cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Study of the chemistry of NH3 on aluminum nitride and oxynitride under steady-state conditions using external-reflection infrared spectroscopy

Abstract Polarization-modulated Fourier-transform infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy has been applied to the characterization of thin films of AlN and Al oxynitride (‘AlON’) on NiAl(111) and to the observation of surface chemical processes under steady-state conditions in a static NH 3 ambient of up to 200 Torr. AlN films, grown by dosing NiAl(111) with NH 3 at ∼1230 K, are found to be structurally inhomogeneous and largely disordered, with no evidence of chemisorption at 300 K in a background of 200 Torr of NH 3 . AlON films, grown by dosing NiAl(111) with NO near 300 K and annealing to 1000 K, appear more homogeneous and show distinct surface and bulk vibrational modes. The former responds reversibly to chemisorbed NH 3 which can be detected under steady-state conditions by the appearance of the δ s symmetric deformation mode. In comparison to similar results for Al 2 O 3 , the δ s frequency indicates a lesser degree of Lewis acidity for the AlON surface.
The decision to cover a procedure at HMOs: who makes the call?

Abstract A model is developed in which medical directors at health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have a most preferred level of responsibility for making decisions about coverage for new procedures. Responsibility that they do not have is shared by decision makers internal to and external to the HMO based on a combination of the medical director's preferences and constraints set by the HMO. Therefore, observations of the division of responsibility are expected to depend on preferences and constraints. We find that variation in constraints imposed by HMOs, but not variation in medical directors' preferences, influences the division of decision making authority between medical directors, others internal to the HMO, and decision makers external to the HMO.
Climatic and topographic controls on soil organic matter storage and dynamics in the Indian Himalaya: potential carbon cycle-climate change feedbacks.

Abstract Soil organic carbon (SOC) affects soil fertility and agricultural production, and SOC storage can also mitigate increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations on decadal timescales or longer. SOC storage is dependent on climatic conditions, and changes in temperature and precipitation associated with climate change can influence soil processes leading to feedback mechanisms that help control atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Soils in tropical and subtropical mountain systems may be particularly sensitive to climate change, but SOC storage in high tropical and subtropical mountain regions is poorly quantified. To begin to evaluate the importance of C storage in soils in high mountain regions, regional SOC abundance was examined across the Himalaya of northern India. Soil samples were collected from the Kulu Lesser Himalaya, Lahul Himalaya, and Zanskar along an altitudinal and precipitation gradient of ~ 1900 to ~ 5000 m above sea level and ~ 100 to ~ 900 mm yr − 1 , respectively, and analyzed for SOC inventory as well as Δ 14 C and δ 13 C. The average annual SOC accumulation rates (between 1.9 g m − 2 yr − 1 and 47.3 g m − 2 yr − 1 ) and corresponding SOC turnover times (between ~ 50 and 3300 years) were highly variable. The results show that SOC stocks in the Indian Himalaya are more sensitive to moisture availability than temperature, as average annual precipitation was a greater influence on SOC than altitude. Stable carbon isotope data indicate that C3 vegetation has been consistently dominant in the region for the last ~ 7000 years. Rates of SOC accumulation and turnover are influenced greatly by variations in climate, vegetation, and topography. We conclude that increased precipitation may lead to increased SOC storage in the region, unless soils are exposed to greater erosion rates during intense storms.
Development of a hurricane boundary-layer wind model

Hurricanes cause a variety of damage due to high winds, heavy rains, and storm surges. This study focuses on hurricanes’ high winds. The most devastating effects of sustained high winds occur in the first few hours of landfall. During the short period, hurricanes’ rainfall often increases, while the low-level pressure gradients continue to weaken. Latent heating does not appear to strengthen the surface winds. The indicator is that dry mechanisms such as the boundary layer processes and terrain are responsible for the damaging winds in the coastal areas. In this study, the design of a dry hurricane boundary layer wind model is described. The goal is to develop a forecast tool with near-real time applications in expeditious wind damage assessment and disaster mitigation during a hurricane landfall event. Different surface roughness lengths and topographic features ranging from flat land to the mountainous terrain of Taiwan were used in the model simulation experiments to reveal how the coastal environment affected the hurricane surface winds. The model performed quite well in all cases. The experiments suggested that the downward transfer of high momentum aloft played a significant role in the maintenance of high wind speeds at the surface. The surface wind maximums were observed on the lee sides of high terrain. The surface streamline analyses showed that the high mountains tended to block the relatively weak flow and caused small eddies, while they forced the stronger flow to turn around the mountains. Due to great difficulty in data collection, the hurricane boundary layer over land remains one of the least understood parts of the system. The dry model proves to be an effective way to study many aspects of hurricane boundary layer winds over a wide range of terrain features and landfall sites. The model runs efficiently and can be run on a medium-size personal computer.
Subcolloidal Fe/Ag particles for reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated benzenes

