cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Molecular Basis of Mechanosensory Transduction

Multiple senses, including hearing, touch and osmotic regulation, require the ability to convert force into an electrical signal: A process called mechanotransduction. Mechanotransduction occurs through specialized proteins that open an ion channel pore in response to a mechanical stimulus. Many of these proteins remain unidentified in vertebrates, but known mechanotransduction channels in lower organisms provide clues into their identity and mechanism. Bacteria, fruit flies and nematodes have all been used to elucidate the molecules necessary for force transduction. This chapter discusses many different mechanical senses and takes an evolutionary approach to review the proteins responsible for mechanotransduction in various biological kingdoms.
Arc de cercle as a manifestation of focal epileptic seizures.

Since its description in 1885 in the Etudes cliniques sur l'hystero-epilepsie ou grand hysterie by Raul Richer, the arc de cercle , or circular arc (figure 1A), has become synonymous of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and automatically interpreted as such by physicians. The development of extracranial and intracranial EEG recording has not confirmed the clinical importance of the arc de cercle .
Long-term Management of Patients with Bleeding Ulcers: Rationale, Results, and Economic Impact

The only documented cure for bleeding peptic ulcers is surgery. Emergency endoscopic hemostasis is often successful for control of active bleeding and control of rebleeding. Ulcers heal in most patients with medical treatment. The risk of re-ulcerations and rebleeding is high, however, unless patients stay on continuous maintenance H2 receptor antagonists and off nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or aspirin. This has been cost effective in some studies for 8 to 20 years compared to surgery. The role of ulcer surgery, NSAIDs, and Heliobacter pylori in recurrent ulceration and rebleeding are discussed, although detailed studies on the subgroup of ulcer bleeders are few.
God, Germs, and Evolution: Belief in Unobservable Religious and Scientific Entities in the U.S. and China

Adults in the U.S. and China were asked to make judgments about the existence of a variety of scientific and religious entities, including God, germs, and evolution. Overall, participants expressed more confidence in the existence of scientific as compared to religious entities. This differential confidence in the two domains emerged in China as well as in the U.S. Moreover, it emerged even when participants were questioned about items attracting a lower overall level of consensus. Nevertheless, the religious beliefs of individual participants moderated the degree of differentiation between scientific and religious entities. Adults reporting low levels of religiosity expressed greater belief in the existence of scientific than religious entities but adults reporting high levels of religiosity expressed equivalent levels of belief in the existence of each domain. This pattern emerged in both China and the U.S. Testimony about unobservable phenomena has a similar impact on adults' pattern of beliefs across two historically distinct cultures.
General Analysis of Fibonacci Charge Pump SSL Output Characteristics With Parasitic Capacitances

A closed-form analytic formula for the output characteristics of a Fibonacci charge pump model in the slow-switching limit generalized to any number of switching capacitor stages is derived for the first time. The model incorporates bottom-plate and closed-switch parasitic capacitances. Thus, the derived formula gives insight into the effects of parasitics on the output characteristics and their deviation from the ideal, including the limit of the output resistance and gain as the number of stages grows to infinity. The limits of this generalized formula reduce to previously published results of special cases, and simulations confirm the results. The calculation complexity of the output characteristics using the model is completely independent of the size of the converter, whereas the computational complexity of previous works grows linearly with converter size.
Getting Past the Imperial Presidency

In an age in which the “imperial presidency” seems to have reached its apex, perhaps most alarmingly surrounding the use of military force, conventional wisdom remains fixed that constitutional and international law play a negligible role in constraining executive branch decision making in this realm.. Yet as this Essay explains, the factual case that supports the conventional view, based largely on highly selected incidents of presidential behavior, is meaningless in any standard empirical sense. Indeed, the canonical listing of presidential decisions to use force without prior authorization feeds a compliance-centered focus on the study of legal constraint rooted in long-since abandoned understandings of how and why legal systems function. While the realities that law does not operate as an on/off switch have long been accepted among legal scholars when it comes to ordinary law – all legal rules face “the fact of violation,” uncertainty in meaning, and a complex array of human motives and incentives for acting – these phenomena seem yet to have informed our understanding of law’s role in shaping decision making surrounding state uses of force. This Essay argues that accounting for these features of law is especially relevant to the study of constitutional and international regulations of state use of force. Applying a more contemporary understanding of how law works, the Essay illustrates how shifting our methodological approach away from compliance-centered metrics of legal constraint may require reinterpreting the conventional set of examples we have long assumed we understood. At a minimum, it requires redesigning our approach to the empirical study of executive branch decision making. And it suggests we may need to rethink what mechanisms may most effectively constrain the “imperial presidency” in the years ahead.
Crop burning and the prevalence of asthma and COPD emergency department treatments in a rural Arkansas county

Objective: To evaluate the impact of crop burning on the prevalence of asthma and COPD emergency department (ED) treatments in a rural Arkansas county.Methods: Administrative datasets listing ED tr...
Plenary lecture 8: investigating the viability of hybrid and electric automobiles by understanding the influence of road design, traffic congestion, and driver behavior on vehicle power uses

