cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Body-Image Perceptions across Sex and Age Groups

Weight dissatisfaction, body dissatisfaction, and body-image distortion measures were used with 98 fifth and eighth graders and 57 undergraduate students. Measures included the Piers-Harris Self-concept Scale and the Kids Eating Disorder Survey for the young children, the Interpersonal Behavior Survey, and a seven-item mistaken beliefs scale for the college sample. Body dissatisfaction and Body-image distortion were assessed with a figure-drawing procedure. Significant differences in both weight dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction were found between males and females in the eighth grade and undergraduate groups. There were no significant sex differences in body-image distortion in the fifth or eighth grades, but significant differences in body-image distortion between men and women were found in the college sample. The direction of body-image distortion for both the 20 men and the 37 women was consistent with their ideal weight. In the college sample, there was a significant correlation between body-image dissatisfaction and self-confidence for the women but not for the men.
The afterlives of C.P. Cavafy's unfinished poems

This article draws on recent developments in translation studies and textual scholarship to consider how the translator, like the editor, grapples with the instability of literary works, which almost always exist in multiple versions and varying textual conditions. It treats the process of translation as a series of overlapping interpretive acts, including not only lexical translation but the selection or construction of the original itself, and the creation of an edition in translation. It takes as its case study a group of poems whose instability begins with the “originals”: the unfinished poems of C.P. Cavafy. The unsettled nature of Cavafy's unfinished poems raises questions regarding how such works can be presented both in foreign-language translations and in the language of their original composition. The article discusses two English translations, by John Davis and Daniel Mendelsohn, as well as Renata Lavagnini's 1994 Greek-language scholarly edition.
A survey of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal root inoculum associated with harvester ant nests (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) across the western United States

Soil organisms are known to affect the population dynamics of mycorrhizal fungi in many ecosystems. The western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, is widespread in its distribution and creates patch disturbances that affect both plant and soil microbial communities. Harvester ant-plant-fungus interactions can result in the formation of dense root mats in nest soils and abundant viable mycorrhizal root inoculum. We surveyed mycorrhizal root inoculum in nests of P. occidentalis across its distributional range to address whether root mats and fungal enrichment were a common consequence of ant activity. We concluded that mycorrhizal root mats were unique to particular plant communities (sagebrush steppe) and were not a common feature of P. occidentalis' nests across its distributional range.
Micellar effects on the reductive electrochemistry of methylviologen

Etudes de la reduction du methylviologene en presence de micelles de laurylsulfate de sodium, de Triton X100 et de bromure de cetyltrimethylammonium
Human muscular dystrophy as an aberration of the connective tissue.

THE pathological changes in the muscle in human muscular dystrophy have been well characterized. They consist of great diversity of muscle fibre size, increase in number of sarcolemmal nuclei (which may take the form of chains situated centrally in the fibre), and atrophy of the fibres. Although it has been said1 that phagocytosis of degenerating fibres is rare, we have found evidence in a number of cases of what appears to be invasion and destruction of muscle fibres by elements of connective tissue.
Complex object manipulation with hierarchical optimal control

This paper develops a hierarchical model predictive optimal control solution to the complex and interesting problem of object manipulation. Controlling an object through external manipulators is challenging, involving nonlinearities, redundancy, high dimensionality, contact breaking, underactuation, and more. Manipulation can be framed as essentially the same problem as locomotion (with slightly different parameters). Significant progress has recently been made on the locomotion problem. We develop a methodology to address the challenges of manipulation, extending the most current solutions to locomotion and solving the problem fast enough to run in a realtime implementation. We accomplish this by breaking up the single difficult problem into smaller more tractable problems. Results are presented supporting this method.
Interactions between rennet casein and whey protein isolate during cooking in a torque rheometer

Abstract Mechanical properties of casein–whey protein (CN–WP) mixtures were studied during cooking in a torque rheometer. Factors studied were CN:WP mass ratio (80:20, 90:10 and 100:0) and mixing speed (20–200 rpm, shear rate: ∼15–230 s−1). Samples containing 25.0% rennet casein (RCN) and 6.3%, 2.8% or 0% whey protein isolate (WPI) were prepared to obtain CN:WP ratios of 80:20, 90:10 and 100:0, respectively. Disodium phosphate (DSP, 2.5%) was used as emulsifying salt, and the total sample mass was set at 80 g. pH before cooking was 7.3 for all samples. Immediately after the premixing cycle in the torque rheometer (3 min at 150 rpm followed by 1 min of relaxation at 0 rpm), samples were cooked at 80 °C for 20 min while mixing at 20, 100 or 200 rpm, and the torque exerted was monitored. Both CN:WP ratio and mixing speed significantly affected the torque response of the mixtures studied (p
The Role of Magnetic Helicity in Coronal Mass Ejections

