cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Numerical Simulation of Cross-Valley Plume Dispersion during the Morning Transition Period

Abstract A two-dimensional dynamical model was used to simulate the daytime boundary-layer evolution and resulting plume dispersion in a cross-valley section of a northwest–southeast oriented narrow valley in the first 4 h after sunrise. Two cases were simulated, one using a summertime heating distribution and a second with a wintertime heating distribution. In each case, additional conservation equations were added to simulate the dispersion of two plumes released 150 m and 650 m above the valley floor. In the summer case, the lower plume migrated to the more strongly heated southwest sidewall in the first 90 min after sunrise, and was then advected up the sidewall in the slope flow for the remainder of the simulation. This result is consistent with observations. The upper plume diffused slowly in the remnants of the nocturnal inversion layer until it was entrained by the growing convective boundary layer 3 h after sunrise. The boundary layer's thermodynamic structure remained nearly symmetric about the ...
Obstacles to learning from experience and principal training

This paper discusses the obstacles to on-the-job learning for school administrators. Applying Kolb's (1984) experiential learning model to understanding the on-the-job preparation of administrators, it describes how characteristics of the work, properties of the organization, and norms of the occupation make this form of learning often slow, unreliable, counter-productive, and biased. The four stages of experiential learning (concrete experience, reflective analysis, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation) are analyzed and applied to the learning of school principals with particular attention to the obstacles to effective learning at each stage. Finally, the paper suggests ways that those who prepare, train, and work alongside principals can improve the quality of learning-from-experience for novice as well as veteran administrators.
Cytomegalovirus Infection of the BS-1 Human Stroma Cell Line: Effect on Murine Hemopoiesis

Abstract BS-1, a stromal cell line derived from human bone marrow, can support the growth of murine erythroid (BFU-E), granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM), and megakaryocyte (CFU-M) progenitor cells in a short term in vitro coculture system. Exposure of BS-1 cells to cytomegalovirus (CMV) for 3 hr prior to coculture results in a marked reduction in the stroma cell's ability to support murine hemopoiesis. CMV's effect on the BS-1 cell's hematopoietic support function is dependent on the multiplicity of infection with total suppression of BFU-E observed at a 1:1 ratio of virus to bone marrow cells. A 50% loss in the ability of BS-1 cells to support BFU-E is observed at a 0.1:1 ratio. No effect of CMV is observed with further log dilutions of virus. CMV infection of BS-1 cells affects its support of erythroid progenitor cell growth to a greater extent than its influence on the development of granulocyte-maccrophage colonies. Antibody to CMV or heat inactivation of the virus reverses the inhibitory affect on BS-1 cells. The results suggest that CMV can infect a cell that constitutes one of the cellular elements of the normal bone marrow microenvironment causing a decrease in the stroma's ability to support the growth and development of normal progenitor cells.
Activation of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Binding Protein-5 Promoter in Osteoblasts by Cooperative E Box, CCAAT Enhancer-Binding Protein, and Nuclear Factor-1 Deoxyribonucleic Acid-Binding Sequences*

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-5 (IGFBP-5) has IGF-dependent and -independent actions. PGE2 rapidly increases IGFBP-5 expression by osteoblasts through cAMP-dependent processes. A minimal DNA sequence required for basal and PGE2-stimulated IGFBP-5 promoter activity spans −69 to− 35 bp. This region adjoins a functional TATA box and contains E box, CCAAT enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP), nuclear factor-1 (NF-1), and activator protein-2 (AP-2) transcription factor related binding motifs. In this study we compared minimal promoter sequences of− 74 to +120 bp, without or with mutations in each potential regulatory element, by reporter gene expression and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Mutation of the E box-related element reduced basal promoter activity by 50% and eliminated the 2-fold stimulatory effect of PGE2. In contrast, mutations in the C/EBP- or NF-1-related elements also reduced basal promoter activity without fully eliminating the PGE2 effect. Overexpression of C/EBPδ stimula...
Correction factors for dissolved organic carbon extracted from soil, measured using the Mn(III)-pyrophosphate colorimetric method adapted for a microplate reader

Oxidizable dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is regularly measured in environmental samples using a colorimetric method with Mn(III)-pyrophosphate as the oxidizing agent. It is simpler to use and has a much higher throughput than the commonly used dichromate oxidation and combustion methods. Here, we demonstrate that the method often leads to an underestimation or overestimation of the concentration of common organic compounds in solutions. To our knowledge, no published study has taken this fact into account when analyzing DOC data. Hence, we compared Mn(III)-pyrophosphate-based results with measurements performed with a total organic carbon combustion analyzer for samples of organic and mineral soil horizons of two temperate deciduous forests, of organic soil horizon of a primary-growth hemlock stand, and of a peatland located in New England, USA. The Mn(III)-pyrophosphate method consistently underestimated DOC concentration in soil extracts. We present correction factors for the different types of soil studied. By employing correction factors, we find the method can be an inexpensive, accurate, and high throughput tool to measure DOC in environmental samples.
Cloning and characterization of murine Aqp5: evidence for a conserved aquaporin gene cluster