The generally upward trend in gasoline prices over the past 10 years has prompted renewed interest in studying the viability of hybrid and electric automobiles in the years ahead. The vehicle power consumption depends on many factors among which the most notable ones are road design characteristics, traffic congestion, and driver behavior. The amount of fuel or battery consumption, which is a measure of vehicle power uses, depends on such factors as vehicle acceleration/deceleration, road configuration, and driver behavior. In this presentation we formulate vehicle power uses as a function of traffic and road design characteristics, i.e., Vpu(i)=f(V,T,G), where Vpu is vehicle power uses for the ith vehicle class, V is a vector representing vehicle characteristics, T is a vector representing traffic characteristics, and G is a vector representing geometric characteristics of roadways. Using traffic and roadway data from a congested highway network in the Baltimore area we calculate the vehicle power uses for different vehicle classes, traffic, and road conditions. We then study the power consumption requirements of some hybrid and electric vehicles and relate that to the traffic and roadway characteristics, which will be a key factor in designing future hybrid and electric vehicles. We perform some sensitive analysis to investigate the impact of vehicle, traffic, and geometric characteristics of roadways on vehicle power uses. The preliminary results indicate that older vehicles, higher levels of traffic congestion, and aggressive driving behavior generally require higher vehicle power uses which in turn requires higher fuel and battery consumption. Additional testing will be carried out in future works. This project was funded through the Department of Energy-Massie Chairs of Excellence Program at the Morgan State University.
Unraveling Cultural Countertransference: The Experience of Caucasian Therapists Working with Asian-American Adults

This qualitative study explores the countertransference experiences of seven psychodynamically-trained Caucasian therapists who treated an Asian-American adult for at least a year. These seasoned c...
Estimating the Global Infection Fatality Rate of COVID-19

Abstract COVID-19 has become a global pandemic, resulting in nearly three hundred thousand deaths distributed heterogeneously across countries. Estimating the infection fatality rate (IFR) has been elusive due to the presence of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infections and lack of testing capacity. We analyze global data to derive the IFR of COVID-19. Estimates of COVID-19 IFR in each country or locality differ due to variable sampling regimes, demographics, and healthcare resources. We present a novel statistical approach based on sampling effort and the reported case fatality rate of each country. The asymptote of this function gives the global IFR. Applying this asymptotic estimator to cumulative COVID-19 data from 139 countries reveals a global IFR of 1.04% (CI: 0.77%,1.38%). Deviation of countries’ reported CFR from the estimator does not correlate with demography or per capita GDP, suggesting variation is due to differing testing regimes or reporting guidelines by country. Estimates of IFR through seroprevalence studies and point estimates from case studies or sub-sampled populations are limited by sample coverage and cannot inform a global IFR, as mortality is known to vary dramatically by age and treatment availability. Our estimated IFR aligns with many previous estimates and is the first attempt at a global estimate of COVID-19 IFR.
Straintronics: Digital and Analog Electronics With Strain-Switched Nanomagnets

The search for a binary switch that is more energy-efficient than a transistor has led to many ideas, notable among which is the notion of using a nanomagnet with two stable magnetization orientations that will encode the binary bits 0 and 1. The nanomagnet is switched between them with electrically generated mechanical strain. A tiny amount of voltage is required for switching, with energy dissipation on the order of a few to few tens of aJ. Logic gates and memory, predicated on this technology, have been demonstrated in our group. While they indeed dissipate very little energy, they are unfortunately plagued by unacceptably high switching error probability that hinders their application in most types of Boolean logic. Fortunately, they can still be used in applications that are more forgiving of switching errors, e.g. probabilistic computing, analog arithmetic circuits, belief networks, artificial neurons, restricted Boltzmann machines, image processing, and others where the collective activity of many devices acting cooperatively elicit the computing or signal processing function and the failure of a single or few devices does not matter critically. These ultra-energy-efficient strain-switched nanomagnets can also be used for non-computing devices such as microwave oscillators that perform better than spin-torque-nano-oscillators. This short review provides an introduction to this exciting burgeoning field.
Balancing the Books: Convergence and Diversity of Accounting in Massachusetts, 1875–1895

The late nineteenth century is often described as an era of innovation in managerial practice, including accounting. However, despite rich case studies of individual firms, we have little quantitative knowledge of average practices. This paper uses errors and omissions in balance statements to estimate the prevalence of double-entry bookkeeping and depreciation at Massachusetts corporations between 1875–1895. In 1875, 62 percent of firms balanced their returns, but by 1895 this number exceeded 96 percent. The proportion considering depreciation increased from 18 to 24 percent over the period. Firms using these techniques survived longer on average.
Operational Factors of Battery Systems

