cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cerebral correlates of cognitive aging: Gray-white-matter differentiation in the medial temporal lobes, and fluid versus crystallized abilities

We investigated the relationship between age, structural properties of selected cerebral regions, and cognitive performance in healthy adults, 18 to 78 years old. Spin-lattice relaxation time (T1), measured by nuclear magnetic resonance, was used to describe the structural composition of the brain tissue. Temporal lobe white-matter T1 showed age-related prolongation best described by a quadratic polynomial. There was a significant cubic trend in the association of hippocampal (gray-matter) T1 with age. In the examined regions of the medial temporal lobes, normally observed differentiation between gray- and white-matter T1 diminished linearly with age and dis-appeared almost completely in the elderly. Age and the ratio of gray-to white-matter T1 accounted for 53% of the variance in a measure of fluid intelligence (Cattell Culture Fair Test); the unique contributions of age and of gray-white-matter T1 ratio were 23% and 3%, respectively. The largest share of the variance in fluid intelligence (27%) was explained by the common influence of age and gray-white-matter T1 ratio. The same set of variables explained no significant proportion of the variance in crystallized intelligence. The possible mechanisms underlying age-related changes in gray-white-matter differentiation, their relationship to age-related selective deterioration of cognitive functions, and the implications of the findings for research on biological markers of aging are discussed.
Waferscale electrostatic quadrupole array for multiple ION beam manipulation

We report on the first through-wafer silicon-based Electrostatic Quadrupole Array (ESQA) to focus high energy ion beams. This device is a key enabler for a wafer-based accelerator architecture that lends itself to orders-of-magnitude reduction in cost, volume and weight of charged particle accelerators. ESQs are a key building block in developing compact Multiple Electrostatic Quadrupole Array Linear Accelerator (MEQALAC) [1]. In a MEQALAC electrostatic forces are used to focus ions, and electrostatic field scaling permits high beam current densities by decreasing the beam aperture size for a given peak electric field set by breakdown limitations. Using multiple parallel beams, each totaling to an area A, can result in higher total beam current compared to a single aperture beam of the same area. Smaller dimensions also allow for higher focusing electric field gradients and therefore higher average beam current density. Here we demonstrate that Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) micromachined pillar electrodes, electrically isolated by silicon-nitride thin films enable higher performance ESQA with waferscale scalability. The fabricated ESQA are able to hold up toi kV in air. A 3×3 array of 12 keV argon ion beams are focused in a wafer accelerator unit cell to pave the way for multiple wafer accelerator.
Systemic Inflammation After Radiation Predicts Locoregional Recurrence, Progression, and Mortality in Stage II-III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Purpose Patients with triple-negative breast cancer experience high rates of recurrence after radiation, which may be facilitated by the recruitment of circulating tumor cells to proinflammatory microenvironments in the absence of lymphocytes. We hypothesized that patients with lymphopenia and elevated inflammatory hematologic markers after radiation therapy would have an increased risk of locoregional failure. Methods and Materials With approval, we retrospectively studied a cohort of women treated with adjuvant radiation therapy for stage II-III triple-negative breast cancer. We analyzed the relationship between post–radiation therapy neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and locoregional recurrence by using Cox regression. Results One-hundred thirty patients met inclusion criteria, and median follow-up time was 7.6 years. Patients with an NLR ≥3 had a higher rate of locoregional failure (P = .04) and lower overall survival (P = .04). After adjusting for stage (hazard ratio [HR], 5.5; P Conclusions Innate peripheral inflammation after radiation therapy for triple-negative breast cancer in an immunocompromised setting may be a novel prognostic biomarker for locoregional recurrence, progression, and survival. This finding supports preclinical studies of post–radiation therapy inflammation-mediated tumor progression. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding and develop treatment strategies.
Doping of MoTe2 via Surface Charge Transfer in Air

Doping is a key process by which the concentration and type of majority carriers can be tuned to achieve desired conduction properties. The common way of doping is via bulk impurities, as in the ca...
Anomalous carrier dynamics and localization effects in nonpolar m-plane InGaN/GaN quantum wells at high temperatures

Abstract Nonpolar InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) have gained significance for efficient light emitting since it eliminates polarization-related effects and allows for higher radiative capability. Although much progress has been made in analyzing carrier localization effects at cryogenic temperatures, carrier dynamics at above room temperatures are still not well understood. In this work, we have observed and explored anomalous carrier dynamics of two nonpolar m-plane InGaN/GaN QWs at high temperatures by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and photophysical characterization. Both experimental and theoretical results suggest that carrier lifetime in both samples increases with temperature in a certain range of temperature. However, the reduced integrity and uniformity of QWs make carriers more prone to the nonradiative Shockley-Reed-Hall recombination as temperature rises. Moreover, both acoustic and optical phonon scatterings dominate from 300 to 600 K through the analysis on the evolution of photoluminescence spectra. Overall, these detailed studies provide insights into approaches to evaluate carrier dynamics at elevated temperatures and improve emitting performance to further push the practical efficiency limit.
The Impact of Meeting Patients with Neurological Disorders on Medical Student Empathy.