We investigate the factors responsible for initiating coronal mass ejections (CMEs), specifically, the role of magnetic helicity. Using numerical simulations of the breakout model for CMEs, we show that eruption occurs at a fixed magnitude of free energy in the corona, independent of the value of helicity. Almost identical eruptions are obtained for both large and zero-helicity cases. Furthermore, the eruption can actually lead to an increase in the helicity remaining in the corona. These results argue strongly against recent models that postulate a critical helicity buildup and shedding as the determining factors for CME initiation.
A Dynamic Relationship between Myopia and Blur-driven Accommodation in School-aged Children

Previously we reported that recently myopic children accommodated insufficiently to blur induced by negative lenses. The purpose of the present study was to relate changes in blur-driven accommodation to myopia development in children. Refractive errors and the accommodation response function (ARF) were measured in 23 myopic and 40 emmetropic children on two occasions separated by periods ranging from 6 to 12 months. Repeated measures of accommodation were made with a Canon R-1 autorefractor while negative lenses of increasing power were placed in front of the child's right eye viewing 20/100 letters at 4 m. Concomitant changes in refractive error and in accommodative function over periods of 6-12 months were found to be highly correlated in myopes (r = 0.77) but not in emmetropes (r = 0.09).
Effects of Confinement on the Thermodynamics of a Collapsing Heteropolymer: An Off-Lattice Wang−Landau Monte Carlo Simulation Study

We present an analysis of the thermodynamics of the coil-to-globule transition of a bead−spring heteropolymer in selective solvent conditions in confined geometries. We have used the continuous-space version of the Wang−Landau Monte Carlo simulation algorithm. Generally, decreasing volume of confinement stabilizes the compact state, reflected directly by an increase in the transition temperature, in agreement with previous theoretical pictures. We propose a new scaling relationship for the shift in the transition temperature in which the changes in latent heat and latent entropies upon confinement scale with the confining geometry size with slightly different scaling exponents. The model agrees with the simulation data well and slightly outperforms simpler scaling models used in the past. Details of the algorithm, including novel trial moves, are presented and discussed. In particular, we find it useful to use so-called “partial molecular dynamics” trial moves.
Purification and partial characterization of the type II procollagen synthesized by embryonic cartilage cells

Abstract Matrix-free cells were prepared from sternal cartilages of 17-day-old chick embryos, and procollagen synthesized and secreted by the cells was isolated by ion exchange chromatography on carboxymethyl cellulose and by gel filtration. The isolated protein was homogeneous by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate and it appeared to consist of identical pro-α chains linked by interchain disulfide bonds. Amino acid analysis and cyanogen bromide peptide mapping of the purified procollagen demonstrated that it had structures similar to Type II collagen. The amino acid composition was also consistent with the conclusion that the peptide extensions on the pro-α chains of procollagen contained amino acid sequences not found in the collagen portion of the molecule. Segment-long-spacing aggregates were prepared from the procollagen, and aggregates demonstrated the same banding pattern as is found in segment-long-spacing aggregates prepared from Type II collagen. The segment-long-spacing aggregates from procollagen revealed, however, the presence of NH2-terminal extensions of about 150 A in length. In addition, the procollagen molecules contained irregularly shaped, large extension peptides at the COOH-terminal end of the molecule.
gender ideology and nationalism in the culture and politics of Iceland

In this article I examine the role of gender in nationalist discourse in terms both of how nations represent themselves and of how national identity is created. Specifically, I describe the centrality of notions of “the feminine” and Iceland-as-mother in Icelandic nationalist discourse, examine the historical contexts in which these notions were forged, and illustrate the significance of their symbolic elaboration in the political arena. [gender, nationalism, ideology, Iceland, Europe]
Assessment of Pasture Biomass with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index from Active Ground-Based Sensors

Calculating forage availability is challenging for managers of grazing systems due to the spatial heterogeneity of swards. Remote sensing applications may help to overcome this problem through estimates of biomass made with reflectance data. The objectives of this study were to (i) estimate herbage mass using an active, on-the-go, ground-based, narrow band sensor to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), (ii) determine if NDVI may be used to assess spatial variability of herbage mass of grasslands, and (iii) determine if NDVI may be used to evaluate management of grazing systems. The NDVI was measured using an active ground-based sensor, the GreenSeeker (Ntech Industries, Ukiah, CA). In tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort], NDVI was correlated with biomass determined by destructive harvesting (r2 = 0.68) and also with a calibrated rising plate meter (RPM) (r 2 = 0.54). Semivariograms revealed that NDVI sampling intervals of 0.76 m adequately described the spatial variability structure of grazed swards. The frequency distributions of sward biomass derived from NDVI may reflect the foraging strategies of cattle. Negative skewness and high kurtosis are consistent with selective grazing, while positive skewness and low kurtosis are consistent with less diet selectivity. Frequency distributions also improved definition of available forage within each field. We concluded that spatial properties of grassland biomass may be derived from high resolution NDVI and RPM data and could be used to evaluate conditions of grassland landscapes and to aid decision-making of managed grazing systems.
Injury surveillance in young athletes: a clinician's guide to sports injury literature.

