cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dolomite microstructures and reaction mechanisms of dolomitization on the triassic Latemar buildup, Dolomites, northern Italy

The wavelengths of nanometer-scale structural modulations in calcium-rich dolomite on the Latemar buildup, Dolomites, northern Italy vary as a function of composition, which is controlled by the temperature of dolomitizing fluids, and contact time with these fluids. Dolomites formed at the highest temperatures are the most magnesian and those formed at the lowest temperatures are the most calcian. The wavelengths of structural modulations, which are visible in brightfield and high-resolution transmission electron microscope images, increase with increasing temperature of formation. Long wavelength modulations are associated with more magnesium rich dolomite that formed at high temperatures. Three generations of dolomite, formed under subaerial sedimentary to subsurface hydrothermal conditions, partially replace Triassic Latemar limestones. Early exposure cap dolomite (52 to 57 mole % CaCO3) formed at earth surface temperatures and is host to mottles and diffuse modulations with wavelengths of 2 to 7.5 nm. Subsurface hydrothermal dolomite, formed by platform-scale circulation of hot Triassic seawater, comprises a kilometer-scale mushroom-shaped body of massive replacement dolomite and saddle dolomite cement that crosscuts platform sediments (Wilson et al. 1990; Hardie et al. 1991). Massive replacement dolomite from the stem consists of dolomite breccia and saddle dolomite cement. Saddle dolomite cements (49 to 55 mole % CaCO3) formed at high temperatures are host to sharp modulations with wavelengths of 7.5 to 15 nm and ribbon microstructures (1 to 2.5 nm across). Dolomite breccias (52 to 56 mole % CaCO3) are modulated; modulations wavelengths are 5 to 20 nm. Dolomites from the cap of the dolomite body, formed at lower temperatures than those in the stem, are more calcium rich, (51 to 58 mole % CaCO3), and are host to modulations with wavelengths of 0.5 to 12.5 nm. Incommensurate superstructure reflections have been recognized in SAED patterns of calcium rich dolomite from the Latemar buildup. Incommensurate c-reflections have been observed approximately halfway between the principal reflections in the [110]* and [014]* directions. Superstructure reflections overlap the a- and b-reflections of the host dolomite and extend asymmetrically toward the center of the diffraction pattern. The c-reflections are elongated perpendicular to the structural modulations and are produced by quasiperiodic domains (less than approximately 2.5 nm wide) with wavelengths of 5 to 20 nm. The superstructure phase associated with these extra reflections has smaller reciprocal lattice dimensions than the sublattice, hence larger unit cell dimensions. The superstructure phase is metrically monoclinic and is interpreted to incorporate more calcium than the host dolomite, as suggested by previous workers (cf. Reeder and Wenk 1979; Gunderson and Wenk 1981; Reeder 1981, 1983; Wenk and Zhang 1985; Van Tendeloo et al. 1985; Reeder and Prosky 1986; Reeder et al. 1990; Reksten 1990a; Wenk et al. 1991; Reeder 1992; Ward and Reeder 1992).
Cropping systems structural change and rural-urban migration in Brazil.

Abstract Rural out-migration is related interactively to differences in the structure of cropping systems. Individual, rational-decision explanations of migration are inseparable from structural, social explanations. In Cruz das Almas, a municipality in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Bahia, the principal cropping systems are based on production of cassava, tobacco and citrus fruit. Migration differences appear in response to different kinds of demographic pressure, to capital movements and to patterns of productive organization.
Degradation of fetal rat cartilage in organ culture: effect of Streptomyces hyaluronidase.

Degradation of cartilage matrix was studied by characterizing the size and amount of products released from cultures of fetal rat long bones into the medium. Na35SO4 was administered to pregnant rats and the fetal radii and ulnae were explanted 24 hours later and cultured in chemically defined medium. Under these conditions, 35S-activity is released from the cartilagenous ends of the explants into the culture medium gradually over 72 hours. The 35S-labeled molecules in the medium were smaller than proteoglycan monomers and larger than papain-released products when chromatographed on Sepharose 2B. The amount of 35S-activity released into the medium decreased when heat-inactivated rat serum or plasma or heparin was added to the medium. Adding proteases or hyaluronidases or freeze-thawing the tissue enhanced release of 35S-activity.Streptomyces hyaluronidase was chromatographed on CM-cellulose and Ultrogel to remove protease activity. The protease-free enzyme released 35S-labeled molecules, similar in size t...
Safety of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding with concurrent cholecystectomy for symptomatic cholelithiasis

Background The prevalence of cholelithiasis correlates with obesity. Patients often present for bariatric surgery with symptomatic cholelithiasis. There is a concern of cross-contamination when performing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) with concurrent cholecystectomy. The primary goal of this study is to address the safety and feasibility of this practice.
Dynamics of gas phase and solid phase reactions in fixed bed reactors