Empathy tends to decline during medical education, typically beginning in the third year of medical school and often continuing throughout residency and the physician’s medical career. The purpose of this study was to determine if first year medical student empathy is affected by small group interactions with patients with neurological disorders, and to investigate if changes in empathy persisted over time. Eighty first year medical students participating in a Neuroscience Module interacted with a variety of neurological patients in a small group informational session. Prior to the experience, participants completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy–Student (JSPE-S) version. After the experience, students completed a post-test JSPE-S questionnaire, and a final post-post-test JSPE-S questionnaire was completed 5 weeks later. Empathy scores were compared with a repeated measures MANOVA. The relationship between gender and empathy, and the effect of the age of the neurological patients on empathy scores were also examined. Empathy scores for seventy-one students who completed the JSPE-S questionnaires were analyzed. Students had significantly higher empathy immediately after the patient interaction experience, and the change in empathy was sustained over the course of 5 weeks (p = 0.015). The age of the neurological patients had a significant effect on empathy scores. There was no significant difference between empathy scores and gender. This study supports the incorporation of a group patient interaction experience into the medical school curriculum as an inexpensive and practical method of enhancing medical student empathy in a non-clinical setting.
Laser Plume From Human Papillomavirus-Infected Tissue: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND Laser procedures are becoming more prevalent across multiple medical specialties for a variety of indications. The plumes created by these lasers have raised concern for the dissemination of an infectious material. OBJECTIVE To review and summarize the information on viral dissemination in laser plumes available in the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data Sources A systematic review was performed on English and non-English articles using the PubMed and the Cochrane databases. A manual search of bibliographies from relevant articles was also performed to collect additional studies. STUDY SELECTION Only articles in the English language with full texts available that pertained to viral particles in laser plumes were included. Data Extraction Two authors performed independent article selections using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS There have been case reports of possible transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV) by inhalation of laser-produced aerosols. Multiple investigators have attempted to recreate this scenario in the laboratory to qualify this risk. Others have conducted clinical experiments to determine the presence of HPV in laser plumes. CONCLUSION The current body of the literature suggests that laser surgeons are at a risk for HPV exposure by inhalation of laser-derived aerosols. We offer best practice recommendations for laser operators.
Localization of Unlike Tones from Two Loudspeakers

Listeners judged the location of a pair of tones presented separately from two loudspeakers in an anechoic room. Both speakers were 3 m from the listener’s head, one 45° to the left and the other 45° to the right. When the tones in the two speakers were at the same frequency, a single fused sound was heard coming from the side of the speaker that was energized between 2 and 60 msec sooner than the other speaker. Known as the precedence or Haas effect, the dominance of the leading tone was also observed when the two tones differed in frequency. As the frequency difference widened, however, the effect weakened, but was still measurable for tones differing by 1900 Hz. At all frequency separations, the effect was clearest when the lower-frequency tone was turned on first.
Periodic boundary conditions for arbitrary deformations in molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract A generalization of the Lees-Edwards periodic boundary conditions (gLE-PBC) for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations is developed to allow for arbitrary deformations to be applied to the domain. The gLE-PBC domain remains a rectangular cuboid regardless of the applied deformation in contrast with the Lagrangian-rhomboid periodic boundary conditions (LR-PBC) where the domain deforms according to the applied deformation. The kinematics of gLE-PBC are validated against pure shear. The gLE-PBC method for interacting systems is then validated against the LR-PBC method and analytical solutions for a solid under isotropic compression, one-dimensional shearing, three-dimensional extension and shearing and for a liquid under Couette flow. Bulk physical properties extracted from the gLE-PBC simulations agree well with values calculated from equilibrium MD simulations. Three dimensional shearing and a deformation with a full velocity gradient matrix are also simulated, showing the range of problems gLE-PBC can explore.
Vascularized omental lymphatic transplant for upper extremity lymphedema: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND Vascularized omental lymphatic transplant (VOLT) is an increasingly popular treatment of extremity lymphedema given its promising donor site. While the success of VOLT in the treatment of lymphedema has been reported previously, several questions remain. AIM To further elucidate appropriate use of VOLT in the treatment of lymphedema, specifically addressing patient selection, harvest technique, and operative methods. METHODS AND RESULTS A systematic review of VOLT for upper extremity lymphedema was performed. Of 115 yield studies, seven were included for analysis based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Included studies demonstrated significant reductions in extremity circumference/volume (average volume reduction, 22.7%-39.5%) as well as subjective improvements using patient-reported outcomes. Though studies are heterogenous and limited, when analyzed in aggregate, suggest the efficacy of VOLT in lymphedema treatment. CONCLUSION This is the largest systematic review of VOLT to date. VOLT continues to show promise as a safe and efficacious surgical intervention for lymphedema in the upper extremity. Further studies are warranted to more definitively identify patients for whom this technique is appropriate as well as ideal harvest and inset technique.
Avoiding Fields on Fire: Information Dissemination Policies for Environmentally Safe Crop-Residue Management