Aquaporin 5 (Aqp5), a member of the aquaporin family of membrane water channels, is thought to modulate the osmolality of fluids in the eye, lung, and salivary gland. Here, we report the cloning and genomic characterization of murine Aqp5 and its expression in relevant mouse tissues. This gene, comprised of four exons encoding 265 amino acids (121, 55, 28, and 61 amino acids respectively), is transcribed into an approximate 1.8-kb mRNA detected in lung, parotid, submandibular, sublingual, and lacrimal tissues. Aqp5 encodes a protein that is 98% identical to rat Aqp5. An Aqp5 antibody detects an approximately 27-kDa protein band in mouse lung, and an additional 29 kDa band in salivary gland. Cloning and physical mapping genomic fragments contiguous with Aqp5 revealed two other members of the aquaporin family: Aqp2 and Aqp6, arrayed head to tail in the order Aqp2-Aqp5-Aqp6, and provides evidence of a gene cluster conserved in order and orientation in both mice and humans.
Automatic indexing of natural language texts: Cornell University

In information retrieval, the stored documents and records are normally identified by sets of terms or keywords that are collectively used to represent the document content. The task of assigning the terms to the individual documents is known as indexing. Automatic indexing procedures have been developed in recent years that outperform the conventional methods based either on a manual term assignment or on a full-text indexing where the words occurring in document texts are used as index terms.
Recognition of Paleosilcretes: Example from North Texas: ABSTRACT

Recognition of fossil silcretes may be hampered by weathering, erosion, or subsequent burial. Silcretes develop during periods of exposure and nondeposition and can represent cumulative sedimentation for geologically important periods of time. The basal Cretaceous conglomerate in north Texas (Antlers and Twin Mountains formations) was deposited and lithified on the Wichita paleoplain. The silcrete formed in a tropical climate without seasonal variation. Outcrops are sporadic yet widespread and topographically prominant. The rock is a quartz and chert-pebble conglomerate with a variety of silica cements. It is recognized as a silcrete by the following criteria. (1) Both the detrital and authigenic components are composed primarily of silica. (2) Vadose quartz overgrowths are found in association with phreatic chalcedonic cements. Vadose silt occurs with both cement types. Zonation within the cements suggests intermittant cementation. (3) Reworked cemented grains indicate syndepositional cementation, necessarily a surface phe omenon. (4) Petrified wood is abundant. Abraded petrified wood further suggests recurring silicification and transportation. End_of_Article - Last_Page 291------------
Isolation of an aggregation inhibitory factor from non-adhesive mouse teratoma cells

Abstract An aggregation inhibitory factor (AIF) has been extracted from mouse ascites teratoma cells (that do not aggregate in culture) that retards adhesion of cultured teratoma cells of the same cell line (that do aggregate). Preliminary characterization of AIF on polyacrylamide gels suggests that AIF is a protein composed of four subunits. Extraction of AIF from ascites teratoma cells was accomplished without significant loss of viability by a technique involving the application of an electric field to large numbers of whole cells suspended in a hypertonic electrode buffer. In tests of adhesion, AIF consistently and immediately inhibited aggregation of cultured teratoma cells after 5, 10, 15, and 30 min of incubation. Furthermore, a reduced concentration of AIF resulted in a corresponding decrease in inhibition, suggesting a concentration-dependent action. AIF may help explain how cultured teratoma cells adhere, whereas ascites teratoma cells of the same subline do not adhere.
Effect Of Particle Diameter On Exclusion-zone Size

Particles and solutes are excluded from the vicinity of hydrophilic surfaces, leaving large microsphere-free regions known as exclusion zones (EZs). Prior work had indicated that EZs could extend to distances of up to several hundred micrometers from the nucleating surface. These observations were made on large, extended surfaces, leaving open the question whether EZ size might depend on the characteristic dimension of the excluding surface. We placed one or few ion-exchange-resin beads whose diameters varied from 15 μm to 300 μm in cuvettes. The beads were suffused with aqueous microsphere suspensions for observing the surfaces’ exclusionary behavior. Results showed a direct relation between bead size and EZ size over the full range of bead diameter, implying a similar relation for smaller particles or molecules, perhaps extending beyond the resolution of the light microscope.
Automated Measurement of Motor Activity in Human Subjects: Effects of Repeated Testing and d-Amphetamine

Abstract Repeated exposure to a test setting decreases, and amphetamine increases, motor activity in animals. To evaluate whether these effects also occur in human subjects, we recorded motor activity levels from 12 subjects during a double-blind oral drug discrimination (placebo vs. 75 mg tripelennamine) study. Before each 4-h session, activity monitors were attached to the subject’s wrist and ankle. During each session, subjects rated their drug effects hourly (task periods), and could freely choose among leisure activities during intertask intervals (recreational periods). Habituation was evaluated by comparing activity response during initial (training phase) vs. later (discrimination phase) placebo sessions. During later sessions the two training drugs, as well as diazepam (2.5, 5 mg PO) and d-amphetamine (5, 10 mg PO) were administered. Consistent with animal studies, repeated exposure to the test environment significantly decreased, and d-amphetamine significantly and selectively increased, wrist motor activity. These data indicate that human motor activity is sensitive to environmental factors (task, time), drug class, and d-amphetamine dose. Activity measures may, therefore, be useful in evaluating environment/psychostimulant interactions in humans.
Universal neuroapproximation of dynamic systems for robust identification

