cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Combining ability of the stay green trait and seed moisture content in sunflower

Plants of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) which retain a green color in stems at physiological maturity are characterized as having the stay green trait. Research on inheritance of the stay green/early senescence trait may provide valuable information to plant breeders for developing new cultivars with better resistance to drought and pests, and increased standability. This study was conducted to determine the general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities of different female and male inbred lines in F 1 hybrids for the stay green characteristic. The study included 36 sunflower hybrids produced by crossing six female lines to six male lines in a factorial mating design. Change in stem color was used as a criterion for the stay green characteristic with stem color analyzed by a computer program called Maps and Image Processing System. The relative magnitude of ratios of the female and male GCA components to the female and male GCA plus SCA components for the stay green trait, suggested that additive gene effects were more important than nonadditive gene effects in controlling stay green expressed among hybrid combinations. However, significant SCA effects detected at physiological maturity also implied the contribution of nonadditive effects to the variation. Nonsignificant correlation coefficient between stem color at physiological maturity and seed moisture content at harvest indicated that it is possible to develop hybrids with the stay green trait and low harvest seed moisture content. Significant but small correlation coefficients for stem color between different plant stages after anthesis suggested that selection would be most effective at physiological maturity.
Supercooling studies and LPE growth of Hg 1–x Cd x Te

Hg1-xCdxTe liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) layers were grown from well-stirred large (100 g) Te-rich Hg-Cd-Te solutions by the dipping method. Supercooling below the liquidus temperature in Te-rich solutions was studied by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and film growth results. Although supercooling of 20 to more than 100° C was routinely measured in small (2 g) sample melts, supercooling in larger melts (>100 g) was erratic and smaller. Factors affecting the degree of supercooling were identified and a Hg-reflux was found to be a major cause of erratic melt behavior. The LPE reactor was modified to correct the Hg-reflux action and a visual technique was developed for in situ determination of the liquidus temperature. A limited amount of supercooling was found in the melt after reactor modification but it was difficult to maintain for extended durations before spontaneous nucleation occurred. Consequently, programmed cooling rather than isothermal LPE was employed to grow many of the films reported here. Hg1−xCdxTe epitaxial layers ofx = 0.2 to 0.25 were grown on (111)B oriented CdTe substrates by cooling the melts only 1–2° C below the previously measured crystallization temperature. The small amount of cooling minimized composition variation with film thickness. Excellent surface morphology was obtained when slow cooling rates of 0.02–0.05° C/ min were used. Cooling rates greater than 0.2° C/min created rough, pitted surface. Precise substrate orientation was important in reducing surface terracing. Composition and thickness uniformities of the epitaxial films were excellent as a result of substrate rotation. Run-to-run reproducibility of film composition was ±0.01 inx. Hall measurements showed carrier concentrations in the range 2–20 × 1014 cm−3 with photoconductive lifetimes of 0.5–3.0 dms forx = 0.20 to 0.25.
Locally compact spaces of countable core and Alexandroff compactification

Abstract We introduce a new cardinal invariant, core of a space, defined for any locally compact Hausdorff space X and denoted by cor ( X ) . Locally compact spaces of countable core generalize locally compact σ-compact spaces in a way that is slightly exotic, but still quite natural. We show in Section 1 that under a broad range of conditions locally compact spaces of countable core must be σ-compact. In particular, normal locally compact spaces of countable core and realcompact locally compact spaces of countable core are σ-compact. Perfect mappings preserve the class of spaces of countable core in both directions (Section 2). The Alexandroff compactification aX is weakly first countable at the Alexandroff point a if and only if cor ( X ) = ω (Section 3). Two examples of non-σ-compact locally compact spaces of countable core are discussed in Section 3. We also extend the well-known theorem of Alexandroff and Urysohn on the cardinality of perfectly normal compacta to compacta satisfying a weak version of perfect normality. Several open problems are formulated.
Genetic analysis of the N transcription antitermination system of phage λ

Regulation of coliphage λ gene expression occurs, in part, by a process of termination and antitermination of transcription. The N gene product, one of two λ encoded antitermination proteins, acts ...
Hyperparameter estimation and plug-in kernel density estimates for maximum a posteriori land-cover classification with multiband satellite data

Classifying land cover via satellite imagery is an important problem in geographical studies. This paper presents a maximum a posteriori (MAP) land-cover classifier for multiband satellite data. The method uses the Markov random field model. The MAP estimation is carried out via iterated conditional modes. The reflectivities are transformed via principal components to overcome correlation and skewness, and then the distributions of the components are estimated with kernel densities. To make use of a large amount of past work in the area, the prior distribution is selected from the US?Geological Survey's land-cover database. Prior hyperparameters are estimated by equating some of their differences with the logarithms of ratios of relative frequencies from the land-cover survey, and then estimated via least squares and a bagging-type procedure. The resulting classifier produces a smooth image and captures detailed features of the study area, including roads.
Redox signal transduction: reductive reasoning.