Agricultural open burning, i.e., the practice of burning crop residue in harvested fields to prepare land for sowing a new crop, is well-recognized as a significant contributor to CO2 and black-carbon emissions, and long-term climate change. Low-soil-tillage practices using a specific agricultural machine called Happy Seeder, which can sow the new seed without removing the previous crop residue, have emerged as the most effective and profitable alternative to open burning. However, given the limited number of Happy Seeders that the government can supply, and the fact that farmers incur a significant yield loss if they delay sowing the new crop, farmers are often unwilling to wait to be processed by the Happy Seeder and, instead, decide to burn their crop residue. We study how the government can use effective information-disclosure policies in the operation of Happy Seeders to minimize agricultural open burning. A Happy Seeder is assigned to process a group of farms in an arbitrary order. The government knows, but does not necessarily disclose, the schedule for the Happy Seeder at the start of the sowing season. Farmers incur a disutility per unit of time while waiting for the Happy Seeder due to the yield loss as a result of late sowing of the new crop. If the Happy Seeder processes a farm, then the farmer gains a positive utility. At the beginning of each period, each farmer decides whether to burn her crop residue or to wait, given the information provided by the government about the Happy Seeder's schedule. We propose a class of information-disclosure policies, which we refer to as dilatory policies, that provide no information to the farmers about the schedule until a pre-specified period and then reveal the entire schedule. By obtaining the unique symmetric Markov perfect equilibrium under any dilatory policy, we show that the use of an optimal dilatory policy can significantly lower the number of farms burnt compared to that under the full-disclosure and the no-disclosure policies. Using data from the rice-wheat crop system in northwestern India -- an area of the world with the highest prevalence of open burning -- we conduct a comprehensive case study and demonstrate that the optimal dilatory policy can reduce CO2 and black-carbon emissions by at least 14%.
Using Rapid Repeat SAR Interferometry to Improve Hydrodynamic Models of Flood Propagation in Coastal Wetlands

Abstract The propagation of tides and riverine floodwater in coastal wetlands is controlled by subtle topographic differences and a thick vegetation canopy. High-resolution numerical models have been used in recent years to simulate fluxes across wetlands. However, these models are based on sparse field data that can lead to unreliable results. Here, we utilize high spatial-resolution, rapid repeat interferometric data from the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) to provide a synoptic measurement of sub-canopy water-level change resulting from tide propagation into wetlands. These data are used to constrain crucial model parameters and improve the performance and realism of simulations of the Wax Lake wetlands in coastal Louisiana (USA). A sensitivity analysis shows that the boundary condition of river discharge should be calibrated first, followed by iterative correction of terrain elevation specified originally by a Digital Terrain Model derived from LiDAR measurements. The calibration of bed friction becomes important only with the boundary and topography calibrated. With the model parameters calibrated, the overall Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency for water-level change increases from 0.15 to 0.53 with the RMSE reduced by 26%. In areas with dense wetland grasses, the LiDAR signal is unable to reach the soil surface, but the L-band UAVSAR instrument detects changes in water levels that can be used to infer the true ground elevation. The high spatial resolution and repeat-acquisition frequency (minutes to hours) observations provided by UAVSAR represent a groundbreaking opportunity for a deeper understanding of the complex hydrodynamics of coastal wetlands.
Reflections on Life: Lessons from Evolutionary Biology, with Insights from Sergius Bulgakov

In this paper, I set out to make several points, as follows: (1) that evolution is the unifying theory within biology and that nothing in biology makes sense without it: (2) that evolution is tightly linked to another biological science, ecology, and that failure to accept evolution often leads to a failure to accept ecological principles; and (3) that many serious scholars who choose not to accept evolution do so because of false ideas that they believe acceptance of evolution will convey about our society and our world – that many scholars who refuse to accept evolution do so on principles of philosophy or sociology allegedly underlying the theory of evolution. To address the first two points, I will focus on the biological sciences and the connections between science and ethics and philosophy; in response to the third issue, I will reflect not on evolution as science, but on the correct understanding of scientific vocabulary, of human “nature”, and of the difference between theology and teleology. For the final point I will especially revisit the thoughts of the Orthodox scholar Sergius Bulgakov (1877–1944) which may help inform some concerns of the critics of evolution.
Comparison of subjective lameness evaluation, force platforms and an inertial-sensor system to identify mild lameness in an equine osteoarthritis model