Abstract Volumetric thermal capacity of solids in higher than that of gases by three orders of magnitude. We show that this leads to a dynamic response of a fixed bed reactor involving a solid phase reaction which is sluggish compared to that involving a gas phase reaction of the same kinetic and thermodynamic parameters. In the dynamic regime where the inlet gas temperature is lower than the initial bed temperature, fixed bed reactors exhibit the worng way behavior. We show that in this regime, the transient maximum temperature rise and the steepness of the temperature front are affected by the phase in which reaction occurs, by the gas temperature and by the volumetric heat transfer rate. The maximum temperature rise in the bed is lower for the solid phase reaction and decreases with a decrease in the volumetric heat transfer coefficient. These and other new findings are obtained by our newly developed robust, completely implicit, spatially and temporally adaptive numerical algorithm which can capture steep moving fronts in fixed bed reactors.
CD27 signals through PKC in human B cell lymphomas.

Tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily members play critical roles in the regulation of cell proliferation and death. One member of the TNFR superfamily, CD27, is unique because it is the only covalently linked homodimer in the family. CD27 and its cellular ligand, CD70, have been implicated in the regulation of T cell and B cell interactions that lead to cellular activation and regulation of immunoglobulin expression. Due to the unique nature of CD27, we chose to screen a number of B cell lymphoma cell lines for CD27 and CD70 expression and evaluate CD27 activation by antibody cross-linking. Two cell lines, HT and SU-4, showed greater cellular proliferation when CD27 was cross-lined and this correlated with increased PKC activation. Additionally, in the HT cell line cell surface expression of IgG was increased by CD27 cross-linking. Thus we have identified cellular systems for the study of CD27 signal transduction that will allow definition of the CD27 signal cascade of some B cell lymphomas.
Reliability considerations of ULP scaled CMOS in spacecraft systems

NASA, the aerospace community, and other high reliability (hi-rel) users of advanced microelectronic products face many challenges as technology continues to scale into the deep sub-micron region. Decreasing the feature size of CMOS devices not only allows more components to be placed on a single chip, but it increases performance by allowing faster switching (or clock) speeds with reduced power compared to larger scaled devices. Higher performance, and lower operating and stand-by power characteristics of Ultra-Low Power (ULP) microelectronics are not only desirable, but also necessary to meet low power consumption design goals of critical spacecraft systems. The integration of these components in such systems, however, must be balanced with the overall risk tolerance of the project.
The interleukins-1α, -1β, and -2 do not acutely disrupt the murine blood - brain barrier

Previous studies have suggested that some of the central nervous system (CNS) effects of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and perhaps other cytokines might be mediated through disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We investigated the ability of human IL-2 and, in selected studies, human IL-1α and human IL1β to disrupt the BBB to radioiodinated bovine serum albumin (RISA) after intravenous (i.v.) and intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection. No disruption of the BBB occurred for up to 2 h after the i.v. injection of 2 μg/mouse of IL-2 (105 U/kg of body weight), 2 μg of IL-1α (107 U/kg), or 2 μg of IL-1β (107 U/kg). This dose of i.v. IL-2 also did not affect BBB permeability to RISA in the brain to blood direction. Damage to the BBB induced by hypertension elicited by i.v. epinephrine was not enhanced or prolonged by IL-2. When given directly into the CNS by the i.c.v. route, 100 ng of IL-2(2.2 × 105 U/kg of brain). 100 ng of IL-1α (2.2 × 107 U/kg of brain), or 100 ng of IL-1β (2.2 × 107 U/kg of brain) had no effect on BBB integrity in either the blood to brain or the brain to blood direction. We concluded that the effects of IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-2 on the CNS, as studied under these conditions, are not due to disruption of the BBB but are mediated by other mechanisms including the ability of some interleukins to cross the BBB by a saturable transport system described previously.
Challenges in Whole-Genome Annotation of Pyrosequenced Fungal Genomes

Pyrosequencing technologies such as 454/Roche and Solexa/Illumina vastly lower the cost of nucleotide sequencing compared to the traditional Sanger method, and thus promise to greatly expand the number of sequenced eukaryotic genomes. However, the new technologies also bring new challenges such as shorter reads and new kinds and higher rates of sequencing errors, which complicate genome assembly and gene prediction. At JGI we are deploying 454 technology for the sequencing and assembly of ever-larger eukaryotic genomes. Here we describe our first whole-genome annotation of a purely 454 sequenced fungal genome that is larger than a yeast (>30 Mbp). The pezizomycotine (filamentous ascomycote) Aspergillus carbonarius belongs to the Aspergillus section Nigri species complex, members of which are significant as platforms for bioenergy and bioindustrial technology, as members of soil microbial communities and players in the global carbon cycle, and as agricultural toxigens. Application of a modified version of the standard JGI Annotation Pipeline has so far predicted ~10k genes. ~12% of these preliminary annotations suffer a potential frameshift error, which is somewhat higher than the ~9% rate in the Sanger-sequenced and conventionally assembled and annotated genome of fellow Aspergillus section Nigri member A. niger. Also, >90% of A. niger genes have potential homologs in the A. carbonarius preliminary annotation. We conclude, and with further annotation and comparative analysis expect to confirm, that 454 sequencing strategies provide a promising substrate for annotation of modestly sized eukaryotic genomes. We will also present results of annotation of a number of other pyrosequenced fungal genomes of bioenergy interest.
Spectroscopy and Kinetics of Singlet Perfluoro-4-biphenylnitrene and Singlet Perfluorophenylnitrene