Subcolloidal (<0.1 μm) iron−silver (1% Ag) particles were synthesized for the transformation of chlorinated benzenes in aqueous solution. Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (4 mg/L) was dechlorinated to tetra...
Looking on the bright side: females prefer coloration indicative of male size and condition in the sexually dichromatic spadefoot toad, Scaphiopus couchii

Females across many taxa commonly use multiple or complex traits to choose mates. However, the functional significance of multiple or complex signals remains controversial and largely unknown. Different elements of multiple or complex signals may convey independent pieces of information about different aspects of a prospective mate (the “multiple messages” hypothesis). Alternatively, multiple or complex signals could provide redundant information about the same aspect of a prospective mate (the “redundant” or “back-up” signal hypothesis). We investigated these alternatives using spadefoot toads, Scaphiopus couchii. Spadefoot toads primarily use calls to attract their mates, but males also exhibit sexually dimorphic coloration. We investigated whether male coloration is indicative of male size, condition, or infection status by a socially transmitted monogenean flatworm. We found that male coloration and dorsal patterning predicts male size and condition but not infection status. Moreover, when we presented females with a choice between a bright male model and a dark male model, we found that females preferred the bright model. Because aspects of males’ calls are also associated with male size and condition, we conclude that coloration is a potentially redundant indicator of male phenotype. We suggest that coloration could enhance mate choice in conjunction with male calling behavior by providing females with a long distance cue that could enable them to identify prospective mates in a noisy chorus environment where the discrimination of individual calls is often difficult. Generally, such redundant signals may facilitate mate choice by enhancing the quality and accuracy of information females receive regarding prospective mates.
Cooperative Patrolling via Weighted Tours: Performance Analysis and Distributed Algorithms

This paper focuses on the problem of patrolling an environment with a team of autonomous agents. Given a set of strategically important locations (viewpoints) with different priorities, our patrolling strategy consists of 1) constructing a tour through the viewpoints, and 2) driving the robots along the tour in a coordinated way. As performance criteria, we consider the weighted refresh time, i.e., the longest time interval between any two visits of a viewpoint, weighted by the viewpoint's priority. We consider the design of both optimal trajectories and distributed control laws for the robots to converge to optimal trajectories. First, we propose a patrolling strategy and we characterize its performance as a function of the environment and the viewpoints priorities. Second, we restrict our attention to the problem of patrolling a nonintersecting tour, and we describe a team trajectory with minimum weighted refresh time. Third, for the tour patrolling problem and for two distinct communication scenarios, namely the Passing and the Neighbor-Broadcast communication models, we develop distributed algorithms to steer the robots toward a minimum weighted refresh time team trajectory. Finally, we show the effectiveness and robustness of our control algorithms via simulations and experiments.
A new Z/sub 11/ impedance technique to extract mobility and sheet carrier concentration in HFETs and MESFETs

Conventional techniques to extract channel mobility, /spl mu/, and sheet carrier concentration, n/sub s/, in heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) do not account for the distributed nature of the device. This can result in substantial errors. To address this, we have developed a new technique that consists of measuring the gate-to-source impedance with the drain floating (Z/sub 11/) over a broad frequency range. A transmission line model (TL model) is fitted to Re[Z/sub 11/], thus obtaining the gate capacitance and channel resistance (and consequently /spl mu/(V/sub GS/) and n/sub s/(V/sub GS/)) in a single measurement. We demonstrate this technique in InAlAs-InGaAs on InP HFET's. The TL model faithfully represents Z/sub 11/ from 100 Hz to 15 MHz. Our technique can easily be automated and thus is a good tool for accurate charge control in an industrial environment.
Assessing vessel damage with color Doppler optical coherence tomography following irradiations with cooling

The effects of cooling, laser irradiation, and laser irradiation with cooling on blood vessels were investigated with Color Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography (CDOCT). CDOCT may contribute to an understanding of the dynamics of laser-blood vessel interactions and aid in better optimization of laser parameters to be used. In this study, hamster dorsal skin flap window vessels were irradiated with a KTP laser operating at 532 nm. Irradiation sites were imaged with CDOCT prior to, during, immediately after, and several days after irradiation. KTP laser parameters were: radiant exposures in the range of 7-14 J/cm2, 3 mm spot size, and 10 ms pulse duration. Magnitude and color Doppler images provided information such as vessel size, depth, and changes in blood flow velocity. Vessel constriction, temporary occlusion, and changes in flow were frequent results of laser irradiation visualized with CDOCT. In addition, the effects of cooling alone were imaged with CDOCT and its effects on blood vessel flow and morphology were investigated before and after laser irradiation.
A secondary market for the trading of spectrum: promoting market liquidity

Abstract The development of a successful secondary market for the trading of spectrum is not a foregone conclusion. The multi-dimensional nature of radio spectrum, which requires that a bid to buy and an offer to sell conform across the multiple dimensions, suggests that the market may be very “thin.” In addition, existing commercial users of spectrum have little incentive to sell excess spectrum if such spectrum will be employed by the buyer to provide a service that competes with the service provider by the seller. This paper discusses several steps to enhance market liquidity. One approach involves obtaining participation from federal spectrum users. Another step involves developing a market that both enhances market liquidity and provides participants the opportunity to incorporate a call option in the traded asset.
A case of an arachnoid cyst masquerading as corticobasal degeneration.