The chapter on operational factors of battery systems looks at a multitude of relations and interactions in secondary battery systems. The batteries are characterized based on their voltage, capacity, energy, energy density, power density, state of charge, depth of discharge, cycle life, safety, and cost. To understand how batteries work, it is important to study the interactions between battery voltage, current, capacity, temperature, nature of electrolyte, and modes of discharge. In addition, processes affecting battery such as self-discharge, calendar life, number of cycles, and safety, as well as their limiting factors are explained. Finally, the understanding of the importance of these parameters for a variety of application conditions is tested by comparing the main battery systems.
An Application of the Cure Model to a Cardiovascular Clinical Trial

Intermediate events play an important role in determining the risk of a medical condition over time and should thus be accounted for in survival analysis. Myocardial infarction (MI) is one such condition whose hazard also depends upon the possible occurrence of an intermediate event—acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Accounting for the role that a possible ACS event plays in altering the hazard of MI becomes complicated when there is a cured fraction in the population. Data from the Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation (COURAGE) trial presents the scenario where the existence of a cured fraction is highly likely. In this article, we model the risk of developing an MI, while properly accounting for the effect/impact of a probable intermediate ACS event on that risk in the presence of a cured fraction. We adapt a maximum likelihood estimation approach to estimate the regression coefficients of this multi-part cure model. Simulation demonstrates satisfactory performance of the proposed estimator. We also utilize this dataset to explore the use of a proportionality constraint to help reduce the dimensionality of this multi-part model. The analysis yields novel findings that can be useful in guiding clinical practice.
The Association of Moms2B, a Community-Based Interdisciplinary Intervention Program, and Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes among Women Residing in Neighborhoods with a High Rate of Infant Mortality

We evaluated the effectiveness of Moms2B, a community-based group pregnancy and parenting program, in an effort to assess whether the program improved pregnancy and infant outcomes. We conducted a retrospective matched exposure cohort study comparing women exposed to the Moms2B program during pregnancy (two or more prenatal visits) who delivered a singleton live birth or stillbirth (≥ 20 weeks gestation) from 2011–2017 to a closely matched group of women not exposed to the program. Primary outcomes were preterm birth and low birth weight. Propensity score methods were used to provide strong control for confounders. The final analytic file comprised 675 exposed pregnancies and a propensity score-matched group of 1336 unexposed pregnancies. Most of the women were non-Hispanic Black. We found evidence of better outcomes among pregnancies exposed to Moms2B versus unexposed pregnancies, particularly for the primary outcome of low birth weight [9.45% versus 12.00%, respectively, risk difference (RD) = −2.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) = (−5.44, 0.34)]. Point estimates for all adverse pregnancy outcomes uniformly favored exposure to Moms2B. Our findings suggest that participation in the Moms2B program improves pregnancy and infant outcomes. The program offers an innovative group model of pregnancy and parenting support for women, especially in non-Hispanic Black women with high-risk pregnancies.
Waiting for waste: Nuclear imagination and the politics of distant futures in Finland

Abstract Nuclear energy production leaves behind waste that endangers human health for over 100,000 years. Governments and nuclear power producers around the world are scrambling to safely and sustainably dispose of these byproducts. To manage nuclear waste, Finland began constructing the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository, which is the first structure in the world engineered to last over one hundred millennia. The purpose of this article is to examine competing imaginaries in the deep-time policymaking process. This paper analyzes the history of the repository and the decision-making process authorizing its creation, arguing that deep time policy decisions are mediated by the expected technological progress of future generations. I present two different imaginaries: the progressive and the precautionary. The progressive imaginary believes that the technology of future generations will outpace natural challenges, so contemporary decisionmakers should prioritize future flexibility. In contrast, the precautionary imaginary is skeptical that technology will consistently advance and favors immediate action to mitigate long-term risks. I suggest that Onkalo’s development and adoption rested upon a prevailing precautionary imagination, which is explained in part by Finnish society’s general deference to established expertise. I argue the progressive-precautionary framework can help explain both cross-national variations in deep time policymaking and single case studies of long-term policy decisions. I conclude by considering the generalizability of my analysis and areas for future research.
Functional Differences Among the Spike Glycoproteins of Emerging Sars-Cov-2 Variants B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1 and B.1.1.248

We compared the functional properties of spike (S) glycoproteins from the original SARS-CoV-2 strain (D614) (Wuhan, China), the globally dominant D614G strain and emerging geographic variants: B.1.1.7 (United Kingdom), B.1.351 (South Africa), P.1 (Brazil), and B.1.1.248 (Brazil/Japan). Compared with D614G, the emerging variants exhibited increased affinity for the receptor, ACE2, and increased ability to infect cells with low ACE2 levels. All variants lost infectivity similarly at room temperature and 37°C; however, in the cold, B.1.1.7 was more stable, and P.1 and B.1.1.248 were less stable. Shedding of the S1 glycoprotein from the spike contributed to virus inactivation in the cold. B.1.351, P.1 and B.1.1.248 were neutralized by convalescent and vaccinee sera less efficiently than the other variants. Spike glycoprotein properties such as requirements for ACE2 levels on the target cell, functional stability in the cold and resistance to host neutralizing antibodies potentially contribute to the outgrowth of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Funding Information: This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and by a gift from the late William F. McCarty-Cooper. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
A comparative study of vulnerability reporting by software composition analysis tools

