cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preconditioned implicit solvers for the Navier-Stokes equations on distributed-memory machines

The GMRES method is parallelized, and combined with local preconditioning to construct an implicit parallel solver to obtain steady-state solutions for the Navier-Stokes equations of fluid flow on distributed-memory machines. The new implicit parallel solver is designed to preserve the convergence rate of the equivalent 'serial' solver. A static domain-decomposition is used to partition the computational domain amongst the available processing nodes of the parallel machine. The SPMD (Single-Program Multiple-Data) programming model is combined with message-passing tools to develop the parallel code on a 32-node Intel Hypercube and a 512-node Intel Delta machine. The implicit parallel solver is validated for internal and external flow problems, and is found to compare identically with flow solutions obtained on a Cray Y-MP/8. A peak computational speed of 2300 MFlops/sec has been achieved on 512 nodes of the Intel Delta machine,k for a problem size of 1024 K equations (256 K grid points).
Nonparametric testing the similarity of two unknown density functions: local power and bootstrap analysis

In this paper, we compare two kernel-based tests for testing the closeness between two unknown density functions, one test has a smoothing parameter h that goes to zero as sample size tends to infinity, the other one has a fixed smoothing parameter. We show that the former test (with a shrinking h) can be more powerful than the later for “singular” local alternatives considered by Rosenblatt (1975). We also demonstrate that bootstrap procedure provide a better approximation than the asymptotic normal approximation. Monte Carlo simulations are reported to examine the finite sample performances of the nonparametric kernel-based tests based on both the asymptotic and bootstrap critical values.
Inhaled Nitric Oxide increases Protein Oxidation in Rat Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids (BAL) and Lung Subcellular Fractions † 1181

Inhaled nitric oxide (NO), commonly administered with 100% oxygen, is increasingly being used as a therapy for treatment of pulmonary hypertension. The present study examines exposure to inhaled NO/hyperoxia and oxidation of specific proteins, which could be used as biomarkers for monitoring potentially adverse effects of inhaled NO therapy.
Sandwiched between Patronage and Bureaucracy: The Plight of Citizen Participation in Community-based Housing Organisations in the US:

This article examines how directors of community-based housing organisations (CBHOs) in the US defi ne the role of citizen participation in their organisations. In particular, it describes how local political and administrative structures affect the scope of citizen participation in the governance and decision-making processes of CBHOs. This is an important topic since these organisations implement housing and community development programmes in urban neighbourhoods, and citizen participation has been considered important to the legitimacy of these efforts. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with CBHO executive directors in Buffalo, New York. In particular, the executive directors of CBHOs that concentrate their efforts on the management, development and rehabilitation of affordable housing were interviewed. In addition to data from in-depth interviews, data from fi eldnotes, the US census, IRS 990 forms and informal conversations with local government offi cials and representatives of intermediary organisations were used in the analysis. Existing theories concerning citizen participation and non-profi t administration are elaborated upon and applied to CBHOs. The extent to which these organisations create opportunities for grassroots planning is considered and recommendations for expanding citizen participation are proposed.
Mid-Infrared Imaging of the Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch Star AC Herculis with the Multiple Mirror Telescope Adaptive Optics System

We utilized the unique 6.5 m Multiplie Mirror Telescope deformable secondary adaptive optics (AO) system to produce high-resolution (FWHM = 03), very high Strehl mid-infrared (9.8, 11.7, and 18 μm) images of the post-asymptotic giant branch star AC Her. The very high (98% ± 2%) Strehls achieved with mid-IR AO led naturally to an ultrastable point-spread function (PSF) independent of air mass, seeing, or location on the sky. We find no significant difference between AC Her's morphology and our unresolved PSF calibration stars (μ UMa and α Her) at 9.8, 11.7, and 18 μm. Our current observations do not confirm any extended mid-IR structure around AC Her. These observations are in conflict with previously reported Keck (seeing-limited) 11.7 and 18 μm images that suggested the presence of a resolved ~06 edge-on circumbinary disk. We conclude that AC Her has no extended mid-IR structure on scales greater than 02 (R < 75 AU). These first results of mid-IR AO science are very encouraging for future high-accuracy mid-IR imaging with this technique.
Functional equivalence and spatial path memory

Loomis, Klatzky, Avraamides, Lippa and Golledge (2007) suggest that, when it comes to spatial information, verbal description and perceptual experience are nearly functionally equivalent with respect to the cognitive representations they produce. We tested this idea for the case of spatial memory for complex paths. Paths consisted entirely of unit-length segments followed by 90-degree turns, thus assuring that a path could be described with equal precision using either an egocentric verbal description or a virtual self-motion experience. The verbal description was analogous to driving directions (e.g., turn left and go one block, then turn right, etc.) except in three dimensions (allowing rotation followed by up or down movement). Virtual self-motion was depicted as first-person travel through a 3D grid of featureless corridors. Comparison of these two conditions produced a result that may be surprising to some, but nevertheless appears to support the notion of functional equivalence: Virtual self-motion ...
Adolescent Future Expectations of Work, Education, Family, and Community Development of a New Measure:

The development and validation of a measure of adolescent future expectations associated with work, education, family, health, and church/community participation is presented. The 25-item measure w...
The erosion of sexual dimorphism: challenges to religion and religious ethics.