We present an individual, “JD”, a 69-year-old Caucasian, married female with symptoms that included progressive right arm stiffness, tremor, and clumsiness; increasing gait and balance disturbance; increased fatigue and emotionality. Neuropsychological evaluation revealed compromised semantics and language-associated functions; impaired visual constructional ability; markedly reduced cognitive and visuomotor processing speed; low average to average working memory; variable praxis performance; variable abstract reasoning, problem solving, and set shifting; and lower overall intellectual functioning compared to premorbid estimates. Overall, her neuropsychological profile indicated marked compromise of the frontal and left parietal regions. The data coupled with her symptom pattern and demographics partially fit corticobasal degeneration diagnostic criteria. Neuroimaging, however, performed 2 years prior to the assessment and again during the current workup revealed an enlarging arachnoid cyst compressing th...
WATER, PEACE AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INDUS AND MEKONG RIVER BASINS

(1990). WATER, PEACE AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INDUS AND MEKONG RIVER BASINS. Water International: Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 200-205.
Can an isometer predict the tensile behavior of a double‐looped hamstring graft during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction?

An isometer, a highly compliant spring-scale device for measuring suture displacement, has been used intraoperatively by surgeons to select the optimal placement of the femoral tunnel for an anterior cruciate ligament graft. The isometer measures the displacement of a suture centered in a tibial tunnel and attached to an intraarticular location on the femur before the femoral tunnel is drilled. Because the placement of the femoral tunnel strongly impacts the tensile behavior of an anterior cruciate ligament graft and because surgeons have used the amount of suture displacement to guide the placement of the femoral tunnel, the objective of this study was to determine the ability of an isometer to predict graft tension. In 14 patient undergoing reconstructive surgery of the anterior cruciate ligament, an isometer was used to measure suture displacement during passive knee motion for a provisional femoral tunnel location. An electrogoniometer recorded the flexion angle of the knee. The femoral tunnel was drilled. A double-looped semitendinosus and gracilis autograft was inserted around a post in the femoral tunnel, and the tension in the four limbs of the graft exiting the tibial tunnel was measured during passive knee motion. Graft-tension versus knee-flexion-angle curves revealed that each knee exhibited one of two distinct curve shapes: L-shaped, characterized by the maximum tension occurring at full extension and a nearly flat profile from 35 to 90° of flexion, or U-shaped, with elevated tensions at 80–90° of flexion (p < 0.001) reaching at least half of the tension in full extension. Because the shapes of the suture-displacement versus flexion-angle curves were more consistently L-shaped, the intraoperative measurement of suture displacement was not a useful predictor of either the increase in tension in the graft with flexion or the maximum tension in the graft.
Multi-species interactions impact the accumulation of weathered 2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) from soil.

Abstract The impact of interactions between the earthworms Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus terrestris and the plants Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima on the uptake of weathered p,p′-DDE from soil was determined. Although some combinations of earthworm and plant species caused significant changes in the p,p′-DDE burden in both organisms, the effects were species specific. Contaminant bioconcentration in C. pepo was increased slightly by E. foetida and by 3-fold when the plant was grown with L. terrestris. E. foetida had no effect on the contaminant BCF by C. maxima, but L. terrestris caused a 2-fold reduction in p,p′-DDE uptake by the plant. Contaminant levels in E. foetida and L. terrestris were unaffected by C. pepo. When grown with C. maxima, the concentration of p,p′-DDE decreased by approximately 4-fold and 7-fold in E. foetida and L. terrestris, respectively. The data suggest that the prediction of contaminant bioavailability should consider interactions among species.
Ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer in rigid donor-spacer-acceptor molecules: modification of spacer energetics as a probe for superexchange

Abstract Four fixed-distance porphyrin-quinone molecules, 1-syn, 1-anti, 2-syn, and 2-anti, were synthesized. These molecules possess a zinc 5-phenyl-10,15,20-tripentylporphyrin electron donor attached to a naphthoquinone via a rigid pentiptycene spacer. The central benzene ring of the spacer is unsubstituted in 1 and possesses p-dimethoxy substituents in 2. The naphthoquinone is oriented either syn or anti to the porphyrin across the spacer. These molecules provide information concerning the orientation dependence of electron transfer between the porphyrin and the quinone, and the dependence of this transfer on low-lying ionic states of the spacer. The rate constants for the oxidation of the porphyrin lowest excited singlet state by the naphthoquinone are 1-syn: 8.2 x 109 s−1; 1-anti: 1.7 x 1010 s−1; 2-syn: 8.5 x 109 s−1; 2-anti: 1.9 x 1010 S−1. The corresponding rate constants for the porphyrin cation - naphthoquinone anion recombination reaction are 1-syn: 1.4 x 1010 s−1; 1-anti: 2.5 x 1010 s−1; 2-syn: 5.0 x 1010 s−1; 2-anti: 8.2 x 1010 s-1. The rate constants for the syn isomers are uniformly a factor of about 2 slower than those of the anti isomers. The charge separation reaction rates for 1 and 2 are similar, while the ion pair recombination reactions are about 3-4 x faster in 2 than in 1. The conformational effect is attributed to better overlap of the spacer wave functions in the anti vs the syn conformation, while the increase in recombination rate for 2 over 1 is attributed to a superexchange interaction involving an electronic configuration of the spacer in which the dimethoxybenzene cation contributes.
On Simulated Likelihood of Discretely Observed Diffusion Processes and Comparison to Closed-Form Approximation