When mild lameness exists, agreement between clinicians is often controversial due to its subjective nature. The goal of the study was to compare subjective and objective methods to identify the presence of mild lameness using an established model of osteoarthritis (OA) in which OA was induced by creating a unilateral carpal osteochondral fragment (OCF) in the middle carpal joint of 16 horses. Subjective lameness evaluations (blinded and unblinded), force platforms (FP), and an inertial-sensor system (ISS) were used to detect forelimb lameness at four time points. Limbs identified as lame by each method were compared as well as compared with the OCF limb at each time point. Spearman correlations were calculated between all outcome parameters. Independent of time, blinded subjective evaluation (54%) and the ISS (60%) identified a higher percentage of horses as lame in the OCF limb compared to FP (40%). Blinded subjective evaluation and the ISS agreed which forelimb was lame more often (50%) compared with blinded subjective evaluation and the FP (38%). Induction of mild lameness within the OCF limb was supported by an increase in the frequency of horses considered lame by both subjective evaluations the ISS and a decrease (3.6%) in mean (among all horses) peak vertical force from baseline to post OCF induction. The percentage of horses identified as lame in the OCF limb, independent of time, was highest with the ISS (60%) followed by blinded subjective evaluation (51%) and the FP (42%). It was concluded that the best agreement was between subjective evaluation and the inertial-sensor system.
IL-1β and BDNF are associated with improvement in hypersomnia but not insomnia following exercise in major depressive disorder

Given the role of sleep in the development and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), it is becoming increasingly clear that elucidation of the biological mechanisms underlying sleep disturbances in MDD is crucial to improve treatment outcomes. Sleep disturbances are varied and can present as insomnia and/or hypersomnia. Though research has examined the biological underpinnings of insomnia in MDD, little is known about the role of biomarkers in hypersomnia associated with MDD. This paper examines biomarkers associated with changes in hypersomnia and insomnia and as predictors of improvements in sleep quality following exercise augmentation in persons with MDD. Subjects with non-remitted MDD were randomized to augmentation with one of two doses of aerobic exercise: 16 kilocalories per kilogram of body weight per week (KKW) or 4 KKW for 12 weeks. The four sleep-related items on the clinician-rated Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (sleep onset insomnia, mid-nocturnal insomnia, early morning insomnia and hypersomnia) assessed self-reported sleep quality. Inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were assessed in blood samples collected before and following the 12-week intervention. Reduction in hypersomnia was correlated with reductions in BDNF (ρ=0.26, P=0.029) and IL-1β (ρ=0.37, P=0.002). Changes in these biomarkers were not associated with changes in insomnia; however, lower baseline levels of IL-1β were predictive of greater improvements in insomnia (F=3.87, P=0.050). In conclusion, improvement in hypersomnia is related to reductions in inflammatory markers and BDNF in persons with non-remitted MDD. Distinct biological mechanisms may explain reductions in insomnia.
Internal service quality: Determinants of distribution center performance

Purpose – This work seeks to examine how front‐line employee performance and interdepartmental customer orientation affect the service, supply chain, and financial performance of US distribution centers.Design/methodology/approach – The authors approached this subject by utilizing works from the supply chain management, services marketing, total quality management, and logistics personnel literature. Surveys were administered in 18 distribution centers across the USA and canonical correlation was employed to test the propositions that front‐line employee performance and interdepartmental customer orientation have a positive effect on distribution center service, supply chain, and financial performance.Findings – Findings indicate that high levels of front‐line employee performance and interdepartmental customer orientation a positive effect on distribution center service and supply chain performance. The relationship of the two independent variables to distribution center financial performance was only pa...
Research contributions on childhood obesity from a public-private partnership.

Childhood obesity remains a significant global problem with immediate and long-term individual health and societal consequences. Targets for change should include the most potent and predictive factors for obesity at all levels of the personal, social and physical environments. The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living (‘the Center’) is a public-private partnership that was developed to address child health issues through research, service, and education. This overview paper introduces a special issue of seven articles on childhood obesity from the Center, and the implications of this research for obesity prevention.
Exploring the role of digital academic libraries : Changing student needs demand innovative service approach