Late modernity has been witnessing the erosion of the dimorphic sexual paradigm that, in both strong and weak forms, has characterized human history as we know it. Recent discoveries in biology and the social sciences have combined with altered patterns in human sexual behavior to raise critical new questions about the inherited paradigm. Religions of the West whose sacred texts, mythologies, and codes of behavior assume that maleness and femaleness are exclusive and complementary types of sexuality - each of which determines sexual identity, reproductive role, social role, and the sex of one's partner - increasingly must grapple with both theoretical evidence for and experiential evidence of polymorphous human sexuality. Inherited categories of dimorphic sexuality not only are challenged but become less and less intelligible.
Localized modes of an adatom bound to a harmonic lattice

Abstract We explore the conditions necessary for the existence of stable, localized vibrational modes of an adatom bound to a semi-infinite harmonic lattice. Classical mechanics is used throughout. The effects of dimensionality, separability, and anharmonicity of the adatom-lattice interaction are considered. We find that localized surface modes exist whenever the adatom-to-surface-atom bond frequency is greater than the cutoff frequency of the harmonic lattice spectrum. The relevance of localized modes to non-thermal laser-induced surface processes is discussed.
Composing behaviors and swapping bodies with motion capture data in X3D

This paper describes current work in the evolution of open standards for 3D graphics for Humanoid Animation (H-Anim). It builds on previous work to encompass plausible humanoids, humanoid behaviors and methodologies for composition with interchangeable and blended behaviors. We present an overview of the standardization activities for H-Anim, including a proposed extension for the H-Anim Specification which allows for interchangeable actors and dynamic behaviors. We demonstrate a standards-based approach to the complex work flow and data extraction for 3D optical motion tracking systems. We describe how to archive, annotate and transform the whole body and segmented performance data so that they can be used more widely and with less effort. The approach is compressible, streamable, scaleable, repeatable and suitable for large-scale training and analysis, entertainment and games.Often, X3D and VRML simulations lack the realistic representation of humans. They lack the direct flexibility of control required to build small, but meaningful, task-oriented training scenarios like deploying force protection assets in a busy commercial port. While high-value assets, defensive and offensive agents can be easily and realistically modeled using discreet event simulations, that realism is diminished by the lack of humanoid representations. The visualization is not as engaging and the training not as immersive. Including a rich set of characters with composable and swappable behaviors demonstrating intent of the agent entity heightens both the sense of realism and immersion. Deriving these behaviors is difficult and translating the data into custom applications is craftwork. We propose a standard, archival data format so that captured behaviors can be repurposed and reused, following the SAVAGE approach. This data format will include behavior information and skeletal information such that they can be retargeted and repurposed with a minimum of effort.
Purification of glycogen phosphorylase isozymes by metal-affinity chromatography.

Abstract Mammalian phosphorylase isozymes from muscle, brain and liver were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified from the crude bacterial cell extracts in one step using a copper-loaded, metal-affinity matrix. Good chromatographic behavior, enzyme activity and protein stability were maintained by judicious choice of pH and buffer which contained 250 mM sodium chloride and 25 mM β-glycerophosphate at pH 7.0. Small amounts of β-mercaptoethanol and EDTA in the buffers further stabilized the enzymes, but stripped some of the metal from the column which, nonetheless, retained good chromatographic characteristics. Owing to the presence of multiple surface histidine residues in the phosphorylase dimers, good enzyme purities (90–98%) and recoveries (>90%) were routinely obtained from crude bacterial lysates after two passes through the copper column. Of the various metal ions which were investigated, Cu2+ gave the best chromatographic results. Imidazole gradients at constant pH were used to selectively desorb the phosphorylase from the metal column whose capacity for phosphorylase binding in the presence of bacterial proteins exceeded 30 mg enzyme per milliliter of matrix.
Amino acid requirements and sulfur amino acid metabolism in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)

Abstract 1. 1. The pea aphid was shown to have a dietary requirement for the usual ten essential amino acids plus cysteine. The two sulfur amino acids, cysteine and methionine, appeared to be independently required. 2. 2. The aphid could utilize both d- and l -isomers of methionine, but only the l -form of cysteine. 3. 3. The cystathionine pathway appeared to be absent in this species. 4. 4. The dietary requirement for cysteine could be partially spared by compounds with free sulfhydryl groups, such as homocysteine or dithiothreitol. 5. 5. Inorganic sulfate spared both cysteine and methione, possibly with the acid of the aphid's intracellular symbiotes.
Continuous measurement of specific activity of C14O2 in expired air

