cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reductionl of Interference Due to Common Mode Voltage in Biopotential Amplifiers

We review how the nonideal properties of biopotential amplifiers can transform common mode voltage into interference. We then review several design approaches for two-and three-electrode amplifiers, both nonisolated and isolated, that reduce this interference. We consider the effects of static electricity on the various designs, and we show how to calculate the optimal values of the circuit components.
Temporal succession of putative glycolate‐utilizing bacterioplankton tracks changes in dissolved organic matter in a high‐elevation lake

Shifts in the composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) may be a principal factor effecting changes in bacterial community composition. Emerald Lake, a high-elevation lake with DOM dominated by terrestrial sources in the spring with increasing phytoplankton-derived inputs throughout the ice-free season, provided a natural experiment with which to investigate the importance of resource-mediated drivers. Glycolate-utilizing bacteria, a subset of the bacterial community able to use algal exudates, were characterized using DNA analysis of glycolate oxidase subunit D (glcD) genes from Emerald Lake samples collected approximately biweekly from ice-cover (June) through fall turnover (September). glcD genes were not detected in early-season samples when the lake was ice-covered and phytoplankton-derived resources were scarce. Following this period, glcD gene composition exhibited significant changes through time, which were strongly correlated with the combination of fluorescence index, an indicator of the proportion of lake vs. terrestrially derived DOM, and dissolved inorganic nitrate + nitrite. These results suggest that seasonal shifts in DOM source and environmental variables that affect the composition of algal-derived dissolved resources drive changes in the relative abundance and composition of putative glycolate-utilizing bacteria. These findings strengthen the evidence for shifts in DOM structuring bacterial communities.
Structure-activity relationships of 1,2,3-benzothiadiazole insecticide synergists as inhibitors of microsomal oxidation

The activities of 47 substituted 1,2,3-benzothiadiazoles as inhibitors of microsomal epoxidation and/or hydroxylation in enzyme preparations from rat liver or armyworm (Spodoptera eridania) gut have been evaluated. Many were found to be effective inhibitors of microsomal oxidation, the most active being the 6-butyl and 6-propoxy derivatives with I50 values of 4.9 × 10−7 and 7.0 × 10−7 M, respectively, for the epoxidation reaction. Regression analyses have established that activity of the 5-, 6-, and 5,6-substituted compounds can be satisfactorily described in equations in terms of π2, π, and σ whereas that of the 4-substituted derivatives depends on π and the steric parameter E8.
Stochastic stability of wind-excited long-span bridges

Due to its heavy weight, the motion instability of a wind-excited long-span bridge exhibits some unique features different from those of lightweight structures, such as airfoils. These features are explained, and accounts are given of earlier experimental and analytical investigations in the field. Since turbulence is generally present in a natural wind flow, its effects on bridge motion stability are discussed from a stochastic dynamics point of view. Some outstanding problems are indicated.
Intracellular pH regulation of neurons in chemosensitive and nonchemosensitive areas of brain slices.

Abstract The role of changes of intracellular pH (pH i ) as the proximal signal in central chemosensitive neurons has been studied. pH i recovery from acidification is mediated by Na + /H + exchange in all medullary neurons and pH i recovery from alkalinization is mediated by Cl − /HCO 3 − exchange in most medullary neurons. These exchangers are more sensitive to inhibition by changes in extracellular pH (pH o ) in neurons from chemosensitive regions compared to those from nonchemosensitive regions. Thus, neurons from chemosensitive regions exhibit a maintained intracellular acidification in response to hypercapnic acidosis but they show pH i recovery in response to isohydric hypercapnia. A similar pattern of pH i response is seen in other CO 2 /H + -responsive cells, including glomus cells, sour taste receptor cells, and chemosensitive neurons from snails, suggesting that a maintained fall of pH i is a common feature of the proximal signal in all CO 2 /H + -sensitive cells. To further evaluate the potential role of pH i changes as proximal signals for chemosensitive neurons, studies must be done to: determine why a lack of pH i recovery from hypercapnic acidosis is seen in some nonchemosensitive neurons; establish a correlation between hypercapnia-induced changes of pH i and membrane potential (V m ); compare the hypercapnia-induced pH i changes seen in neuronal cell bodies with those in dendritic processes; understand why the V m response to hypercapnia of many chemosensitive neurons is washed out when using whole cell patch pipettes; and employ knock out mice to investigate the role of certain proteins in the CO 2 /H + response of chemosensitive neurons.
Hepatic resection for metastasis from colorectal cancer

Twenty-five patients who had hepatic metastases from carcinomas of the colon and rectum had resection for cure at Memorial Hospital, with a determinate five-year survival rate of 40 per cent, and 10-year survival rate of 28 per cent. Most of the hepatic metastatic lesions were solitary, small, and peripheral, and were treated with simple wedge resection. These favorable results justify an aggressive approach to solitary metastatic lesions in the liver.
A Conceptualist Reply to Hanna’s Kantian Non-Conceptualism