– The purpose of this paper is to argue that in order to remain a dynamic and important part of the university, academic librarians must embrace change and create digital libraries that offer innovative reference services and other cutting edge digital products such as podcasting and wikis., – An examination of current research in the field., – America Online Instant Messenger (AOL IM) has the potential to be used for reference chat, and more scholarship should be done in this area. Wikis and podcasting also have the potential to innovate service. Focused efforts through scholarship and implementation of new technological tools will ensure that librarians remain dynamic in the creation of digital libraries., – An in‐depth discussion of podcasting, wikis, and virtual reference in the context of the academic library.
Parental Monitoring and Peer Group Association: Their Influence on Adolescent Substance Use

An integrated model was developed and tested examining the interrelationships among parental monitoring, peer group association, and adolescent substance use. The theoretical model is based on Patterson and his colleagues' (Dishion, Reid, & Patterson, 1988) and Brown and his colleagues' (Brown, Mounts, Lamborn, & Steinberg, 1993) theoretical models explaining the interrelationships among parenting behavior, peer group association, and adolescent substance use. The results suggest that parental monitoring acts as a catalyst for both peer group association and adolescent substance use. Implications for interventions to prevent adolescent substance use are discussed.
Discovery of a reactive azeotrope

Mixtures are azeotropic if they can be distilled (or condensed) without a change of composition1. The existence of azeotropes in multicomponent mixtures in the absence of chemical reactions is well understood phenomenologically2,3 and theoretically4,5. Azeotropes place a fundamental limit on the compositions attainable in mixtures by fractional distillation, but they can in some cases be ‘broken’ by carrying out chemical reaction and separation simultaneously rather than sequentially6,7,8,9. Here we report the discovery of a boiling state of constant composition and temperature in a mixture of acetic acid, isopropanol, isopropyl acetate and water that is simultaneously in both reaction and phase equilibrium. These states, which we call reactive azeotropes, were predicted recently10,11. Without reaction, the mixture exhibits three two-component azeotropes, one three-component azeotrope but no four-component azeotrope; the last appears only under equilibrium reaction conditions. These findings may constrain technologies in which reaction and separation are conducted simultaneously, for example by limiting the conditions under which an azeotrope can be broken by chemical reactions to yield a high-purity product. Inother cases the presence of a reactive azeotrope may be advantageous9.
A packet eligible time calculation mechanism for providing temporal QoS for multicast routing

In this paper, we propose a packet eligible time calculation mechanism and its associated information update method to provide temporal QoS to multicast services, in terms of delay bound coupled with inter-message delay jitter bound and/or bounded inter-destination delay jitter bound. We assume the availability of a multicast tree on which the delay between a source and any destination falls within the end-to-end delay bound. We then exploit the idea of artificially delaying transmission of data packets until their eligible times, and model each router as a regulator followed by a packet scheduler. A data packet is not eligible to be scheduled until the current time is greater than or equal to its eligible time. For each temporal QoS required, we derive the appropriate packet eligible times. We also devise an information update method to collect/update in a decentralized manner the parameters needed in the calculation of packet eligible times. With all the parameters available, an intermediate router can calculate packet eligible times and the upper bound on the buffers needed in order to fulfill the QoS. Finally, we validate the proposed mechanism in terms of the probability of locating feasible-multicast trees and message overheads, and scalability with event-driven simulations.
On deciding the non-emptiness of 2SAT polytopes with respect to First Order Queries

This paper is concerned with techniques for identifying simple and quantified lattice points in 2SAT polytopes. 2SAT polytopes generalize the polyhedra corresponding to Boolean 2SAT formulas, Vertex-Packing (Covering, Partitioning) and Network flow problems; they find wide application in the domains of Program verification (Software Engineering) and State-Space search (Artificial Intelligence). Our techniques are based on the symbolic elimination strategy called the Fourier-Motzkin elimination procedure and thus have the advantages of being extremely simple (from an implementational perspective) and incremental. We also provide a characterization of a 2SAT polytope in terms of its extreme points and derive some interesting hardness results for associated optimization problems. Finally, we provide a brief discussion on the maximum size of a subdeterminant of the linear system representing a 2SAT polytope; this parameter plays a vital role in deriving analytical bounds on the size of the search space for checking whether the polyhedron includes a lattice point. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Synthesis, spectral properties and photostabilities of symmetrical and unsymmetrical squarines; a new class of flourophores with long-wavelength exiciation and emmision

Abstract The absortion and flouresnce properties of squaraine derivatives in different organic solvents, and in water in presence of bovine serum albumin were invistigated. The objective is to indentify long-wavelength probes with resonable quantum yields, resonably long lifetimes and good photostabilities for use in flourescence-based assays and/or imaging. Both symmetrical and unsymmetrical squaraines were studied and a correlation is made between the spectral properties and the electronic of the molecules. Like normal cyanines, squaraines show negative solvatochromy and band width broadening with increasing asymmetry. Based on this investigation the most suitable probes for use in a biological application were found to be the symmetrical indolenine derivatives of the squaraines, which display the highest photostability. Importantly, their quantum yields and lifetimes increase significantly upon binding to bovine serum albumin, suggesting that a conjugatable derivative of these indolenine squaraines will be suitable for use in labeling proteins. The squaraine absorbance maxima between 630 and 650-nm allows the use of the new commercially available 635- and 650-nm diode lasers.
Exercise training and resting oxygen consumption