ically over the last three decades, sports injuries have increased commensurately. In the US alone, sports-related injuries account for 2.6 million visits to the emergency room made by children and young adults (aged 5–24 years). Injuries sustained by high-school athletes have resulted in 500 000 doctor visits, 30 000 hospitalisations and a total cost to the healthcare system of nearly 2 billion dollars per year. Sports injury surveillance studies have long formed the backbone of injury prevention research, serving to highlight the types and patterns of injury that merit further investigation. Injury surveillance studies have been integral in guiding rule changes, equipment improvement and training regimens that prevent injury. Despite findings that the methodology of injury surveillance studies may significantly influence the design and efficacy of preventative interventions, relatively few sources address epidemiological considerations involved in such studies. The purpose of this review is 3-fold. First, to perform a review of the current injury surveillance literature in order to identify key epidemiological and methodological issues that arise when reading or conducting an injury surveillance study. Second, to identify and describe how injury surveillance studies have addressed these issues. Third, to provide recommendations about the identified issues in order to guide clinicians in the interpretation of data presented in such studies. Searches of Ovid MEDLINE (1966–present) and PubMed were performed. Thirty-three descriptive and review articles addressing epidemiological and methodological considerations in injury surveillance were selected, as well as 54 cohort studies and studies with an experimental design. Data with respect to each study’s treatment of the three epidemiological issues of interest were extracted and synthesised into a table.
Molecular and lipid biomarker analysis of a gypsum-hosted endoevaporitic microbial community.

Modern evaporitic microbial ecosystems are important analogs for understanding the record of earliest life on Earth. Although mineral-depositing shallow-marine environments were prevalent during the Precambrian, few such environments are now available today for study. We investigated the molecular and lipid biomarker composition of an endoevaporitic gypsarenite microbial mat community in Guerrero Negro, Mexico. The 16S ribosomal RNA gene-based phylogenetic analyses of this mat corroborate prior observations indicating that characteristic layered microbial communities colonize gypsum deposits world-wide despite considerable textural and morphological variability. Membrane fatty acid analysis of the surface tan/orange and lower green mat crust layers indicated cell densities of 1.6 × 10(9) and 4.2 × 10(9) cells cm(-3) , respectively. Several biomarker fatty acids, ∆7,10-hexadecadienoic, iso-heptadecenoic, 10-methylhexadecanoic, and a ∆12-methyloctadecenoic, correlated well with distributions of Euhalothece, Stenotrophomonas, Desulfohalobium, and Rhodobacterales, respectively, revealed by the phylogenetic analyses. Chlorophyll (Chl) a and cyanobacterial phylotypes were present at all depths in the mat. Bacteriochlorophyl (Bchl) a and Bchl c were first detected in the oxic-anoxic transition zone and increased with depth. A series of monomethylalkanes (MMA), 8-methylhexadecane, 8-methylheptadecane, and 9-methyloctadecane were present in the surface crust but increased in abundance in the lower anoxic layers. The MMA structures are similar to those identified previously in cultures of the marine Chloroflexus-like organism 'Candidatus Chlorothrix halophila' gen. nov., sp. nov., and may represent the Bchl c community. Novel 3-methylhopanoids were identified in cultures of marine purple non-sulfur bacteria and serve as a probable biomarker for this group in the lower anoxic purple and olive-black layers. Together microbial culture and environmental analyses support novel sources for lipid biomarkers in gypsum crust mats.
Basidiomycete allergens: comparison of three Ganoderma species

High atmospheric concentrations of basidiospores occur in various parts of the world. Ganoderma basidiospores are distinctive, easily identifiable in aeroallergen surveys, and widely abundant. Previous studies showed that Ganoderma basidiospores caused respiratory allergies. Thus, we investigated various extracts (spore, cap, and/or mycelial) of G. meredithae, G. lucidum, and G. applanatum for allergen components. Analyses included radioallergosorbent test (RAST) inhibition and IgE blots from isoelectric focusing (IEF) and SDS-PAGE. RAST inhibition with spores and caps of G. meredithae and G. lucidum showed that spores inhibited caps better than caps inhibited spores. Species differences were minor. Coomassie blue (CB) staining of IEF gels detected at least 23 protein bands (pI 3.6-6.6) in caps of G. meredithae and G. lucidum. G. meredithae spore extracts contained 17 of these (pI 3.6-5.0, 6.6). Spores and caps of G. meredithae contained 13 and 11 allergen bands, respectively, on IEF blots. SDS-PAGE of G. meredithae spore and cap showed one and four bands, respectively, by CB staining, but IgE blots showed 13 bands in cap and 17 in spore. Culture mycelia of G. lucidum and G. applanatum attained significant and essentially constant RAST activity by day 4. Activity was also present in culture supernatant by day 4. Blots of mycelium and supernatant detected a single allergen in day-8 mycelia and subsequently six allergen bands in day-16 mycelia and eight in day-16 supernatant (one appeared as a doublet). These data show that Ganoderma extracts contain a complex mixture of allergens. Differences among species were minor; spores and mycelia are apparently better sources of allergens than caps.
Terahertz Time -Domain Spectroscopy of Aluminum Oxide for Thermal Protection Applications