Laser flash photolysis (LFP) of perfluorophenyl azide and perfluoro-4-biphenyl azide produces the corresponding singlet nitrenes which were detected by their transient absorptions at 330 and 350 nm, respectively. The absolute rate constants of the fundamental processes that consume the singlet nitrenes (intersystem crossing, kisc, rearrangement, kR; reaction with pyridine, kpyr) were determined by monitoring the decay of the singlet nitrene and by the growth of its reaction products (ketenimine, triplet nitrene, or pyridine ylide). In the case of singlet 4-perfluorobiphenylnitrene in CH2Cl2 kisc = (2.2 ± 0.1) × 106 s-1, kR = 1013.2±0.2 exp[−(9400 ± 400)/RT] s-1, and kpyr = 109.06±0.15 exp[−(2400 ± 200)/RT] M-1 s-1. In the case of singlet perfluorophenylnitrene in CH2Cl2 kisc = (1.05 ± 0.05) × 107 s-1, kR = 1013.8±0.3 exp[−(8800 ± 400)/RT] s-1, and kpyr = 109.00±0.13 exp[−(1600 ± 160)/RT] M-1 s-1.
Comparison of clinical and pathological features in African-American and Caucasian patients with localized prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE To examine patient characteristics, prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, and established preoperative and pathological prognostic factors to determine differences between Caucasian and African-American patients with localised prostate cancer, as it remains controversial whether African-American men present with more aggressive disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred consecutive patients (aged 53–76 years) undergoing radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) at an equal-access tertiary-care centre were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had preoperative PSA levels, a physical examination (including clinical staging), and sextant biopsy. Insurance information was also collected. The same urological oncologist determined clinical staging and performed all the RRPs, and the same genitourinary pathologist determined the Gleason grade for biopsies and surgical specimens, pathological stage, percentage of tumour involvement, and specimen weight. African-American and Caucasian patients were compared for PSA, clinical stage, pathological stage, biopsy and pathological Gleason grade, organ confinement, margin status and specimen weight. Using preoperative and pathological data, both groups were also compared for over- and under-staging and -grading. The Wilcoxon rank test with P < 0.05 was used to determine statistically significant differences. RESULTS African-American patients were more likely to be Medicaid or self-insured than Caucasian patients. Age, biopsy grade and clinical stage were not significantly different between the groups. African-American patients presented with a mean PSA level of 11.9 ng/mL and Caucasians with a mean of 8.5 ng/mL (P = 0.03). When clinical and biopsy data were compared with pathological data there were no differences between the groups in under/over-grading or under/over-staging. African-American patients had larger prostates per surgical specimen than their Caucasian counterparts (59.3 g vs 51.6 g, respectively; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS In a referred, equal-access system, African-American patients presented with higher serum PSA levels and had larger prostates in the surgical specimen. However, African-American patients did not present at an earlier age or with higher Gleason grade or clinical stage, nor were pathological grade and stages higher. Other pathological features were no different. African-American patients were not under- or over-staged or under- or over-graded more than their Caucasian counterparts. This retrospective study does not suggest that African-American men present with more aggressive disease.
Linking Parental Motivations for Involvement and Student Proximal Achievement Outcomes in Homeschooling and Public Schooling Settings

A notable increase in the number of U.S. families choosing to homeschool their children in recent years has underscored the need to develop more systematic knowledge about this approach to educatio...
Some effects of ground clearance and ground plane boundary layer thickness on the mean base pressure of a bluff vehicle type body

Abstract The use of a moving ground plane is an established wind tunnel technique for ground simulation in surface vehicle tests. However, the data available relating to the influence of variations in ground plane boundary layer thickness on bluff body flowfields is limited. Results from a short series of wind tunnel tests, using a moving ground facility, are presented, in which mean base pressure measurements are made on three simple bluff body models while; (i) the moving ground speed, relative to the freestream speed, and (ii) the model ground clearance, are varied. The results show that reducing the moving ground speed has a similar effect on the base pressure to a reduction in the model ground clearance. This effect on base pressure is limited to moving ground speeds less than those which result in a significant increase in the ground boundary layer displacement thickness, except in the case of a more complex tandem module body. The data for this model, chosen to simulate a typical cab-container commercial vehicle, suggest that the presence of a gap between the front and rear modules increases significantly the sensitivity of the base pressure to the moving ground speed. Data from this limited study may be useful when comparing measurements made on vehicles with particularly small ground clearances above fixed and/or moving ground planes. They may also serve as a guide to the assessment of the tolerance of a moving ground system to belt speed variations in terms of the ground boundary layer displacement thickness.
Association between residual thyroid carcinoma and diffuse hepatic uptake of 131I following radioiodine ablation in postoperative total thyroidectomy patients.

In patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) total or near-total thyroidectomy, postoperative 131I ablation, and thyroid suppression therapy are reported to be associated with fewer recurrences than other treatments. Many patients with DTC after total thyroidectomy and radioablation therapy have diffuse hepatic uptake of radioiodine, and its clinical importance is debated. Some investigators report that diffuse liver uptake correlates with uptake in the thyroid bed or the presence of metastatic thyroid cancer somewhere in the body, whereas others note no such correlation. The purpose of this research was to determine the clinical importance of diffuse hepatic uptake of radioiodine after 131I ablative therapy in patients with DTC. We retrospectively reviewed 141 posttherapy scans done in 118 patients with DTC. Patients had had total thyroidectomy and were hypothyroid when serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels were obtained, and they were treated with 30 to 200 mCi of 131I. Scans were performed 3 to 21 days after radioablation therapy. Information was collected regarding the patients' age and gender, the interval between the ablation therapy and scan, uptake of radioiodine, serum thyroglobulin level, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level, thyroglobulin antibodies, TNM classification, mortality, and recurrence. Diffuse liver uptake was classified from 0 to 4 depending on hepatic brightness. Radioiodine scans were done to determine whether there was uptake in the thyroid bed or elsewhere. Statistical analyses included analysis of variance and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Diffuse hepatic uptake was observed (grades 1–4) in 96.4% of the patients; thus 3.6% had no hepatic uptake. There was no significant association between liver uptake and the uptake in the thyroid bed, the dose of 131I administered for ablation therapy, thyroglobulin levels, age, stage of the disease, presence of local or distant metastases, recurrence, or survival. Diffuse hepatic uptake was therefore not associated with residual normal thyroid or metastases as suggested by some but not all previous investigators.
Prolonged Exposure to High and Variable Phenylalanine Levels over the Lifetime Predicts Brain White Matter Integrity in Children with Phenylketonuria

In this study, we retrospectively examined the microstructural white matter integrity of children with early- and continuously-treated PKU (N=36) in relation to multiple indices of phenylalanine (Phe) control over the lifetime. White matter integrity was assessed using mean diffusivity (MD) from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Eight lifetime indices of Phe control were computed to reflect average Phe (mean, index of dietary control), variability in Phe (standard deviation, standard error of estimate, % spikes), change in Phe with age (slope), and prolonged exposure to Phe (mean exposure, standard deviation exposure). Of these indices, mean Phe, mean exposure, and standard deviation exposure were the most powerful predictors of widespread microstructural white matter integrity compromise. Findings from the two previously unexamined exposure indices reflected the accumulative effects of elevations and variability in Phe. Given that prolonged exposure to elevated and variable Phe was particularly detrimental to white matter integrity, Phe should be carefully monitored and controlled throughout childhood, without liberalization of Phe control as children with PKU age.
Impairment of script comprehension in Lewy body spectrum disorders.

Abstract A disabling impairment of higher-order language function can be seen in patients with Lewy body spectrum disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We focus on script comprehension in patients with Lewy body spectrum disorders. While scripts unfold sequentially, constituent events are thought to contain an internal organization. Executive dysfunction in patients with Lewy body spectrum disorders may interfere with comprehension of this internal structure. We examined 42 patients (30 non-demented PD and 12 mildly demented PDD/DLB patients) and 12 healthy seniors. We presented 22 scripts (e.g., “going fishing”), each consisting of six events. Pilot data from young controls provided the basis for organizing associated events into clusters and arranging them hierarchically into scripts. We measured accuracy and latency to judge the order of adjacent events in the same cluster versus adjacent events in different clusters. PDD/DLB patients were less accurate in their ordering judgments than PD patients and controls. Healthy seniors and PD patients were significantly faster to judge correctly the order of highly associated within-cluster event pairs relative to less closely associated different-cluster event pairs, while PDD/DLB patients did not consistently distinguish between these event-pair types. This relative insensitivity to the clustered-hierarchical organization of events was related to executive impairment and to frontal atrophy as measured by volumetric MRI. These findings extend prior work on script processing to patients with Lewy body spectrum disorders and highlight the potential impact of frontal/executive dysfunction on the daily lives of affected patients.
Measurement and analysis of braille stimulus to brain using an EEG: A preliminary study

Braille systems currently available for blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals are inadequate. Braille books and refreshable displays are large and hard to use during travel. For BVI individuals to truly have access to written materials wherever they are, a portable, adaptable, and user friendly device is needed. One way to achieve this is the use of an electronic stimulation to the fingertip rather than stimulation by mechanical pins actuated by complicate electromechanical mechanism. As the first step, this paper discusses preliminary investigations and findings of the brain signals observed during mechanical Braille stimulation in order to later correlate them with the brain signals observed during electronic Braille stimulation. The next step is to design a portable and adaptable electronic Braille device. The device will use brain signals induced by mechanical Braille stimulation as the control reference for achieving correlated and adaptable electronic Braille stimulation for users.
Minimal change disease and IgA deposition: separate entities or common pathophysiology?