Abstract The activation of receptors has been believed to be due to a conformational change that occurs when the agonist “locks” into the receptor. However, evidence suggests that several receptors are activated by redox reactions, which occur when an agonist binds with the receptor. The stereochemistry of the receptor likely provides specificity to the electron transfer by determining which agonist can bind to the receptor. The resulting signal, in some cases, may then be transferred across the membrane by G-proteins, which also are redox-coupled. This concept puts receptors into the large group of cell functions that are redox-regulated. Other systems for which evidence of redox regulation occurs include ion pumps and channels, as well as transcription factors. (J Lab Clin Med 2002;140:73-8)
Structural and functional effects of mutations altering the subunit interface of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase

Among highly conserved residues in eucaryotic mitochondrial malate dehydrogenases are those with roles in maintaining the interactions between identical monomeric subunits that form the dimeric enzymes. The contributions of two of these residues, Asp-43 and His-46, to structural stability and catalytic function were investigated by construction of mutant enzymes containing Asn-43 and Leu-46 substitutions using in vitro mutagenesis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene (MDH1) encoding mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. The mutant enzymes were expressed in and purified from a yeast strain containing a disruption of the chromosomal MDH1 locus. The enzyme containing the H46L substitution, as compared to the wild type enzyme, exhibits a dramatic shift in the pH profile for catalysis toward an optimum at low pH values. This shift corresponds with an increased stability of the dimeric form of the mutant enzyme, suggesting that His-46 may be the residue responsible for the previously described pH-dependent dissociation of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. The D43N substitution results in a mutant enzyme that is essentially inactive in in vitro assays and that tends to aggregate at pH 7.5, the optimal pH for catalysis for the dimeric wild type enzyme.
Afghan refugees and the stability of Pakistan

(1987). Afghan refugees and the stability of Pakistan. Survival: Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 416-429.
Digital Color Map Compression By Classified Vector Quantization

This paper shows that combined color component coding can be performed for the compression of color maps. Classification, which was done to remove the printing irregularities in the maps, reduces the number of colors to a much smaller number which can be stored in a look-up table. Thus, the three bands that form the color map are replaced by a pseudo-color map. The pixel indices in this map are only pointers to their actual colors stored in the look-up table. Combined component coding increases the compression achieved with conventional coding by a factor of three.
SOME NOTES ON THE NEW PARADIGMATIC ENVIRONMENT OF “NATURAL REMISSION” STUDIES IN ALCOHOL RESEARCH

With the broad shift from the alcoholism paradigm to the new public health paradigm in “alcohol science” in general and alcohol epidemiology in particular, research on natural remission has grown in scientific interest. The phenomenon itself has moved from the status of a rare and anomalous occurrence (in the alcoholism paradigm's lens) toward the status of a conventional and expected outcome for “heavy” drinking. A broadening conception of the problem domain properly comprehended by alcohol studies has further highlighted the apparent ubiquity of change in drinking behavior. However, this widening orbit of problematization is not fully accounted for, we argue, by substantive developments in either the survey-research or the Ledermann-model sources of “alcohol science”'s paradigmatic transformation—and a dialectical source of the change is suggested. The new paradigmatic environment also harbors an important shift in the moral orientation of alcohol research—from the alcoholism paradigm's focus on the res...
Funding for Agricultural Economics: Needs and Strategies for the 1980s

Public funding for work in agricultural economics-teaching, research, and extension-appears to be declining in real terms at the start of the 1980s following two decades of real increases. There is a call for reductions in spending by government at all levels-a call for less taxes and for public accountability. At the same time there are more students in the courses that agricultural economists teach. There is a renewed interest in agricultural business curricula. Graduate study in agricultural economics is attracting new students from the biological and social sciences as well as agriculture. The demand for competent, applied economists, particularly agricultural economists with advanced degrees, appears to be growing. The anomaly of apparent increases in demand coupled with declining public funding presents a challenge to the profession. It should be one for which economists are prepared. After all, we regularly teach students about economic decision rules for allocating scarce resources among competing ends. The political environment requires that we take our classroom lessons seriously and put them in practice in our own operations. This paper explores several approaches and strategies for funding work in agricultural economics and more effective use of current resources. We begin with an overview of changes in funding during the decade of the 1970s drawing upon secondary data and results of a mail questionnaire sent to agricultural economics department chairmen and administrators in the spring of 1981. We turn, then, to discussion of the demand, current and prospective, for services of agricultural economists and the capacity of current institutions to service that demand. We conclude with discussion of funding strategies and recommendations on actions which might be pursued by the AAEA.
Effects of lesions in the hippocampus and amygdala on duration and frequency patterns of septum after-discharges.