In this work we show how terahertz time -domain spectroscopy (THz TDS) can be an effective tool for the characterization of optical and microstructural properties of alumin um oxide. Terahertz spectroscopy was performed on aluminum oxide test samples that ranged in mean pore size from 0 to 15 microns. These experiments were performed with a transmission mode terahertz system and show that there is a strong sensitivity to chan ges in the size and number of pores due to scattering . Results show that the magnitude of the THz transmission obtained using standard Fourier transform methods is reduced at higher freq uencies as porosity increases. A t heoretical coherent scattering model ing approach is also discussed that might assist in the interpr etation of these signal losses.
Aneurysm of the right ventricular outflow tract: a complication of aorta-main pulmonary (central) shunt.

The ascending aorta-main pulmonary artery (central) polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Gore-Tex shunt was introduced in 1975 by Gazzaniga and coworkers [5]. It is a widely used palliative procedure. We present a case study with an unusual late complication.
Enhancing the superhydrophobic behavior of electrospun fibers via graphene addition and heat treatment

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fibers incorporated with graphene nanoflakes were produced using electrospinning technique, and then superhydrohobicity of the electrospun nanofibers were investigated as a function of inclusion and temperature. In the absence of graphene, water contact angle of the fibers is below 140°; however, the water contact angle values of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4% graphene in fibers become 142, 152, 165 and 166°, respectively. Using a heat treatment, the contact angle values of samples also increase up to glass transition temperature of PVC. This indicates that graphene inclusions in the polymeric fibers and temperature drastically change the surface morphology and chemistry, which results in higher contact angles. The reason behind this phenomena may be the formation of smaller nanosized graphene bumps on the fiber surface that make the contact area between the droplet and the fiber extremely small. As a result, this process minimizes attractive forces between the water molecules and surface atoms of the rough nanocomposite fibers to bead up and rolls off.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Minor-minimal non-projective planar graphs with an internal 3-separation

Abstract Archdeacon proved that a graph is projective planar if and only if it has no minor isomorphic to a graph from a list of 35 specific graphs. We describe a 2-step strategy to obtain a more modern and hopefully shorter proof of the theorem, and execute the first step.
Differences in TCDD-elicited gene expression profiles in human HepG2, mouse Hepa1c1c7 and rat H4IIE hepatoma cells

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is an environmental contaminant that elicits a broad spectrum of toxic effects in a species-specific manner. Current risk assessment practices routinely extrapolate results from in vivo and in vitro rodent models to assess human risk. In order to further investigate the species-specific responses elicited by TCDD, temporal gene expression responses in human HepG2, mouse Hepa1c1c7 and rat H4IIE cells were compared. Microarray analysis identified a core set of conserved gene expression responses across species consistent with the role of AhR in mediating adaptive metabolic responses. However, significant species-specific as well as species-divergent responses were identified. Computational analysis of the regulatory regions of species-specific and -divergent responses suggests that dioxin response elements (DREs) are involved. These results are consistent with in vivo rat vs. mouse species-specific differential gene expression, and more comprehensive comparative DRE searches. Comparative analysis of human HepG2, mouse Hepa1c1c7 and rat H4IIE TCDD-elicited gene expression responses is consistent with in vivo rat-mouse comparative gene expression studies, and more comprehensive comparative DRE searches, suggesting that AhR-mediated gene expression is species-specific.
Simulations of viscous transonic flows over lifting airfoils and wings

Abstract In this paper, the hierarchical formulation for steady viscous transonic flow simulations of Refs. [Hafez M, Wahba E. Numerical Simulations of Transonic Aerodynamic Flows. AIAA paper 03-3564, 2003] and [Hafez M, Wahba E. Viscous/Inviscid Interaction Procedures for Compressible Aerodynamic Flow Simulations (in press)] is reviewed and a simplified version for the calculation of the vortical velocity components is presented. The results are compared to available solutions of standard Navier–Stokes equations for laminar flows.
Kinetics of calcium efflux and exchange from Rana pipiens oocytes immediately following reinitiation of the first meiotic division: Comparison of various meiotic agonists and antagonists

Abstract The reinitiation of the meiotic divisions and the release of 45Ca from the Rana pipiens oocyte has been studied as a function of meiotic agonists and antagonists. Each of the meiotic agonists tested (progesterone, insulin, D-600, La3+) caused a decreased 45Ca uptake and an increased efflux during the first 15 min after exposure. The effects of progesterone, D-600, and La3+ are not additive and progesterone will not release additional 45Ca in oocytes pretreated with D-600 or La3+. Tetracaine inhibits both progesterone-induced release of 45Ca and an early step in meiosis (nuclear membrane breakdown). [Tetracaine]o required for 50% inhibition of nuclear breakdown decreases with decreasing [progesterone]o suggesting competitive inhibition. The Ca, Mg-ionophore A23187 shows a similar competitive inhibition of progesterone-induced nuclear breakdown and stimulates a rapid release of 45Ca within the first 1–3 minutes after exposure to the ionophore. Unlike progesterone, insulin, D-600, or La3+, the ionophore A23187 stimulates both uptake and efflux of 45Ca by oocytes. These results suggest that both a reduced influx and a selective release of calcium from specific membrane sites is essential for steroid reinitiation of the meiotic divisions in R. pipiens oocytes.
The Higgs as a pseudo-Goldstone boson