Resting oxygen consumption was measured in trained and nontrained normal, hypophysectomized and thyroidectomized rats. No training effect was found for resting oxygen consumption in any of the groups after the 10 week training program. Evidence is presented which indicates that for animals of homogeneous body size, expressing metabolism as a function of body weight is no less valid than expressing metabolism as an exponential function of body weight.
Enhancement of desulfurization activity by enzymes of the Rhodococcus dsz operon through coexpression of a high sulfur peptide and directed evolution

Abstract Removal of sulfur from petroleum improves the performance of refineries and reduces air pollution from fuel combustion. Biodesulfurization can selectively remove sulfur from petroleum, but improved biocatalysts are needed. This study illustrates a new approach to obtain improved desulfurization biocatalysts. A synthetic gene (Sulpeptide, S1 ) encoding high proportions of the sulfur containing amino acids methionine and cysteine was designed, constructed and cloned, as part of the Rhodococcus dszABC (desulfurization) operon, in vector pRESX, under control of the Rhodococcus kstD promoter. pRESX dszABC and pRESX dszAS1BC were electroporated into desulfurization-negative Rhodococcus opacus and the strains were transferred through 40 passages in medium with dibenzothiophene (DBT) as the sole sulfur source. Modest increases in desulfurization activity were achieved after 10 passages selecting for rapid growth with DBT. After selection for 40 passages, both the dszABC and dszAS1BC expressing R. opacus strains showed a greater than 20-fold increase in specific desulfurization ability, and exceeded the specific activity of the control, desulfurization positive strain Rhodococcus erythropolis IGTS8. This study serves as a proof of concept that engineering with Sulpeptide genes, combined with selective pressure for rapid growth with DBT, can drive evolution of improved desulfurization biocatalysts.
Federal “Pork” at record high in 1991

At approximately $500 million, the total of earmarked funds going to universities and colleges in the fiscal year 1991 federal budget was at an all-time high. Although the full tally of “pork” in the new 1992 budget is not yet available, the total is not expected to meet or surpass that of 1991, due to the caps on discretionary funding required by the budget agreement. The following data were taken from a memo prepared by staff of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology for its chairman, George E. Brown, Jr. (D-Calif.). The top 10 states receiving earmarked funds in 1991 were Pennsylvania ($54.3 million), Iowa ($38.7), Alaska ($35.0), Massachusetts ($32.6), Louisiana ($24.4), Washington, D.C. ($21.0, includes appropriations to Howard University, Gallaudet University, and the University of the District of Columbia, which receive their basic operating budgets through federal appropriations), West Virginia ($19.9), Oregon ($18.9), New Jersey ($18.1), and Hawaii ($16.2).
POLITICAL ATTITUDES OF DEFEATED CANDIDATES IN AN AMERICAN STATE ELECTION

Electoral victories and defeats occur repeatedly. This is especially true in democratic political systems where key governmental roles are filled through periodic elections. The attitude of defeated candidates toward the regime norms directly affects the system stability, because disaffected by defeat, these candidates may withdraw their support for the regime and may also translate such disaffection into radical political action. Despite the potential threat the defeated electoral candidates can pose to democratic stability, their political attitudes have rarely been investigated systematically in political science literature. Do defeated candidates exhibit an attitude toward the democratic rules and norms governing electoral competition significantly different from that of winning candidates? Do defeated candidates become politically less active after the election than they were before? Under what conditions do they become disaffected with the democratic rules and norms? This paper attempts, first, to compare the political attitudes of both winning and losing candidates, and second, to explore the variables which might account for differences in such attitudes. The data used in this paper are derived from a larger study of political recruitment in Oregon. Structured interviews were conducted with both winning and losing candidates who ran for the Oregon House of Representatives in the 1966 election. The samples were interviewed at three different times: before and after the primary, and after the general election. This research strategy permits us to analyze the effect of the outcome of the election on the attitudes of the candidates. Data were collected on the candidates' degree of support for the democratic rules of competition, their expected changes in political activity as a result of participation in the election, their career ambitions, and the perceived reward-cost, i.e., the material and psychological gains or losses which accrue to the candidates as a direct result of their participation in the election.
Dancing the Foreign Aid Appropriations Dance: Recurring Themes in the Modern Congresses