(1) In twenty-two adult cats, septum after-discharges were induced, following placement of lesions in the hippocampus, amygdala and temporal cortex. The duration and frequency patterns of the after-discharge were analyzed.(2) The hippocampus, in contrast to the amygdala, is the main contributor to the duration of the septum after-discharge. Septum discharge durations are shortest following massive hippocampal ablation. Increased seizure duration occurs at a much faster rate with an intact hippocampus and lesioned amygdala.(3) The dorsal hippocampus is the predominant contributor of the faster frequencies in septum after-discharge patterns, whereas the ventral hippocampus and amygdala contribute slower frequencies predominantly.(4) Septum after-discharges were longest following cortical resection alone. This suggested the existence of a cortical inhibitory effect upon limbic system after-discharges.
The creep behavior of powder-metallurgy processed Ti–6Al–4V–1B(wt.%)

Abstract The elevated-temperature (400–455 °C) tensile-creep deformation behavior of a powder-metallurgy processed Ti–6Al–4V–1B(wt.%) alloy was evaluated for applied stresses between 400 MPa and 450 MPa. The extruded alloy exhibited aligned TiB whiskers along with a lenticular α+β phase morphology. In situ tensile-creep observations indicated that the TiB whisker cracking occurred prior to crack formation in the α and β phases. The extent of surface cracking within the secondary creep stage was significant. Post-mortem analysis revealed that TiB cracking was also observed within the bulk of the sample though the extent of cracking within the bulk was not as severe as at the surface. Overall, the secondary creep rates were similar to that for a Ti–6Al–4V–1B(wt.%) cast alloy and significantly lower than those for Ti–6Al–4V(wt.%). Thus, 1 wt.%B improved the creep resistance of Ti–6Al–4V(wt.%).
A Third Use of Sociology of Scientific Knowledge: A Lens for Studying Teacher Practice.

Over the last two decades, science educators and science education researchers have grown increasingly interested in utilising insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) to inform their work and research. To date, researchers in science education have focused on two applications: results of sociological studies of science have been used to define new areas of content, generally referred to as Nature of Science (NOS). This has included research into students’ understanding of the NOS, teachers’ understanding of the NOS, and inclusion (or exclusion) of NOS themes in curricula. A second vein of inquiry has been investigations that consider the classroom as a microcosm of scientific discourse and inquiry. Such research has included investigations of student‐to‐student and student‐to‐teacher interactions. In this paper, we present a third application for educational research – the investigation of teacher knowledge and practice as sociological phenomena. In addition to supporting scholarly resea...
Effect of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles on Rice: A Study Involving the Antioxidant Defense System and In Vivo Fluorescence Imaging

Previous studies have reported the uptake of cerium oxide nanoparticles (nCeO2) by plants, but their physiological impacts are not yet well understood. This research was aimed to study the impact of nCeO2 on the oxidative stress and antioxidant defense system in germinating rice seeds. The seeds were germinated for 10 days in nCeO2 suspension at 62.5, 125, 250, and 500 mg L–1 concentrations. The Ce uptake, growth performance, stress levels, membrane damage, and antioxidant responses in seedlings were analyzed. Ce in tissues increased with increased nCeO2 concentrations, but the seedlings showed no visible signs of toxicity. Biochemical assays and in vivo imaging of H2O2 revealed that, relative to the control, the 62.5 and 125 mg nCeO2 L–1 treatments significantly reduced the H2O2 generation in both shoots and roots. Enhanced electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation were found in the shoots of seedlings grown at 500 mg nCeO2 L–1. Altered enzyme activities and levels of ascorbate and free thiols resulting...
A Nonlinear Impedance Relation for the Surface Winds in Pressure Disturbances

Abstract The “impedance relation” between the wind perturbation within an ageostrophic atmospheric disturbance and its pressure perturbation and intrinsic propagation speed has been in use for decades. The correlation between wind and pressure perturbation was established through this relation. However, a simple Lagrangian model of an air parcel traversing an idealized sinusoidal wave in the pressure field indicates that the impedance relation produces significant errors. Examination of the nonlinearized horizontal momentum equation with a sinusoidal disturbance in pressure reveals an additional nonlinear term in the impedance relation, not previously included. In this paper, the impedance relation is rederived, with the solution being the original equation with the addition of the nonlinear term. The new equation is then evaluated against the Lagrangian model of an air parcel traversing an idealized gravity wave, as well as three observed cases. It is shown that the new impedance relation is indeed more ...
P50: Laparoscopic bariatric surgery in patients on active anticoagulation