Abstract The old idea of the Higgs as a pseudo-Goldstone boson has been revived and re-energized as a possible solution to the little hierarchy puzzle in the Standard Model. Its most natural implementation may be in the context of models with supersymmetry not far above the electroweak breaking scale. To cite this article: H. Georgi, C. R. Physique 8 (2007).
Testosterone replacement therapy.

SUMMARY Testosterone is the primary androgenic hormone and is responsible for normal growth and development of male sex organs and maintenance of secondary sex characteristics. Pre-pubertal hypogonadism is generally characterized by infantile genitalia and lack of virilization, while the development of hypogonadism after puberty frequently results in complaints such as diminished libido, erectile dysfunction, infertility, gynecomastia, impaired masculinization, changes in body composition, reductions in body and facial hair, and osteoporosis. Hypogonadal men also report levels of anger, confusion, depression, and fatigue that are significantly higher than those reported in eugonadal men. Evaluation of potential candidates for testosterone replacement therapy should include a complete medical history and hormonal screening. Total serum testosterone should be measured in the morning. When the serum testosterone level is low and LH is elevated, testosterone replacement therapy is warranted. Patients with low serum LH and testosterone levels need an imaging study of their pituitary and may need endocrinologic consultation. Testosterone replacement should in theory approximate natural, endogenous production of the hormone. The clinical rationale for treatment of testosterone deficiency may include: stabilizing or increasing bone density; enhancing body composition by increasing muscle strength and reducing adipose tissue; improving energy and mood; and maintaining or restoring secondary sexual characteristics, libido, and erectile function. Several different types of testosterone replacement are currently marketed, including tablets, injectables, and transdermal systems. Oral testosterone is associated with elevations in liver function tests and abnormalities at liver scan and biopsy. While injectable testosterone is considered safe, fluctuations in testosterone levels may yield variations in libido, sexual function, energy, and mood, and patients may be inconvenienced by the need for frequent testosterone injections. Transdermal systems offer a convenient, though more costly, means of testosterone replacement and have demonstrated safety and efficacy in a number of clinical trials. The physician prescribing testosterone replacement should evaluate any changes in the clinical symptoms and signs of testosterone deficiency and should assess the patient by performing a DRE and checking serum testosterone levels, PSA, and hematocrit at baseline and at prescribed intervals during treatment. Although testosterone replacement is contraindicated in men with carcinoma of the breast or known or suspected carcinoma of the prostate, in general, therapy appears to be safe for the vast majority of hypogonadal men. There is no apparent association between testosterone replacement therapy and the development of prostate cancer. The administration of exogenous testosterone is not a means of reversing the aging process in men with normal testosterone levels, but it may offer considerable benefit for men suffering from hypogonadism.
SU(3) reduced matrix element package

Abstract A new SU(3) reduced matrix element package, which exploits logical operations and bit manipulation procedures in implementing a fermion second-quantized formulation for calculating matrix elements of SU(3)-coupled products of creation and annihilation operators (a†, a†a†, a, aa, a†a, a†a†a, a †aa, a†a†aa), is introduced. The reduced matrix elements are extracted from full matrix elements of the coupled operators. Since the reduced matrix elements do not depend on the subgroup chain, the evaluation is carried out in the SU(3) ⊃ SU(2) ⊗ U(1) basis as it is the simplest to use. The results can be extended to more complicated operator forms, either indirectly through the use of SU(3) and SU(2) recoupling procedures or directly by a straightforward extension of routines that are part of the current package.
Synthesis and stability of developmentally regulated dictyostelium mRNAs are affected by cell-cell contact and cAMP

Abstract Postaggregation Dictyostelium discoideum cells contain 3000 mRNA species that are absent from preaggregation cells; these aggregation-dependent sequences comprise 30% of the mass of mRNA in these cells. We show that the synthesis and stability of these regulated mRNA sequences are affected by both cell-cell contact and cAMP. Three independent assays are used to quantitate these mRNAs: in vitro translation followed by two-dimensional gel analysis of the protein products; hybridization of gel-separated RNAs to cloned DNAs; and hybridization of mRNA to a cDNA probe specific for the population of regulated sequences. In postag-gregation cells, the half-life of both the developmentally regulated mRNAs and the constitutive mRNAs present throughout growth and differentiation is the same—about 4 hr. Following disaggregation, all of the late mRNA sequences are degraded and decay with a half-life of 25 to 45 min. The constitutive species are unaffected; 2.5 hr after disaggregation, the ratio of late to constitutive mRNAs is about 6% that of normal plated cells. Addition of cAMP to cells that have been disaggregated for 2.5 hr (or longer) restores the level of most late mRNAs within 3 hr. We conclude that cAMP stimulates the synthesis of these mRNAs and may also act to stabilize them in the cytoplasm. This effect of cAMP is dependent on the cells having been in contact with other cells; cAMP has no effect on the levels of mRNA in suspension-starved, aggregation-competent cells that have never formed cell-cell aggregates.
Joule−Thomson Inversion Curves and Third Virial Coefficients for Pure Fluids from Molecular-Based Models