In studying changes and continuities in the Congress since the early 1960s, a persistent set of “rules of the game’ in the foreign aid appropriations process emerged from the analysis. These rules shape both the foreign aid appropriations process as well as the nature of the relationship between the executive and legislative branches on this issue. Utilizing involved actor accounts and detailed, descriptive case studies of the passage of foreign aid appropriations laws in the early 1960s and 1990s, I argue here that the foreign aid appropriations process is a routinely choreographed political production with important recurring continuities in the modern era. I describe and analyze recurring features of the foreign aid appropriations process that constrain or benefit the various political actors interested in thwarting, advancing, or using the aid program. Furthermore, I argue that from the legislative actors' perspective, the underlying continuities that define the legislative process trump the changes to the process in perceived importance, and that the actors view people, rather than procedure, as the most important determinant of success or failure.
Analysis of the superaccelerator concept

Abstract The superaccelerator concept, where the large electric field at the front of a magnetically confined electron cloud is used to accelerate particles to ultrahigh energies, is studied both analytically and numerically. The large electric field at the front of the cloud can be sustained by inductively injecting fresh electrons, both in front of and behind the cloud, through the rising field of a travelling magnetic wave pushing the cloud as a whole. The head of the cloud is characterized by a collisionless shock discontinuity and can have a phase velocity possessing an arbitrarily large γ-value, with the γ-value of the cloud itself much smaller. Particles placed in the potential well of the collisionless shock can be accelerated to very large γ-values matching the γ-value of the collisionless shock discontinuity.
Intracortical mechanisms of mismatch negativity dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Event-related potentials provide an objective index of neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia subjects show a decreased mismatch negativity (MMN) amplitude relative to age- and sex-matched controls, along with a characteristic pattern of MMN dysfunction across conditions. Deficits in MMN generation are accompanied by (1) impaired precision of auditory sensory memory performance and (2) an interstimulus-interval-dependent deficit in auditory N(1) generation. Similar deficits are observed following systemic or local infusion of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists, supporting glutamatergic and phencyclidine/NMDA models of the disorder. Deficits in MMN generation may also be seen following focal cortical damage, especially to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. MMN thus provides a useful tool for investigating mechanisms underlying brain dysfunction in schizophrenia.
Intervention pour des garçons d’âge préscolaire ayant un trouble de l’identité de genre☆

Resume Ce texte passe en revue les origines des problemes de l’identite de genre chez des garcons d’âge prescolaire et presente une vue d’ensemble des strategies de traitement pour travailler avec les parents des garcons et avec le garcon. Les buts du traitement sont de retablir une relation d’attachement secure de l’enfant avec ses parents, de developper une gamme de mecanismes pour faire face a l’angoisse de separation et a l’agression, d’aider l’enfant a comprendre son temperament et a en jouir, d’aider l’enfant a avoir des amis de meme sexe, de developper une flexibilite du genre et, le plus important, de restaurer son estime de soi et son sentiment d’authenticite. Les interventions therapeutiques specifiques sont passees en revue.
Popper and Dingle on special relativity and the issue of symmetry

Abstract Karl Popper and Herbert Dingle engaged in a fascinating debate concerning the kind of theory the special theory of relativity is. One of the issues was whether applications of the theory could be made consistent with the principle of relativity, a cornerstone of the theory itself. The principle of relativity seems to imply some sort of symmetry in results obtained for similar experiments as observed in two different inertial reference frames. Peter Hayes has recently dealt with the Dingle–Popper debate on this matter, as well as other issues. The present paper seeks to clarify what kind of symmetry is appropriate in a situation discussed by Popper, Dingle, and Hayes.
Evaluating the reliability of highway bridges following hazards in real-time by structural health monitoring (RT-SHM-D+P)

Health monitoring of infrastructure systems for their proactive management to make the best use of limited resources for their optimum life-cycle performance, protection and preservation is a promising paradigm. Structural health monitoring (SHM) technologies have sufficiently evolved to accomplish real-time post-hazard evaluation of highway bridges. Solution of the pressing and critical problem of post-hazard bridge condition evaluation is possible by problem-focused, coordinated cross-disciplinary research. A newly initiated research program, which has been formulated for creating knowledge to construct an intelligent bridge SHM system, is presented in this paper. An overview of the state-of-the-art research in SHM is outlined.
Toward culturally responsive computing education

Improving academic success and social development by merging computational thinking with cultural practices.
Local-oscillator noise in a silicon Pt--n--p + microwave diode source

Measurements of the noise of an experimental silicon Pt–n–p+ transit-time diode used as a local oscillator at a frequency of 11.8 GHz are described. The results show that the relatively noisefree performance of the diode should make it useful, particularly for high-frequency applications where low-noise sources are not readily available.
A Framework for Classification of Traffic Management Practices as Reasonable or Unreasonable