Risk-sensitive criteria for system identification emphasize or de-emphasize large individual errors in an exponential manner and thereby induce risk-averting or risk-seeking identification performances. Identification by neural networks usually is not perfect and some errors are bound to be present. The availability of the risk-sensitive criteria allows us to obtain neural networks as system identifiers to better suit a large variety of applications. This paper shows that under mild regularity conditions, general risk-sensitive identification of dynamic systems by neural networks can be done to any desired degree of accuracy in both the series-parallel and parallel formulations.
Wide-band sleeve-cage and sleeve-helical antennas

A sleeve-cage monopole has parasitic wire elements that form a sleeve around the driven cage antenna. Appropriate placement and dimensions of the wire parasites lead to bandwidth enhancement. Genetic algorithms and an integral equation solver are employed to determine the position and lengths of the parasitic wires in order to minimize voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) over a band. The cage is replaced by a normal-mode quadrifilar helix for height reduction and the resulting structure is referred to as a sleeve helix. Measured VSWR and input impedance data are in good agreement with computed data. A fabricated sleeve-cage monopole has a bandwidth ratio of 4.4:1 and a sleeve helix has a bandwidth ratio of 3.5:1 for measured VSWR less than 3.5.
Haemolytic Anaemia in Previously Healthy Adult Patients With CMV Infections: Report of Two Cases and an Evaluation of Subclinical Haemolysis in CMV Mononucleosis

Whereas haemolytic anaemia is commonly encountered in infants and young children with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections, it is an infrequent complication of CMV-induced infections in previously healthy adults. The data from 2 such patients are presented. One patient's Hb fell to a level of 36 g/l, and she required prednisone and blood transfusions. Her direct antihuman globulin test (DAT) was positive (IgG), and her red blood cell survival (51Cr) revealed a T 1/2 of 5 d. Both saline-agglutinating and low-molecular-weight cold agglutinins (CA) (4 degrees C) that reacted against both cord and adult cells were identified. In the second case, a moderate haemolytic anaemia (lowest Hb 87 g/l) was accompanied by negative DAT and CA studies. 20 other patients with CMV-mononucleosis were evaluated for evidence of subclinical haemolysis. Reticulocyte counts greater than 3.0% were noted in 9 of these patients. Haptoglobin values were below 0.5 g/l in 13 patients, and a positive DAT was recorded in 3/10 cases. This study documents haemolysis in many non-immunosuppressed adult patients with CMV infections. The mechanism responsible remains obscure.
Adaptive θ-methods for pricing American options

We develop adaptive @q-methods for solving the Black-Scholes PDE for American options. By adding a small, continuous term, the Black-Scholes PDE becomes an advection-diffusion-reaction equation on a fixed spatial domain. Standard implementation of @q-methods would require a Newton-type iterative procedure at each time step thereby increasing the computational complexity of the methods. Our linearly implicit approach avoids such complications. We establish a general framework under which @q-methods satisfy a discrete version of the positivity constraint characteristic of American options, and numerically demonstrate the sensitivity of the constraint. The positivity results are established for the single-asset and independent two-asset models. In addition, we have incorporated and analyzed an adaptive time-step control strategy to increase the computational efficiency. Numerical experiments are presented for one- and two-asset American options, using adaptive exponential splitting for two-asset problems. The approach is compared with an iterative solution of the two-asset problem in terms of computational efficiency.
Media Literacy: An Entree for Pre-Service Teachers into Critical Pedagogy.

Media literacy education is an emerging field in the US. At the same time, accountability in public schools is soaring. Critical media literacy, with its liberatory pursuits, is very much at odds with repetition and recall. Yet media culture is persuasive and pervasive, and critical media literacy’s concepts are in line with critical pedagogy. So it seems that by introducing critical media literacy to future teachers, we might stand a chance of one day reversing this curricular narrowing. The author used qualitative methods to analyze a group of undergraduate elementary education pre‐service teachers’ discussions surrounding a particular controversial music video and various factors emerged with regard to this pedagogical simulation. These included the importance of choosing an appropriate media text, how dialogue about this chosen text can lead toward conscientization, how pre‐service teachers can recognize viewers’ subjectivity, and how they can reveal what knowledge they are lacking with regard to crit...
Factors Influencing Graduate-Social-Work Students' Interest in Working with Elders

