and clinical implications of pseudoaneurysms can help optimize identification and management of this spectrum of disease.
Geologic structures related to New Madrid earthquakes near Memphis, Tennessee, based on gravity and magnetic interpretations

New inversions of gravity and magnetic data in the region north of Memphis, Tennessee, and south of latitude 36° define boundaries of regional structures and igneous complexes in the upper crust. Microseismicity patterns near interpreted boundaries suggest that igneous complexes influence the locations of microseismicity. A weak seismicity cluster occurs near one intrusion (Covington pluton), at the intersection of the southwest margin of the Missouri batholith and the southeast margin of the Reelfoot rift. A narrow seismicity trend along the Reelfoot rift axis becomes diffuse near a second intrusion (Osceola intrusive complex) and changes direction to an area along the northwest flank of the intrusion. The axial seismicity trend also contains a tight cluster of earthquakes located just outside the Osceola intrusive complex. The mechanical explanation of the two seismicity patterns is uncertain, but the first cluster may be caused by stress concentration due to the high elastic stiffness and strength of the Covington intrusion. The spatially changing seismicity pattern near the Osceola complex may be caused by the preceding factors plus interaction with faulting along the rift axis. The axial seismicity strand itself is one of several connected and interacting active strands that may produce stress concentrations at strand ends and junctions. The microseismicity clusters at the peripheries of the two intrusions lead us to conclude that these stress concentrations or stressed volumes may be locations of future moderate to large earthquakes near Memphis.
Highlights of Crystal Ball Physics

Differential and total cross sections are presented for π-- and K--induced reactions on a proton target leading to all-neutral final states. Also shown are rates for rare and upper limits for forbidden eta-meson decays to test Chiral Perturbation Theory, the π0π0 interactions and C and CP invariance.