The majority of carbon compounds of metabolic interest ultimately are degraded to carbon dioxide and urea which are excreted. Following the administration of a tracer dose of a C/sup 14/-labeled metabolite, there is assumed to be a pattern of elimination of C/sup 14/O/sub 2/ which is characteristic for the healthy state, and which is distorted in disease. This pattern is represented by the time-course of specific activity of C/sup 14/O/sub 2/ in expired air. Metabolic studies in human subjects and in animals are facilitated by the apparatus described in this report which permits the continuous measurement of radioactive C/sup 14/O/sub 2/ in expired air. The apparatus consists of an air-collection system, a ventilation meter, a C/sup 12/O/ sub 2/ (infrared) analyzer, a 4 pi G-M counter with anti-coincidence circuitry, and a ratio analyzer to compute C/sup 14//C/sup 12/. Analog data are printed out on a four-channel recording millivoltmeter at the rate of four items per minute on each channel. The data are in such a form that they can be converted readily to digital information for processing in a high-speed computer. Rapid estimates of the size and kinetics of the carbon dioxide pool are possible when labeled bicarbonate is usedmore » as the tracer. (auth)« less
Breccia dikes and crater-related faults in impact craters on Mars: Erosion and exposure on the floor of a crater 75 km in diameter at the dichotomy boundary

Environmental conditions on Mars are conducive to the modification and erosion of impact craters, potentially revealing the nature of their substructure. On Earth, postimpact erosion of complex craters in a wide range of target rocks has revealed the nature and distribution of crater-related fault structures and a complex array of breccia and pseudotachylyte dikes, which range up to tens of meters in width and tens of kilometers in length. We review the characteristics of fault structures, breccia dikes, and pseudotachylyte dikes on Earth, showing that they occur in complex network-like patterns and are often offset along late-stage crater-related faults. Individual faults and dikes can undulate in width and can branch and bifurcate along strike. Detailed geological analyses of terrestrial craters show that faults and breccia dikes form during each of the major stages of the impact-cratering process (compression, excavation, and modification). We report here on the discovery of prominent, lattice-like ridge networks occurring on the floor of a highly modified impact crater 75 km in diameter near the dichotomy boundary of the northern lowland and southern upland. Interior fill and crater-floor units have been exhumed by fluvial and eolian processes to reveal a unit below the crater floor containing a distinctive set of linear ridges of broadly similar width and forming a lattice-like pattern. Ridge exposures range from ~1-4 km in length and ~65-120 m in width, are broadly parallel, straight to slightly curving, and are cross-cut by near-orthogonal ridges, forming a box or lattice-like pattern. Ridges are exposed on the exhumed crater floor, extending from the base of the wall toward the center. On the basis of the strong similarities of these features to terrestrial crater-related fault structures and breccia dikes, we interpret these ridges to be faults and breccia dikes formed below the floor of the crater during the excavation and modification stages of the impact event, and subsequently exhumed by erosion. The recognition of such features on Mars will help in documenting the nature of impact-cratering processes and aid in assessment of crustal structure. Faults and breccia dikes can also be used as data for the assessment of post-cratering depths and degrees of landform exhumation.
Process modeling of composites by resin transfer molding: practical applications of sensitivity analysis for isothermal considerations

The resin transfer molding process for composites manufacturing consists of either of two considerations, namely, the fluid flow analysis through a porous fiber preform where the location of the flow front is of fundamental importance, and the combined flow/heat transfer/cure analysis. In this paper, the continuous sensitivity formulations are developed for the process modeling of composites manufactured by RTM to predict, analyze, and optimize the manufacturing process. Attention is focused here on developments for isothermal flow simulations, and various illustrative examples are presented for sensitivity analysis of practical applications which help serve as a design tool in the process modeling stages.
Ability of single-site mutants of citrate synthase to catalyze proton transfer from the methyl group of dethiaacetyl-coenzyme A, a non-thioester substrate analog.

The catalytic strategies of enzymes (such as citrate synthase) whose reactions require the abstraction of the α-proton of a carbon acid remain elusive. Citrate synthase readily catalyzes solvent proton exchange of the methyl protons of dethiaacetyl-coenzyme A, a sulfur-less, ketone analog of acetyl-coenzyme A, in its ternary complex with oxaloacetate. Because no further reaction occurs with this analog, it provides a uniquely simple probe of the roles of active site interactions on carbon acid proton transfer catalysis. In view of the high reactivity of the analog for proton transfer to the active site base, its failure to further condense with oxaloacetate to form a sulfur-less analog of citryl-coenzyme A was unexpected, although we offer several possible explanations. We have measured the rate constants for exchange, kexch, at saturating concentrations of the analog for six citrate synthase mutants with single changes in active site residues. Comparisons between the values of kexch are straightforward i...
Infertility in spinal-cord injured male