ABSTRACT This study surveyed graduating Master of Social Work (MSW) students from social-work programs in 3 Southern states to obtain information about students' attitudes toward aging, gerontological knowledge, and factors predictive of interest in working with older adults. Students' self-rated aging skills, contact frequency with older adults, rewarding interaction with older clients, and a stronger belief that gerontological social work offers good career opportunities were significant predictors of students' interest in aging related work. While only a minority of students had engaged in an aging-related internship, over 60% reported that they would have been likely to do so if a stipend had been included.
Ca, Sr, O and D isotope approach to defining the chemical evolution of hydrothermal fluids: Example from Long Valley, CA, USA

We present chemical and isotopic data for fluids, minerals and rocks from the Long Valley meteoric-hydrothermal system. The samples encompass the presumed hydrothermal upwelling zone in the west moat of the caldera, the Casa Diablo geothermal field, and a series of wells defining a nearly linear, � 16 km long, west-to-east trend along the likely fluid flow path. Fluid samples were analyzed for the isotopes of water, Sr, and Ca, the concentrations of major cations and anions, alkalinity, and total CO2. Water isotope data conform to trends documented in earlier studies, interpreted as indicating a single hydrothermal fluid mixing with local groundwater. Sr isotopes show subtle changes along the flow path, which requires rapid fluid flow and minimal reaction between the channelized fluids and the wallrocks. Sr and O isotopes are used to calculate fracture spacing using a dual porosity model. Calculated fracture spacing and temperature data for hydrothermal fluids indicate the system is (approximately) at steady-state. Correlated variations among total CO2, and the concentration and isotopic composition of Ca suggest progressive fluid degassing (loss of CO2), which drives calcite precipitation as the fluid flows west-to-east and cools. The shifts in Ca isotopes require that calcite precipitated at temperatures of 150–180 C is fractionated by ca. � 0.3& to � 0.5& relative to aqueous species. Our data are the first evidence that Ca isotopes undergo kinetic fractionation at high temperatures (>100 C) and can be used to trace calcite precipitation along hydrothermal fluid flow paths. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
First Report of Powdery Mildew on Greenhouse Tomatoes Caused by Oidium neolycopersici in Florida

In December 1999, typical signs of powdery mildew-dense white mycelium in irregular patterns often covering almost the entire upper surface of leaves-were observed in production greenhouses on tomato cv. Tradiro. Microscopic observations revealed mycelium with lobed appressoria and large, approximately cylindrical conidia that measured 38 to 45 × 16 to18 μm. Short germ tubes were at one end of the conidium and ended in a lobed appressorium. Conidiophores were straight with cylindrical foot-cells (≈40 to 42 μm), followed by two short cells (14 to18 μm). Based on these characteristics the fungus was identified as 0idium neolycopersici Kiss et al. (2) (formerly O. lycopersicum Braun [1]). Disease-free tomato cv. FL47 plants were inoculated at the fourth true-leaf stage with conidia by transferring fungal colonies collected from plants in production greenhouses with a single-edged razor blade to the adaxial surface of the test plants (six plants and three leaves per plant). Plants were grown in the greenhouse...
The perception of medical professionals and medical students on the usefulness of an emergency medical card and a continuity of care report in enhancing continuity of care.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the medical professionals and medical students perceived usefulness of an emergency medical card (EMC) and a continuity of care (CoC) report, in enhancing CoC. Methods The study reviewers included medical professionals from outpatient clinics at Intermountain Healthcare and fourth-year medical students from the University of Utah. Three cases we randomly extracted from a database of patients who had added new care information at the time. EMCs and CoC reports were populated for the cases, and information then de-identified. Using patient information in the electronic medical record (EMR), reviewers evaluated if the EMR information was adequate to support medical decisions made on the patient's diagnosis, medications, laboratory tests, and disposition. The reviewer assessed if the EMC and CoC report information would influence the medical decisions made. An online survey was used to assess the reviewers’ perception on the usefulness of the two documents. Results On average, 94% of the reviewers perceived the EMC to be useful in enhancing medical decision making at the point of care, and 74% found the CoC report to be useful. More specifically, the two documents were found to be useful in decreasing encounter time (100% each), increasing overall knowledge of healthcare providers (100% each), influencing decision on the treatment (94% each), and new laboratory test orders (87% and 90%, respectively). Conclusions The EMC and CoC report were found to be useful methods for transporting patient healthcare information across the healthcare continuum. The documents were found more specifically to be useful for effective decision making, improving efficiency and quality of care, at the point of care.
An apoA-I mimetic peptibody generates HDL-like particles and increases alpha-1 HDL subfraction in mice

The aim of this study is to investigate the capability of an apoA-I mimetic with multiple amphipathic helices to form HDL-like particles in vitro and in vivo. To generate multivalent helices and to track the peptide mimetic, we have constructed a peptibody by fusing two tandem repeats of 4F peptide to the C terminus of a murine IgG Fc fragment. The resultant peptidbody, mFc-2X4F, dose-dependently promoted cholesterol efflux in vitro, and the efflux potency was superior to monomeric 4F peptide. Like apoA-I, mFc-2X4F stabilized ABCA1 in J774A.1 and THP1 cells. The peptibody formed larger HDL particles when incubated with cultured cells compared with those by apoA-I. Interestingly, when administered to mice, mFc-2X4F increased both pre-β and α-1 HDL subfractions. The lipid-bound mFc-2X4F was mostly in the α-1 migrating subfraction. Most importantly, mFc-2X4F and apoA-I were found to coexist in the same HDL particles formed in vivo. These data suggest that the apoA-I mimetic peptibody is capable of mimicking apoA-I to generate HDL particles. The peptibody and apoA-I may work cooperatively to generate larger HDL particles in vivo, either at the cholesterol efflux stage and/or via fusion of HDL particles that were generated by the peptibody and apoA-I individually.
Low-cost, panelized digital array radar antennas