Traffic management practices of ISPs are an issue of public concern. We propose a framework for classification of traffic management practices as reasonable or unreasonable. We present a survey of traffic management techniques and examples of how these techniques are used by ISPs. We suggest that whether a traffic management practice is reasonable rests on the answers to four questions regarding the techniques and practices used. We propose a framework that classifies techniques as unreasonable if they are unreasonably anticompetitive, cause undue harm to consumers, or unreasonably impair free speech. We propose alternatives to unreasonable or borderline congestion management practices.
Spermidine and spermine—Polyamine components of turnip yellow mosaic virus☆

Abstract The polyamines spermidine and spermine were isolated from preparations of purified turnip yellow mosaic virus and identified by thin-layer electrophoresis in two buffer systems and by gas-liquid chromatography. The picrate derivative of the most abundant polyamine had a melting point which corresponded to that of authentic spermidine picrate. The polyamine bis(3-aminopropyl)amine, previously reported to be associated with this virus, was not detected. Spermidine accounted for approximately 1% of the virus weight, while spermine accounted for less than 0.04%. The total amount of the polyamines found was sufficient to theoretically neutralize approximately 20% of the viral ribonucleic acid.
Phylogenetic relationships of Scaphyglottis and related genera (Laeliinae: Orchidaceae) based on nrDNA ITS sequence data

Abstract Phylogenetic relationships of Scaphyglottis and related genera (Laeliinae: Orchidaceae) based on nrDNA ITS sequence data. Brittonia 56: 58–66. 2004.—Sequences of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions 1 & 2 (nrDNA ITS) including the intervening 5.8S region were analyzed cladistically for 43 individuals of 35 species of Scaphyglottis s.l. plus two outgroup taxa. Low levels of sequence divergence do not allow estimation of relationships among most clades, but the analyses indicate that four segregate genera (Hexisea Lindl., Reichenbachanthus Barb. Rodr., Hexadesmia Brogn., and Platyglottis coriacea L.O. Williams) are embedded within a broad paraphyletic Scaphyglottis. This broadly defined Scaphyglottis sensu Dressler is characterized within Laeliinae by the usual presence of superposed growth habit and the presence of a column foot. In order to accommodate species formerly placed in Platyglottis and Reichenbachanthus, three new combinations are made in Scaphyglottis: Scaphyglotti...
Multiple Shifts in Magnitude of Reward

Three groups of 5 rats were administered either large reward (10 pellets), small reward (2 pellets), or multiple shifts (Iarge-small-large-etc.) in an alleyway. The multiple-shift group received a total of 7 large and 6 small phases of reinforcement. Early in training the shifted group exhibited positive contrast effect to a shift to large reward and negative contrast effect to a shift to small reward. Later in training, the same group showed neither effect perhaps because experience with the shift provided a smaller discrepancy between the upshifts and downshifts in magnitude of reward.
Effect of steroid hormones on the growth of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

Abstract Two androgens, 17 α-methyltestosterone and testosterone, and an estrogen, estradiol, were individually incorporated in test diets at 2.5 mg/kg dry diet and fed to coho salmon for 14 weeks. The fish weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, fish body composition and fatty acid composition of fish body lipids were determined. The three steroid hormones all accelerate the growth rate of fish. The 17 α-methyltestosterone supplementation promotes significantly greater fish weight gain and feed efficiency. Results of histologic examination of fish liver, kidney, heart, and gonad are discussed.
Failure Analysis of Passive Devices

The failure analysis of passive devices requires all the skills and technology used in the failure analysis of solid state devices. Passive devices use similar manufacturing methods compared to solid state techniques to accomplish the finished device. Thin oxides, used in the manufacturing of tantalum slug capacitors, are subject to current and voltage transients which concern analysts on MOS structures. To create the K factor in the dielectric of ceramic capacitors, ppm's of additives are used. These can be more difficult than diffusions in determining their effect on the device performance. Resistors suffer from all the structural effects of moisture, voltage transients, or contamination reported in the studies on integrated circuits or hybrids. Filters and small inductors packaged for circuit application are subject to problems of handling and board insertion as well as the above mentioned failure modes. In the choice of analyzing a passive component over an integrated circuit or LSI circuit, there are times when many analysts would rather accept the more complicated solid state circuit rather than tackle the simple passive unit.
The Case Against a U.S.-Arms Monopoly

The U.S. government is the dominant player in the global arms market. Existing literature emphasizes the many benefits of an international U.S. government arms monopoly including: regional and global balance, stability and security, the advancement of U.S. national interests, and domestic economic benefits from international sales. The purpose of this paper is to balance this largely one-sided treatment of the U.S. government’s dominant position in the international arms market. We discuss several negative consequences and costs associated with U.S. arms sales which call into question the net benefit of the U.S. government’s control over global arms.