LAPAROSCOPIC BARIATRIC SURGERY IN PATIENTS ON ACTIVE ANTICOAGULATION Pavlos K. Papasavas, M.D.; Daniel J. Gagne, M.D.; Kristen K. Burton; Jorge E. Urbandt, M.D.; Philip F. Caushaj, M.D.; Surgery, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Clinical Campus of Temple University School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Background: Patients undergoing bariatric surgery while on anticoagulation are considered high risk. We describe our experience with bariatric surgery on patients on active anticoagulation. Methods: Retrospective analysis of a prospective database focusing on laparoscopic bariatric surgery in patients on active anticoagulation therapy. Type, duration and reason for anticoagulation, and perioperative management and complications were recorded. Results: 1400 patients underwent laparoscopic bariatric surgery between July 1999 and July 2007 in our institution. Thirty patients (2.1%) were on active anticoagulation preoperatively for cardiac and cardiovascular diseases (n 14), venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) (n 12) and both cardiac and VTE (n 4). All 30 patients underwent laparoscopic procedures; RYGB (n 27), conversion of VBG to RYGB (n 2), sleeve gastrectomy (n 1). Patients were on warfarin (n 23), warfarin and clopidogrel (n 4) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) (n 3). Twelve patients (40%) had preoperative consultation with a hematologist. Four patients had an IVC filter prior to surgery. Thirteen of 27 patients on warfarin (48%) were bridged with LMWH. The median time for discontinuing warfarin preoperatively and resuming postoperatively was 5 and 2 days respectively. There were no mortalities. Six patients (20%) developed bleeding complications, one of which required surgical intervention. Five patients presented with gastrointestinal bleeding and one patient with a soft tissue hematoma. Anticoagulation was stopped on all patients with bleeding complications and resumed after the hemoglobin was stabilized. Conclusion: Laparoscopic bariatric surgery may be safe in patients requiring active anticoagulation. Bleeding complications may be higher in this group of patients.
Creating a Multi-Dimensional Communication Space to Improve the Effectiveness of 3-D Audio

As the number of voices increases, the ability of the listener to comprehend the content of any one of the voices decreases. Current technology makes it possible to create a three-dimensional (3-D) binaural sound system using an audio headphone and a digital processor to augment the listener's ability to spatially distinguish and locate individual speakers within a communication network. True binaural spatial audio over headphones can manipulate the sound to emanate from any particular point in the virtual 3-D audio space surrounding the listener. This paper discusses several audio dimensions that can be applied to a communication network to improve the effectiveness of a 3-D binaural system, improve the listener's ability to understand what is being communicated and provide the listener with metadata regarding their situational awareness (SA).
Trends in Abundance and Mean Size of Fish Captured in Gill Nets from Minnesota Lakes, 1983–1997

Abstract We investigated seasonal and 15-year trends in catch per unit effort (CPUE) and mean weight of black crappies Pomoxis nigromaculatus, ciscoes Coregonus artedi, northern pike Esox lucius, walleyes Sander vitreus (formerly Stizostedion vitreum), white suckers Catostomus commersoni, and yellow perch Perca flavescens captured in gill nets from 433 Minnesota lakes between 1983 and 1997. Seasonal trends were modeled using least-squares linear and polynomial regressions, and interannual trends were investigated with a linear mixed-effects model and an augmented serially alternating design. Four of the six species exhibited significant seasonal trends. Walleye CPUE increased linearly, whereas walleye and cisco mean weight and northern pike CPUE decreased linearly from spring through fall. Cisco CPUE and yellow perch mean weight exhibited curvilinear relationships, decreasing from spring through summer and then increasing from summer through fall. Two species exhibited significant 15-year trends across Mi...
Cell surface associated alpha-L-fucose moieties modulate human breast cancer neoplastic progression.

Glycosylation drives critical processes important for mammalian cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions. Alpha-l-fucose (α-l-f) is a key monosaccharide component of oligosaccharides that has been found to be overexpressed during tumor progression. Modification of cell surface fucosylation, we hypothesized, alters tumor cell phenotype and function at the end of the neoplastic progression cascade including tumor invasion. Alpha-l-fucosidase (α-l-fase) is a glycosidase that specifically removes (α-l-f) from oligosaccharide sites. We first verified the effectiveness of the α-l-fase to specifically decrease the level of α-l-f on the cell surface of several human breast cancer cell lines and also examined the recovery time for these cells to repopulate their surfaces. To investigate the potential effect of defucosylation on tumor functions, we studied the proliferation, and invasion in vitro of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells as the representative cell model. We further examined several fucose-associated molecules previously shown to be involved in tumor progression, including CD44 and CD15 (Lewis X antigen). We found that α-l-fase pretreatment significantly decreased the invasive capability of breast cancer cells. Deoxyfuconojirimycin (DFJ), a specific α-l-fase inhibitor, reversed this effect. After fucosidase treatment, the level of both CD15 and CD44 were found to be reduced as measured by flow cytometry. α-l-fase treatment, further, did not affect tumor cell proliferation in vitro under identical experimental conditions. Gelatin zymography of conditioned media from tumor cells treated with α-l-fase demonstrated no change in MMP-2 activity while MMP-9 was significantly reduced. In summary, fucose containing glycans were found widely distributed on the cell surface of breast cancer cells and could be effectively removed by α-l-fase treatment. This decreased fucosylation, in turn, was seen to impair the interaction between tumor cells and extracellular matrices, and thus affected key cell functions modulating tumor invasion. Further elucidation of the molecular pathways involved in the inhibition of tumor cell invasion may suggest a rationale for the use of glycobiologic therapeutics to deter tumor progression.
A pressurized proportional diluter for aquatic toxicological studies