Abstract Hanna proposes a version of non-conceptualism he closely associates with Kant. This paper takes issue with his proposal on two fronts. First, there are reasons to dispute whether any version of non-conceptualism can be rightly attributed to Kant. In addition to pointing out passages that conflict with Hanna’s interpretation, I also suggest ways in which the Kant of the opus postumum could integrate key insights of non-conceptualism into a basically conceptualist framework. In Part Two of the paper, I turn to a more systematically oriented critique of Hanna’s nonconceptualism. Drawing on work by Gareth Evans, John McDowell, Sonia Sedivy, and Alva Noe, I argue that conceptualism is in a position to integrate the points which are taken by Hanna to speak most strongly in favor of non-conceptualism. In particular, I argue for the deep compatibility of conceptualism and direct realism. At the same time, I point to what I see as weaknesses in Hanna’s defence of non-conceptualism.
The Second Generation Intel® Core™: A highly integrated high performance multi IA-core and processor graphics chip

This paper describes the Second Generation Intel® Core™ processor, a 32nm monolithic die integrating four IA cores, a processor graphics and a memory controller. The die was designed for high performance but without compromising the part power consumption or the part and system cost. To achieve these targets a modular design methodology was devised, this methodology allows fast configuration of the die to achieve the optimal performance/cost/power point for a specific market segment. In this paper some of the techniques used to control the die and package cost are described. Special attention is given to debug-ability hooks that considerably reduce the system time-to-market of this kind of highly integrated processors.
Fine structure of the visual system of the honeybee (Apis mellifera). I. The retina.

A morphological study of the retina of worker honey bees as representatives of the closed-rhabdom type eye has been performed with the electron microscope. The ommatidia are composed of eight long receptor cells distributed in a circular pattern, each cell possessing an axon which extends to the optic lobe. Many microvilli form the individual rhabdomeres, which project toward the center of the ommatidium in two perpendicular directions to form the rhabdom. Rough endoplasmic reticulum and abundant mitochondria occur in the outer part of the receptors while in the inner part, near the rhabdomere, the cavities of a smooth form of the endoplasmic reticulum are enlarged to form wide cisternae. From distal to proximal ends, pigmented, nuclear, and fibrillar zones can be distinguished in the long axis of the retinula cells. In the fibrillar zone, microtubules appear. At the same level a particular receptor is detached from the ommatidium to form an independent axon. Overlying the receptors of a single ommatidium is a dioptric apparatus composed of a crystalline cone and a cuticular lens. The latter is a modified multilayered cuticule serving as a lens. The crystalline cone has a granular consistency and is enclosed by two modified pigment cells. Two other types of pigment cells are seen: (a) long pigment cells which run from the cuticule to the base of the retina; and (b) basal pigment cells, which are relatively short and located at the lower end of the rhabdom. The effect of dark adaptation and the functional significance of these findings is discussed.
How Do Primary Care Clinicians Manage Childhood Mood and Anxiety Syndromes

Objective:To describe how primary care clinicians manage children in whom they diagnose mood or anxiety syndromes.Method:This study is a secondary analysis of data from the multi-site Child Behavior Study (CBS)—a cross-sectional survey of primary care management of psychosocial problems. The management of children in whom clinicians identified mood or anxiety syndromes is described and compared with the management of children in whom they identified other psychosocial problems. Recruitment for the CBS occurred in 206 primary care practices in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada from October 1994 through June 1997. Participants were 20,861 consecutively sampled primary care attendees aged 4–15 years and 395 clinicians. Primary outcome measures for this report are rates of referral to specialized mental health care and rates of active primary care management (i.e., scheduling a follow-up appointment and/or providing ongoing counseling and/or psychotropic prescription).Results:Identification of a mood...
Student monitoring procedures for competency-based programs

A diverse set of techniques for monitoring the progress of students within competency-based programs of a public community college are discussed and evaluated. Groupings of monitoring procedures are delineated for the entry, midcourse, and exit phases of several operational programs. Those specific approaches considered are placement testing, entry self-testing, computer-generated entry surveying and test generation, computer records management, student manuals, and competency-based transcripts.
Blocking of interferon regulatory factor 1 reduces tumor necrosis factor α–induced interleukin‐18 bioactivity in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts by induction of interleukin‐18 binding protein a: Role of the nuclear interferon regulatory factor 1–NF‐κB–c‐jun complex