This article focuses on two methods to approximate the log-likelihood of discretely observed univariate diffusions: (1) the simulation approach using a modified Brownian bridge as the importance sampler, and (2) the closed-form approximation approach. For the case of constant volatility, we give a theoretical justification of the modified Brownian bridge sampler by showing that it is exactly a Brownian bridge. We also discuss computational issues in the simulation approach such as accelerating the numerical variance stabilizing transformation, computing derivatives of the simulated log-likelihood, and choosing initial values of parameter estimates. The two approaches are compared in the context of financial applications under a benchmark model which has an unknown transition density and has no analytical variance stabilizing transformation. The closed-form approximation, particularly the second-order closed-form, is found to be computationally efficient and very accurate when the observation frequency is ...
Effectiveness of Culture Jamming in Agenda Building: An Analysis of the Yes Men's Bhopal Disaster Prank

Activist organizations have attempted to build their media agenda through hoaxes as part of a broader strategy called culture jamming. To test the efficacy of this strategy, we conducted a content analysis of 114 newspaper articles about the Bhopal disaster, framed through agenda building theory (Cobb & Elder, 1971). The articles examined were published two years before and after a hoax perpetrated by the activist group The Yes Men. Six hypotheses and one overarching research question were proposed. Several 2 × 2 chi-square tests were conducted to determine the impact of the hoax on the media agenda by examining differences in frequencies of several categories, including mention of (a) Dow ownership, (b) ongoing health consequences, (c) death toll, and (d) additional legal redress both before and after the hoax. Results indicate that the Bhopal BBC hoax actually decreased the media's use of frames sympathetic to the victims of Bhopal. This surprising discovery suggests that culture jammers should alter th...
Long-Term Implications of Early Education and Care Programs for Australian Children.

Using nationally representative data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 5,107), this study assessed prospective connections between children’s early education and care (EEC) experiences from infancy through preschool and their cognitive and behavioral functioning in 1st grade. Incorporating 6 waves of data, analyses found that greater duration and intensity of exposure to center EEC settings predicted heightened fluid intelligence but also decreased behavioral functioning across multiple realms and reporters. Assessment of the timing of exposure found that the combination of infant/toddler and preschool center EEC, rather than only preschool EEC, drove these patterns. Results largely replicate patterns from U.S. studies, suggesting the importance of identifying EEC programs and models that can support children’s behavioral as well as cognitive skills. In contrast to U.S. results, associations between center EEC and children’s later functioning did not extend to basic academic skills and were not moderated by family socioeconomic resources or child temperament.
Selective inversion investigations of slow molecular motion in solid state deuteron NMR spectroscopy.

Abstract Deuteron selective inversion experiments are reported for polycrystalline dimethyl sulfone- d 6 as a function of temperature from 288 to 333 K. Double sideband modulation was used to achieve efficient off-resonance orienta tion-selective inversion. Fitting the selective inversion-recovery curves to two-site jump equations yields the motional rate. Temperature dependent jump rates, obtained from both selective inversion and deuteron quadrupole echo lineshapes, give an activation energy E a = 86.5 ± 1.4 kJ mol −1 and a frequency factor ln( A ) = 39.2 ± 0.5. These values differ significantly from those of earlier 13 C lineshape studies. At 298 K, variable power excitation was used to determine the underlying orientation dependent homogeneous linewidth, which is predominantly dipolar. The temperature dependence of the homogeneous linewidth is a sensitive indicator of large angle jump motion in the range 10 3 − 10 4 s −1 .
A phase I study of bendamustine, lenalidomide and rituximab in relapsed and refractory lymphomas.