Abstract A half-liter proportional diluter using positive pressure was designed and tested. Its primary siphons are activated by a pulse of pressure instead of by a partial vacuum as in conventional diluters. This method eliminates the need for venturi tubes, vacuum manifolds, and individual water blocks. Pressure can be supplied by air pumps, air cylinders, or air compressor lines. The diluter's advantages are ease of construction, calibration, compact size, and rapid cleaning. Unit cost is approximately $250.00.
Compact self-avoiding circuits on two-dimensional lattices

Close-packed self-avoiding walks and circuits, as models for condensed polymer phases, are studied on the square-planar and honeycomb lattices. Exact solutions for strips from these lattices are obtained via transfer matrix methods. Extrapolations are made for the leading asymptotic terms in the count of compact conformations on the square-planar lattice. The leading asymptotic term for each lattice is bounded from below, and it is noted that boundary effects can be important.
Robust routing and Multi-Confirmation Transmission Protocol for connectivity management of mobile robotic teams

Providing reliable end-to-end communication for teams of robots requires the integration of novel routing techniques, motion planning algorithms, and transport level communication protocols. In this paper we look at existing robust routing solutions that provide redundancy at the routing layer and develop the Multi-Confirmation Transmission Pro- tocol (MCTP) to take advantage of that redundancy at the transport level. The resulting system that integrates robust routing and MCTP is evaluated in experiments performed in complex environments. The integrated system is observed to provide a robust architecture that allows for near lossless communication while operating in a complex environment with less traffic than standard confirmation protocols. end-to-end data rate guarantees. Further, this work experi- mentally demonstrated that by using coarse predictions of point-to-point communication capability, long-term motion and network routing plans could be computed that were robust to instantaneous fluctuations in signal strength due to fading and maintain desired end-to-end rates. It has to be noted that these experimental demonstrations are conceptual in that the ability to maintain desired rates is shown to be
Naltrexone does not affect isoflurane minimum alveolar concentration in cats.

Objective To test whether naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, affects the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane in cats, a species that is relatively resistant to the general anesthetic sparing effects of most opioids.
Subalgebras of rational matrix algebras

Since the early work of J. D. Reid, homological properties of abelian groups have been studied not only as a method for characterizing various classes of torsion-free abelian groups, but also in order to provide examples in module theory. In this technique, abelian groups are often viewed as modules over their endomorphism ring. A modification of this method, which has been developed in the theory of torsion-free abelian groups of finite rank, is to tensor a group A with Q and study the resulting group QA as a module over its quasi-endomorphism ring QE(A). The main advantage gained by this is that QA is a finitely generated module over the Artinian ring QE(A) whose QE(A)-module structure hopefully is more accessible than the E(A)module structure of A. Over the years, the validity of such an approach has been established by a series of results of which we only want to mention Reid's and Arnold's work (see [3], [9], and [10]) as well as Jonsson's description of the quasi-decomposition of torsion-free abelian groups of finite rank [8]. We refer the interested reader to [3] for more detailed information. Examples of torsion-free abelian groups of finite rank with a prescribed endomorphism ring are frequently constructed using the realization theorems of Corner [5] and Zassenhaus [11]. Corner's result shows that each ring R whose additive group is torsion-free and reduced of rank n can be realized by a torsion-free group A of rank 2n, while Zassenhaus' work yields that the rank of the group can be lowered to n if the additive group of R is a free group of rank n. Each of these methods will construct A in such a way that it is flat as an E(A)-module, from which it follows that QA is a projective QE(A)-module. Faticoni and Goeters provided a construction method in [7] which not necessarily resulted in an abelian group which is flat as a module over its endomorphism ring. In particular, they showed that a reduced subring R of a finite dimensional Q-algebra is hereditary if and only if every torsion-free abelian group A of finite rank with E(A) = R is E(A)-flat. Unfortunately, their result is only of limited use if we investigate the structure of QA as a module over the quasi-endomorphism ring of A. Our first result shows the surprising fact that the condition that QE(A) is a hereditary ring is not strong enough to guarantee that QA is a flat QE(A)-module. EXAMPLE l. There exists a torsion-free abelian group A of rank3 such that QA is not flat as a QE(A)-module although QE(A) is right and left hereditary.
How is gene-expression profiling going to challenge the future management of lung cancer?