Background: Modern software uses many third-party libraries and frameworks as dependencies. Known vulnerabilities in these dependencies are a potential security risk. Software composition analysis (SCA) tools, therefore, are being increasingly adopted by practitioners to keep track of vulnerable dependencies. Aim: The goal of this study is to understand the difference in vulnerability reporting by various SCA tools. Understanding if and how existing SCA tools differ in their analysis may help security practitioners to choose the right tooling and identify future research needs. Method: We present an in-depth case study by comparing the analysis reports of 9 industry-leading SCA tools on a large web application, OpenMRS, composed of Maven (Java) and npm (JavaScript) projects. Results: We find that the tools vary in their vulnerability reporting. The count of reported vulnerable dependencies ranges from 17 to 332 for Maven and from 32 to 239 for npm projects across the studied tools. Similarly, the count of unique known vulnerabilities reported by the tools ranges from 36 to 313 for Maven and from 45 to 234 for npm projects. Our manual analysis of the tools' results suggest that accuracy of the vulnerability database is a key differentiator for SCA tools. Conclusion: We recommend that practitioners should not rely on any single tool at the present, as that can result in missing known vulnerabilities. We point out two research directions in the SCA space: i) establishing frameworks and metrics to identify false positives for dependency vulnerabilities; and ii) building automation technologies for continuous monitoring of vulnerability data from open source package ecosystems.
Exploration of alcohol-enhanced Cu-mediated radiofluorination toward practical labeling

Copper-mediated nucleophilic radiofluorination using boronic precursors is a promising, general method to label aromatic compounds with [18 F]fluoride. However, in various reports, large amounts of precursor (60 μmol) were needed to achieve high radiochemical conversions (RCCs), which is neither ideal nor practical for the preparation of 18 F radiopharmaceuticals. To investigate this matter, we studied alcohol-enhanced Cu-mediated nucleophilic radiofluorination using a variety of model reactions in which we varied the concentration of [18 F]fluoride (no carrier added or isotope diluted) and the amount of precursor, base, and Cu(OTF)2 (Py)4 . We found that lower amounts of precursors (e.g., 15 μmol) could be used and that the amount of base (e.g., K2 CO3 or KHCO3 ) played a critical and limiting role in the labeling reactions. Greater than one-equivalent of base and sufficient amounts of precursors and Cu(OTf)2 (Py)4 were required to achieve good to high RCCs. The RCCs were also dependent on the overall concentration of the labeling reactions, with low reaction volumes and high concentrations of reagents being preferred. Our findings will help to improve the design of radiolabeling protocols using alcohol-enhanced copper-mediated radiofluorination of boronic precursors for the preparation of 18 F labeled radiopharmaceuticals and other radiohalogen-labeled compounds.
Infrared reflection spectroscopy of adsorbed intermediates in real time during chemical vapor deposition of oxides

In this paper, we develop multilayer optical theory to model the real-time (in operando) optical response of a growing dielectric film being deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), with a particular emphasis on understanding the deposition mechanism through direct detection of the adsorbates responsible for film growth by infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). The model involves a four-layer stack consisting of a vacuum over a monolayer or submonolayer of molecules adsorbed on the surface of a dielectric thin film, which, in turn, is growing on a metal substrate. It is well known that, in IRRAS, the sensitivity of p-polarized light to absorption by the molecular adsorbates is a function of the incident angle of the IR beam: at high angles, the sensitivity is highest. We show that, for incident beam angles above 70° (which are typically used in IRRAS experiments), the sensitivity also depends on the thickness and refractive index of the insulating thin film; as a result, the sensitivity changes dynamically during the growth of the dielectric layer. Our analysis shows that, at incident beam angles of ∼60°–70°, the sensitivity to molecular adsorbates is somewhat lower, but is almost independent of the oxide thickness from 0 to 100 nm and also independent of the oxide refractive index from 1.0 to 2.5. Despite the loss of sensitivity relative to that achievable at higher incident beam angles, 1000 scans at an incident angle of 60° are sufficient to obtain IR spectra of the adsorbed molecules with reasonable signal-to-noise ratios even at submonolayer coverages. Because the sensitivity at this incident beam angle is not thickness dependent, it is not an issue (as it is at higher beam angles) that additional oxide grows during the time required to acquire 1000 scans. Experiments can be performed using a conventional vacuum deposition system, in which the internal beam path is tens of cm. We demonstrate the use of these smaller incident beam angles to study the mechanism of a CVD process in real time by polarization-modulation IRRAS, obtained by subtracting the s-polarized from the p-polarized infrared spectra in order to eliminate the unpolarized component due to molecules in the beam path and on windows. We explore the surface coverage of various adsorbed intermediates during CVD of HfO2 from tetrakis-(dimethylamido)-hafnium (TDMAH) and water in the presence of the consumable inhibitor magnesium N,N-dimethylamino-diboranate [Mg(DMADB)2]. We find that the addition of the Mg(DMADB)2 inhibitor causes a decrease in the IR absorption from the adsorbed TDMAH precursor that correlates with the observed decrease in the HfO2 growth rate; this result indicates that the mechanism of inhibition involves Mg(DMADB)2 acting as a dynamic site-blocker that lowers the surface coverage of TDMAH.
The practice of rain classroom information teaching in computer foundation

