cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Axisymmetric Circulations Forced by Heat and Momentum Sources: A Simple Model Applicable to the Venus Atmosphere

A simple mechanistic model of a zonally averaged circulation forced by heat and momentum sources is developed and applied to the Venus atmosphere in the light of recent data. Basic equations for a steady-state axisymmetric circulation are discussed, and the parametric dependence of a nearly inviscid Hadley circulation in the absence of eddy forcing is examined and extended to a wide range of thermal Rossby numbers. The effect of diffusion is considered and found to be small for the Venus cloud region. The zonally averaged eddy sources and sinks required to support the zonal superrotation on Venus are determined.
Teacher race, student race, and the Behavior Problem Checklist.

The ratings of 458 fourth- and fifth-grade boys were investigated to determine whether or not scores on the Behavior Problem Checklist vary systematically with teacher or student race. Analyses of the data for conduct problems, inadequacyimmaturity, and socialized delinquency indicated that white teachers demonstrate a strong tendency to rate black children as more deviant and white children as less deviant when contrasted with the ratings of black teachers. The ratings of black teachers were found not to vary with student race. No differences among any of the variables were found with regard to personality problems. Possible explanations for the results are discussed, along with implications for the use of the Behavior Problem Checklist in the field.
When is an aggregate of a time series efficiently forecast by its past

Abstract The paper gives necessary and sufficient conditions for a linear combination of the elements of a vector time series to be efficiently forecast by its own past values, where by past we mean both the infinite and also the finite past. We observe that the problem is equivalent to testing a single element of a vector for exogeneity, this observation also suggesting a method for empirically testing the derived conditions.
The ternary complex of initiation factor IF-I, Met-tRNAMetf and GTP An aurintricarboxylate-sensitive intermediate in the initiation of eukaryotic protein synthesis

Abstract We have previously described an initiation factor, extensively purified from 0.5 M KCl extracts of rabbit reticulocyte polysomes, which forms a ternary 1:1 complex with the initiator tRNA [Met-tRNAMetf (rabbit liver)] and GTP. We now refer to this initiation factor as IF-I. When the ternary complex was separated from GTP and [35S]Met-tRNAMetf by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration and used as the only source of radioactive methionine in a rabbit reticulocyte in vitro amino acid incorporation system, the transfer of [35S]methionine into acid-insoluble material, using A-U-G-(U)x (x = 25 ± 5) as the messenger, was greatly stimulated as compared to the transfer of [35S]methionine from free [35S]Met-tRNAMetf. Kinetic experiments now confirm that the methionine residue in the ternary complex is a preferred precursor to the N-terminal position of newly initiated polypeptide chains. The formation of the complex is inhibited by low levels of aurintricarboxylate; however, the preformed ternary complex is stable and is not dissociated by the addition of aurintricarboxylate. When the preformed ternary complex is used in the in vitro amino acid incorporation system, aurintricarboxylate inhibits the formation of acid-insoluble material, but only at levels higher than those required for the prevention of ternary complex formation. Thus one reaction in protein biosynthesis which is very sensitive to the presence of aurintricarboxylate is the formation of the ternary complex. This phenomenon may partially explain the action of aurintricarboxylate upon eukaryotic protein synthesis initiation mediated by Met-tRNAMetf.
Droplet-based microfluidic washing module for magnetic particle-based assays

In this paper, we propose a continuous flow droplet-based microfluidic platform for magnetic particle-based assays by employing in-droplet washing. The droplet-based washing was implemented by traversing functionalized magnetic particles across a laterally merged droplet from one side (containing sample and reagent) to the other (containing buffer) by an external magnetic field. Consequently, the magnetic particles were extracted to a parallel-synchronized train of washing buffer droplets, and unbound reagents were left in an original train of sample droplets. To realize the droplet-based washing function, the following four procedures were sequentially carried in a droplet-based microfluidic device: parallel synchronization of two trains of droplets by using a ladder-like channel network; lateral electrocoalescence by an electric field; magnetic particle manipulation by a magnetic field; and asymmetrical splitting of merged droplets. For the stable droplet synchronization and electrocoalescence, we optimized droplet generation conditions by varying the flow rate ratio (or droplet size). Image analysis was carried out to determine the fluorescent intensity of reagents before and after the washing step. As a result, the unbound reagents in sample droplets were significantly removed by more than a factor of 25 in the single washing step, while the magnetic particles were successfully extracted into washing buffer droplets. As a proof-of-principle, we demonstrate a magnetic particle-based immunoassay with streptavidin-coated magnetic particles and fluorescently labelled biotin in the proposed continuous flow droplet-based microfluidic platform.
Thwarting expectations: Assignments from a critical thinking class

Challenged by unconventional assignments, students examine untested assumptions and in the process become better critical thinkers.
Ribozymes: Building the RNA world