Lung cancer has a very high recurrence rate and mortality, even in early stages of the disease. Current clinical staging techniques have limitations in terms of predicting which patients have an increased risk of recurrence, and they are not capable of sorting out who will benefit most from adjuvant therapy in term of survival advantage. The study of genomics has revolutionized how researchers are able to identify new molecular targets and improve patient care through the identification of ‘genetic fingerprints or profiles’ that might be able to predict responsiveness to therapy or prognosis. Techniques such as microarray-based gene-expression profiling have also allowed investigators to reveal different non-small-cell lung cancer subtypes that have been associated with different clinical outcomes, independently of histology and current clinical staging techniques. We review the current advances in gene-expression profiling and its potential role as a diagnostic and prognostic/predictive biomarker, and ho...
Phase transitions in phospholipid vesicles. Fluorescence polarization and permeability measurements concerning the effect of temperature and cholesterol.

Abstract We have studied the solid to liquid-crystalline phase transition of sonicated vesicles of dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. The transition was studied by both fluorescence polarization of perylene embedded in the vesicles, and by the efflux rate of trapped 22Na+. Fluorescence polarization generally decreases with temperature, showing an inflection in the region 32–42°C with a mid-point of approximately 37.5 °C. On the other hand, the perylene fluorescence intensity increases abruptly in this region. To explain this result, we have proposed that, for T c where T c is the transition temperature, perylene is excluded from the hydrocarbon interior of the membranes, whereas, T c this probe may be accommodated in the membrane interior to a large extent. The self-diffusion rates of 22Na+ through dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol vesicles exhibit a complex dependence on temperature. There is an initial large increase in diffusion rates (approximately 100-fold) between 30 and 38 °C, followed by a decrease (approximately 4-fold) between 38 and 48 °C. A monotonic increase is then observed at temperatures higher than 48 °C. The local maximum of 22Na+ self-diffusion rates at approximately 38 °C coincides with the mid-point of phase transition as detected by changes in fluorescence polarization of perylene with the same vesicles. Vesicles composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine show the same general behavior in terms of 22Na+ self-diffusion rates at different temperatures, except that the local maximum occurs at approximately 42 °C. The temperature dependence of the permeability and the appearance of a local maximum at the phase transition region could be explained in terms of a domain structure within the plane of the membranes. This explanation is based on the possibility that boundary regions between liquid and solid domains would exhibit relatively high permeability to 22Na+. Mixed vesicles composed of equimolar amounts of dipalmitoyl phospholipids and cholesterol show no abrupt changes in the temperature dependence of either perylene fluorescence polarization or 22Na+ diffusion rate measurements. This is taken to indicate the absence of agross phase transition in the presence of cholesterol.
Stratigraphy of fossil pigments as a guide to the postglacial history of Kirchner Marsh, Minnesota

Successional developments in the postglacial ecology and limnology of Kirchner Marsh revealed by concentration and diversity of sedimentary plant pigments include a peak of aquatic production (indicated by maximum pigment concentrations in sedimentary organic matter) reached during the early postglacial warm, humid interval at about 10,000 B.P. Production levels then declined. Very low levels of aquatic production (indicated by low pigment concentrations) seem indicated by about 6,000 B.P., in the middle part of a warm, dry interval following which pigment concentrations remained low (except for a brief interval about 5,000 B.P.), but with a marked rise in the ratio of chlorophyll derivatives to carotenoids, indicating an increase in allochthonous organic input accompanying the return of cooler moister conditions. These resulted in an encroachment of oak forest on the prairie, followed by the succession to reed-swamp on the lake. A return to more truly aquatic conditions was reflected by an increase in sedimentary pigments from about 3,000 B.P. to a peak at 1,700 B.P., accompanied by a decline in the ratio of chlorophyll derivatives to carotenoids. Subsequently pigment concentrations fell, and their ratio increased sharply, as emergent aquatics became well established and caused a rapid evolution of pond to grass-sedge meadow. The pigment data are generally in harmony with the ecological conclusions from pollen and macrofossils, but they provide much more information on changes in aquatic productivity at the site. Ratios of chlorophyll derivatives to carotenoids, along with measurements of pigment diversity, reveal changes in the balance between autochthonous and allochthonous organic contributions to the sediment and provide substantial evidence for the presence or absence of open-water conditions.
Dynamics and stability of elastic cosserat curves

Nonlinear dynamic theory describing elastic Cosserat curves plane motion, developing linear displacement equations and dynamic stability concept
Integration of admission, congestion, and peak power control in QoS-aware clusters

Admission, congestion, and peak power control mechanisms are essential parts of a cluster network design for supporting integrated traffic. While an admission control algorithm helps in delivering the assured performance, a congestion control algorithm regulates traffic injection to avoid network saturation. Peak power control forces to meet pre-specified power constraints while maintaining the service quality by regulating the injection of packets. In this paper, we propose these control algorithms for clusters, which are increasingly being used in a diverse set of applications that require QoS guarantees. The uniqueness of our approach is that we develop these algorithms for wormhole-switched networks, which have been used in designing clusters. We use QoS-capable wormhole routers and QoS-capable network interface cards (NICs), referred to as Host Channel Adapters (HCAs) in InfiniBand(TM) Architecture (IBA), to evaluate the effectiveness of these algorithms. The admission control is applied at the HCAs and the routers, while the congestion control and the peak power control are deployed only at the HCAs. A mixed workload consisting of best-effort, real-time, and control traffic is used to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes. Simulation results with a single router (8-port) cluster and a 2-D mesh network cluster indicate that the admission, congestion, and peak power control algorithms are quite effective in delivering the assured performance. The proposed credit-based congestion control algorithm is simple and practical in that it relies on hardware already available in the HCA/NIC to regulate traffic injection.
Use of infrared thermal imaging instrumentation in vehicle fire propagation studies