Introduction. Minimal Change Disease (MCD) is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in children, while IgA nephropathy is the most common cause of glomerulonephritis worldwide. MCD is responsive to glucocorticoids, while the role of steroids in IgA nephropathy remains unclear. We describe a case of two distinct clinical and pathological findings, raising the question of whether MCD and IgA nephropathy are separate entities or if there is a common pathophysiology. Case Report. A 19-year old man with no medical history presented to the Emergency Department with a 20-day history of anasarca and frothy urine, BUN 68 mg/dL, Cr 2.3 mg/dL, urinalysis 3+ RBCs, 3+ protein, and urine protein : creatinine ratio 6.4. Renal biopsy revealed hypertrophic podocytes on light microscopy, podocyte foot process effacement on electron microscopy, and immunofluorescent mesangial staining for IgA. The patient was started on prednisone and exhibited dramatic improvement. Discussion. MCD typically has an overwhelming improvement with glucocorticoids, while the resolution of IgA nephropathy is rare. Our patient presented with MCD with the uncharacteristic finding of hematuria. Given the improvement with glucocorticoids, we raise the question of whether there is a shared pathophysiologic component of these two distinct clinical diseases that represents a clinical variant.
An Analysis and Simulation of Mars Landing

A novel approach to simulate a landing on Mars has been developed, and a series of tests conducted on a prototype of an unmanned Mars lander. Recently, an advanced development program, in which a Mars entry and landing system was fabricated and tested, was successfully completed. As part of this program, the landing event was simulated by dropping the lander from a helicopter hovering at 250 feet, creating the design impact velocity of 120 feet/sec. The lander was dropped first on a hardpan, dry lake bed, and in a second test, on an unyielding asphalt surface. Unique techniques were successfully developed to release the lander from the helicopter and accurately impact the target. In addition to the actual testing, a digital simulation of the landing event was developed using Monte Carlo techniques. This landing simulation program includes such random variables as the atmospheric temperature, pressure and density, the surface slopes, rocks, and bearing strength, and the winds.
Expression in recombinant vaccinia virus of the equine herpesvirus 1 gene encoding glycoprotein gp13 and protection of immunized animals.

Abstract The equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) gene encoding glycoprotein 13 (gp13) was cloned into the hemagglutinin (HA) locus of vaccinia virus (Copenhagen strain). Expression of the gp13 gene was driven by the early/late vaccinia virus H6 promoter. Metabolically radiolabeled polypeptides of approximately 47 and 44 kilodaltons and 90 kilodaltons (glycosylated form) were precipitated with both polyclonal and gp13-specific monoclonal antibodies. Presentation of gp13 on the cytoplasmic membrane of cells infected with the recombinant gp13 vaccinia virus was demonstrated by immunofluorescence of unfixed cells. Inoculation of the recombinant gp13 vaccinia virus into guinea pigs induced neutralizing antibodies to both EHV-1 and vaccinia virus. Hamsters vaccinated with the recombinant gp13 vaccinia virus survived a lethal challenge with the hamster-adapted Kentucky strain of EHV-1. These results indicate that expression in vaccinia virus vectors of EHV-1 gp13, the glycoprotein homolog of herpes simplex virus gC-1 and gC-2, pseudorabies virus gIII, and the varicella-zoster virus gpV may provide useful vaccine candidates for equine herpesvirus infections.
Keeping Up Appearances: Profiting from Patriarchy in the Nation's 'Safest' City

This paper explores the history and the political and economic dividends of manipulating urban crime data in the US. It demonstrates data manipulation as an historical and widely practised method of safety construction in cities and discusses why rape is a crime especially prone to statistical corruption. Insofar as hiding rape makes a city appear to be safer than it actually is, it is argued that the practice has taken on greater political and economic significance in this era of mobile capital and interurban competition. These themes are explored in a case study from Philadelphia and the many contradictions that it points to are discussed. Patriarchy, it is concluded, is a tool of economic development that puts all urban women at risk.
The Role of Complexity and Symbolization Method in Thematic Map Effectiveness