Sterility in spinal-cord injured (SCI) men is believed to be caused by ejaculatory dysfunction, genital ductal blockage secondary to infection, and/or impaired spermatogenesis. Semen from SCI men demonstrates diminished numbers of motile, morphologically normal sperm. Testicular biopsies demonstrate impaired spermatogenesis. Leydig and Sertoli cells appear to be normal. Endocrine evaluations reveal normal testosterone levels with an adequate Leydig cell reserve. Luteinizing hormone (LD) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels are normal or high with normal or exaggerated stimulation responses. Acute depressions in testosterone, FSH, and LH levels can be seen following SCI, most markedly in quadriplegics. A normal hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis is implied by these findings, indicating a primary hypogonadism. Causes of impaired spermatogenesis may include local testicular temperature elevations, nondrainage of the reproductive tract, antisperm antibodies, and recurrent genitourinary infections. Treatment of infertility involves removal of these offending factors, and research is needed to correlate the impaired spermatogenesis with these factors.
Use of an ecologic model to identify children at risk for infection and to quantify the expected impact of the risk factors.

Infection and malnutrition and the effects of their interaction account for the majority of childhood deaths and chronic deficits in growth and development in Latin America. To promote child heath, the determinants of infection and malnutrition must be identified and cost-effective interventions applied. Medical examinations of 988 children (age 2 weeks to 14 years) living at three altitudes in northem Chile revealed that 393 (40%) of the youngsters harbored one or more infections. When sorted by region and ethnicity, indigenous children of the highlands had infection rates 50 percent higher than those of Spanish descent living near the coast. An ecologic model was used as an organizing framework to illustrate the relationships among variables. Measurement of these variables revealed that health, age, and education of the mother were statistically significant predictors of child health, as were the child's nutrient intake and medical history. Traditional measurements of child health (weight, height, family wealth, and paternal occupation) did not differentiate between well and infected children. Policy implications are suggested for further validation. To focus on selected child health needs, such as feeding programs or immunization campaigns, without simultaneously attending to the environment from which the needs arise could be an inappropriate use of time, personnel, and money.
Metabolic differences between the arteries of atherosclerotic susceptible and resistant pigeons

Summary Aortic tissue of pigeons susceptible to atherosclerosis have higher steady state levels of glycerol-3-phosphate and lactic acid than resistant pigeons. The mitochondria from both couple phosphorylation to the oxidation of most TCA cycle intermediates. The increased glycerol-3-phosphate accumulation appears to be related to a deficiency in the glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle in the aortic mitochondria of the susceptible pigeons. The mitochondria from susceptible pigeons have also lost the regulation by ATP of the energy linked transhydrogenase reaction.
Cascaded Plasmon Resonances for Enhanced Ultrafast Nonlinear Optical Switching

Surface plasmon resonances on metallic nanostructures produce strongly enhanced third order nonlinear susceptibilities, while adding linear loss. We show that the use of cascaded resonances enables improved figures of merit for nonlinear switching.
How do indicators of household food insecurity measure up? An empirical comparison from Ethiopia

Abstract Renewed emphasis on programs and policies aimed at enhancing food security has intensified the search for accurate, rapid, and consistent indicators. Measures of food security are urgently required for purposes of early warning, assessment of current and prospective status of at-risk populations, and monitoring and evaluation of specific programs and policies. Different measures are often used interchangeably, without a good idea of which dimensions of food security are captured by which measures, resulting in potentially significant misclassification of food insecure populations. The objective of this paper is to compare how the most frequently used indicators of food security portray static and dynamic food security among the same sample of rural households in two districts of Tigray State, Northern Ethiopia. Seven food security indicators were assessed: the Coping Strategies Index (CSI); the Reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI); the Household Food Insecurity and Access Scale (HFIAS); the Household Hunger Scale (HHS); Food Consumption Score (FCS); the Household Dietary Diversity Scale (HDDS); and a self-assessed measure of food security (SAFS). These indicators provide very different estimates of the prevalence of food insecurity, but are moderately well correlated and depict generally similar food security trends over time. We suggest that the differences in prevalence estimates, and in some cases the weaker than expected correlation, can be explained in three ways. First, the indicators differ in the underlying aspect of food security they attempt to capture. Second, each indicator is likely only sensitive within a certain severity range of food insecurity and these ranges do not always overlap. Third, categorization of the prevalence of food insecurity is strongly dependent on the choice of cut-off points. For valid reasons, “food insecurity” has no accepted gold standard metric against which individual indicators can be gauged, though without one it is difficult to say which indicator performs “best” in correctly and reliably identifying food insecure households. The implication is that using more than one indicator is advisable, and policy makers should be aware of what elements of food insecurity each indicator portrays.
High-Precision Fitting Measurements of the Kinetics of Size Changes during Germination of Individual Bacillus Spores