Objective To examine the role of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) in tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)–induced interleukin-18 binding protein a (IL-18BPa) expression in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs). Methods TNFα-induced IRF-1 expression was assessed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The effect of TNFα on IRF-1 was assessed using nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts, Western blots, and immunofluorescence. Chemical inhibitors of NF-κB or MAP kinases were used to analyze the signaling pathways of TNFα-induced IRF-1 expression and IRF-1 nuclear translocation. Control and IRF-1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) were used to analyze the effect of IRF-1 down-regulation on TNFα-induced IL-18BP expression. IL-18BPa expression was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and IL-18 was assessed at the transcription and bioactivity levels using KG-1 cells. Results TNFα induced RASF IRF-1 expression at the messenger RNA and protein levels, with a maximal effect at 2 hours (P < 0.05; n ≥ 3). Furthermore, TNFα induced nuclear translocation of IRF-1, with maximal translocation at 2 hours (∼6 fold-induction) (P < 0.05; n = 4). Blocking of the NF-κB or JNK-2 pathways reduced TNFα-induced IRF-1 nuclear translocation by 35% and 50%, respectively (P < 0.05; n ≥ 4). Using siRNA to knock down IRF-1, we observed reduced IL-18BPa expression. Additionally, IL-18 bioactivity was higher when siRNA was used to knock down IRF-1 expression. Conclusion These results show that IRF-1 is a key regulator of IL-18BPa expression and IL-18 bioactivity in RASFs. Regulation of IRF-1 will be a new therapeutic target in RA.
Cytogenetic study of two cases with lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue

Cytogenetic studies have been reported in fewer than 20 patients with lymphoma of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). Two patients with this disease at the Clinical Center, National Institutes of health had numerical and structural chromosome abnormalities, including +12 in both cases. The clonal karyotypes observed were 48-49,XX,t(2;8)(q33;p23), +3, -10,del(10)(q23), +12, +18 [cp] and 47,X,-X,i(6p), +7, +inv(12)(p13q13). Review of cytogenetic studies from published data showed that all cases of MALT lymphoma reported to date also have both numerical and structural chromosome abnormalities, the most frequent being numerical involvement of chromosomes 3, 7, and 12. Identification of a clonal abnormality can help establish the diagnosis when differential diagnosis includes atypical hyperplasia. Although trisomy 12 has been associated with a poor prognosis in B-cell chronic lymphocytic lymphoma (B-CLL), both these patients with MALT lymphoma have had long survival: 8 and 11 years, respectively.
Attitudes of beginning medical students toward older persons : a five-campus study

OBJECTIVE: To examine the attitudes of beginning medical students toward older persons and their medical care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Five University of California medical schools. PARTICIPANTS: Beginning medical school students from the Class of 1994. MEASUREMENTS: Demographic characteristics, personal contacts with older persons, and previous coursework or research experience with older persons were assessed. Knowledge with regard to aging was measured with a group of 10 questions, which were modified from the Facts on Aging Quiz. The attitudes of students toward older persons were assessed using the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD), the Maxwell-Sullivan Attitude Scale (MSAS), and two case scenarios. RESULTS: Ninety-two percent of the participants (554 of 603) responded; 93% of these responses were usable. Students were much less likely to admit an acutely ill 85-year-old woman to an intensive care unit, intubate her, and treat her aggressively than they were to treat an acutely ill 10-year-old girl with underlying chronic leukemia. In multivariate models, male gender and younger student age were both independently predictive of less favorable attitudes regarding a 70-year-old person on the ASD Instrumental-Ineffective subscale. Asian-Americans and males had less favorable attitudes on the Autonomous-Dependent and the Personal Acceptability-Unacceptability subscales. More knowledge with regard to aging was predictive of more favorable attitudes on the Autonomous-Dependent and Personal Acceptability-Unacceptability subscales. Male gender and Asian-American ethnicity were significantly associated with less favorable attitudes on the two scales derived from the MSASs. Students who had previously visited a long-term care facility were more likely to disagree that it takes too much time to care for older persons. CONCLUSION: Beginning medical students have already formed some unfavorable attitudes about older persons. Few independent predictors (either sociodemographic or students' previous experiences) of student attitudes could be identified that would help in the selection of students who had more favorable attitudes toward older persons. Hence, attempts to generate physicians with good attitudes must rely on curricular efforts during medical school and residency training.
Sulfur, iron and organic carbon fluxes in the Black Sea: sulfur isotopic evidence for origin of sulfur fluxes

Abstract In the southern and central Black Sea, reduced sulfur comprises nearly 1% of the total particulate flux in the anoxic water column, as measured by time-series sediment traps. Sulfur isotopic composition of particulate sulfide fluxes indicates an origin near the oxic-anoxic interface, where dissolved sulfide is isotopically heavier than dissolved sulfide below 175 m due to chemical oxidation A strong seasonal correlation exists between sulfur and organic carbon fluxes; this, together with particulate sulfide precipitation at the oxic-anoxic interface, suggests that sulfides are scavenged from the interface during maximum production of settling organic aggregates, particularly during the late summer coccolithophorid blooms. Sulfide precipitation deeper in the water column and in sediments may be limited by availability of iron and/or polysulfides, since there are no particulate sulfide fluxes which have the same isotopic composition as ambient dissolved sulfide at trap depths. Since sulfides in surface sediments are often isotopically similar to dissolved sulfide at the top of the sulfide zone and to sediment trap fluxes, sedimentary sulfides could originate from metal sulfide fluxes forming at the oxic-anoxic interface and would reflect sulfur-cycling processes at the oxic-anoxic interface Sedimentary sulfate reduction rates estimated from assuming 65–80% utilization of particulate organic carbon fluxes agree reasonably well with other estimates of sulfate reduction and sulfide production rates. A sulfur isotope-based box model for sulfur cycling between dissolved and particulate phases in the water column and sediments is presented.
The effect of volume fraction on particle coarsening: theoretical considerations