The design challenges associated with the development of the antenna array for a highly-integrated, low-cost, panelized radar system have been presented, and the methodology for the development of a digital array radar (DAR) antenna panel has been detailed. Now that a solution for the maximization of scan range in in the DAR antenna panel has been identified, the next step is to integrate real T/R modules into the antenna panel and interface it with a fully-digital backend to ultimately demonstrate the flexibility and capability of this new, low-cost radar system.
ENWRICH: a compute-processor write caching scheme for parallel file systems

Many parallel scientific applications need high-performance I/O. Unfortunately, end-to-end parallel-I/O performance has not been able to keep up with substantial improvements in parallel-I/O hardware because of poor parallel file-system software. Many radical changes, both at the interface level and the implementation level, have recently been proposed. One such proposed interface is {\em collective I/O}, which allows parallel jobs to request transfer of large contiguous objects in a single request, thereby preserving useful semantic information that would otherwise be lost if the transfer were expressed as per-processor non-contiguous requests. Kotz has proposed {\em disk-directed I/O} as an efficient implementation technique for collective-I/O operations, where the compute processors make a single collective data-transfer request, and the I/O processors thereafter take full control of the actual data transfer, exploiting their detailed knowledge of the disk-layout to attain substantially improved performance. Recent parallel file-system usage studies show that writes to write-only files are a dominant part of the workload. Therefore, optimizing writes could have a significant impact on overall performance. In this paper, we propose ENWRICH, a compute-processor write-caching scheme for write-only files in parallel file systems. ENWRICH combines low-overhead write caching at the compute processors with high performance disk-directed I/O at the I/O processors to achieve both low latency and high bandwidth. This combination facilitates the use of the powerful disk-directed I/O technique independent of any particular choice of interface. By collecting writes over many files and applications, ENWRICH lets the I/O processors optimize disk I/O over a large pool of requests. We evaluate our design via simulated implementation and show that ENWRICH achieves high performance for various configurations and workloads.
Teaching Interprofessional Practice: A Course on a System of Care for Children with Severe Emotional Disturbance and their Families

A college course was developed to educate preservice mental health professionals about a model for mental health care titled Family-Centered Interdisciplinary Practice: System of Care. System of Care is a seamless system of collaborating agencies providing services that are wrapped around families of children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) so that there is a safety net as family members struggle with their child’s illness. The course was inter-disciplinary in design, construction, and teaching and involved family members of children with SED as faculty partners. The underlying principles of the course were interprofessional collaboration, family empowerment, family-centered care, cultural competence, and community-based services. The primary goal for the course was the development of a model for educating preprofessionals to work collaboratively with other professionals and with families.
Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer Mechanisms in Spray Cooling

A primary mechanism of heat transfer in spray cooling is the impingement of numerous droplets onto a heated surface. This mechanism is isolated in the present and ongoing work by numerically simulating the impact of a single train of FC-72 droplets employing an implicit free surface capturing methodology. The droplet frequency and velocity ranges from 2000–4000 Hz, and 0.5–2 m/s, respectively, with a fixed drop size of 239 μm. This gives a corresponding Weber and Reynolds range of 10–170 and 330–1300, respectively. Results show that the impingement zone is largely free of phase change effects due to the efficient suppression of the local temperature field well below the saturated value. Due in part to the relatively high value of the Prandtl number and the compression of the boundary layer from the impingement flow, a cell size on the order of 1 μm is necessary to adequately capture the heat transfer dynamics. It is shown that the cooling behavior increases in relation to increasing frequency and impact velocity, but is most sensitive to velocity. In fact, for sufficiently low velocities the calculations show that the momentum imparted on the film is insufficient to maintain a near stationary liquid crown. The consequence is a noticeable penalty on the cooling behavior.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Transverse emittance studies of an induction accelerator of heavy ions

Experiments conducted on MBE-4, a four-beam Cs/sup +/ induction linac, are discussed. The space-charge dominated beams of MBE-4 are focused by electrostatic quadrupoles while they are accelerated from nominally 200 keV up to approximately 1 MeV by 24 accelerating gaps. Initially the beams have currents of typically 4 mA to 10 mA per beam. Early experimental results showed a growth of the normalized emittance by a factor of 2 while the beam current was amplified by up to nine times its initial value. The results of recent experiments are discussed in which a mild bunch length compression rate, more typical of that required by a fusion driver, has shown that the normalized emittance can be maintained at its injection value (0.03 mm-mr) during acceleration. >
LIFE HISTORY OF THE STRIPED NEWT AT A NORTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA BREEDING POND