The isolation of an RNA enzyme with RNA replicase activity, at present only a hypothetical molecule, is considerably closer following the recent demonstration of RNA-catalyzed polymerization of nucleoside triphosphates.
Mechanism-based inhibitors of CD38: A mammalian cyclic ADP-ribose synthetase

The soluble domain of human CD38 catalyzes the conversion of NAD+ to cyclic ADP-ribose and to ADP-ribose via a common covalent intermediate [Sauve, A. A., Deng, H. T., Angelletti, R. H., and Schramm, V. L. (2000) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122, 7855−7859]. Here we establish that mechanism-based inhibitors can be produced by chemical stabilization of this intermediate. The compounds nicotinamide 2‘-deoxyriboside (1), 5-methylnicotinamide 2‘-deoxyriboside (2), and pyridyl 2‘-deoxyriboside (3) were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors for human CD38. The nicotinamide derivatives 1 and 2 were inhibitors of the enzyme as determined by competitive behavior in CD38-catalyzed conversion of nicotinamide guanine dinucleotide (NGD+) to cyclic GDP-ribose. The Ki values for competitive inhibition were 1.2 and 4.0 μM for 1 and 2, respectively. Slow-onset characteristics of reaction progress curves indicated a second higher affinity state of these two inhibitors. Inhibitor off-rates were slow with rate constants koff of 1.5 ×...
Citrus Flavor. Volatile Constituents of the Essential Oil of the Orange (Citrus sinensis)a,b

SUMMARY Analysis by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) of the essential oil from California Valencia oranges revealed over 50 components. A preliminary separation of the intact oil into two major fractions, the terpenes and terpenoids, was made by liquid-solid chromatographic techniques. Examination of the terpene fraction by GLC revealed 15 constituents, of which a number were tentatively identified. The terpenoid fraction contained some 37 constituents, many of which were tentatively identified. These techniques increased resolution and permitted tentative identification of some 14 compounds not hitherto reported in Valencia orange oil. These compounds arc: 3-hepten-l- 01; n-octyl acetate; n-undecanal; hornyl acetate; isopulegol; n-decyl acetate; borneol; citronellol; neral; geranyl acetate; α -pinene; α -phellandrene; γ-terpinene; and p-cymene. The constituents were tentatively identified by calculating relative corrected retention volumes and comparing these with values for known compounds. Two stationary liquid phases used yielded data that lend credence to the tentative assignment of identities of the constituents isolated. In addition, infrared examination of some collected fractions made possible partial identification of the compounds.
Idiopathic myelofibrosis: Historical review, diagnosis and management

Idiopathic myelofibrosis is reviewed from several aspects. The historical development of knowledge about this disorder is discussed, from early descriptions of extramedullary hematopoiesis associated with numerous etiologies, a debate over pathogenetic mechanisms, followed by newer evidence which placed this disorder with the myeloproliferative disorders. Evidence is presented showing that idiopathic myelofibrosis is an acquired clonal disorder in terms of the hematopoietic abnormalities, but that the marrow fibrosis is a result of non-clonal disordered fibrogenesis. The clinical, laboratory and pathologic features of idiopathic myelofibrosis are discussed. The features which distinguish this disorder from the other myeloproliferative disorders, particularly chronic myelogenous leukemia are emphasized. The natural history is described together with an evaluation of accepted and experimental therapy.
Repeated Measures Analyses in Clinical Trials with Titration Visits

In longitudinal clinical studies, after randomization at baseline, subjects are followed for a period of time for development of symptoms. A mixed model for repeated measures (MMRM) can be used to analyze such data. To accommodate safety and tolerability in some studies, the treatment has to be titrated to the optimal dose. Then subjects will stay on their optimal dose until the end of the study. In an MMRM analysis, one may attempt to ignore the titration visits because including them could add extra variability unnecessarily. However, when patients drop out during the titration period, ignoring the titration visits would exclude these patients from the analyses. In this article, we evaluate the impact of excluding and including titration visits in an MMRM analysis by a simulation study. We evaluate the approaches based on the bias and the coverage accuracy of the confidence interval. The results suggest that excluding titration visits may result in undercovered confidence intervals and biased estimates.
Amorphous phenolphthalein-based poly (arylene ether)-modified cyanate ester networks : Microwave processing

Toughenability of cyanate ester networks with reactive hydroxyl-functionalized phenolphthalein-based amorphous poly(arylene ether sulfone) thermoplastics, via conventional thermal curing, without a sacrifice in either the T g or the moderately high modulus of the unmodified cyanate ester networks was already demonstrated. The present article investigated the rapid processing of unmodified and thermoplastic-modified cyanate ester networks utilizing microwave radiation. Controlled morphologies were generated by variations in both the rates of conversion and the thermoplastic compositions. Improved toughness can be achieved which can be coupled with significantly reduced curing times. The use of nonreactive modifiers resulted in macrophase separation in contrast to the well-defined morphologies of the reactive thermoplastic-modified networks.
Towards a comprehensive assessment of chronic pain patients