Abstract The theory of diffusion-controlled particle coarsening developed by Lifshitz and Slyozov and Wagner (LSW) is modified to take into account the volume fraction,φ, of precipitate. The modification is based on the supposition that the diffusion of solute to a growing particle (or from a dissolving particle) will depend on a distance characteristic of the spatial distribution of the particles in the polydisperse assembly. The characteristic distance chosen for computational purposes is related to the mean free path between a particle and its nearest neighbor. While this is not the best choice, it serves to make the problem tractable analytically. Steady-state diffusion under conditions of spherical symmetry is also assumed. The modified LSW (MLSW) theory predicts that while the basic t 1 3 kinetics of the LSW theory are maintained, the coarsening rate increases with increasing volume fraction, even at very small values of φ. According to the MLSW theory, the theoretical distribution of particle sizes broadens rapidly at small values of φ. In the limit φ = 1 the theoretical particle size distribution becomes identical to that derived by Wagner for the case of interface controlled coarsening. All the results of the LSW theory are recovered from the MLSW theory in the limit of zero volume fraction. The results of the MLSW theory are in very good quantitative agreement with the available data on the coarsening rates of Co precipitates in Cu—Co alloys. The apparent absence of volume fraction effects on particle coarsening in a number of other alloy systems is discussed in light of the assumptions involved in both the LSW and MLSW theories.
Growing bloom: design of a visualization of project evolution

In this paper we describe the design behind the Bloom Diagram, a tool to visualize the evolution of individual participants' code and comment contributions to open source software projects. The design blends techniques such as concentric pie charts, animation, motion trails, and social proxies to produce a compact presentation of the large scale dynamics around software development. We also briefly present some preliminary findings using data gathered from SourceForge, a popular open source project hosting site, and discuss future directions for this work.
Shot by the Messenger: Partisan Cues and Public Opinion Regarding National Security and War

Research has shown that messages of intra-party harmony tend to be ignored by the news media, while internal disputes, especially within the governing party, generally receive prominent coverage. We examine how messages of party conflict and cooperation affect public opinion regarding national security, as well as whether and how the reputations of media outlets matter. We develop a typology of partisan messages in the news, determining their likely effects based on the characteristics of the speaker, listener, news outlet, and message content. We hypothesize that criticism of a Republican president by his fellow partisan elites should be exceptionally damaging (especially on a conservative media outlet), while opposition party praise of the president should be the most helpful (especially on a liberal outlet). We test our hypotheses through an experiment and a national survey on attitudes regarding the Iraq War. The results show that credible communication (i.e., “costly” rhetoric harmful to a party) is more influential than “cheap talk” in moving public opinion. Ironically, news media outlets perceived as ideologically hostile can actually enhance the credibility of certain messages relative to “friendly” news sources.
Reduction of Vibration-Induced Artifacts in Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

Target vibrations introduce nonstationary phase modulation, which is termed the micro-Doppler effect, into returned synthetic aperture radar (SAR) signals. This causes artifacts, or ghost targets, which appear near vibrating targets in reconstructed SAR images. Recently, a vibration estimation method based on the discrete fractional Fourier transform (DFrFT) has been developed. This method is capable of estimating the instantaneous vibration accelerations and vibration frequencies. In this paper, a deghosting method for vibrating targets in SAR images is proposed. For single-component vibrations, this method first exploits the estimation results provided by the DFrFT-based vibration estimation method to reconstruct the instantaneous vibration displacements. A reference signal, whose phase is modulated by the estimated vibration displacements, is then synthesized to compensate for the vibration-induced phase modulation in returned SAR signals before forming the SAR image. The performance of the proposed method with respect to the signal-to-noise and signalto-clutter ratios is analyzed using simulations. Experimental results using the Lynx SAR system show a substantial reduction in ghosting caused by a 1.5-cm 0.8-Hz target vibration in a true SAR image.
Some explanations for species differences in hyperglycemic responses to adrenergic agents