With the rapid development of the network, the continuous progress of information technology has been driven, and a variety of information-based teaching methods have appeared in college teaching. Due to the disadvantages of traditional teaching, this paper elaborates the whole process of teaching by using the rain classroom system in the teaching practice of basic computer courses in university. The use of rain classroom can better interact in teaching, let students quickly into the classroom, further improve the quality of teaching, the development and reform of higher education has a certain role in promoting.
Generalized Birthday Arracks on Unbalanced Feistel Networks

Unbalanced Feistel networks F k which are used to construct invertible pseudo-random permutations from kn bits to kn bits using d pseudo-random functions from n bits to (k − l)n bits, k ≥ 2 are studied. We show a new generalized birthday attack on F k , with d ≤ 3k − 3. With 2(k−1)n chosen plaintexts an adversary can distinguish F k (with d = 3k − 3) from a random permutation with high probability. If d < (3k − 3) then fewer plaintexts are required. We also show that for any F k (with d = 2k), any adversary with m chosen plaintext oracle queries, has probability O(m nk/2(k−1)n ) of distinguishing F k from a random permutation.
Pulsed Microwave Rotational Relaxation Studies

In nuclear magnetic resonance, pulse techniques have been developed to a high level of sophistication and are routinely used for relaxation studies.1 In the last few years, close analogies to these pulse techniques have been developed for the microwave and infrared regions. Dr. Brewer has been active in developing techniques in the infrared, and a number of workers have made contributions in the microwave region. Most of the activity in the microwave region has been centered on forced nutation and double resonance studies. The first part of this paper will describe a Stark-switched π/2 pulse and free induction decay technique for the microwave region. This work was started at Harvard in association with Prof. E. Bright Wilson and his group, as part of a program directed toward measurement of rotational relaxation using pulse techniques. The second part of the paper will describe some recent theoretical results that show how the M dependence of relaxation data can be used to learn more about intermolecular potentials.
Learning from the blind men and the elephant: or seeing things whole in risk management

Much of the literature on risk perception and management published over the last few years has asked how society should resolve the question, “How safe is safe enough?” There has been political and technical disagreement over the types of answers that may be given, as well as over the social values attached to perceived probabilities and magnitudes of various outcomes. Despite controversy, there seems to have been a large measure of consensus that, “How safe is safe enough?” is the right question to ask. This paper sets out to question that assumption. Various ingenious techniques of risk analysis have sought to discover the real risks inherent in various activities, but the picture each presents is like one of the proverbial blind men’s perception of different parts of the elephant. From a socio-cultural viewpoint it can be seen that no single answer can be given to the problem of adequate safety in a complex society which contains a wide variety of perceptual biases about danger, expectations of the good life, and levels of demand for safety. The paper will argue that, from a societal risk-management perspective, we should be addressing a different range of questions that views societal risk as a whole rather than as the sum of individual hazards. The relevant questions would then be those of how consent is obtained from affected parties, what principles are being invoked for the distribution of liabilities that arise, and how trustworthy are the institutions that societies must depend on to manage technologies and the environment?
Flipped-state identification in a Rydberg wave-packet using a terahertz half-cycle pulse

Summary form only given. Optical pulse shaping and wave-packet holography have been used to store information in the phase of an atomic Rydberg wave-packet. We present a new method of retrieving this phase information by using a terahertz domain half-cycle pulse (HCP) to coherently redistribute the Rydberg population. We use programmed optical pulses to create radial wave-packets in a beam of atomic Cs centered at n = 26p with one state phase-reversed from the others. An impulse model for this atom-HCP interaction is employed to qualitatively explain this flipped-state amplification.
The compound marine steam engine : a study in the relationship between technological change and economic development

One of the most important problems in the study of economic development is the role of technological change in the growth process. My dissertation is an analysis of some of the major variables which influenced the timing of the invention, adoption, and diffusion of the compound marine steam engine. The problem was divided into three parts: (1) all those variables pertaining directly to the invention of the engine, and the very first effects on the cost structure of the steamship industry; (2) the role of the compound marine steam engine in the growth of the German merchant fleet, 1872–1887, with special emphasis on the diffusion of the invention and its productivity effects; and (3) the effect of the compound steam engine on the sailing ship component of the German merchant fleet.
Influence of Intensive Pine Management on Dipteran Community Structure in Coastal North Carolina