Abstract Thematic map effectiveness can be defined only in terms of specific user requirements. Consideration of common requirements results in four criteria by which map effectiveness is evaluated: effectiveness for direct acquisition of both specific and general information and for memory of both specific and general information. The influence of visual map complexity and two methods of symbolization (choropleth and shaded isopleth maps) on each aspect of complexity is evaluated. Though isopleth maps prove to be consistently less complex than choropleth maps, the only significant difference in effectiveness between the methods is for memory of general patterns, in which case isopleth maps are more effective. Map complexity is found to have two components that influence effectiveness in quite different ways. Complexity of a mapped distribution is inversely related to effectiveness of maps in communicating general patterns but has little relation to communication of specific details. The second aspect of ...
Consuming with Others: Social Influences on Moment-to-Moment and Retrospective Evaluations of Experiences

Two studies examine differences in participants' moment-to-moment and retrospective evaluations of an experience depending on whether they are alone or in the presence of another person. Findings for the first study reveal that moment-to-moment evaluations by participants who watched a film clip together covaried in patterns consistent with processes of mimicry and emotional contagion. Retrospective evaluations of the experience were influenced by this degree of co-movement, suggesting that a sense of affiliation between those who watched the film together affected the quality of the experience. Study 2 tests and finds support for the hypothesis that shared goals may increase the degree of covariation in moment-to-moment evaluations and the extent to which this shared pattern of judgments affects retrospective evaluation.
Vestibular disorders and dual task performance: Impairment when walking a straight path

Locomotion is impaired in some people with vestibular disorders. Performance on cognitive tasks is also impaired in many people with vestibular disorders. The goal of this study was to determine if patients with vestibular disorders have decreased ability to complete a dual task performance involving a cognitive task, an additional motor task or both tasks, combined along a linear path. Subjects were normal, had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or had various vestibular disorders that caused unilateral weakness. They were asked to walk 7.62 m in a straight line with eyes open or closed, without extra tasks, and while nodding the head, naming things, and both nodding and naming. The patients walked significantly slower than controls, especially when performing the cognitive task. Patients had greater ataxia and began veering sooner than normals. The subjects’ veering increased significantly with the addition of cognitive tasks. The patient groups did not differ significantly from each other. The changes in velocity did not affect the veering. These data suggest that patients with vestibular disorders are impaired in their ability to complete a linear path when cognitive tasks are added.
Estimation of the Dynamic Spinal Forces Using a Recurrent Fuzzy Neural Network

Estimation of the dynamic spinal forces from kinematics data is very complicated because it involves the handling of the relationship between kinematic variables and electromyography (EMG) signals, as well as the relationship between EMG signals and the forces. A recurrent fuzzy neural network (RFNN) model is proposed to establish the kinematics-EMG-force relationship and model the dynamics of muscular activities. The EMG signals are used as an intermediate output and are fed back to the input layer. Since EMG is a direct reflection of muscular activities, the feedback of this model has a physical meaning. It expresses the dynamics of muscular activities in a straightforward way and takes advantage from the recurrent property. The trained model can then have the forces predicted directly from kinematic variables while bypassing the costly procedure of measuring EMG signals and avoiding the use of a biomechanics model. A learning algorithm is derived for the RFNN model
UCAR group urges STORM program

A blue-ribbon panel of scientists has proposed a decade-long, $1 billion program to improve forecasting operations and research of regional and local hazardous weather. The panel, appointed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), believes that the program could reduce the $20-billion annual cost of damage from severe weather by $1 billion per year. The primary aim of the program is to ‘enable weather services, public and private, to observe and predict stormscale weather phenomena— such as squall lines, thunderstorms, flash floods, local heavy snows, or tornadoes—with the accuracy and reliability to protect the public, serve the national economy, and meet defense requirements,’ as explained in the report, The National STORM (Stormscale Operational and Research Meteorology) Program: A Call to Action. Stormscale phenomena also include nonviolent weather: freezing rain, dense ground fog, low-lying clouds that disrupt ground or air traffic, persistent temperature inversions, and strong nocturnal cooling that may produce killing frost.
Analysis of a nonlinear high-gain observer in the presence of measurement noise

Motivated by the sensitivity of high-gain observers to measurement noise, this paper presents a high-gain observer with a nonlinear gain that takes the form of a piecewise linear function. The piecewise function is designed to have three linear regions, with the two outermost sectors chosen to elicit the desired behavior in the transient and steady-state responses, respectively. In order to overcome the tradeoff between fast state reconstruction and measurement noise attenuation, a larger observer gain is generated during the transient response than in the steady-state response. Thus, by reducing the observer gain after achieving satisfactory state estimates, the effect of noise on the steady-state performance is reduced. Moreover, the observer presented in this paper is shown to surpass the system performance achieved when using comparable observers. The proof argues boundedness and ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system under the proposed output feedback.
Two-site monoclonal antibody-based immunoradiometric assay for measuring prostate secretory protein in serum