Abstract There are species differences in the metabolic responses to catecholamines and their antagonists. In one group (dog, cat) isoproterenol equals or surpasses the potency of epinephrine for increasing plasma glucose and propranolol and other β-adrenergic antagonists in moderate doses suppress these responses. In the second group (rat, rabbit, baboon, human) isoproterenol is considerably less potent than epinephrine for increasing plasma glucose and for reducing liver glycogen and the β-adrenergic antagonists are poor inhibitors of epinephrine-induced hyperglycemia or liver glycogen depletion. In all these species isoproterenol is more potent than epinephrine for increasing muscle glycogenolysis and plasma lactic acid and these effects are sensitive to inhibition by β-adrenergic antagonists. The adrenergic receptors involved in the activation of hepatic glucose release by epinephrine in rats and rabbits differ from those in the dog. In rats and rabbits evidence has been obtained which implicates the release of insulin by isoproterenol as an important factor in limiting the hyperglycemic response to isoproterenol. Alloxan-diabetic rats and rabbits, radioimmunoassay of insulin and glucagon, and the use of somatostatin as an inhibitor of glucagon and insulin release have been applied to produce the evidence which implicates glucagon release as a large factor in the epinephrine-induced hyperglycemia and hepatic glycogenolysis in the rat, rabbit and baboon, but not in the dog.
High affinity choline uptake by spinal cord neurons in dissociated cell culture.

Abstract Spinal cord-myotube cultures prepared with dissociated embryonic chick spinal cord cells and myoblasts exhibit a high affinity mechanism for accumulating choline. The uptake mechanism has a Km of 3.4 ± 0.5 μM (7) and a Vm of 40.0 ± 0.1 (7) pmoles/min/mg of protein (mean ± SEM; number of determinations in parentheses). It is inhibited 90–95% by 10 μM hemicholinium-3 or by replacement of Na+ in the incubation solution with Li+. Part of the choline (10–20%) accumulated by the high affinity system is converted to acetylcholine (ACh). Uptake studies on spinal cord cells and myotubes grown separately demonstrate that the spinal cord cells can account for virtually all of the choline uptake observed in the mixed cultures. Myotubes are unnecessary under these conditions for the expression of the high affinity uptake mechanism by spinal cord cells. Neurons are not the only cell type in culture to exhibit high affinity choline uptake. Chick fibroblasts in both rapidly growing and stationary phase can accumulate choline with kinetics similar to those observed for the high affinity uptake by spinal cord cells. Little if any of the choline accumulated by fibroblasts, however, is converted to ACh. In most uptake studies with spinal cord cells, contributions from fibroblasts were minimized by carrying out the analysis at a time when few non-neuronal cells were present in the spinal cord cultures. These observations suggest that a population of chick central nervous system (CNS) neurons develop a high affinity choline uptake mechanism in cell culture that has many of the properties described for uptake by cholinergic neurons in vivo and that at least part of the choline accumulated by the system can be used for neurotransmitter synthesis.
Education for Information Science as a Profession.

This paper relates factors pertaining to the development of professional education programs to the current status of education for information science. Information science education has not yet matured to the level of being articulated in a program plan representing the consensus of members of the profession. Components of curriculum plans are discussed. A topic inventory for information science is presented with indications of its utility in curriculum design and assessment. The author advocates that collective action be undertaken by the information science community to formulate a curriculum plan to orient educators, prospective students, and present and prospective clienteles.
Hardware/Software Integration for FPGA-based All-Pairs Shortest-Paths

Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are being employed in high performance computing systems owing to their potential to accelerate a wide variety of long-running routines. Parallel FPGA-based designs often yield a very high speedup. Applications using these designs on reconfigurable supercomputers involve software on the system managing computation on the FPGA. To extract maximum performance from an FPGA design at the application level, it becomes necessary to minimize associated data movement costs on the system. We address this hardware/software integration challenge in the context of the All-Pairs Shortest-Paths (APSP) problem in a directed graph. We employ a parallel FPGA-based design using a blocked algorithm to solve large instances of APSP. With appropriate design choices and optimizations, experimental results on the Cray XD1 show that the FPGA-based implementation sustains an application-level speedup of 15 over an optimized CPU-based implementation.
The evolution of a hierarchical partitioning algorithm for large-scale scientific data: three steps of increasing complexity

As scientific data sets grow exponentially in size, the need for scalable algorithms that heuristically partition the data increases. In this paper, we describe the three-step evolution of a hierarchical partitioning algorithm for large-scale spatio-temporal scientific data sets generated by massive simulations. The first version of our algorithm uses a simple top-down partitioning technique, which divides the data by using a four-way bisection of the spatio-temporal space. The shortcomings of this algorithm lead to the second version of our partitioning algorithm, which uses a bottom-up approach. In this version, a partition hierarchy is constructed by systematically agglomerating the underlying Cartesian grid that is placed on the data. Finally, the third version of our algorithm utilizes the intrinsic topology of the data given in the original scientific problem to build the partition hierarchy in a bottom-up fashion. Specifically, the topology is used to heuristically agglomerate the data at each level of the partition hierarchy. Despite the growing complexity in our algorithms, the third version of our algorithm builds partition hierarchies in less time and is able to build trees for larger size data sets as compared to the previous two versions.
On blind MIMO channel estimation and blind signal separation in unknown additive noise