In this work, we present the application of the BACKONE, PC-SAFT, SAFT-VR, and soft-SAFT models to examine the impact of the accuracy of representation of third virial coefficients on the behavior of the correspondingly predicted Joule−Thomson inversion curve (JTIC). Calculations were performed for nonassociating fluids such as ethane and pentane, associating fluids such as alcohols, and quadrupolar fluids such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide. By taking advantage of the molecular nature of the models investigated, we were able to evaluate the separate contributions to the Helmholtz free energy. Nonassociating and quadrupolar fluids are mostly governed by the dispersion contribution, whereas, as expected, the association term plays a predominant role for associating compounds. We validated our previous findings that deviations from the correct shape of the JTIC at high temperatures directly reflect the inadequacies in the predicted third virial coefficients. Consequently, much attention should be dedicated ...
Harry Potter and the Meat-Filled Freezer: A Case Study of Spontaneous Usage of Visualization Tools

This paper is a report on early user activity in Many Eyes, a public web site where users may upload data, create visualizations, and carry on discussions. Since the site launched, users have uploaded data and created graphics on everything from DNA microarray data to co-occurrences of names in the New Testament to personal gift-giving networks. Our results show that in addition to traditional data analysis, Many Eyes is used for goals ranging from journalism and advocacy to personal expression and social interaction. We propose several implications of this usage for visualization designers and contend that these findings suggest a role for visualization as an expressive medium.
Using Semantics-Enabled Information Retrieval in Requirements Tracing: An Ongoing Experimental Investigation

Requirements tracing is a central activity for software systems quality management. However, in large-scale evolving systems, maintaining traceability information manually can become a tedious task. To address this problem, several dynamic techniques were introduced to provide automatic traceability links generation. These techniques are usually based on information retrieval (IR) methods which link different artifacts based on their syntactic information. This paper reports an ongoing experimental investigation of using semantics-enabled IR methods to generate traceability links. Our goal is to explore dynamic, accurate, and conceptually rich ways to generate and maintain traceability information.
Farm size and the determinants of productive efficiency in the Brazilian Center-West

This paper explores the determinants of technical efficiency, and the relationship between farm size and efficiency, in the Center-West of Brazil. This is the region where agricultural production and total factor productivity have grown the fastest since 1970. It is also a region characterised by unusually large farms. Technical efficiency is studied with Data Envelopment Analysis and county level data disaggregated by farm size and type of land tenure. The efficiency measure is regressed on a set of explanatory variables which includes farm size, type of land tenure, composition of output, access to institutions and indicators of technology and input usage. The relationship between farm size and efficiency is found to be non-linear, with efficiency first falling and then rising with size. Type of land tenure, access to institutions and markets, and modern inputs are found to be important determinants of the differences in efficiency across farms.
Effect of Thin Cirrus Clouds on Dust Optical Depth Retrievals From MODIS Observations

The effect of thin cirrus clouds in retrieving the dust optical depth from MODIS observations is investigated by using a simplified aerosol retrieval algorithm based on the principles of the Deep Blue aerosol property retrieval method. Specifically, the errors of the retrieved dust optical depth due to thin cirrus contamination are quantified through the comparison of two retrievals by assuming dust-only atmospheres and the counterparts with overlapping mineral dust and thin cirrus clouds. To account for the effect of the polarization state of radiation field on radiance simulation, a vector radiative transfer model is used to generate the lookup tables. In the forward radiative transfer simulations involved in generating the lookup tables, the Rayleigh scattering by atmospheric gaseous molecules and the reflection of the surface assumed to be Lambertian are fully taken into account. Additionally, the spheroid model is utilized to account for the nonsphericity of dust particles in computing their optical properties. For simplicity, the single-scattering albedo, scattering phase matrix, and optical depth are specified a priori for thin cirrus clouds assumed to consist of droxtal ice crystals. The present results indicate that the errors in the retrieved dust optical depths due to the contamination of thin cirrus clouds depend on the scattering angle, underlying surface reflectance, and dust optical depth. Under heavy dusty conditions, the absolute errors are comparable to the predescribed optical depths of thin cirrus clouds.
Comparison of methods of morcellation: manual versus power