Abstract The evaluation and treatment of individuals suffering from chronic pain is frequently aligned with how pain is conceptualized. Unidimensional models of pain are reviewed and the inadequacies of conducting assessments from these perspectives are highlighted. Several preliminary attempts at integrating medical and psychological data are discussed. A triarchic. Multiaxial Assessment of Pain (MAP) approach, based on sound taxometric and multivariate classification procedures, is proposed. It is concluded that a comprehensive evaluation of chronic pain patients should include the assessment and integration of physical, psychosocial, and behavioral information.
Adaptive computations on conforming quadtree meshes

In this paper, the quadtree data structure and conforming polygonal interpolants are used to develop an h-adaptive finite element method. Quadtree is a hierarchical data structure that is computationally attractive for adaptive numerical simulations. Mesh generation and adaptive refinement of quadtree meshes is straight-forward. However, finite elements are non-conforming on quadtree meshes due to level-mismatches between adjacent elements, which results in the presence of so-called hanging nodes. In this study, we use meshfree (natural-neighbor, nn) basis functions on a reference element combined with an affine map to construct conforming approximations on quadtree meshes. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and performance of the proposed h-adaptive finite element method.
PGO waves in rats in the non-paradoxical sleep states

Experiments were conducted in rats in order to characterize further the occurrence of PGO waves recorded from the region of the locus coeruleus, which were elicited by auditory stimuli. Repeated stimulus presentations at regular interstimulus intervals resulted in a consistent, state-dependent pattern in the occurrence and amplitudes of elicited PGO waves. The probability of eliciting a PGO wave was lowest during paradoxical sleep and highest immediately afterwards. This was followed by a gradual decline in responding during the ensuing period of slow-wave sleep. These results were obtained regardless of at what point in the rats' sleep cycles presentations of the auditory stimuli began. In other experiments, a comparison of elicited PGO waves with the acoustic startle reflex revealed major differences between these 2 responses. PGO waves could be elicited with very low intensity stimuli that were below the threshold for producing a behavioral response, while much louder stimuli were required to elicit a startle. The startle reflex habituated in a linear fashion and did not display state-related changes. It was concluded that elicited PGO waves are an electrophysiological sign of sensory responsiveness, and that their spontaneous appearance during and preceding paradoxical sleep reflects endogenously generated reticular activation.
Efficient smart monte carlo based SSTA on graphics processing units with improved resource utilization

To exploit the benefits of throughput-optimized processors such as GPUs, applications need to be redesigned to achieve performance and efficiency. In this work, we present techniques to speed up statistical timing analysis on throughput processors. We draw upon advancements in improving the efficiency of Monte Carlo based statistical static timing analysis (MC SSTA) using techniques to reduce the sample size or smart sampling techniques. An efficient smart sampling technique, Stratification + Hybrid Quasi Monte Carlo (SH-QMC), is implemented on a GPU based on NVIDIA CUDA architecture. We show that although this application is based on MC analysis with straightforward parallelism available, achieving performance and efficiency on the GPU requires exposing more parallelism and finding locality in computations. This is in contrast with random sampling based algorithms which are inefficient in terms of sample size but can keep resources utilized on a GPU. We show that SH-QMC implemented on a Multi GPU is twice as fast as a single STA on a CPU for benchmark circuits considered. In terms of an efficiency metric, which measures the ability to convert a reduction in sample size to a corresponding reduction in runtime w.r.t a random sampling approach, we achieve 73.9% efficiency with the proposed approaches compared to 4.3% for an implementation involving performing computations on smart samples in parallel. Another contribution of the paper is a critical graph analysis technique to improve the efficiency of Monte Carlo based SSTA, leading to 2--9X further speedup.
Two techniques to reduce gain and offset errors in CMOS image sensors using delta-sigma modulation

A per-column, delta-sigma, analog-to-digital converter for use in CMOS image sensors is reported. Two techniques, subtraction and preconditioning, are proposed to compensate for the column-to-column mismatches and the resulting fixed-pattern noise introduced into the image. Equations governing the operation of the proposed topology are developed. Experimental results verify that even in the presence of very large offsets, such as a 200 mV mismatch in the MOSFETs' threshold voltages, the proposed topology operates as desired.
A robust, optimization-based approach for approximate answering of aggregate queries

The ability to approximately answer aggregation queries accurately and efficiently is of great benefit for decision support and data mining tools. In contrast to previous sampling-based studies, we treat the problem as an optimization problem whose goal is to minimize the error in answering queries in the given workload. A key novelty of our approach is that we can tailor the choice of samples to be robust even for workloads that are “similar” but not necessarily identical to the given workload. Finally, our techniques recognize the importance of taking into account the variance in the data distribution in a principled manner. We show how our solution can be implemented on a database system, and present results of extensive experiments on Microsoft SQL Server 2000 that demonstrate the superior quality of our method compared to previous work.
An equivalent classical plate model of corrugated structures