ABSTRACT Recent advances in infrared thermal imaging technology have brought about a number of new thermal techniques thatprovide quantitative and qualitative information in the area ofvehicle safety.The purpose of this paper is to provide background and fundamental information of vehicle fire propagation and surfacetemperature as seen from an infrared thermal imaging system. The development of high-resolution, fast-image processing hasaided in the attractiveness ofthermography as a Research and Development tool.Keywords: Thermography, fire propagation, fire spread, quantitative thermography 1. INTRODUCTION The ability to see "heat" through the use of infrared thermal vision has enabled U.S. industries to solve many problems.On March 7th, 1995, General Motors and the U.S. Department of Transportation entered into an agreement to settle a disputeregarding the safety of 1970-199 1, full-sized GM pickup trucks equipped with fuel tanks mounted outboard of the frame rails. The overall objectives of this research program are to better understand how vehicle fires start and spread and to determinewhat can be done to prevent, contain and extinguish such fires.'Correspondence: E-mail: dennisle@primenet.com; Telephone: 602 827-5314; Fax: 602 827-5398
Online Degradation Assessment and Adaptive Fault Detection Using Modified Hidden Markov Model

Online condition monitoring and diagnosis systems play an important role in the modern manufacturing industry. This paper presents a novel method to diagnose the degradation processes of multiple failure modes using a modified hidden Markov model (MHMM) with variable state space. The proposed MHMM is combined with statistical process control to quickly detect the occurrence of an unknown fault. This method allows the state space of a hidden Markov model to be adjusted and updated with the identification of new states. Hence, the online degradation assessment and adaptive fault diagnosis can be simultaneously obtained. Experimental results in a turning process illustrate that the tool wear state can be successfully detected, and previously unknown tool wear processes can be identified at the early stages using the MHMM.
The Changing Role of Humanities Collection Development

In the last decade the number of printed monographs and serials has risen dramatically. Humanities librarians have also witnessed dramatic growth in the number of bibliographic databases, in new formats arising out of electronic text centers, and in new digital products designed for delivery to the scholar's desktop via the World Wide Web. As the amount of humanities information has increased both in amount and in price, the bibliographer's job has become more difficult than ever before. To compound the problem the average library's fiscal resources have not kept pace with the increased volume of available humanities resources. In addition the expectations that humanities librarians will not only assist library users with the new technology, but also become knowledgeable enough to play a lead role in the digitization and production of humanities resources in various digital formats, means that the job of humanities acquisitions is no longer the relatively simple matter of selecting resources from a publis...
Mapping midlife: An examination of social factors shaping conceptions of the timing of middle age

Abstract Few studies examine social factors shaping our conceptions of the life course, particularly the boundaries of life stages. The existing literature tends to focus on either young adulthood or old age, primarily relying on cross-sectional data. Using two waves of data from Midlife in the United States (1995–1996 and 2004–2006), we examine how three sets of factors – locations in systems of inequality, health, and family roles – shape conceptualizations of when middle age begins and ends. Although varying for cross-sectional versus longitudinal analyses, for views of the start versus end of middle age, and for women's versus men's lives, we find evidence that conceptions of a more compressed life course, as indicated by earlier timing of middle age, are associated with younger chronological ages, older identities, being male or non-white, lower levels of education or income, worse health, earlier transitions to parenthood, becoming divorced, and not having living parent(s). Future work should examine explanations for these patterns and their implications for individuals’ experiences of aging.
Functional diversification of hsp40: distinct j-protein functional requirements for two prions allow for chaperone-dependent prion selection.