Summary Many patients with non-Hodgkin (NHL) or Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) relapse or are refractory to initial therapy and require additional options. Bendamustine (B), lenalidomide (L) and rituximab (R) each have activity in this setting. This study was performed to determine the safety of BLR and its optimal phase II dose. Patients with NHL or HL failing standard therapies received B (90 mg/m2 days 1, 2 every 28 days), and L (escalating from 5 mg 21/28 days) for six cycles, followed by 6 months of L. At the highest dose R 375 mg/m2 on day one of each cycle was added for patients with B-NHL. Histologies included diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL, 11), marginal zone lymphoma (3), HL (2), and one each of transformed follicular lymphoma, Sezary syndrome, Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia and mantle cell lymphoma. Neutropenia was the most common grade 3 and 4 toxicity, but no maximum tolerated dose was identified. Of 20 patients, seven responded (35%), including four complete remissions, with five unmaintained responses from 28+ to 37+ months, including 2 DLBCL. BR with 20 mg l at, 21/28 days achieved durable responses; however, in light of its modest activity, and the availability of newer targeted therapies, the future of BLR is uncertain.
Polycystins 1 and 2 mediate mechanosensation in the primary cilium of kidney cells

Several proteins implicated in the pathogenesis of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) localize to cilia. Furthermore, cilia are malformed in mice with PKD with mutations in TgN737Rpw (encoding polaris). It is not known, however, whether ciliary dysfunction occurs or is relevant to cyst formation in PKD. Here, we show that polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2), proteins respectively encoded by Pkd1 and Pkd2, mouse orthologs of genes mutated in human autosomal dominant PKD, co-distribute in the primary cilia of kidney epithelium. Cells isolated from transgenic mice that lack functional PC1 formed cilia but did not increase Ca(2+) influx in response to physiological fluid flow. Blocking antibodies directed against PC2 similarly abolished the flow response in wild-type cells as did inhibitors of the ryanodine receptor, whereas inhibitors of G-proteins, phospholipase C and InsP(3) receptors had no effect. These data suggest that PC1 and PC2 contribute to fluid-flow sensation by the primary cilium in renal epithelium and that they both function in the same mechanotransduction pathway. Loss or dysfunction of PC1 or PC2 may therefore lead to PKD owing to the inability of cells to sense mechanical cues that normally regulate tissue morphogenesis.
On the Road to China: The Environmental Landscape of the Early Pleistocene in Western Eurasia and Its Implication for the Dispersal of Homo

Many adaptations of the genus Homo have been attributed to the expansion savanna environments in East Africa during the past 5 million years. It has been hypothesized that this expansion of savanna habitats northward into the Levant as well as eastward into India and China in the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene is the impetus for Homo, as well as other African taxa, to ­disperse out of Africa. Paleoecological reconstructions based on the identification of grazing taxa and ecological diversity analyses have supported models that favor the role of extrinsic forces in the dispersal of early hominins. However, critical analysis of Indicator Species and Ecological Diversity Analysis methods of paleoecological reconstructions suggest that their application to higher latitude sites may not provide robust results. Community-wide taxonomic analysis for western Eurasian sites suggests that the ‘Ubeidiya, Dmanisi and the Orce basin sites are most similar to Mediterranean and temperate woodland and differ from African savanna. While Mediterranean and temperate biomes include a mixture of both open and closed habitats, there is no evidence for the presence of subtropical savannas of African origin. Key ecological factors such as temperature, precipitation and seasonality differ between the northern latitudinal region and East Africa. This suggests that grassland habitats present in northern latitudes may have provided a novel environment for dispersing hominin populations. This supports the intrinsic model of ‘Out of Africa I’, and the variability selection hypothesis in particular.
The relationship of fat to quality, and methods of standardizing the fat content, in Swiss cheese.

As a result of experimental research conducted in these laboratories and data obtained in factories in the Swiss cheese-producing areas in Wisconsin, Ohio, Idaho, and Pennsylvania, much information has been collected with respect to causes of variations in quality of Swiss cheese. I t was shown, in results published previously (3), that the use of milk of poor bacteriological quality (methylene blue reduction time less than 3 hours) resulted in a decrease in the average grade of the cheese, and also that a complete lack of ripeness in the milk was apparently detrimental. In a recent report (4), methods were described which can be used to control the amount of moisture in the green cheese, and it was demonstrated that methods used to reduce the percentage of moisture resulted in a general improvement in quality of cheese. This paper deals with the relationship between the percentage of fat in dry matter in the cheese and its quality, and with procedures used in predicting the percentage of fat in dry matter in the cured cheese.
Stability and traction control of an actively actuated micro‐rover

This article addresses the issue of enhancing mobility of actively actuated vehicles by the use of optimal force distribution, and by actively controlling the location of the center of mass of the vehicle body. Force distribution in actively actuated vehicles is an underspecified problem, and optimal force distribution leads to improved contact conditions. Actively actuated vehicles also possess the ability to vary their configuration. This capability can be used to locate the center of mass of the system to further enhance mobility by providing sufficient traction, and ensuring vehicle stability, during difficult vehicle maneuvers. In this work, the general idea of control of the location of the center of mass, followed by optimal force distribution, is addressed first. This is followed by an application of these ideas to Gofor, a simple actively actuated wheeled micro-rover system, that has been designed and fabricated at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. An algorithm to achieve desired traction and stability has been developed. Simulation studies were performed to investigate negotiation of a vertical surface. It was found that one set of wheels readily climbed the vertical surface with the use of active mass and force distribution. This is a significant improvement over traditional wheeled vehicle systems. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Simple Procedure for Jugular Vein Cannulation of Rats