ABSTRACT High-precision measurements of size changes of individual bacterial spores based on ellipse fitting to bright-field images recorded with a digital camera were employed to monitor the germination of Bacillus spores with a precision of ∼5 nm. To characterize the germination of individual spores, we recorded bright-field and phase-contrast images and found that the timing of changes in their normalized intensities coincided, so the bright-field images can be used to characterize spore size and refractility changes during germination. The major conclusions from this work were as follows. (i) The sizes of germinating B. cereus spores were nearly unchanged until Trelease, the time of the completion of CaDPA (a 1:1 chelate of Ca2+ and dipicolinic acid [DPA]) release after addition of nutrient germinants. (ii) The minor axis of germinating B. cereus spores rapidly increased by ∼50 nm in a few seconds right after Trelease, while the major axis was slightly decreased or unchanged. Both the minor and major axes remained unchanged for a further 30 to 45 s and then increased by 100 to 200 nm by Tlys, the time of completion of cortex lysis. (iii) Individual spores in a population showed significant heterogeneity in the timing of germination events, such as Trelease and Tlys, but also variation in size changes during germination. (iv) Bacillus subtilis wild-type spores, B. subtilis spores lacking the cortex-lytic enzyme CwlJ, and wild-type Bacillus megaterium spores showed similar kinetics of size changes during nutrient germination. The size increases in germinating spores probably result from uptake of water and cortex lysis after completion of CaDPA release.
Pneumococcal vaccine in the United States. A critical analysis.

The capsular polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 1977 has been recommended for persons older than 2 years believed to be at high risk for pneumococcal disease, including those aged 50 years and older, those with chronic systemic illnesses, and those living in certain institutions. A critical review of the available evidence shows little documentation of an increased incidence of, or mortality from, pneumococcal disease for many of these suggested categories. Moreover, except for children with sickle cell disease, there is no convincing evidence that the vaccine is effective for the chronically ill, and unpublished controlled studies have demonstrated no benefit for ambulatory, elderly, or institutionalized patients. Thus, there is currently no information to support widespread pneumococcal vaccination in this country, and further investigations are needed to determine in what situations this vaccine is worthwhile. ( JAMA 1981;246:1428-1432)
Neural oscillators programming simplified

The neurological mechanism used for generating rhythmic patterns for functions such as swallowing, walking, and chewing has been modeled computationally by the neural oscillator. It has been widely studied by biologists to model various aspects of organisms and by computer scientists and robotics engineers as a method for controlling and coordinating the gaits of walking robots. Although there has been significant study in this area, it is difficult to find basic guidelines for programming neural oscillators. In this paper, the authors approach neural oscillators from a programmer's point of view, providing background and examples for developing neural oscillators to generate rhythmic patterns that can be used in biological modeling and robotics applications.
Nursing centers: An analysis of the anecdotal literature

The anecdotal literature is reviewed to analyze the development and implementation of nursing centers and to make recommendations for the future. Definitions, historical developments, and services provided are reviewed and a conceptual categorization is suggested. To realize the potential of nursing centers as viable service delivery models, their leaders are urged to develop objective outcomes, test the scientific adequacy of the nursing care delivered, develop affiliations with traditional health care delivery systems, and require nursing students to rotate through these centers as part of their undergraduate and selected graduate experience.
BUILDING COMMUNITY BY EMBRACING DIVERSITY

Rapidly changing demographics have transformed the suburban counties of northern New Jersey into multicultural and multiethnic communities. The tragic events of 9/11 have brought out the necessity for understanding the many dimensions of the changes. Various institutions see the value of joining together to take advantage of the opportunities to strengthen intergroup relations. Community colleges are well situated to bring representatives of a spectrum of organizations together to form lasting partnerships. In educational innovations colleges can train global citizens for the challenging situations in the new millennium.
EFFECT OF PRETREATMENT WITH TRYPTAMINE, TRYPTOPHAN AND DOPA ON LSD REACTION IN TROPICAL FISH.