The problem of estimating the impulse response function of an FIR multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system given only the noisy measurements of the vector output of the system, is considered. The system is assumed to be driven by a spatially and temporally i.i.d. non-Gaussian vector sequence (which is not observed). The problem of blind separation of independent linear signals from their convolutive mixtures also leads to the above mathematical model. The model order is unknown. The FIR N/spl times/M (N/spl ges/M) MIMO transfer function is assumed to have full column rank on the unit circle; there are no other assumptions. Higher-order cumulant matching is used to consistently estimate the MIMO impulse response via nonlinear optimization. For blind signal separation the estimated channel is used to decompose the received signal at each sensor into its independent signal components via a Wiener filter. A recently proposed inverse filter criteria based approach (which yields biased estimates in noise) is used to obtain initialization for the cumulant matching approach. A simulation example is presented to illustrate the two approaches for both channel estimation as well as convolutive signal separation.
The impact of fantasy and action on young children's understanding of pretence

Theorists examining children's understanding of the mind have been particularly interested in pretence as it may be a marker for early understanding of mental representation (Leslie, 1987). Although Lillard (1993a, 1996) found that children appeared not to understand that pretence involves mental representation or even the mind, Lillard and Sobel (1999) showed that for certain types of pretence, in particular, pretence involving fantasy characters, children's understanding might be more advanced. The twoexperiments here replicate andextend this finding. In both experiments, children performed better on fantasy items than items that did not involve fantasy. This was true regardless of the amount of action the pretence involved.
Growth and disorder of macromolecular crystals: insights from atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies

The growth processes and defect structures of protein and virus crystals have been studied in situ by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction topography, and high-resolution reciprocal space scanning. Molecular mechanisms of macromolecular crystallization were visualized and fundamental kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, which govern the crystallization process of a number of macromolecular crystals, have been determined. High-resolution AFM imaging of crystal surfaces provides information on the packing of macromolecules within the unit cell and on the structure of large macromolecular assemblies. X-ray diffraction techniques provide a bulk probe with poorer spatial resolution but excellent sensitivity to mosaicity and strain. Defect structures and disorder created in macromolecular crystals during growth, seeding, and post-growth treatments including flash cooling were characterized and their impacts on the diffraction properties of macromolecular crystals have been analyzed. The diverse and dramatic effects of impurities on growth and defect formation have also been studied. Practical implications of these fundamental insights into the improvement of macromolecular crystallization protocols are discussed.
In vitro expression and biochemical characterization of juvenile hormone esterase from Manduca sexta.

Juvenile hormone esterase (JHE) is a selective enzyme that hydrolyzes the methyl ester of juvenile hormone. This enzyme plays an important role in the regulation of metamorphosis in caterpillars, and is implicated in additional roles in development and reproduction in this and other orders of insect. The full length coding region of the JHE cDNA from Manduca sexta was subcloned into the baculovirus AcMNPV genome under the control of the p10 promoter. The recombinant virus demonstrated the expression of high levels of JHE activity when infected into Hi5 cells from Trichoplusia ni. The recombinant protein was partially purified by anion exchange chromatography and its biochemical characterization showed similar features to the wild type protein. The recombinant JHE has an estimated MW of 66,500 Da. Some heterogeneity with the enzyme was observed when analyzed by isoelectric focusing, although the peak of JHE activity was observed at pI = 6.0. It is highly sensitive to trifluoroketone inhibitors and certain phosphoramidothiolates, while relatively insensitive to other common esterase inhibitors. Incubating the enzyme with various organic solvents and detergents showed that the enzyme is activated at lower concentrations of solvents/detergents and remains significantly active even at high concentrations. The high tolerance of organic solvents may make this JHE enzyme useful in future applications as a synthetic catalyst.  2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Determination of transmission line parameters in time- and frequency domain for product related packaging structures

Special test vehicles have been built for first and low loss second level packages including product related test line structures. The characteristic transmission line parameters were measured in the time and in the frequency domain in a wide frequency range. Advantages and limitations of the different methods are discussed by comparing the obtained results.
Blending Elements of Economics and Political Science: Intergenerational Dialogue, Civic Engagement, and Related Student Scholarly Activity

“I don't think I am good enough” was more than one student's response when invited to participate in civic engagement activities or to articulate their own original scholarly ideas. The insecurities underlying comments like this one are probably much more complex when put into the context of a student's academic life and its normal expectations. Students may have heard about previous civic engagement ventures from classmates who preceded them, and admittedly, many of those students had similar reservations in previous American Democracy Project (ADP) ventures; however, the America's Future Initiative was different. This initiative aspires to engage students' critical and analytical thinking on issues related to deficits and debt, especially in the public sector; furthermore, America's Future is a call to action without a prepared script.
26Al-containing acidic and basic sodium aluminum phosphate preparation and use in studies of oral aluminum bioavailability from foods utilizing 26Al as an aluminum tracer