Abstract An equivalent classical plate model of corrugated structures is derived using the variational asymptotic method. Starting from a thin shell theory, we carry out an asymptotic analysis of the strain energy in terms of the smallness of a single corrugation with respect to the characteristic length of macroscopic deformation of the corrugated structure. We obtained the complete set of analytical formulas for effective plate stiffnesses valid for both shallow and deep corrugations. These formulas can reproduce the well-known classical plate stiffnesses when the corrugated structure is degenerated to a flat plate. The extension–bending coupling stiffnesses are obtained the first time. The complete set of relations are also derived for recovering the local fields of corrugated structures.
Ion conductances affected by 5-HT receptor subtypes in mammalian neurons.

Abstract 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) has both excitatory and inhibitory actions in the CNS and PNS. The development of new 5-HT ligands has led to the expansion of 5-HT receptor subtypes into three categories: 5-HT 1 , 5-HT 2 and 5-HT 3 (Ref. 1). Each category has further subdivisions. The literature concerning the biochemical basis of this division has been reviewed recently 2 . While this approach has elucidated many of the pharmacological properties of 5-HT receptors, it has not addressed the question of how 5-HT modulates cell excitability. Physiological studies have confirmed the existence of a multiplicity of 5-HT receptors that act through a variety of ionic mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to summarize what is known of the ionic mechanisms associated with the activation of identified mammalian 5-HT receptor subtypes, as well as some effects of 5-HT where the receptor could not be defined.
Antiandrogenic treatment of a gender-dysphoric transvestite

Abstract A synthetic ovarian hormone, diethylstilbestrol, was used to reduce the desire to cross-dress in a 65-year-old, gender-dysphoric transvestite. Antiandrogens may be of use in treating patients refractory or inaccessible to other clinical approaches.
Comparison of yield conditions for circular cylindrical shells

Abstract The yield condition for a rigid-plastic circular cylindrical shell subjected to axially symmetric loading is described in terms of the circumferential hoop stress n and the axial bending moment m. Different yield conditions are obtained depending on whether the shell is of homogeneous or ideal sandwich construction, and on whether the shell material satisfies Tresca's or Mises' yield condition. Previous work has been limited to Tresca's yield condition. The example of a long shell subjected to a ring of pressure at its midpoint is considered for each of the four shell yield conditions as well as for a simple “limited interaction” approximation. Complete stress and velocity fields are determined, the limit load is found, and the extent of the plastic region is determined. The results are assessed in terms of the theorems of limit analysis.
The Use of Microscopic Traffic Simulation Model for Traffic Control Systems

A highway network model is constructed using a microscopic traffic flow simulation model, VISSIM, and is intended to provide an evaluation environment for advanced traffic control systems. Since the microscopic traffic flow simulation model can capture a greater level of details of the network, it can closely evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of a controller in a real transportation network before an actual implementation. The highway stretch is based on the Berkeley Highway Laboratory (BHL) and is validated with field data. The validation results show that the model properly captures the congestion characteristics of the BHL section. Also, based on the validated model, critical densities and other traffic flow characteristics in mixed manual and ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) traffics are estimated.
Remote synchronization of two mode-locked fiber lasers

Two mode-locked femtosecond fiber lasers, connected via a 7 km fiber link, are synchronized to an RMS timing jitter of 19 fs, observed over the entire Nyquist bandwidth (half of the repetition frequency of 100 MHz).
A Glutamine-Rich Trail Leads to Transcription Factors

The tragic neurodegenerative disease Huntington's strikes in midlife and is ultimately fatal. Encouraging new results ([ Dunah et al .][1]), eloquently explained in a Perspective by [Freiman and Tjian][2], reveal that a glutamine expansion in the mutant huntingtin protein disrupts transcriptional activation by Sp1 and TAF130, leading to loss of expression of genes essential for neuronal survival. [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/296/5576/2238 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5576/2149
Tax Policy and Presidential Leadership: Ideas, Interests, and the Quality of Advice

How do “ideas” help to account for political outcomes? The age-old question of the role of ideas has been given new life recently, partly in response to the imposing structure of theory that has been built around economic or rational choice explanations, with their emphasis on interests and material circumstances rather than ideas. Few outside of the most abstract economic model-builders hold that ideas have no impact on policies, but there is little agreement on how that impact occurs or on the observable criteria that would establish (or contradict) the impact of ideas.
Response: Ideas, Interests, and the Social Science of Organizations

The article presents authors' responses to a criticism of their article “The Concept of Ideology in Organizational Analysis: The Sociology of Knowledge or the Social Psychology of Beliefs?.” The authors present a formal definition of ideology which contradicts the criticism. They point out that the point of their research was not to deflect attention from social class conflict.
Control of chromatin accessibility for V(D)J recombination by interleukin-7.