Yeast prions are heritable amyloid aggregates of functional yeast proteins; their propagation to subsequent cell generations is dependent upon fragmentation of prion protein aggregates by molecular chaperone proteins. Mounting evidence indicates the J-protein Sis1 may act as an amyloid specificity factor, recognizing prion and other amyloid aggregates and enabling Ssa and Hsp104 to act in prion fragmentation. Chaperone interactions with prions, however, can be affected by variations in amyloid-core structure resulting in distinct prion variants or ‘strains’. Our genetic analysis revealed that Sis1 domain requirements by distinct variants of [PSI+] are strongly dependent upon overall variant stability. Notably, multiple strong [PSI+] variants can be maintained by a minimal construct of Sis1 consisting of only the J-domain and glycine/phenylalanine-rich (G/F) region that was previously shown to be sufficient for cell viability and [RNQ+] prion propagation. In contrast, weak [PSI+] variants are lost under the same conditions but maintained by the expression of an Sis1 construct that lacks only the G/F region and cannot support [RNQ+] propagation, revealing mutually exclusive requirements for Sis1 function between these two prions. Prion loss is not due to [PSI+]-dependent toxicity or dependent upon a particular yeast genetic background. These observations necessitate that Sis1 must have at least two distinct functional roles that individual prions differentially require for propagation and which are localized to the glycine-rich domains of the Sis1. Based on these distinctions, Sis1 plasmid-shuffling in a [PSI+]/[RNQ+] strain permitted J-protein-dependent prion selection for either prion. We also found that, despite an initial report to the contrary, the human homolog of Sis1, Hdj1, is capable of [PSI+] prion propagation in place of Sis1. This conservation of function is also prion-variant dependent, indicating that only one of the two Sis1-prion functions may have been maintained in eukaryotic chaperone evolution.
The Role of Acetic Acid and Glycerol in the Synthesis of Amorphous MgO Aerogels

Although sol–gel-derived magnesium-oxide (MgO) aerogels have a wide variety of applications, mostly thin films and powders of brucite, i.e. Mg(OH)2 aerogels, have been reported. Typically, the brucite structure is converted to the periclase form of MgO upon heat-treatment. We report the role of acetic acid (HAc) and glycerol in the synthesis of amorphous MgO aerogel monoliths through the alkoxide sol–gel method. The two ligands work in concert to retard the nucleophilic substitution with water and decrease the rate of gelation, allowing for Mg–O bond formation while reducing the number of hydroxyl bonds. The amorphous material crystallizes to the periclase (MgO) phase at 400°C without going through the brucite transition, resulting in a novel amorphous MgO aerogel. Specifically, we discuss the modification of the Pechini process to an Mg-alkoxide sol–gel process. The roles of the ligands are investigated in the MgO gelation process through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and thermogravimetric analysis/DSC. The physical properties of the aerogels are also reported.
Studies on the structure of the carbohydrate moiety of rabbit γG-globulin—I degradation with glycosidases

Abstract Information about the structure of rabbit γG-globulin carbohydrate has been obtained with the use of isolated glycosidases and concanavalin A. N-acetyl neuraminic acid and N-acetyl glucosamine were shown to be major terminal sugars. Only a small fraction of the galactose was in a terminal position. Mannose could not be detected in a terminal position and appeared to be internal to both N-acetyl glucosamine and galactose. The following anomeric linkages have been established: N-acetyl glucosamine and galactose have β-linkages while mannose and furose are α-linked. Concanavalin A precipitation studies show that some of the non-terminal mannoses are linked to other sugars through carbon-2.
A review of devices used in the monitoring of microvascular free tissue transfers

The use of microvascular anastomoses to allow transfer of viable tissue is a fundamental technique of reconstructive surgery, and is used to treat a broad spectrum of clinical problems. The primary threat to this type of reconstructive surgery is anastomotic vascular thrombosis, which can lead to complete loss of tissue with potentially devastating consequences. Monitoring of tissue perfusion postoperatively is critical, since early recognition of vascular compromise and prompt surgical intervention is correlated with the ability for tissue salvage. Traditionally, physical examination was the primary means of monitoring, but possesses several limitations. Medical devices introduced for the purposes of flap monitoring address many of these deficiencies, and have greatly enhanced this critical aspect of the reconstructive surgery process.
INTERFACIAL COMPOSITION OF MICROEMULSIONS: MODIFIED SCHULMAN-BOWCOTT MODEL

The interfacial composition of oil-external microemulsions formed with sodium stearate, pentanol, brine and various oils (octane, dodecane and hexadecane) was determined in terms of moles of alcohol per mole of surfactant present at the interface (nii a/n3,) using a modified three compartment Schulman-Bowcott model. The modified model takes into account the solubility of pentanol in aqueous and hydrocarbon phases. For a constant brine/surfactant ratio, it was found that the value of (nii a/n3,) was highest for dodecane containing microemulsion which corresponded to the maximum solubilization of brine in this microemulsion at optimal salinity. This behavior is explained on the basis of chain length compatibility in microemulsions. The optimal salinity for solubilization increased with the chainlength of oil.
Survivor mission: Do those who survive have a drive to thrive at work?

Are helping professionals who have experienced the same types of struggles as their clients more engaged at work? In the current investigation, we examine this question in samples of police detectives (with and without a history of violent victimization) and mental health workers (with and without a history of mental illness). Our results indicate that police detectives who have experienced violent victimization and mental health professionals who have experienced the same mental illness as their clients do indeed exhibit greater work engagement than their colleagues who lack these parallel life experiences. The link between a professional’s firsthand experience of his/her client’s hardships and work engagement appears to be partially explained by higher levels of grit among police detectives and by a greater sense of life-narrative continuity among mental health professionals.