We developed a double-determinant immunoradiometric assay for measuring serum prostate secretory protein (PSP), using monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against two different epitopes: MAb PSP-19 was the capture antibody and MAb PSP-6 was the tracer antibody. Assay sensitivity was 0.1 microgram/L. Analytical recovery of PSP was 93.5-104.6%, whereas the intra- and interassay mean CVs were 4.2% and 6.9%, respectively. In 92 normal men, ages greater than 50 years, the mean PSP concentration was 5.7 micrograms/L, with 10 (10.9%) men having concentrations greater than 10 micrograms/L. In contrast, 20 of 49 (40.8%) patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH; mean PSP concentration 9.4 micrograms/L) and 46 of 100 (46%) patients with prostate cancer (mean PSP concentration 22.2 micrograms/L) had PSP concentrations greater than 10 micrograms/L. Mean serum PSP concentrations of the BPH (P less than 0.05) and prostate cancer (P less than 0.01) groups were significantly different from those of age-matched normal men. In a small group of patients, serial PSP concentrations correlated with the clinical course during therapy. Thus, PSP may be a useful marker for evaluating patients with prostate cancer.
Response rates in a case-control study: Effect of disclosure of biologic sample collection in the initial contact letter

Purpose Participants in epidemiology studies are often asked to complete an interview and to provide biospecimens. In a population-based case–control study of kidney cancer involving an interview and optional biospecimens, we examined whether mentioning the biospecimens in the initial contact letter adversely affects willingness to be interviewed. Methods Eligible cases (n = 434) and controls (n = 775) in Detroit were alternately assigned to receive one of two versions of the contact letter. Both explained that the study involves an interview with $100 compensation plus an optional component with additional compensation; only one disclosed that the optional component involved biospecimens. Results There were no meaningful differences between the groups in willingness to be interviewed. However, among 303 cases and 351 controls already interviewed, the proportion providing biospecimens was higher in the fully informed group: for blood, the differences were 10.8 (95% CI, 2.0, 19.5) for cases and 6.7% (95% CI, −1.7, 15.1) for controls. Findings were similar for saliva. Conclusions In a study involving an interview and optional biospecimens, informing people about the samples in the contact letter seems preferable to a non-specific reference to a second study component. Both approaches yielded similar interview participation rates, but biospecimen participation rates were higher among those informed about the samples in the contact letter.
P‐206: Circular Polarization Separation Elements for Display Applications

We report on a circular polarization discrimination element for potential use in display applications. A highly stable and efficient polarization grating based on an azo-dye doped liquid crystal (azoLC) is fabricated using a polarization holographic method. In this paper we present the design, fabrication, electro-optical characterization, efficiency and stability of these polarization gratings and their potential use in projection displays.
Tissue site-specific enhancer function of the upstream regulatory region of human papillomavirus type 11 in cultured keratinocytes.

The human papillomavirus type 11 regulatory region was cloned upstream of a reporter complex and microinjected into nuclei of individual primary human keratinocytes. Genital and laryngeal keratinocytes, normal host cells for this virus, exhibited higher levels of expression than cutaneous keratinocytes. We conclude that a papillomavirus enhancer(s) shows preferences among epithelial cells from different tissue sites. Images
CRACking the code without Rosetta: molecular regulation of calcium-stimulated gene transcription after T cell activation

After a “Big Bang” ([1][1], [2][2]) begat an ever-expanding universe of identified genes (CD Ags, cytokines, and so on) and insight into the structure of these genes, a pressing need in immunology was to understand how changes in gene expression are regulated during immune responses. For this
Long latency event-related components of the auditory evoked potential in dementia

Long-latency auditory evoked potentials were recorded from two groups of patients, with and without dementia, and were compared with those from a population of normal subjects ranging in age from 15 to 76 years. A sequence of tones of two different frequencies (1000 Hz and 2000 Hz) was presented and each patient was asked to count the occurrences of the rare (P = 0.15) tones in the sequence. Evoked potential waveforms were averaged separately for the rare and frequent tone. Of the various evoked potential components elicited by the tones, the P3 component (latency 300-500 ms) was found to be the most sensitive to aging in normal subjects. It was also the only component which could be used to differentiate between the demented patients and the normal subjects or non-demented patients. The non-demented patients did not differ from normal in any waveform measure. The magnitude of the latency change of the P3 component in dementia relative to normal was sufficiently large that it may provide a practical and objective measure of dementia in a clinical setting.
Pharmacokinetics of 2’,3’-Dideoxy-5-fluoro-3’-thiacytidine in Rats