I studied the life history of Striped Newts (Notophthalmus perstriatus) at a breeding pond in north-central Florida. Newts were captured in pitfall traps at a drift-fence as they migrated into and out of the pond basin. During the 2-year study, I recorded 10,290 captures (8,127 individuals) of newts at the drift-fence. Newts were active during each month of the study, but there were four peak activity periods, each of which included immigration and emi- gration events. Immigration events were almost exclusively comprised of adults, whereas emigration events were comprised of adults and recently trans- formed larvae. I documented 5,296 recently transformed, immature larvae (efts) and 435 recently transformed mature larvae (paedomorphs) during four distinct periods of emigration. Efts matured in the uplands before returning to the pond to breed. In the uplands, male efts (n = 16) grew 0.0183 mm/day on average, whereas average female (n = 24) growth was 0.0167 mm/day. Immigrating adults of both sexes were significantly smaller than emigrating adults. Emigrat- ing efts were smallest, followed by emigrating paedomorphs, immigrating adults, then emigrating adults. The overall adult sex ratio was 1:1.25 (m:f). Sex ratio of emigrating paedomorphs was highly skewed towards females, with one male for every 4.43 females. Newts tended to move during wetter periods, and captures were significantly correlated with rainfall, but rainfall was a poor predictor of the magnitude of newt movements.
Web Technology in Recreational Sports

Without question, the Internet continues to influence the way business is provided in our society. The development of the Internet and the World Wide Web will also play a pivotal and exciting role ...
Laser Generated Patterned Stimuli for Visual Evoked Responses

The coherent radiation produced by a laser may be used to produce a variety of interference patterns. These patterns may be projected on a screen or projected directly onto the retina. Several methods exist whereby these patterns may be changed rapidly. Use of changing laser generated interference patterns as a stimulus for visual evoked responses is described. Use for clinical evaluation of visual acuity in anesthetized, comatose or infantile patients or those unable to recognize a stable interference pattern is proposed.
The Impact of Deafness on the Human Central Auditory and Visual Systems

Cortical development depends on both intrinsic and extrinsic (or stimulus-driven) factors. In this chapter, the impact of childhood deafness on two modalities important for everyday communication, audition and vision, is discussed. Sensory deprivation from birth, as in congenital deafness, alters the normal growth and connectivity of the central auditory system. Sensitive period effects impact outcomes after cochlear implantation in very early childhood, demonstrating that auditory cortex must receive auditory input within the first 3 years in order to recover normal functioning. Such consequences of sensory deprivation on cortical development and behavioral outcomes are not limited to the deprived sensory modality. Childhood deafness alters the balance of cortical representation not only within but also across sensory modalities. Cross-modal plasticity occurs in auditory cortical regions, resulting in visual input driving activity when auditory input is deprived. Further, the absence of auditory input increases reliance on particular sources of visual input and alters visual processing including sensitivity and attention to information in the periphery, the processing of visual motion, and the processing of faces. This increased reliance changes both behavioral responses to particular visual stimuli as well as their underlying neural substrates. The impact of these effects on the development of oral language acquisition and communication are discussed.
Transplantation of allogeneic canine bone marrow stored at -80 degrees C in dimethyl sulfoxide.

Prompt initial bone marrow engraftment was observed in 10 lethally irradiated dogs receiving infusions of 9.8 to 30.0 x 109 allogeneic marrow cells stored at -80 C. in dimethyl sulfoxide. The 3 recipients of bone marrow from unrelated donors, mismatched by canine histocompatibility testing, subsequently rejected their grafts and died within 16 days with marrow hypoplasia. The 3 dogs with matched unrelated donors and the 4 with matched litter mate donors all showed sustained marrow engraftment. Evidence of marrow repopulation by allogeneic cells was obtained by cytogenetic studies in one and by change to donor red cell type in 3 instances.
Case Study: Risk-Based Analysis of Flood Reduction Measures

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designs levee projects to provide economical protection to flood prone areas. Levee height is determined by analysing flood damage potential, damage prevention, performance, and cost. The plan selected is that which maximizes net economic benefits. Traditionally, an added and often arbitrary increment of levee height “freeboard” is included to allow for the uncertainty involved in determining design flood levels. An objective method of accounting for uncertainties is to quantify them and incorporate risk analysis for determining economic performance and reliability. The risk analysis framework described uses statistical distributions to quantify the errors in hydrological and economic parameters used to determine levee height. Monte Carlo simulations are used to account for all possible combinations of errors in the process. Results array levee heights, expected cost and benefits, and reliability and can be used to make sound decisions reflecting explicit tradeoffs between costs, benefits, and flood risk. Risk-based analysis for levee projects is presented and discussed.
Social Justice Movements and LatCrit Community: On Making Social Constructionist and Anti-Essentialist Arguments in Court