Neither pretreatment with DOPA, tryptamine or tryptophan affects in any way the reactions of Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendens), White Clouds (Tanichthys albonubes), or Guppies (Lebistes reticulatus) to LSD, or the persistence of these reactions after removal from LSD.
Chicago political economy: A public choice perspective

That a Chicago School of Economics exists has long been recognized by economists of all persuasions. That a distinct school of "political economy" has also prevailed should occasion little if any surprise, at least amongst economists. We have some confirmation of this contention as far back as the mid-seventies, when Warren J. Samuels edited a volume entitled The Chicago School of Political Economy (1976) and, more recently, with the publication of Chicago Studies in Political Economy (1989a), a collection of papers previously published by leading members of the Chicago persuasion and, edited, appropriately, by George J. Stigler. A recent autobiographical volume by Stigler (1988b) lends further credence to the notion that the Chicago perspective on economics includes a self-conscious orientation toward politics and its study. There is something there; the question is what? First a caveat or two: I do not propose to provide a detailed review of the Stigler collection, nor will I examine, in any detail, the consistency of views among Chicagoans over the years. Instead, I propose to distill the "essence" of Chicagoan political economy during the past thirty years and relate it, as best I can, with Public Choice and Social Choice approaches to politics. The emphasis is upon the "big" issues of substance and methodological concerns. Differentiating a coherent Chicago political economy is a good deal more difficult than discerning and describing the more basic paradigm of Chicago Economics. Lacking basic texts such as The Calculus of Consent and the Arrow and Black's monographs and their central roles in defining public choice and social choice theory, respectively, Chicagoans offer a more diffused view. We are confronted with a vast literature of case studies of regulation and empirical tests of the failures of policies intermingled with occasional theoretical forays into selected aspects of politics such as the nature of political competition in democracies by Stigler (1972), Demsetz (1982) and Becker (1958, 1983), or the more empirical exercises of Stigler (1973) and important articles by Peltzman (1984) on the growth of government and congressional elections and consumer protection (1973, 1975). If some Virginians have been reluctant to test their theories, most Chicagoans have been hyper-cautious about constructing
Gonococcal infection in cerebrospinal fluid and the presence of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

Abstract Background Neisseria gonorrhoeae is one of the most common organisms associated with pelvic disease in a woman of reproductive age. Case We present an unusual case of cerebrospinal fluid infection with N. gonorrhoeae in a woman with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt who complained of abdominal pain. Her shunt was removed and after adequate antibiotic therapy, it was reinserted. Conclusion Sexually active women, especially those with ventriculoperitoneal shunts, should be encouraged to use a barrier method of contraception, and should have a pelvic examination as part of their evaluation when they present with complaints of abdominal pain.
Pattern Recognition as Conceptual Morphogenesis

Pattern recognition is our mental activity in which we formulate, select, modify, and adjust our concepts or our frames of reference so that we can see a ``form'' in objects. We can tentatively formulate this viewpoint as the principle of minimum entropy (or entropy-like function). Different algorithms in clustering and pattern recognition are given new interpretations in the light of this unifying principle.
An Extraction Method for Determination of Ginkgolides and Bilobalide in Ginkgo Leaf Extracts

On the basis of reversible ionization and intramolecular esterification, ginkgolides can be effectively removed from ginkgo extract products or from ginkgo leaves with boiling water containing 0.1% Na2HPO4 at pH ∼8 followed by extraction of the aqueous phase with methylene chloride at pH ∼5. Bilobalide can be quantitatively removed from these samples with just boiling water followed by the same liquid/liquid extraction. After derivatization with bis(trimethylsilyl)acetamide, these lactone terpenoids can be readily quantified using GC-FID with baseline separation. Using the proposed procedure, six different commercial Ginkgo biloba products were analyzed, and significant differences in their ginkgolide contents were observed.
Developing Ontologies and Persona to Support and Enhance Requirements Engineering Activities – A Case Study

Abstract This paper provides an insight into incorporating persona concept and developing ontologies to support requirements engineering activities via a university course registration web application system case study. The objectives are to examine (1) how the concept of persona, in the context of the concepts of viewpoint, goal, scenario, task, and requirement, may be integrated in a unified environment to enable stakeholders and developers gain a better understanding of target users’ needs and behaviors and identify missing requirements early in the requirements engineering process, and (2) how the concepts and their relationships may be explicitly specified ontologically to help establish a knowledge repository and foster a shared common understanding of target users’ needs and behaviors among developers and stakeholders during the requirements analysis and modeling activity. A five-step iterative ontology development process is developed to help guide developers in the process of building the ontologies for the case study. We present the persona and viewpoint documents created and the ontology specifications specified in Protege-Frames via applying our ontology development process.
Simulating the strategic financial planning process