Jugular vein cannulation of rats is a method widely used in biochemical toxicology studies to allow intravenous administration of toxicants and/or temporal collection of blood samples. Methods typi...
A new paradigm in thin film indentation

A new method to accurately and reliably extract the actual Young’s modulus of a thin film on a substrate by indentation was developed. The method involved modifying the discontinuous elastic interface transfer model to account for substrate effects that were found to influence behavior a few nanometers into a film several hundred nanometers thick. The method was shown to work exceptionally well for all 25 different combinations of five films on five substrates that encompassed a wide range of compliant films on stiff substrates to stiff films on compliant substrates. A predictive formula was determined that enables the film modulus to be calculated as long as one knows the film thickness, substrate modulus, and bulk Poisson’s ratio of the film and the substrate. The calculated values of the film modulus were verified with prior results that used the membrane deflection experiment and resonance-based methods. The greatest advantages of the method are that the standard Oliver and Pharr analysis can be used, and that it does not require the continuous stiffness method, enabling any indenter to be used. The film modulus then can be accurately determined by simply averaging a handful of indents on a film/substrate composite.
Quotient states and probabilistic channels

Restrictiveness is interpreted in terms of a quotient set of the states of a machine. Consideration is given to how restrictiveness can still allow certain probabilistic effects to open up a communication channel between high and low users of a computer system. Specifically, assigning probabilities to transitions in order to look for simple probabilistic channels is examined. The theory is then extended to deal with extended transitions. How Shannon's work on information theory can be used to analyze a system that is restrictive but nonetheless has a probabilistic channel is discussed. >
Congenital vascular malformations in childhood.

Congenital vascular malformations are an important group of vascular anomalies that occur very early in the pregnancy. Most of these malformations occur between the third and the seventh weeks of the embryonic development. Malformations can affect the arteries, veins, capillaries, and venous sinuses, involving an isolated vessel or a part of the vascular system. There are malformations that affect the vessel size or course, and others that show pathology of the wall anatomy of the vessel. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is improving the study conditions of this pathology. Treatment of most of the vascular malformations—some of them giving clinical symptoms during adulthood—still constitutes a challenge.
DNA Damage and Repair in the Brain After Cerebral Ischemia

In experimental models of brain injury of the ischemia-reperfusion type, there is a period of time in which the formation of oxidative damage exceeds its repair. Simultaneously, the expression of immediate early genes is induced to activate the expression of late effector genes. Drugs that reduce the need to repair during this transient period of time also attenuate neuronal death after brain injury. An example discussed in this review is the activator protein-1 (AP-1), the product of the c-fos gene and other immediate early genes. What is the effect of a delayed expression of these genes in relationship to the process of cell death? This short period presents a window of opportunity to study the effects of oxidative damage on gene expression in the brain and specific deficiencies in gene repair that have been associated with particular neurological disorders.
Mean curvature mapping for detection of corneal shape abnormality

Corneal topography is used to measure the anterior surface of the cornea. It is conventionally represented as radial slope, radial curvature, and elevation. In this paper, we introduce the application of mean curvature mapping as an alternative representation of the corneal topography. The purpose is to improve the detection of keratoconus and other diseases characterized by local increase in corneal curvature. Both simulated keratoconic cornea and real keratoconus data exported from the corneal topography system were analyzed. Four representations of corneal topography were generated and compared. It was found that mean curvature mapping provided the most precise cone location in simulated keratoconus. In both actual and simulated keratoconus cases, the appearance of the cone-like distortion is more consistent on mean curvature maps. Mean curvature mapping may improve the detection and localization of corneal shape abnormalities.
On The Advantages of Tagged Architecture

This paper proposes that all data elements in a computer memory be made to be self-identifying by means of a tag. The paper shows that the advantages of the change from the traditional von Neumann machine to tagged architecture are seen in all software areas including programming systems, operating systems, debugging systems, and systems of software instrumentation. It discusses the advantages that accrue to the hardware designer in the implementation and gives examples for large- and small-scale systems. The economic costs of such an implementation for a minicomputer system are examined. The paper concludes that such a machine architecture may well be a suitable replacement for the traditional von Neumann architecture.
Habitat suitability as a limiting factor for establishment in a narrow endemic: Abronia alpina (Nyctaginaceae)