IL-7 is a key factor for lymphoid devel- opment, and it contributes to V(D)J recombination at multiple loci in immune-receptor genes. IL-7 signal transduction, involving g c and Jak3, is re- quired for successful recombination at the TCR-g locus. IL-7 signaling controls the initiation phase of V(D)J recombination by controlling access of the V(D)J recombinase to the locus. In the absence of IL-7, the TCR-g locus is methylated and packaged in a repressed form of chromatin consisting of hypoacetylated histones. IL-7 signaling likely in- creases the acetylation state of the nucleosomal core histones resulting in an "open" form of chro- matin. This opening leads to a higher accessibility for the transcription machinery and increased ac- cessibility of the Rag heterodimer that performs the cleavage of DNA. J. Leukoc. Biol. 69: 907-911; 2001.
Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Advances in Diagnosis and Disease Pathogenesis

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is the most arrhythmogenic form of human heart disease and a major cause of sudden death in the young.1,2 Originally described as a right ventricular disease (arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy),3 it is now recognized to include a spectrum of biventricular and left-dominant forms that may be misdiagnosed as dilated cardiomyopathy or myocarditis.4–7 Arrhythmias occur early in the natural history of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, often preceding structural remodeling of the myocardium.1,8 Thus, in its early manifestations, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is more reminiscent of the ion channelopathies than other forms of nonischemic cardiomyopathy. Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy has been linked to mutations in genes encoding desmosomal proteins ( PKP2, DSG2, DSC2, DSP , and JUP ).9,10 Desmosomes, cell-cell adhesion organelles, are especially abundant in heart and skin, tissues that normally experience mechanical stress.11 Therefore, it is not surprising that clinical phenotypes in patients with desmosomal mutations take the form of myocardial and cutaneous diseases. Indeed, patients with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy are particularly prone to disease exacerbations in response to strenuous exercise, emphasizing the importance of biomechanical determinants of disease. However, compared with other familial cardiomyopathies and ion channelopathies associated with sudden death, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy has low penetrance and unusually variable disease expression, even within members of the same family who carry the same disease-associated mutation.8–10 This indicates the presence of powerful genetic and/or epigenetic modifiers that interact with environmental factors such as exercise to determine the risk of sudden death or other adverse events. It also helps explain why diagnosis and risk stratification can be so challenging. In 1994, an International Task Force proposed criteria for the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.12 In practice, these criteria were found to be highly specific but not very sensitive, especially in detecting …
CALCIUM OXALATE CRYSTALS IN THE GREEN ALGA SPIROGYRA SP. (ZYGNEMATALES, CHLOROPHYTA)

Specimens of an unidentified species of the freshwater green alga Spirogyra were found to have abundant cruciate cellular inclusions up to 34 micrometers long. A crystalline nature was shown by birefringence in polarized light. Despite their large size and complex shape, these inclusions did not occur free in the large central vacuole. Instead, they were associated with cytoplasmic strands that spanned the space between gyres of the parietal spiral chloroplasts and with strands that suspended the nucleus in a cytoplasmic embayment of the central vacuole. Some crystals moved directionally along the cytoplasmic strands, and their movement was arrested by cytochalasin B, suggesting that actin microfilaments had a role in crystal movement. Solubility tests showed that the inclusions were composed of calcium oxalate; they dissolved rapidly in weak hydrochloric acid without effervescence, but they were not soluble in concentrated acetic acid or sodium hypochlorite. A colorimetric enzymatic test for oxalate was used to demonstrate microscopically the presence of oxalate and to quantify the amounts. The calcium oxalate crystals were surrounded by a water-soluble organic matrix that retained the shape of the crystal even after demineralization. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the morphology of isolated crystals.
The Electric and Optical Properties of Doped Small Molecular Organic Light-Emitting Devices

Organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) constitute a new and exciting emissive display technology. In general, the basic OLED structure consists of a stack of fluorescent organic layers sandwiched between a transparent conducting-anode and metallic cathode. When an appropriate bias is applied to the device, holes are injected from the anode and electrons from the cathode; some of the recombination events between the holes and electrons result in electroluminescence (EL). Until now, most of the efforts in developing OLEDs have focused on display applications, hence on devices within the visible range. However some organic devices have been developed for ultraviolet or infrared emission. Various aspects of the device physics of doped small molecular OLEDs were described and discussed. The doping layer thickness and concentration were varied systematically to study their effects on device performances, energy transfer, and turn-off dynamics. Low-energy-gap DCM2 guest molecules, in either {alpha}-NPD or DPVBi host layers, are optically efficient fluorophores but also generate deep carrier trap-sites. Since their traps reduce the carrier mobility, the current density decreases with increased doping concentration. At the same time, due to efficient energy transfer, the quantum efficiency of the devices is improved by light doping or thin doping thickness, in comparison with the undoped neat devices. However, heavy doping induces concentration quenching effects. Thus, the doping concentration and doping thickness may be optimized for best performance.
A graph-based approach to vehicle trajectory analysis