Abstract Strategic financial planning should (1) involve the key variables in the corporate growth process, (2) reflect the dynamic interaction in the system and (3) incorporate the dimension of uncertainty. Decision makers need a stochastic model that links the interaction between the investment and financing process for the planning period. The model presented in this paper integrates the investment and financing process by the use of simulation. The measure used to link these two systems is the rate of return required on new investment in order for decision makers to achieve their desired earnings-per-share growth goal. The model provides top management a tool to communicate their expectations to lower levels of management, thereby allowing them to measure and evaluate the impact of various sets of assumptions on the company's strategic plans.
A solution to the problem of undictated operative reports by residents.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to reduce the number of operative reports assigned to the surgical residents but not dictated within 48 hours by 80% within 6 months. Methods: A before-after trial was conducted in a teaching hospital (part of a major academic medical center) in an urban setting, of a complex intervention based on a theoretical framework for behavioral change. Data were collected for more than 6 months before the intervention, and then in three separate time periods during the next 18 months. The intervention, lasting 41 weeks, and directed specifically at undictated operative reports, comprised the following: educational sessions, posting of residents’ names with delinquency rates, attending/resident interactions, telephone reminders, rewards, and punishments. The population studied comprised every resident who rotated through the general surgery service over a 2-year period 1995 to 1997. Results: The mean (±SD) number of undictated operative reports declined progressively from 72 (±8.3) to 6 (±2.6). This 92% reduction was statistically significant (P <0.00005). The mean number of undictated discharge summaries declined progressively from 54 (±11.2) to 13 (±8.1). This 76% reduction was also statistically significant (P <0.00005). There was a close correlation between the operative reports and the discharge summaries (r = 0.82). Conclusions: The performance of residents on the surgical service in respect to operative report dictation can be profoundly influenced by a carefully targeted set of interventions based on behavioral theory. The improved performance can be maintained with simple reminders and the halo effect of the intervention extends to the dictation of discharge summaries.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor and autism: maternal and infant peripheral blood levels in the Early Markers for Autism (EMA) Study.

To investigate levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in mid-pregnancy and neonatal blood specimens as early biologic markers for autism, we conducted a population-based case–control study nested within the cohort of infants born from July 2000 to September 2001 to women who participated in the prenatal screening program in Orange County, CA. Cases (n=84) were all children receiving services for autism at the Regional Center of Orange County. Two comparison groups from the same study population were included: children with mental retardation or developmental delay (n=49) receiving services at the same regional center, and children not receiving services for developmental disabilities, randomly sampled from the California birth certificate files (n=159), and frequency matched to autism cases on sex, birth year, and birth month. BDNF concentrations were measured in archived mid-pregnancy and neonatal blood specimens drawn during routine prenatal and newborn screening using a highly sensitive bead-based assay (Luminex, Biosource Human BDNF Antibody Bead Kit, Invitrogen-Biosource, Carlsbad, CA). The concentration of BDNF in maternal mid-pregnancy and neonatal specimens was similar across all three study groups. These data do not support previous findings of an association between BDNF and autism and suggest that the concentration of BDNF during critical periods of early neurodevelopment is not likely to be a useful biomarker for autism susceptibility.
Body Satisfaction and Attitude Theory: Linkages with Normative Compliance and Behaviors Undertaken to Change the Body

Reasoned action theory is adapted to study the influence of body satisfaction and subjective norm (the role of others) on behavioral intention and behavior to change the body. Data are collected from 301 female undergraduate students. Causal model analyses are conducted by a maximum-likelihood estimation procedure using LISREL 8.72. Overall, fit of the model is highly adequate. Participants who have high body satisfaction scores are less likely to want to change their bodies. Participants who think that significant others (parents, siblings, and friends) want them to change their bodies and who are inclined to comply with those significant others are more likely to want to change their bodies. Participants with greater intention to change their bodies are more likely to try to change them. The results support reasoned action theory.
Dose-dependent regulation of microbial activity on sinking particles by polyunsaturated aldehydes: Implications for the carbon cycle

Diatoms and other phytoplankton play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, fixing CO2 into organic carbon, which may then be exported to depth via sinking particles. The molecular diversity of this organic carbon is vast and many highly bioactive molecules have been identified. Polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) are bioactive on various levels of the marine food web, and yet the potential for these molecules to affect the fate of organic carbon produced by diatoms remains an open question. In this study, the effects of PUAs on the natural microbial assemblages associated with sinking particles were investigated. Sinking particles were collected from 150 m in the water column and exposed to varying concentrations of PUAs in dark incubations over 24 h. PUA doses ranging from 1 to 10 µM stimulated respiration, organic matter hydrolysis, and cell growth by bacteria associated with sinking particles. PUA dosages near 100 µM appeared to be toxic, resulting in decreased bacterial cell abundance and metabolism, as well as pronounced shifts in bacterial community composition. Sinking particles were hot spots for PUA production that contained concentrations within the stimulatory micromolar range in contrast to previously reported picomolar concentrations of these compounds in bulk seawater. This suggests PUAs produced in situ stimulate the remineralization of phytoplankton-derived sinking organic matter, decreasing carbon export efficiency, and shoaling the average depths of nutrient regeneration. Our results are consistent with a “bioactivity hypothesis” for explaining variations in carbon export efficiency in the oceans.
Probability-based evaluation of peptide and protein identifications from tandem mass spectrometry and SEQUEST analysis: the human proteome.