Introduction With the growing controversy surrounding power morcellation (PM), other approaches must be examined so that women may still benefit from minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries. In this study we sought to compare power to manual morcellation through mini-laparotomy or vaginally. Materials and Methods Retrospective cohort study carried out at an urban teaching hospital including 274 women who underwent a minimally invasive myomectomy or hysterectomy, requiring morcellation for tissue extraction. Surgical outcomes were compared between PM, manual morcellation through mini-laparotomy (MMM) and manual morcellation through the vagina (MMV). Primary outcome measured was operative time. Secondary outcomes were intraoperative and postoperative complications. Results Compared with PM, MMM was associated with shorter operative time for hysterectomy, (140.5 min vs. 164.2 min, p = 0.05). Intraoperative and postoperative complications were similar among groups. There were four postoperative complications in the MMV group, one related to blood transfusion and three related to postoperative vaginal cuff and pelvic infections. Conclusion Compared with PM, MMM is associated with shorter operative time during hysterectomies. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were similar among groups.
Evaluating Two Visualization Techniques for Genome Comparison

Genomic study is fairly novel. Typical research processes are not established yet. Many new discoveries are happening in this area all the time. Are current methods of visualizations effective? What works well? What could be improved? These are some of the questions we are interested in evaluating for two graphical tools used to compare nucleotide sequences. Scatter plots and parallel coordinate-like visuals have been used in genomics for identifying similarities in genetic code. Our preliminary evaluation focuses on determining the aspects of the two visualizations that are successful and those that need enhancements.
One-pot synthesis of cyclic amidinium tetrafluoroborates and hexafluorophosphates; the simplest models of N5,N100methenyltetrahydrofolate coenzyme

Reaction of triethyl orthoesters with various N,N′-dialkyl-α,ω-alkanediamines in the presence of ammonium tetrafluoroborate or hexafluorophosphate, all in the same molar ratio, affords cyclic amidinium salts in excellent yields.
SSketch: An Automated Framework for Streaming Sketch-Based Analysis of Big Data on FPGA

This paper proposes SSketch, a novel automated computing framework for FPGA-based online analysis of big data with dense (non-sparse) correlation matrices. SSketch targets streaming applications where each data sample can be processed only once and storage is severely limited. The stream of input data is used by SSketch for adaptive learning and updating a corresponding ensemble of lower dimensional data structures, a.k.a., A sketch matrix. A new sketching methodology is introduced that tailors the problem of transforming the big data with dense correlations to an ensemble of lower dimensional subspaces such that it is suitable for hardware-based acceleration performed by reconfigurable hardware. The new method is scalable, while it significantly reduces costly memory interactions and enhances matrix computation performance by leveraging coarse-grained parallelism existing in the dataset. To facilitate automation, SSketch takes advantage of a HW/SW co-design approach: It provides an Application Programming Interface (API) that can be customized for rapid prototyping of an arbitrary matrix-based data analysis algorithm. Proof-of-concept evaluations on a variety of visual datasets with more than 11 million non-zeros demonstrates up to 200 folds speedup on our hardware-accelerated realization of SSketch compared to a software-based deployment on a general purpose processor.
Thermographic Imaging of Subsurface Deterioration in Concrete Bridges

The deterioration of concrete bridge components due to corrosion presents a significant challenge for bridge owners worldwide. Deterioration commonly develops at the level of embedded reinforcing steel because of the expansion of corrosion products and resulting stresses in the concrete. As a result, deterioration cannot be detected with visual inspection until it has progressed sufficiently to be manifest in spalling or advanced deterioration of the concrete. This paper presents the results of a study to develop thermal imaging (infrared imaging) for detection of subsurface deterioration. This nondestructive evaluation technique detects delamination on the basis of resulting perturbations in the heat transfer characteristics of the concrete, which are manifest as variations in surface temperature. The technique has the advantage of being applied from a distance and thus reduces access and traffic control requirements. However, it depends on certain environmental conditions to achieve thermal gradients in...
Photonic Compensation of Temperature-Induced Drift of SiC-DMOSFET Switching Dynamics

A potential mechanism for high-temperature integration of a recently developed GaAs-based optically triggered power transistor (OTPT) to a SiC DMOSFET for photonic control of power flow is outlined and experimentally demonstrated over a range of switching frequencies and duty cycles. It was found that the switching dynamics of the SiC DMOSFET varies with the case temperature due to a change in the conductance of the GaAs OTPT. This temperature-induced drift in the rise time of the SiC DMOSFET is compensated by a nonlinear variation in the intensity of the triggering signal of the OTPT.
Displacement Chromatography of Proteins Under Elevated Flow Rate and Crossing Isotherm Conditions