This article examines the difficulties associated with identity-based arguments in litigation. In particular, the article considers the ways in which anti-essentialist and social constructionist framings of identity clash with judicial preferences for fixed identity categories. I review cases in which courts have addressed anti-essentialist and social constructionist arguments (both positively and negatively) and offer preliminary hypotheses to explain the limits on courts' willingness to accept these types of arguments
Art, Religion, And Material Culture: Some Reflections On Method

Le jinisme comme toute tradition religieuse, est en partie une vaste entreprise historique destinee a trouver, a realiser et a exprimer les valeurs et les significations de la vie humaine. L'etude des seuls textes de cette tradition est insuffisante pour une comprehension adequate de cette entreprise. Puisque dans son caractere authentique, la vie humaine est incarnee, physiquement et materiellement, l'etude de la religion doit par consequent s'interesser aux representations materielles. La richesse de la production artistique du jinisme fait justice de l'idee recue qui veut qu'il s'agisse d'une religion ascetique et anti-esthetique
Chronic Hyperinsulinemia Increases Myoblast Proliferation in Fetal Sheep Skeletal Muscle

Insulin is an important fetal growth factor. However, chronic experimental hyperinsulinemia in the fetus fails to accelerate linear and lean mass growth beyond normal rates. Mechanisms preventing accelerated lean mass accretion during hyperinsulinemia are unknown. To address potential mechanisms, late-gestation fetal sheep were infused with iv insulin and glucose to produce euglycemic hyperinsulinemia (INS) or saline for 7-9 days. Fetal substrate uptake and protein metabolic rates were measured. INS fetuses had 1.5-fold higher insulin concentrations (P < .0001) and equivalent glucose concentrations. INS fetuses had 20% more Pax7(+) nuclei in the biceps femoris, which indicates the potential for hyperinsulinemia to increase the number of myoblasts within late-gestation fetal skeletal muscle. Additionally, the percentage of Pax7(+) myoblasts that expressed Ki-67 was 1.3-fold higher and expression of myogenic regulatory factors was 50% lower in INS fetuses (MYF5 and MYOG [myogenin], P < .005), which indicates a shift toward myoblast proliferation over differentiation. There were no differences for fetal body, organ, or muscle weights, although INS placentas weighed 28% less (P < .05). Protein synthesis and accretion rates did not change in INS fetuses, nor did fiber muscle size. Essential amino acid concentrations were lower in the INS group (P < .05) except for tryptophan. Umbilical blood flow, net total amino acids, and O2 uptakes rates did not differ between groups. Arterial O2 content was 33% lower (P < .005) and norepinephrine was 100% higher in the INS fetuses (P < .01), all of which are factors that may counteract fetal protein accretion during hyperinsulinemia despite an increase in myoblast proliferation.
Input command shaping techniques for robust, high-performance control of flexible structures

New input command shaping techniques for flexible systems are investigated using convex optimization approaches. These techniques lead to practical timeoptimal prefilters that are robust to modal parameter variations and high frequency unmodelled dynamics. The convex formulation provides a common basis for designing both minimum time prefilters and command input shapers. Further key advantages of the convex approach for complex systems are that it does not require a priori knowledge of the input profile, and it enables much greater flexibility for including additional actuator, performance, and robustness metrics. A simple experiment is used to illustrate that the design method is both systematic and effective.
Plasma-cell Leukemia with Unusual Immunoglobulin Abnormalities

The cases of three patients who had clinical courses and hematologic data consistent with plasmacell leukemia or a terminal leukemic phase of multiple myeloma are presented. A double Bence Jones protein was demonstrated in the urine of two of the patients. Immunoelectrophoresis and immunofluorescence studies demonstrated kappa light chains. In serum and urine of the third patient, no immunoglobulin abnormality was demonstrated. The three patients had rapidly fatal courses unresponsive to treatment.
7—Riding The Wind—Consummate Performance, Phenomenology, and Skillful Fluency

Lieh Tzu [Liezi] could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn’t fret and w...
Effects of Organic Additives on Crystrallographic Orientation, Lattice Constant, Carbon Content, and Hardness of Zinc Electrodeposits from an Ammonia-free Chloride Bath

Electrodeposits of zinc from a chloride bath without organic additives had (0002) preferred orientation at low current density and (1120) at high current density. In the presence of additives, however, the (0002) plane of preferred orientation diminished and changed to random deposits of (1010), (1011) and (1120) planes. The relative surface energy of the crystal plane and the mechanism of adsorption inhibition could explain the results of the preferred orientation to some extent. Since the crystal growth on the (0002) axis of preferred orientation was inhibited by the dominative adsorption of additives onto the plane that has the highest value for surface energy, other axes of orientation can be developed. Carbon derived from additives was codeposited to a maximum of 1wt.%, and the lattice constant for the c-axis decreased slightly but clearly with the increase in the codeposition percentage, whereas exhibited no change in the a-axis. The hardness of the deposits from the bath without additives was about 40HV 0.01. Deposits from those with additives rose to about 100HV which was ascribed to the deformation from a slight shrinkage in the direction of the c-axis.
SLiMFast: Guaranteed Results for Data Fusion and Source Reliability