Intensive pine (Pinus spp.) management is a primary land use in the southeastern United States. In eastern North Carolina, intensively managed pine stands often occur on land previously ditched and drained. Because modification of natural vegetation and water sources are known to affect dipteran community structure, we studied effects of intensive pine management on abundance and diversity of dipteran families in the northern coastal plain of North Carolina during 2006 and 2007. We used malaise traps and emergence traps to sample different types of forest stands (n = 143 sample nights) and water sources (n = 147 sample nights) in a managed pine forest and a natural forested wetland. Cecidomyiids were more abundant in stands with canopy cover, chironomids were more abundant at edges between forested stands and open canopy stands, and chloropids were more abundant in open canopy stands. Families Ceratopogonidae, Dolichopodidae, Ephydridae, Muscidae, Psychodidae, and Tipulidae were more abundant in the natural forested wetland than in all types of modified water sources. Dipteran diversity and evenness were highest in stands with open canopy and at forest edges, and highest in the natural forested wetland. Unmanaged, natural stands on the intensively managed landscape did not support a higher abundance or diversity of dipteran families than intensively managed stands. Restoration of natural wetlands may increase dipteran diversity in unmanaged stands. Heliponds, a modified water source, supported a comparable dipteran abundance to that of the natural forested wetland. Increased numbers of heliponds may facilitate higher dipteran abundance in managed pine landscapes.
Conflict resolution in organizational buying centers

This article reports the results of a field study of buying center conflict and conflict resolution processes—factors often seen as key ingredients in modeling the organizational buying process. The problem-solving and persuasion modes were found to be more often used than the potentially destructive power and politics modes. As expected, increasing levels of conflict were found to be associated with confrontation-oriented modes of resolution. Differences in resolution mode across stages of the purchase process were not significant.
Fibonacci thresholding: Signal representation and morphological filters

A new weighted thresholding concept is presented, which is used for the set-theoretical representation of signals, the producing new signals containing a large number of key features that are in the original signals and the design new morphological filters. Such representation maps many operations of non binary signal and image processing to the union of the simple operations over the binary signals and images. The weighted thresholding is invariant under the morphological transformations, including the basic ones, erosion and dilation. The main idea of using the weighted thresholding is in the choice of the special level of thresholding on which we can concentrate all our attention for the future processing. Together with arithmetical thresholding the so-called Fibonacci levels are chosen because of many interesting properties; one of them is the effective decomposition of the median filter. Experimental results show that the Fibonacci thresholding is much promised and can be used for many applications, including the image enhancement, segmentation, and edge detection.
Feulgen reaction-Bismarck brown; a stain for mast cells in mitosis.

Dividing mast cells of the rat have been demonstrated previously by the Feulgen-methyl green staining method (Allen, A. M, Anat. Rec., 139, 13-21, 1961). In the present study, Bismarck brown was substituted for methyl green as a cytoplasmic stain because of its greater permanence in tissues previously subjected to the Feulgen reaction. Segments of mesentery of 30-day-old rats were spread on glass slides and fixed in 10% formalin for I hr. They were stained first by the Feulgen reaction, then by a solution of 0.5% Bismarck brown in 50% ethanol containing 0.2% acetic acid. The tissues were dehydrated, cleared, and mounted in synthetic resin (Permount). Nuclei and mitotic figures in mast cells were stained reddish violet; cytoplasmic granules, yellow-brown. The nuclei were clearly visible through the cytoplasm. Similar results were obtained with formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.
GROWTH HORMONE SECRETION AND PLASMA SOMATOMEDIN‐C IN PRIMARY HYPOTHYROIDISM

The effect of thyroid hormone deficiency on plasma immunoreactive somatomedin-C concentrations, growth hormone (GH) secretion in response to provocative stimuli, and the plasma somatomedin-C response to exogenous GH was studied in patients with primary hypothyroidism. Plasma Somatomedin-C concentrations were below the 95% confidence interval in 11 of 12 hypothyroid patients (mean +/- SD = 0.27 +/- 0.14 U/ml). With thyroid hormone therapy the mean plasma somatomedin-C level increased four-fold (1.00 +/- 0.43 U/ml). The capacity to secrete GH in response to pharmacological agents was impaired in 3 of the 6 hypothyroid patients tested and normal in the remainder. When the same 6 patients were given a single intramuscular injection of GH (0.1 U/kg) plasma somatomedin-C concentrations increased four-fold by 28 h after the injection. The magnitude of the somatomedin-C response was equal to or greater than that reported for euthyroid GH deficient subjects treated similarly. This study shows that plasma somatomedin-C concentrations are diminished by hypothyroidism. The decreased somatomedin-C levels do not appear to result from resistance to the stimulatory effect of GH, but may be either a result of diminished GH secretion or may be due to direct effects of hypothyroidism upon somatomedin production.
Vertical and Horizontal Aerosol Scattering Fields over Bellows Beach, Oahu, during the SEAS Experiment*