It is difficult to extract meaningful patterns from massive trajectory data. One of the main challenges is to characterise, compare and generalise trajectories to find overall patterns and trends. The major limitation of existing methods is that they do not consider topological relations among trajectories. This research proposes a graph-based approach that converts trajectory data to a graph-based representation and treats them as a complex network. Within the context of vehicle movements, the research develops a sequence of steps to extract representative points to reduce data redundancy, interpolate trajectories to accurately establish topological relationships among trajectories and locations, construct a graph (or matrix) representation of trajectories, apply a spatially constrained graph partitioning method to discover natural regions defined by trajectories and use the discovered regions to search and visualise trajectory clusters. Applications with a real data set shows that our new approach can effectively facilitate the understanding of spatial and spatiotemporal patterns in trajectories and discover novel patterns that existing methods cannot find.
Annual review, 1992-1994: Career development, reciprocal work/non-work interaction, and women's workforce participation

Abstract This review covers three areas - career development, reciprocal work/non-work interactions, and women′s workforce participation - for 1992-1994; it is the 20th in the series of JVB reviews. Our effort builds on and complements Swanson′s (1992) earlier review, which spanned the 1989-1991 time period. Based on examination of 326 empirical studies, we present several conclusions about progress made during the review period and about important issues pertaining to career development theories, work/family conflict, ethnic and non-ethnic minorities, and gender that require attention.
Living and dying with heart failure: it's time to talk.

This editorial refers to ‘End of life preferences of elderly patients with chronic heart failure’[†][1], by H.P. Brunner-La Rocca et al. , on page 752 Dramatic advances in the care of heart failure (HF) patients have emerged over the last two decades, resulting in an improvement in survival after diagnosis.1,2 With the development of novel therapies, the number of patients living with HF has increased. Unfortunately, HF is a disease associated with high symptom and co-morbidity burden, resulting in repeated hospitalizations. This emerging epidemic of HF hospitalizations has placed an enormous economic burden on the healthcare system in many countries. In an era of increasing focus on patient-centred medicine, the matching of patient preferences to resource use becomes of mounting importance in caring for our ageing population. However, assessment and knowledge of patient preferences regarding treatment and end of life care remain suboptimal. Brunner-La Rocca and colleagues3 report provocative findings from an analysis of patients enrolled in the Trial of Intensified versus Standard Medical Therapy in Elderly Patients with Congestive Heart Failure (TIME-CHF), which compared symptom-guided with N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)-guided medical therapy. Among the 622 HF participants, elicited end of life preferences revealed a predilection for quantity of life over quality of life, though there was little association between patient preference for longevity and mortality. These results challenge conventional beliefs that HF patients would trade time alive for an improvement in health status, and prompt further investigation into the factors contributing to patient preferences, including their understanding of their own prognosis. Brunner-La Rocca et al. gathered information on time trade-off and resuscitation preferences at enrolment, 12, and 18 months among patients with active HF and a recent HF hospitalization. In contrast to most trial populations, TIME-CHF participants more closely mirrored community … [1]: #fn-2
Touloutoutou and Tet Mare Churches: Language, Class and Protestantism in the Haitian Diaspora of the Bahamas

Within Haiti’s growing transnational Protestant community, there are different types of churches and adherents that practice traditional forms of Protestant Christianity (such as the Adventist, Methodist and Baptist faiths) and Pentecostal/Charismatic forms of Protestant Christianity. Using Michele Lamont’s work on symbolic boundaries, I explore how Haitian Protestants living in New Providence, Bahamas, differentiate these two major Haitian Protestant church cultures through the use of denigrating terms about differing religious traditions. Churches which practice traditional forms of Haitian Protestantism, for example, are sometimes called touloutoutou churches. Churches where Pentecostal/Charismatic forms of Haitian Protestantism are practiced are sometimes referred to as tet mare churches by some Haitian Protestants. In addition, practitioners’ descriptions reflect issues of social class and contested notions of Christian authenticity among Haitian Protestants in the Bahamas.Dans la communaute haitienn...
Effect of organic additives on structure, resistivity, and room-temperature recrystallization of electrodeposited Copper