We synthesized 26 Al-containing acidic and basic (alkaline) sodium aluminum phosphates (SALPs) which are FDAapproved leavening and emulsifying agents, respectively, and used them to determine the oral bioavailability of aluminum incorporated in selected foods. We selected applicable methods from published syntheses (patents) and scaled them down (3000- and 850-fold) to prepare 300–400 mg of each SALP. The 26 Al was incorporated at the beginning of the syntheses to maximize 26 Al and 27 Al equilibration and incorporate the 26 Al in the naturally-occurring Al-containing chemical species of the products. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the two SALP samples and some intermediate samples. Multi-elemental analysis (MEA) was used to determine Na, Al and P content. Commercial products were included for comparison. Satisfactory XRD analyses, near infrared spectra and MEA results confirmed that we synthesized acidic and basic SALP, as well as some of the syntheses intermediates. The 26 Al-containing acidic and basic SALPs were incorporated into a biscuit material and a processed cheese, respectively. These were used in oral bioavailability studies conducted in rats in which the 26 Al present in blood after its oral absorption was quantified by accelerator mass spectrometry. The results showed oral Al bioavailability from acidic SALP in biscuit was 0.02% and from basic SALP in cheese 0.05%, lower than our previous determination of Al bioavailability from drinking water, 0.3%. Both food and water can appreciably contribute to the Al absorbed from typical human Al intake. 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Measurements of radiative flux divergence in the Arctic

Summary. Radiative divergence in the atmosphere was measured during 1964 at Point Barrow, Alaska, at a location 2.5 km inland from the Arctic Ocean. C. S. I. R. O.-radiometers were used in the two observational techniques employed: 1) A radiometer was mounted on the vertically traveling boom of a specially designed tower, measurements being taken at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 m, and 2) A gimbalized radiometer was suspended from a moored "kytoon", measurements being taken at levels up to 250 m. Tower data comprise approximately 80 hours of observations over snowcovered tundra, in the temperature range of --4 to --300 C. Kytoon data comprise observations of six flights of 2 to 3 hours duration, all but one being over grassy tundra, in the temperature range of --5 to 5 o C. The sign of the measured divergence was usually negative, and the maximum convergences occurred during clear, calm weather, and in the lowest layers. The absolute magnitude of calculated divergences (FuNK'S method) was consistently less than that of the measured values. More accurate temperature and humidity measurements are necessary to explain the poor agreement of calculated and measured radiative divergences. Zusammenfassung. Es wird fiber Messungen der Strahlungsstromdivergenz an einer Station 2,5 km landeinw/irts yon der Kfiste des Arktischen Ozeans in der N/ihe von Point Barrow (Alaska) berichtet. C.S.I.R.O.-Strah lungsbilanzmesser wurden in zweierlei Weise verwendet: 1. Der Bilanzmesser wurde an einem speziell konstruierten Turin auf einem vertikal beweglichen Arm montiert und erm6glichte Messungen der Strahlungsbilanz in 1, 2, 3, 4 und 5 m H6he fiber dem Boden. 2. Der Bilanzmesser wurde in kardanischer Aufh~ingung an einem
G.H. Mead, a contemporary re-examination of his thought

The development of a radically democratic intellectual - George Herbert Mead, 1863-1931 Mead's position in intellectual history and his early philosophical writings the definition of the physical the origin of the concept of symbolic interaction ethics constitution of the physical object and role-taking temporality and intersubjectivity scientific progress and social progress.
Nonpolar Inactivation of the Hypervariable Streptococcal Inhibitor of Complement Gene (sic) in Serotype M1 Streptococcus pyogenes Significantly Decreases Mouse Mucosal Colonization

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a human pathogen that commonly infects the upper respiratory tract. GAS serotype M1 strains are frequently isolated from human infections and contain the gene encoding the hypervariable streptococcal inhibitor of complement protein (Sic). It was recently shown that Sic variants were rapidly selected on mucosal surfaces in epidemic waves caused by M1 strains, an observation suggesting that Sic participates in host-pathogen interactions on the mucosal surface (N. P. Hoe, K. Nakashima, S. Lukomski, D. Grigsby, M. Liu, P. Kordari, S.-J. Dou, X. Pan, J. Vuopio-Varkila, S. Salmelinna, A. McGeer, D. E. Low, B. Schwartz, A. Schuchat, S. Naidich, D. De Lorenzo, Y.-X. Fu, and J. M. Musser, Nat. Med. 5:924-929, 1999). To test this idea, a new nonpolar mutagenesis method employing a spectinomycin resistance cassette was used to inactivate the sic gene in an M1 GAS strain. The isogenic Sic-negative mutant strain was significantly (P < 0.019) impaired in ability to colonize the mouse mucosal surface after intranasal infection. These results support the hypothesis that the predominance of M1 strains in human infections is related, in part, to a Sic-mediated enhanced colonization ability.
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees

The purpose of this column is to stimulate discussion among nurses regarding the importance of nursing theory-guided practice. The use of metaphor may shed light on defining nursing by its own terms. The time has come for nursing to recognize its worth as an autonomous discipline and own its contributions
Alcohol, Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Obesity among People Living with HIV