Scanning lidar measurements were carried out during the Shoreline Environment Aerosol Study (SEAS) experiment (19‐30 April 2000) to characterize the aerosol scattering fields in the coastal marine boundary layer at Bellows Beach on the southeast side of Oahu, Hawaii. The sea salt was found to be well mixed throughout the mixed layer, although the depth of the trade wind mixed layer was found to vary significantly over short timescales. As expected, the frequency distribution of aerosol scatter had a lognormal distribution, with the exception of regions downwind of breaking waves, where the frequency distribution was bimodal. A spatial statistical study revealed that the island-blocking effects cause low-level clouds to develop as they approach the island, with enhanced drizzle near the coastline reaching all the way to the surface. The spray from waves breaking on an outer reef was found to be intermittent and contained to heights of 20 m (on average) for the average wind speed of 7 m s21. Sea-salt concentrations and fluxes from the breaking waves were estimated from the lidar measurements and found to be within the range of values reported by other investigators.
Objective speech quality measures for Internet telephony

Measuring voice quality for telephony is not a new problem. However, packet-switched, best-effort networks such as the Internet present significant new challenges for the delivery of real-time voice traffic. Unlike the circuit-switched PSTN, Internet protocol (IP) networks guarantee neither sufficient bandwidth for the voice traffic nor a constant, minimal delay. Dropped packets and varying delays introduce distortions not found in traditional telephony. In addition, if a low bitrate codec is used in voice over IP (VoIP) to achieve a high compression ratio, the original waveform can be significantly distorted. These new potential sources of signal distortion present significant challenges for objectively measuring speech quality. Measurement techniques designed for the PSTN may not perform well in VoIP environments. Our objective is to find a speech quality metric that accurately predicts subjective human perception under the conditions present in VoIP systems. To do this, we compared three types of measures: perceptually weighted distortion measures such as enhanced modified Bark spectral distance (EMBSD) and measuring normalizing blocks (MNB), word-error rates of continuous speech recognizers, and the ITU E-model. We tested the performance of these measures under conditions typical of a VoIP system. We found that the E-model had the highest correlation with mean opinion scores (MOS). The E-model is well-suited for online monitoring because it does not use the original (undistorted) signal to compute its quality metric and because it is computationally simple.
Influence of ash on the fiber composition of dried dairy manures

The objective of this work was to examine the role of ash in the compositional analysis of dried dairy manures. Ninety-nine dairy manures obtained from Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia were dried at 60 degrees C, and ground to 20 mesh. Samples were analyzed for neutral and acid detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, total carbon, total nitrogen, and ash. In addition, cellulose and hemicellulose were computed by difference. Results indicated that high ash contents (8-52% of dry matter) can dramatically and unpredictably alter various measures of fiber composition and are a significant source of error in the determination of manure composition and how it relates to mineralization or other compositional influenced factors. Also, while the ash content of the dried intact manure can easily be determined, it is difficult to estimate the ash contribution to the individual fiber determinations, especially if sequential assays are performed.
Placental toxicity of cadmium in the rat: an ultrastructural study

Summary Pregnant rats on day 18 of gestation were injected s.c. with 40 μmol/kg CdCl 2 which caused fetal death and placental necrosis. The placental changes were studied by electron microscopy and indicate that there is a direct placental toxic effect of cadmium which appears targeted at the trophoblast and, in particular, trophoblast cell layer II. Findings in cell layer II which suggest a toxic effect were lysosomal vesiculation, ‘buckshot' nuclear chromatin clumping, nucleolar changes and apparent mitochondrial calcification. Furthermore, the selectivity of the effect on cell layer II and the rapidity of the necrosis are also consistent with a toxic effect. Trophoblast cell layer II first undergoes necrosis, but is rapidly followed by the rest of the trophoblast. Many of the changes at this necrotic stage suggest a secondary ischaemic effect or a combined ischaemic and toxic effect. Therefore it appears that cadmium induces placental necrosis via a direct effect on the trophoblast, especially on layer II.
The prevalence of cerebral palsy.