The effect of 3-N,N-dimethylaminodithiocarbamoyl-1-propanesulphonic acid (DPS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW=8000) on structure, surface roughness, and resistivity of copper electrodeposited from a sulfate-sulfuric acid bath (0.3 M CuSO4+1.8 M H2SO4+70 ppm Cl-) has been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and four-point probe measurements. The XRD patterns of 2 µm-thick copper films reveal the presence of (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222) peaks, intensity of which is dependent on the concentration of the organic additives in the plating bath. We show that addition of the above-mentioned organic additives affects the roughness of the film surface. Room-temperature recrystallization occurs in the films over the time period of several weeks if they are electodeposited with both DPS and PEG additives present in the plating bath. It is accompanied by a change in stress, from compressive to slightly tensile, and a decrease in resistivity. The role of stress-relieving recrystallization is linked to the increase in grain size and enhancement in (111) and especially (200) texture.
A Requirement for Fatty Acid Oxidation in the Hormone-Induced Meiotic Maturation of Mouse Oocytes

We have previously shown that fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is required for AMP-activated protein kinase (PRKA)-induced maturation in vitro. In the present study, we have further investigated the role of this metabolic pathway in hormone-induced meiotic maturation. Incorporating an assay with 3H-palmitic acid as the substrate, we first examined the effect of PRKA activators on FAO levels. There was a significant stimulation of FAO in cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes (CEO) treated with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) and RSVA405. In denuded oocytes (DO), AICAR stimulated FAO only in the presence of carnitine, the molecule that facilitates fatty acyl CoA entry into the mitochondria. The carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 activator C75 successfully stimulated FAO in CEO. All three of these activators trigger germinal vesicle breakdown. Meiotic resumption induced by follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or amphiregulin was completely inhibited by the FAO inhibitors etomoxir, mercaptoacetate, and malonyl CoA. Importantly, FAO was increased in CEO stimulated by FSH and epidermal growth factor, and this increase was blocked by FAO inhibitors. Moreover, compound C, a PRKA inhibitor, prevented the FSH-induced increase in FAO. Both carnitine and palmitic acid augmented hormonal induction of maturation. In a more physiological setting, etomoxir eliminated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced maturation in follicle-enclosed oocytes. In addition, CEO and DO from hCG-treated mice displayed an etomoxir-sensitive increase in FAO, indicating that this pathway was stimulated during in vivo meiotic resumption. Taken together, our data indicate that hormone-induced maturation in mice requires a PRKA-dependent increase in FAO.
Heavy-ion superconducting linacs

The status of the superconducting heavy-ion accelerators is reviewed. Most of them are linacs used as boosters for tandem electrostatic accelerators, although the technology is being extended to very low velocity to eliminate the need for an injector. The features of the various superconducting heavy-ion accelerators are discussed. >
Indole acetic acid distribution coincides with vascular differentiation pattern during Arabidopsis leaf ontogeny

We used an anti-indole acetic acid (IAA or auxin) monoclonal antibody-based immunocytochemical procedure to monitor IAA level in Arabidopsis tissues. Using immunocytochemistry and the IAA-driven β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity of Aux/IAA promoter::GUS constructs to detect IAA distribution, we investigated the role of polar auxin transport in vascular differentiation during leaf development in Arabidopsis. We found that shoot apical cells contain high levels of IAA and that IAA decreases as leaf primordia expand. However, seedlings grown in the presence of IAA transport inhibitors showed very low IAA signal in the shoot apical meristem (SAM) and the youngest pair of leaf primordia. Older leaf primordia accumulate IAA in the leaf tip in the presence or absence of IAA transport inhibition. We propose that the IAA in the SAM and the youngest pair of leaf primordia is transported from outside sources, perhaps the cotyledons, which accumulate more IAA in the presence than in the absence of transport inhibition. The temporal and spatial pattern of IAA localization in the shoot apex indicates a change in IAA source during leaf ontogeny that would influence flow direction and, consequently, the direction of vascular differentiation. The IAA production and transport pattern suggested by our results could explain the venation pattern, and the vascular hypertrophy caused by IAA transport inhibition. An outside IAA source for the SAM supports the notion that IAA transport and procambium differentiation dictate phyllotaxy and organogenesis.
Factors that contribute to physician variability in decisions to limit life support in the ICU: a qualitative study

Our aim was to explore reasons for physician variability in decisions to limit life support in the intensive care unit (ICU) utilizing qualitative methodology. Single center study consisting of semi-structured interviews with experienced physicians and nurses. Seventeen intensivists from medical (n = 7), surgical (n = 5), and anesthesia (n = 5) critical care backgrounds, and ten nurses from medical (n = 5) and surgical (n = 5) ICU backgrounds were interviewed. Principles of grounded theory were used to analyze the interview transcripts. Eleven factors within four categories were identified that influenced physician variability in decisions to limit life support: (1) physician work environment—workload and competing priorities, shift changes and handoffs, and incorporation of nursing input; (2) physician experiences—of unexpected patient survival, and of limiting life support in physician’s family; (3) physician attitudes—investment in a good surgical outcome, specialty perspective, values and beliefs; and (4) physician relationship with patient and family—hearing the patient’s wishes firsthand, engagement in family communication, and family negotiation. We identified several factors which physicians and nurses perceived were important sources of physician variability in decisions to limit life support. Ways to raise awareness and ameliorate the potentially adverse effects of factors such as workload, competing priorities, shift changes, and handoffs should be explored. Exposing intensivists to long term patient outcomes, formalizing nursing input, providing additional training, and emphasizing firsthand knowledge of patient wishes may improve decision making.
Mechanism of Achieving Nanocrystalline AIRu By Ball Milling