Abstract. Understanding the causes of narrow endemism is crucial to conservation, particularly in biodiversity hotspots like the California Floristic Province. The loss of rare species as a consequence of climate change could result in substantial reductions in biodiversity, especially in high-elevation systems. We investigated causes of range restriction by using the narrow alpine endemic Abronia alpina (Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena) as a case study. This study examined habitat suitability as a limiting factor for the establishment of Abronia alpina, an endemic native to only 2 meadow systems in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California, USA. We tested habitat suitability by (a) using vegetation community composition and diversity as a proxy; (b) measuring key physical environmental characteristics (i.e., soil moisture, pH, soil texture, and surface soil temperature); and (c) establishing experimental field and greenhouse germination tests that exposed seeds to soils from several pote...
Narrowing a region on rat chromosome 13 that protects against hypertension in Dahl SS-13BN congenic strains

Transfer of chromosome 13 from the Brown Norway (BN) rat onto the Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) genetic background attenuates the development of hypertension, but the genes involved remain to be identified. The purpose of the present study was to confirm by telemetry that a congenic strain [SS.BN-(D13Hmgc37-D13Got22)/Mcwi, line 5], carrying a 13.4-Mb segment of BN chromosome 13 from position 32.4 to 45.8 Mb, is protected from the development of hypertension and then to narrow the region of interest by creating and phenotyping 11 additional subcongenic strains. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) rose from 118 ± 1 to 186 ± 5 mmHg in SS rats fed a high-salt diet (8.0% NaCl) for 3 wk. Protein excretion increased from 56 ± 11 to 365 ± 37 mg/day. In contrast, MAP only increased to 152 ± 9 mmHg in the line 5 congenic strain. Six subcongenic strains carrying segments of BN chromosome 13 from 32.4 and 38.2 Mb and from 39.9 to 45.8 Mb were not protected from the development of hypertension. In contrast, MAP was reduced by ∼30 mmHg in five strains, carrying a 1.9-Mb common segment of BN chromosome 13 from 38.5 to 40.4 Mb. Proteinuria was reduced by ∼50% in these strains. Sequencing studies did not identify any nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the coding region of the genes in this region. RT-PCR studies indicated that 4 of the 13 genes in this region were differentially expressed in the kidney of two subcongenic strains that were partially protected from hypertension vs. those that were not. These results narrow the region of interest on chromosome 13 from 13.4 Mb (159 genes) to a 1.9-Mb segment containing only 13 genes, of which 4 are differentially expressed in strains partially protected from the development of hypertension.
Finding human poses in videos using concurrent matching and segmentation

We propose a novel method to detect human poses in videos by concurrently optimizing body part matching and object segmentation. With a single exemplar image, the proposed method detects the poses of a specific human subject in long video sequences. Matching and segmentation support each other and therefore the simultaneous optimization enables more reliable results. However, efficient concurrent optimization is a great challenge due to its huge search space. We propose an efficient linear method that solves the problem. In this method, the optimal body part matching conforms to local appearances and a human body plan, and the body part configuration is consistent with the object foreground estimated by simultaneous superpixel labeling. Our experiments on a variety of videos show that the proposed method is efficient and more reliable than previous locally constrained approaches.
Efficient impulsive noise suppression via nonlinear recursive filtering

A nonlinear recursive filter for the suppression of impulsive noises is proposed. The filter selects from each window the sample closest in value to the most recent output and is thus named the last output reference (LOR) filter. A relationship between the LOR and recursive median filters is derived, and some statistical properties are studied through computer simulation. The results indicate that this filter preserves edges while suppressing impulsive noise. It is shown that LOR filters are more effective in suppressing impulses and are often simpler to implement than median filters. >
Magnesium Oxychloride Cement Concrete with Recycled Tire Rubber

Either portland cement or magnesium oxychloride cement was used as binders for concretes that incorporated fine rubber aggregate, ranging from 0 to 25 percent by volume. The concretes were tested for their compressive and split tensile strengths to determine whether the use of a magnesium oxychloride cement along with recycled tire rubbers would improve concrete properties. Failure of the concrete around the rubber particles was attributed to tension failure, leading to weak shear failure of the concrete matrix. Both portland and magnesium oxychloride cement concretes lost 90 percent of their compressive strength with 25 percent rubber by volume. The portland cement concrete retained 20 percent of its tensile strength, and the magnesium oxychloride cement concrete retained 35 percent of its tensile strength. Both compressive and tensile strengths of magnesium oxychloride cement rubber concrete were significantly higher than rubberized portland cement rubber concrete.
Capturing software process and product characteristics in process models using task element decomposition

Improving software processes is a major concern for many organizations. Software project managers are concerned with questions such as: determining which development phases are essential and which phases can be skipped to reduce development costs; determining whether inspections are worthwhile; predicting the benefit associated with implementing a proposed process change before a substantial commitment of resources is made; and determining how to prioritize potential process changes. To evaluate these questions, many product and process factors such as source code quality, complexity, and size, developer skill, and tools must be taken into account. Also, the inherent stochastic nature of software development must be captured.Task Element Decomposition (TED) is a new approach which was designed specifically for modeling software development work. This method can capture variations and correlations due to code size and complexity, quality differences among components at different stages of development, and variations in the work performed by developers. This method is embedded in software process models to capture process details and interrelations which enable comparisons between alternative software processes and process changes as well as to prioritize process changes.This paper reviews three different modeling approaches and the suitability of each approach for capturing features characteristic of software development. TED is shown to be a superior approach for this work and is tested using a comprehensive software process example. Field data are then used to validate this approach from a leading software development company. Preliminary results from the validation are reported and further support the value of TED for modeling software development projects.
Extracellular Substrate Stiffness Alters Macrophage Morphology and Function