Large-scale protein identifications from highly complex protein mixtures have recently been achieved using multidimensional liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/LC−MS/MS) and subsequent database searching with algorithms such as SEQUEST. Here, we describe a probability-based evaluation of false positive rates associated with peptide identifications from three different human proteome samples. Peptides from human plasma, human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) lysate, and human hepatocyte (Huh)-7.5 cell lysate were separated by strong cation exchange (SCX) chromatography coupled offline with reversed-phase capillary LC−MS/MS analyses. The MS/MS spectra were first analyzed by SEQUEST, searching independently against both normal and sequence-reversed human protein databases, and the false positive rates of peptide identifications for the three proteome samples were then analyzed and compared. The observed false positive rates of peptide identifications for human plasma were significan...
Large N QCD in two dimensions with a baryonic chemical potential

We consider large N gauge theory on a two dimensional lattice in the presence of a baryonic chemical potential. We work with one copy of naive fermion and argue that reduction holds even in the presence of a chemical potential. Analytical arguments supported by numerical studies show that there is no phase transition as a function of the baryonic chemical potential.
Urogynecology and Sexual Function Research. How Are We Doing

ABSTRACT Introduction Urinary incontinence (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) negatively impact health-related quality of life by affecting daily activities, body image, and sexual relationships. Aim To evaluate interest in sexual function (SF) research among urogynecologists. Main Outcome Measures The rate of abstracts presented at national meetings that dealt with SF over a 5-year period. Methods We reviewed all abstracts presented as an oral podium, moderated poster, and nonmoderated posters at meetings of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons (SGS) and American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) between 2002 and 2007. Abstracts involving SF outcomes were categorized according to conference year, type of pelvic floor dysfunction, and type of intervention. The Friedman test was used to compare groups with respect to percentages. Results During the study period, the number of abstracts related to SF increased significantly at both meetings. In 2002, there were no studies reported SF outcomes at the SGS meeting, and only 3% (four) of studies at AUGS meeting dealt with SF. Subsequently, in 2007, 10% (nine) and 9% (15) of the abstracts presented at the SGS and AUGS meetings, respectively, addressed SF ( P P Conclusion Disorders of the female pelvic floor, such as UI and POP, can influence SF and satisfaction. Our study demonstrates that the awareness and interest of urogynecologists in this area have been increasing steadily. However, most pelvic floor research presentations still do not mention SF in their outcome. Since surgery alone cannot treat the majority of women with sexual dysfunction, there is a need for collaborative work among urogynecologists, gynecologists, female urologists, and sexual therapists. Lowenstein L, Pierce K, and Pauls R. Urogynecology and sexual function research. How are we doing?
Rapid evolution of sex frequency and dormancy as hydroperiod adaptations.

Dormancy can serve as an adaptation to persist in variable habitats and often is coupled with sex. In cyclically parthenogenetic rotifers, an asexual phase enables rapid population growth, whereas sex results in diapausing embryos capable of tolerating desiccation. Few studies have experimentally tested whether sex–dormancy associations in temporary waters reflect evolution in response to the short hydroperiod selecting for diapause ability. Here, we demonstrate evolution of higher propensity for sex and dormancy in ephemeral rotifer cultures mimicking temporary ponds, and lower propensity in permanent cultures. Results are consistent with rapid evolution, with evolutionary changes occurring in a short timeframe (385 days, ≤ 84 generations). We also provide insight into mechanisms for rapid evolution in basal metazoans, discussing potential roles of new mutations, recombination and clonal selection.
The analysis of void growth that leads to central bursts during extrusion

Abstract U sing large deformation finite element analysis together with Gurson's constitutive model, we have studied the behavior of microvoids nucleated at second phase particles during direct axisymmetric extrusion. Two different die-designs were analyzed. Experiments show that the first die-design results in central burst formation while the second gives a solid product free of central bursts. Comparison of the stress fields of the two die-designs provides a possible explanation of how central bursting initiates and why it appears after several steps of multi-step extrusions. The finite element results are in agreement with experimental observation and show that the finite element method can be successfully used to predict the formation of central bursts during extrusion.
Suboptimal engagement of the T-cell receptor by a variety of peptide–MHC ligands triggers T-cell anergy

T cells recognize antigen via the T-cell receptor (TCR) and produce a spectrum of responses that range from activation to anergy or cell death. The variety of outcomes may be dictated by the strength of the signals transmitted upon cognate recognition of the TCR. The physiological outcome of TCR engagement is determined by several factors, including the avidity of the ligand for TCR, the duration of engagement, and the presence and nature of accessory molecules present on antigen-presenting cells (APCs). In this review, we discuss a model of anergy induced by presentation of low densities of peptide-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) ligand in CD4(+) T cells and compare it to anergy induced by altered peptide ligands in an effort to identify a unifying mechanism. We suggest that altered peptide ligand (APL) and low densities of agonist ligands induce anergy by engaging less than optimal numbers of TCRs. The physiological impacts of anergy in memory CD4(+) T cells are discussed.