We investigated through X- ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy the crystal refinement of the intermetallic compound AIRu by high- energy ball milling. The deformation process causes a decrease of crystal size to 5–7 rum and an increase of atomic level strain. This deformation is localized in shear bands with a thickness of 0.5 to 1 micron. Within these bands the crystal lattice breaks into small grains with a typical size of 8–14 rum. Further deformation leads to a final nanocrystalline structure with randomly oriented crystallite grains separated by high- angle grain boundaries.
Soil and Solid Poultry Waste Nutrient Management and Water Quality

Concerns about the impacts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens on surface and ground water quality has forced the poultry industry to implement voluntary waste management guidelines for use by growers. In some states, animal waste guidelines are being enforced by regulatory agencies. Strategies that growers may use to properly dispose of poultry waste include: 1) local land application as a fertilizer; 2) offsite marketing for use as a fertilizer or soil amendment, feed additive, or energy source; and 3) chemical additives that will immobilize nitrogen and phosphorus in the manure or litter. If properly followed, these and other innovative strategies should be adequate to protect surface and ground water quality without adversely affecting the economics of poultry production.
Image segmentation based on the integration of pixel affinity and deformable models

This paper describes a general-purpose method we have developed for automatically segmenting objects of an unknown number and unknown locations in images. Our method integrates deformable models and statistics of image cues including intensity, gradient, color and texture. By using a combination of image features rather than a single feature such as gradient our method is more robust to noise and sparse data. To allow for the automated segmentation of an unknown number and locations of objects, we simultaneously segment objects initialized at uniformly distributed points in the image. A method is developed to automatically merge models corresponding to the same object. Results of the method are presented for several examples, including greyscale, color and noisy images.
The Open‐Ended Legacy of Ralph Wendell Burhoe

Through cultivating my thinking, along with that of many others, Ralph Burhoe taught me to understand myself in relational terms. He helped me to appreciate religious traditions on scientific grounds and to see how religion adapts to changing conditions even as it continues to provide meaning and guidance to the wider culture. He restored my belief in an ever-present sovereign God when God is understood in terms of function and system.
Effect of information systems on the achievement of organizational goals: a modern control theory approach

An analytic method of analysis is developed to explicitly determine the effect of alternative information systems on the attainment of organizational goals. Model formulation is based on optimal control theory, coupled with the behavioral aspects of organizational team theory. The model incorporates a multiperiod, multiperson, stochastic environment with decentralized team decision making. An illustration of how the model can be used for information system evaluation shows its ability to explicitly isolate the effect of specific information system design alternatives on the achievement on organizational goals. This approach gives the information system designer the ability to determine optimal (in the sense of organizational goal achievement) information systems. In the specific setting used, the effect of alternate information systems on the achievement of organizational goals varied both with regard to particular decision makers and with respect to time. >
Exploiting moral wiggle room: experiments demonstrating an illusory preference for fairness

This paper explores whether generosity in experiments is truly evidence of concern for desirable social outcomes. We conduct an experiment using a binary version of the dictator game. We introduce several treatments in which subjects are able to leave the relationship between their actions and resulting outcomes uncertain, either to themselves or to another subject influenced by those actions, thus giving subjects the moral “wiggle room” to behave self-interestedly. We find significantly less generous behavior in these manipulations, relative to a baseline in which the relationship between actions and outcomes is transparent. We conclude that many subjects behave fairly in the baseline case mainly because they intrinsically dislike appearing unfair, either to themselves or others.
Laser Interactions for the Synthesis and In Situ Diagnostics of Nanomaterials

Laser interactions have traditionally been at the center of nanomaterials science, providing highly nonequilibrium growth conditions to enable the synthesis of novel new nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanowires with metastable phases. Simultaneously, lasers provide unique opportunities for the remote characterization of nanomaterial size, structure, and composition through tunable laser spectroscopy, scattering, and imaging. Pulsed lasers offer the opportunity, therefore, to supply the required energy and excitation to both control and understand the growth processes of nanomaterials, providing valuable views of the typically nonequilibrium growth kinetics and intermediates involved. Here we illustrate the key challenges and progress in laser interactions for the synthesis and in situ diagnostics of nanomaterials through recent examples involving primarily carbon nanomaterials, including the pulsed growth of carbon nanotubes and graphene.