Macrophages participate in immunity, tissue repair, and tissue homeostasis, and also mediate pathologic conditions including atherosclerosis and cancer. Depending on microenvironmental cues, macrophages may adopt a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory phenotype. Tissue stiffness influences the behavior and differentiation of cells, yet little is known about how the physical extracellular environment influences macrophage function. To study the role of substrate stiffness in determining macrophage phenotype, we cultured murine macrophages on tunable polyacrylamide gels that approximate different tissue stiffnesses. Macrophages on rigid surfaces had larger surface area and reduced circularity compared to macrophages on compliant gels. On rigid surfaces, phagocytosis was increased, but lipid uptake was decreased. Cytokine secretion differed in macrophages grown on compliant versus rigid surfaces. Differences in response to the toll-like receptor ligands CpG oligonucleotide and lipopolysaccharide were also n...
Free Sound Within Culturally Specific Practice

Since the 1980s, composers from cultures outside of Europe and North America have begun to integrate traditional elements within electroacoustic music. This has included the use of non-Western musical instruments, sometimes expanded by the use of electronics, sounds from local cultural environments, speech sounds in a native tongue, and non-Western aesthetic concepts and musical forms. A number of these approaches are discussed, accompanied by musical examples and analysis of what motivates composers to follow these directions. Implications for musical practice are also addressed, with a focus on first hand composer narratives and observations.
Root Hair Deforming and Nodule Initiating Factors from Rhizobium Trifolii

Axenic legume root hairs typically remain straight. Early in the infection process, Rhizobium secretes compounds that induce various morphological changes in root hairs, including enhanced differentiation (leading to greater hair density per root surface area), elongation, various deformations including helices, branches, bulbs, and curlings including the 360° tight curl (so called “shepherd crooks”) at hair tips (Yao & Vincent 1969). It has been proposed that these deformations may represent altered synthesis and/or stabilization of the root hair cell wall during growth (for reviews, see Bauer 1981; Dazzo & Hubbell 1982; Halverson & Stacey 1986; Rolfe & Gresshoff 1988).
Ca2+ dependent phosphorylation of bovine aortic actomyosin.

SummaryStudies of bovine aortic actomyosin employing isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis show Ca2+ dependent phosphorylation of 15,000 dalton polypeptides. These polypeptides probably correspond to the myosin light chains. The Ca2+ requirement for phosphorylation parallels the Ca2+ requirement for activation of Mg2+ stimulated actomyosin ATPase. These findings suggest that the Ca2+ regulatory mechanism for actin-myosin interactions in mammalian vascular smooth muscle may be partly mediated by phosphorylation of myosin light chains.
Diffractive imaging of a rotational wavepacket in nitrogen molecules with femtosecond megaelectronvolt electron pulses

Imaging changes in molecular geometries on their natural femtosecond timescale with sub-Angstrom spatial precision is one of the critical challenges in the chemical sciences, as the nuclear geometry changes determine the molecular reactivity. For photoexcited molecules, the nuclear dynamics determine the photoenergy conversion path and efficiency. Here we report a gas-phase electron diffraction experiment using megaelectronvolt (MeV) electrons, where we captured the rotational wavepacket dynamics of nonadiabatically laser-aligned nitrogen molecules. We achieved a combination of 100 fs root-mean-squared temporal resolution and sub-Angstrom (0.76 A) spatial resolution that makes it possible to resolve the position of the nuclei within the molecule. In addition, the diffraction patterns reveal the angular distribution of the molecules, which changes from prolate (aligned) to oblate (anti-aligned) in 300 fs. Our results demonstrate a significant and promising step towards making atomically resolved movies of molecular reactions.
CERVICAL ROOT ENTRAPMENT

SUMMARY This article reviews the clinical syndromes of neck pain with referred pain, radiculopathy, and myelopathy caused by degenerative disorders of the cervical spine. Cervical spine pathology should be considered as a common cause of symptoms when evaluating with any patient with pain in the upper extremity.
Gallstones: pathophysiology and dissolution.

Gallstones are composed predominantly of cholesterol, a water-insoluble lipid normally present in bile. Bile acids and lecithin in an aqueous medium aggregate to form mixed micelles, within which cholesterol can be solubilized. Most patients with gallstones have a deficiency of bile acids characterized by a decrease in the ratio of bile acids and lecithin to cholesterol in bile and a decrease in the total bile acid pool size. Ingestion of chenodeoxycholic acid corrects these abnormalities, and initial observations have demonstrated gallstone dissolution.