Summary The methods of estimating and indicating the prevalence of cerebral palsy in a population are critically discussed. A survey is given of the occurrence of cerebral palsy in a 10-year group of a population of 265,000 individuals in Sweden. The incidence of cerebral palsy was here 2.1 per 1000 children in the ages 2–11 years. In two thirds of the cases prematurity, illness of the mother during pregnancy or an abnormal obstetrical history was shown to have been present. Mental defects, corresponding to I.Q.<70, occurred in 57 per cent and low grade mentality (I.Q. <50) in 38 per cent of the cases. La frequence des encephalopathies chroniques de l'enfance. L'auteur discute les methodes employees pour estimer et determiner la frequence de la paralysie par encephalopathie dans une population. On a etudie la frequence de la paralysie par encephalopathie dans un groupe d'enfants âges de dix ans parmi une population de 265.000 habitants en Suede. Elle etait de 2,1 pour mille enfants âges de 2 a 11 ans. Dans deux tiers des cas on a retrouve dans l'anamnese la prematuration, une maladie de la mere pendant la grossesse ou des difficultes obstetriquales a la naissance. Dans 57 % des cas il y avait une deficience mentale correspondant a un quotient d'intelligence inferieur a 70, dans 38 % des cas il y avait debilite mentale marquee (quot. d'intell. inferieur a 50). Die Verbreitung der cerebralen Kinderlahmung (Morbus Little). Die Methoden zur Schatzung der Verbreitung der cerebralen Kinderlahmung in einer Bevolkerungsgruppe werden kritisch beurteilt. Es wird ein Uberblick uber die Haufigkeit der cerebralen Kinderlahmung in einer 10 Jahre umfassenden Bevolkerungsgruppe von 265000 Einwohnern in Schweden gegeben. Die Haufigkeit der cerebralen Kinderlahmung betrug hier 2,1 pro 1000 Kinder im Alter von 2–11 Jah-ren. In zwei Drittel der Falle fand man Pramaturitat, Krankheit der Mutter wahrend der Schwangerschaft oder einen anormalen Geburtsverlauf. Geistige Defekte, einem I.Q. <70 entsprechend, traten in 57 % der Falle auf, und Geistesschwache (I.Q. <50) in 38 % der Falle. La incidencia de paralisis cerebral. Se discuten los metodos de estimacion de la incidencia de paralisis cerebral en una poblacion. Se relata un estudio de la ocurrencia de paralisis cerebral en un grupo de personas cuyas edades abarcaban un periodo de 10 anos, en una poblacion de 265.000 individuos, en Suecia. La incidencia de paralisis cerebral fue de 2,1 por 1000 ninos en las edades de 2 a 11 anos. En dos tercios de los casos se encontraron prematurez, enfermedad de la madre durante la gravidez o una historia obstetrica anormal. De-fectos mentales correspondiendo a I.Q. 70 se encontraron en 57 % y una mentalidad de bajo grado I.Q. 50 se encontre en 38 % de los casos.
How many genes evolve

Degree of genetic similarity was estimated by electrophoretic comparison of 8–22 homologous proteins among several species of bacteria, slime molds, bony fishes, and bats. Genetic proximity generally varied directly with phylogenetic proximity, but even between closely related species more than half of the genetic loci were different. Although the times of divergence of the species studied are not known, it seems unlikely that this amount of genetic change could be effected entirely by selection. It also appears that many of the enzyme differences have little or no effect on activity. The results thus tend to support the position that a large part of evolutionary change is effected by random incorporation of selectively neutral mutations.
Juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase activity in imaginal discs of Manduca sexta prepupae

The occurrence of a peak of juvenile hormone (JH) during the prepupal period has been noted in several lepidopterans. In Manduca sexta and Hyalophora cecropia this peak is known to prevent the precocious onset of adult differentiation in imaginal tissues. However, it has previously been observed in our laboratory that corpora allata (CA) of this age are incapable of making JH owing to a lack of the terminal synthetic enzyme, juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase (JHAMT). Since the CA are required for normal pupation, it is likely that JH acid is the product released by the prepupal CA. Therefore, we analyzed whether JH acid treatment would prevent precocious adultoid differentiation in allatectomized M. sexta larvae. JH acid injections were found to be as effective as JH in normalizing pupation, and acted in a time- and dose-dependent manner. This finding led to a question of whether injected or endogenous JH acid could be methylated to JH. Homogenates of several tissues from prepupae were assayed for the presence of JHAMT. Of the tissues assayed, only imaginal discs possessed significant levels of the enzyme. These results support our previously proposed mechanism for production of the prepupal JH peak in M. sexta.
A unification of system equivalence definitions

The concept of system equivalence was introduced by Rosenbrock to generalize the notion of system similarity to nonstate-space models, i.e., to systems described by polynomial operators. The idea of equivalence is relatively natural: given two descriptions of the same physical system by two different observers, we would like to assert whether these descriptions are the same from a "coordinate-free" point of view. In this paper, system equivalence is studied from both the polynomial and the state-space points of view. Previous definitions of system equivalence are connected together, and an alternative definition is proposed. This new approach is based on constructing complete information sets for a given differential system by expanding its usual input/ output map. This idea generalizes the earlier concept of maximal-strict system equivalence introduced by Morf.
Finite element analysis on the connection machine

Abstract This paper describes the adaptation of a finite element program with explicit time integration to a massively parallel SIMD computer, the CONNECTION machine. The adaptation required the development of a new procedure, called an ‘exchange’, which consists of an exchange of nodal forces at each time step to replace the standard gather and assembly. In addition, the data was reconfigured so that all nodal variables associated with an element are stored in a processor along with other element data. The architectural and C * programming language features of the CONNECTION machine are also summarized. Various alternate data structures and associated algorithms for nonlinear finite element analysis are discussed and compared. Results are presented which demonstrate that the CONNECTION machine is capable of outperforming the CRAY X-MP/14 by a factor of about 10.