Displacement chromatography was employed for the preparative-scale separation of four-component protein mixtures. The feed components were both purified and concentrated during the separation process. Protein displacement was successfully carried out at elevated flow rates with minimal effect on bioproduct purity resulting in high bioproduct throughput. The effect of “crossing” adsorption isotherms on the displacement chromatographic process was investigated. Under adsorptive conditions where the protein isotherms cross, the displacement system was unable to separate the feed components. On the other hand, subtle changes in the adsorption conditions readily “separated” the protein isotherms, enabling the purification of the proteins of interest by displacement chromatography. This paper extends the scope of biopolymer displacement chromatography to more complex feed mixtures and elevated flow rates, and demonstrates how protein isotherms can be manipulated to effect the efficient purification of biopolymers by displacement chromatography.
Continued Patency of Canine Lingual-Basilar System

A canine lingual-basilar system has been helpful to study the use of extracranial vessels for perfusion of the cerebral circulation. This experimental system was patent in all nine long-term animals and enlarged with time. The principles derived from this experimental investigation have been applied to six patients in whom the superficial temporal artery was used to enhance cerebral perfusion by anastomosis to a cortical branch of the middle cerebral artery. The first four patients have had follow-up arteriography which demonstrates patency of all five new vascular channels.
Pre-layout physical connectivity prediction with application in clustering-based placement

In this paper, we introduce a structural metric, logic contraction, for pre-layout physical connectivity prediction. For a given set of nodes forming a cluster in a netlist, we can predict their proximity in the final layout based on the logic contraction value of the cluster. We demonstrate a very good correlation of our pre-layout measure with the post-layout physical distances between those nodes. We show an application of the logic contraction to circuit clustering. We compare our seed-growth clustering algorithm with the existing efficient clustering techniques. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our new clustering method.
The Mount Evans batholith in the Colorado Front Range: revision of its age and reinterpretation of its structure

The Mount Evans batholith, in the central Front Range of Colorado, is composed of a main phase of massive to conspicuously foliated monzogranite and granodiorite and undeformed aplite and pegmatite. The Mount Evans batholith was previously considered to be part of the 1.7 Ga Routt Plutonic Suite. New U-Pb zircon ages on four samples (granodiorite, monzogranite, and granite), however, indicate that the batholith was emplaced at 1,442 ± 2 Ma and belongs to the Berthoud Plutonic Suite. Most of the batholith has igneous textures and structures, except in the vicinity of the Idaho Springs-Ralston shear zone where those features are tectonically recrystallized and foliated. Foliation elsewhere in the batholith is a flow structure. Zircons in two granodiorite samples, collected near the shear zone (just south of the Colorado Mineral Belt), are reversely discordant by about 0.8%-2.1%, with a considerable spread in 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages. Many of the zircons from these samples contain apatite, K-feldspar, and quartz inclusions that appear to replace zircon along cracks and imperfections from rim to core. We suggest that these inclusions formed during a Laramide ore-forming event and incorporated Early and Middle Proterozoic radiogenic lead scavenged from the country rock. The excess radiogenic lead caused the scatter and reverse discordance in the data. The Mount Evans batholith is anomalous in composition and structure compared to most other 1.4 Ga plutons of the southwestern United States. The differences probably reflect different sources of partial melting; the specific tectonic setting where rocks of such disparate origin are temporally and spatially juxtaposed is not understood.
Measuring Readability using DRP Units

The DRP is a new technique for measuring the readability of reading material. In this study, DRP-Difficulty scores were rescaled into grade equivalent (GE) units, called DRP-GE-Difficulty, and the reliability and validity of both versions were investigated. The formula for obtaining DRP-Difficulty is based on Bormuth's research that involved 330 passages sampled from curriculum materials. Using these same 330 passages, plus 30 more sampled from graduate school materials, the DRP-Difficulty scores were rescaled into DRP-GEDifficulty units by finding comparable GE values obtained from the Rauding Scale of Prose Difficulty. The DRP-Difficulty and the DRP-GE-Difficulty scores correlated highly with cloze ( - .84 and - .81, respectively), and with the grade level at which the passages were used (.80 and .78, respectively). DRPGE-Difficulty values were found to be accurate to within about one grade level for materials used in the lower grades and to within about two grade levels in the upper grades. The DRP appears to provide estimates of readability that are reasonably reliable and valid. The Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) test (1979, 1980), published recently by College Board, purportedly measures reading ability in terms of the "hardest text that can be read with comprehension" (Users Guide, 1983, p. 5). Material difficulty, or readability, is also measured in DRP units. This article reports on (a) the rescaling of the DRP unit into rauding difficulty levels (Gd) measured in grade equivalents (see Carver, 1981) and (b) the reliability and validity of the DRP unit as a measure of text difficulty.
Identifying Rater Effects Using Latent Trait Models

This study describes how latent trait models, specifically the multi-faceted Rasch model, may be applied to identifying rater effects in performance ratings. Three general types of rater effects are presented (Accuracy/Inaccuracy, Severity/Leniency, and Centrality/ Extremism), and indices that are useful indicators of those rater effects are identified. Each of these indices is examined in the context of ratings assigned by highly trained raters to essays written for an Advanced Placement examination, and individual raters suspected of exhibiting these various rater effects are identified. Each of these rater effects exists in the data in both non-ignorable rates and magnitudes.