Introduction: In an expanding HAART era, obesity has become a health problem among persons living with HIV (PLWH). Whereas the rising level of obesity has been largely attributed to poor nutrition and exercise habits, differences in biological factors may explain why some individuals gain more weight than others. Thus, our main goal is to prospectively determine in PLWH whether plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and hazardous alcohol use (HAU), two overlooked but highly prevalent conditions among PLWH, correlate with an adverse anthropometric profile. Also to test whether these relationships varied in men and women Methods: The Platelets mediating Alcohol and HIV Damage Study (PADS) is an ongoing multiethnic study of 400 PLWH receiving regular medical care in South Florida (37% females and 63% males). Semi-annual visits consisted of a medical exam, including anthropometrics to assess both general (body mass index: BMI) and central obesity (waist and hip circumferences). Participants also completed health history questionnaires, and provided a fasting blood sample to obtain BDNF and immune and biochemical assessments. Results: A sizable proportion of participants met the National Institutes of Health definition of overweight (BMI = 25-29.9 kg/m2; 26%) and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2; 35%). Women were more likely to be obese than men (OR=4.9, 95% CI=2.9-8.2, p=0.0001). Compared to men, women also exhibited the highest mean plasma BDNF levels (9,959 ± 6,578 vs. 7,470 ± 6,068 pg/ml, p=0.0001). Additional analyses indicated that HAU, particularly heavy drinkers, had the smallest waist and hip circumferences if they were males, but the opposite if they were females. High BDNF levels were positively correlated with BMI. Linear regression analysis revealed that gender, BDNF, and HAU were the best predictors of BMI. Conclusion: In summary, our findings offer novel insights into the relationships between BDNF, and alcohol use among overweight and obese PLWH. Our results also suggest that these relationships may be inherently different by gender.
Identifying Highly Compensated Employees

Long left undefined in the regulations, Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA '86) was supposed to clearly define the term "highly compensated employee." Unfortunately, its complex procedures make identifying highly compensated employees (HCEs) a very difficult process. This article explains the rules and the simplified testing methods recently introduced to alleviate the problem.
The Mission and Historical Missions: Film and the Writing of History

Because of the power of film, movies with historical themes affect public perceptions of the past more deeply than do scholarly reconstructions. Film makers and historians search for meaning in separate ways, but their quests can converge. Examples of different approaches to similar destinations are found in a newer film and older historical views of Catholic missions in South America. Released in 1986, The Mission, directed by Roland Joffe with a screenplay by Robert Bolt, displays paternalistic attitudes like those of an earlier generation of North American academic historians. The film's voice is a white European distortion of Native American reality. This essay will examine that voice, offer alternative explanations of historical events, and suggest a research agenda for future study of the Guarani missions of Paraguay, often mentioned in surveys but seldom studied by North American historians.
Template-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposited Spinel Ferrite Nanotubes

Ternary copper ferrite and copper cobalt ferrite nanotubes were deposited via a chemical vapor deposition process utilizing decomposing solid precursors under oxygen flow into anodic aluminum oxide...
Total shoulder replacement. Exciting progress in a rapidly developing field.

PreviewTotal shoulder replacement has progressed to the point where, as in total hip replacement, good results can be reliably achieved. Today, nonconstrained designs that simulate normal shoulder anatomy offer joint stability, pain relief, and maximum range of motion. Mr Manno and Dr Friedman briefly discuss the types of prostheses available, the indications for and considerations governing shoulder replacement, and the results and complications of surgery.
Human-Robot Interaction Studies for Autonomous Mobile Manipulation for the Motor Impaired

©2009, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). The original publication is available at : http://www.aaai.org/Papers/Symposia/Spring/2009/SS-09-03/SS09-03-003.pdf.
Induction, labor length and mode of delivery: the impact on preeclampsia-related adverse maternal outcomes

Induction, labor length and mode of delivery: the impact on preeclampsia-related adverse maternal outcomes
Direct measurement of extracellular proton flux from isolated gastric glands

We used the microphysiometer, a sensitive extracellular pH sensor, to resolve luminal (or apical) H+ secretion and basolateral release of OH- as well as liberation of acidic metabolites in rabbit g...
Hypoxia renders hepatocytes susceptible to cell death by nitric oxide

Under normoxic conditions, nitric oxide (NO) suppresses hepatocyte apoptosis. In contrast, NO contributes to hepatocellular injury in conditions associated with ischemia and reperfusion. To understand this paradoxical effect further, we compared the effects of various doses of NO, delivered from the chemical NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), under both normoxic and hypoxic tissue culture conditions. We found that the cell death induced by NO under hypoxic conditions, which increased the production of reactive oxygen species, was accompanied by a necrotic morphology with a concomitant early decrease in ATP levels. The NO-induced death of hypoxic hepatocytes was reversed by co-incubation with the anti-oxidant N-acetylcysteine. We conclude that hypoxia-induced oxidative stress subsequent to ATP depletion can switch NO from an anti-apoptotic to a hepatotoxic agent. These findings may have implications for NO-induced liver damage in settings of tissue hypoxia.