We focus on data fusion, i.e., the problem of unifying conflicting data from data sources into a single representation by estimating the source accuracies. We propose SLiMFast, a framework that expresses data fusion as a statistical learning problem over discriminative probabilistic models, which in many cases correspond to logistic regression. In contrast to previous approaches that use complex generative models, discriminative models make fewer distributional assumptions over data sources and allow us to obtain rigorous theoretical guarantees. Furthermore, we show how SLiMFast enables incorporating domain knowledge into data fusion, yielding accuracy improvements of up to 50% over state-of-the-art baselines. Building upon our theoretical results, we design an optimizer that obviates the need for users to manually select an algorithm for learning SLiMFast's parameters. We validate our optimizer on multiple real-world datasets and show that it can accurately predict the learning algorithm that yields the best data fusion results.
Structures and Dynamics of Adsorbed Polymer Nanolayers on Planar Solids

Solid-polymer interfaces play crucial roles in the multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology and are the confluence of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. There is now growing evidence that polymer chains irreversibly adsorb even onto weakly attractive solid surfaces, forming a nanometer-thick adsorbed polymer layer (“adsorbed polymer nanolayers”). In this Chapter, we review our recent experimental results on the structures and dynamics of the adsorbed polymer chains. Furthermore, we shed light on the mechanism giving rise to the extraordinary properties of the adsorbed nanolayers and on how these properties can propagate into the film interior over distances of several tens of nanometers, resulting in heterogeneities of local crystalline structures, viscosity, interdiffusive motions (in the melts and a solvent) of supported polymer thin films.
Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: Clinical, imaging, management and outcome in 29 patients

Objective This retrospective study was undertaken to highlight clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features of myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma. Methods The clinical records of 29 patients (14 men and 15 women) were analyzed. Results The soft tissue tumors involved hand, wrist, foot and ankle in 21 patients, more proximal extremities in 7 patients, and neck in 1 patient. The tumors were subcutaneous in 11 patients, and intramuscular in 15 patients. On magnetic resonance imaging, these tumors had nonspecific features suggestive of benign and malignant lesions. An unusual tumor in hand indicated infection, whereas an intraarticular knee tumor mimicked pigmented villonodular synovitis. All tumors were surgically resected. Conclusions Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma, a rare low-grade subcutaneous soft tissue tumor of distal extremities with high local recurrence after resection can mimic several benign and malignant lesions on histopathology and imaging. Rarely, it can arise in muscles and tendons, occur in nonacral sites, be aggressive, and even metastasize. In most cases, surgical resection with wide margins can be curative with low local recurrence.
Microneedle-assisted incubation during aminolaevulinic acid photodynamic therapy of actinic keratoses: a randomized controlled evaluator-blind trial.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a common method of treating actinic keratoses (AKs) that compares favorably to other treatment methods.(1,2) However, treatment is limited by prolonged incubation times required for the medication to penetrate the stratum corneum.(3) Microneedles (MNs) are micrometer scale needles that are capable of puncturing the stratum corneum with minimal pain.(4,5) They have been utilized for various applications, including enhanced drug delivery.6 Few studies have evaluated MNs in conjunction with PDT for AKs.(7) We sought to assess the utility of short solid MN arrays that penetrate to the epidermis in shortening the incubation time for aminolevulinic acid (ALA) in PDT for AKs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Leadership and stress: A meta-analytic review

Abstract Stress has been implicated as an important determinant of leadership functioning. Conversely, the behavior of leaders has long been argued to be a major factor in determining the stress levels of followers. Yet despite the widespread acknowledgement that stress and leadership are linked, there has been no systematic attempt to organize and summarize these literatures. In the present, we meta-analytically review the relationship between three leadership constructs (transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and abusive supervision) and stress and burnout. Our analyses confirm that leader stress influences leader behavior and that leadership behaviors and leader-follower relationships are significant determinants of stress and burnout in subordinates. We build on these results to suggest new avenues for research in this domain as well as discussing how these results can inform practice with regards to leader development.
Perspective: Data sharing for discovery.

Biomarkers will be essential if research on Parkinson's is to progress, but their discovery depends on scientists sharing data, says Mark Frasier.
The desirability of embedding an expert system shell within a relational DBMS

An examination is made of the desirability of embedding a rule-based expert system shell entirely within a relational database management system (DBMS). It is argued that embedding a shell can have significant advantages beyond improved access to database tables. The advantages and disadvantages of the system are discussed. >
FBAR Rx filters for handset front-end modules with wafer-level packaging

We present results of balanced Rx filters based on thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology for GSM handset front-end module applications. The balanced filtering is achieved by using a lattice filter topology. The filter is hermetically sealed using wafer-level packaging with solder bumps on each terminal, ready for flip-chip assembly. The size of the filter is less than 1 mm/spl and/2 and the height is less than 0.35 mm. The typical broadband rejection is better than 35 dB, and in-band insertion loss is less than 2 dB. The small size and good temperature stability make FBAR filters an ideal choice for front-end module applications.