□ Although several drugs have shown clinical anti-human immunodeficiency virus activity, reduced activity with long-term use and toxicity make new agents with high therapeutic indices desirable. Racemic c/s-2’,3’-dideoxy-5-fluoro-3’-thiacytidine (FTC) is a new synthetic nucleoside analogue that is usually potent against human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 and hepatitis B virus in vitro. The purpose of this study was to characterize the preclinical pharmacokinetics of FTC in rats. Rats were administered 10,50, and 100 mg of FTC per kg of body weight intravenously. Concentrations of FTC in plasma and urine were determined by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic parameters were generated by area/moment analysis. Plasma FTC concentrations declined rapidly in a biexponential fashion, with a terminal half-life of ˜ 2 h. The area under the plasma FTC concentration-time curve increased proportionally with increasing dose, and there were no statistically significant differences in pharmacokinetic parameters among the three doses. Thus, the disposition of FTC was independent of dose over the range of 10-100 mg/kg. Since the disposition of FTC was linear, pharmacokinetic parameters were averaged for the three doses. The average total clearance of FTC was 1.91 ± 0.32 L/h/kg (mean ± SD), the average renal clearance was 1.08 ± 0.26 L/h/kg, and the average nonrenal clearance was 0.83 ± 0.27 L/h/kg. Approximately 55% of the dose of FTC was recovered as unchanged drug in the urine. The steady-state volume of distribution of FTC averaged 2.17 ± 0.59 L/kg.
Computer-aided quantification of focal cartilage lesions of osteoarthritic knee using MRI

Noninvasive assessment of articular cartilage using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has gained popularity in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA), a condition that affects 20 million Americans. Focal cartilage lesions, a defect found in roughly 19% of the OA population, currently can only be evaluated with confidence using minimally invasive arthroscopy. This article presents a computer-aided procedure using MRI to quantify focal cartilage lesions and aims to support clinical practices of diagnosis and monitoring of lesion progress. Upon a local minima search for identifying focal lesions, the proposed gradient peak method outlines lesion boundaries and then generates morphological properties, such as lesion volume and lesion area. The procedure was evaluated using simulated and in vivo data. First, a simulated lesion was created and analyzed, and the results were compared with the exact solutions. Second, an in vivo evaluation was carried out on seven human knees in which nine focal lesions were identified and quantified. Three of the subjects had follow-up analyses, at either 1 or 2 years. Finally, in an attempt to characterize local biochemical changes underlying focal lesions, MR-derived T2 values of defective cartilage within the lesion boundaries were examined and compared with the values of adjacent cartilage compartments.
Soybean Aphid and Soybean Cyst Nematode Interactions in the Field and Effects on Soybean Yield

ABSTRACT How above- and belowground plant pests interact with each other and how these interactions affect productivity is a relatively understudied aspect of crop production. Soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, a root parasite of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., is the most threatening pathogen in soybean production and soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, an aboveground phloem-feeding insect that appeared in North America in 2000, is the key aboveground herbivore of soybean in the midwestern United States. Now, both soybean aphid and soybean cyst nematode co-occur in soybean-growing areas in the Upper Midwest. The objectives of this study were to examine aphid colonization patterns and population growth on soybean across a natural gradient of nematode density (range, ≈900 and 27,000 eggs per 100 cm3 soil), and to investigate the effect of this pest complex on soybean productivity. Alate (winged) soybean aphid colonization of soybean was negatively correlated to soybean cyst nematode...
dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport

Abstract dfn W orks is a parallelized computational suite to generate three-dimensional discrete fracture networks (DFN) and simulate flow and transport. Developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory over the past five years, it has been used to study flow and transport in fractured media at scales ranging from millimeters to kilometers. The networks are created and meshed using dfn G en , which combines fram (the feature rejection algorithm for meshing) methodology to stochastically generate three-dimensional DFNs with the L a G ri T meshing toolbox to create a high-quality computational mesh representation. The representation produces a conforming Delaunay triangulation suitable for high performance computing finite volume solvers in an intrinsically parallel fashion. Flow through the network is simulated in dfn F low , which utilizes the massively parallel subsurface flow and reactive transport finite volume code pflotran . A Lagrangian approach to simulating transport through the DFN is adopted within dfn T rans to determine pathlines and solute transport through the DFN. Example applications of this suite in the areas of nuclear waste repository science, hydraulic fracturing and CO2 sequestration are also included.
The use of quantitative computed tomography to estimate risk of fracture of the hip from falls

We conducted an in vitro investigation of the loads and energies needed to fracture the proximal part of the femur in twelve fresh cadavera under loading conditions simulating one particular type of fall. The fracture loads ranged from 778 to 4,040 newtons and the work to fracture, from five to fifty-one joules. We also investigated the relationship between the fracture loads and several potential indices of bone strength, which were measured non-invasively at the subcapital, basic-cervical, and intertrochanteric regions with quantitative computed tomography. A very high positive correlation with the fracture load resulted from use of an intertrochanteric index--the product of the average trabecular computed-tomography number and the total cross-sectional area of the bone (R2 = 0.93, standard error of estimate = 295 newtons, and p less than 0.00001). We expect the use of this parameter to result in improved assessments of the degree of osteoporosis and of the component of risk of fracture of the hip that is associated with bone strength. However, the measured work to fracture for the isolated femur was an order of magnitude smaller than estimates of the energy available during a typical fall (about 450 joules), suggesting that energy absorbed during falling and impact, rather than bone strength, may be the dominant factors in the biomechanics of fracture of the hip.