cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
German cockroach frass proteases cleave pro-matrix metalloproteinase-9.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, secreted as pro-MMP-9, is cleaved by serine proteases at the N-terminus to generate active MMP-9. Pro-MMP-9 has been found in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with asthma. Because many inhaled aeroallergens contain active proteases, the authors sought to determine whether German cockroach (GC) fecal remnants (frass) and house dust mite (HDM) were able to cleave pro-MMP-9. Treatment of recombinant human (rh) pro-MMP-9 with GC frass resulted in a dose- and time-dependent cleavage. This was abrogated by pretreating frass with an inhibitor of serine, but not cysteine protease activity. GC frass also induced cleavage of pro-MMP-9 from primary human neutrophils dependent on the active serine proteases in GC frass. HDM was less potent at cleaving pro-MMP-9. α1-Antitrypsin (A1AT), a naturally occurring protease inhibitor, attenuated GC frass-induced cleavage of pro-MMP-9. A1AT partially inactivated the serine protease activity in GC frass, while GC frass cleaved A1AT ...
Stability and secondary bifurcation for von Kármán plates

The Movchan-Liapunov theorem is used to establish a sufficiency criterion for stability of equilibrium configurations of the von Karman plate under edge loads and displacements. This criterion is used to characterize the possible occurrence of secondary bifurcation from the first buckled state of the perfect plate. A Koiter-Fitch post-bifurcation analysis of the secondary solution leads to a tentative explanation of the mode-jumping phenomenon that is observed experimentally. A numerical study of the rectangular plate for various aspect ratios is given. For this example, the base solution is represented as a perturbation power series in an appropriate load parameter.
Self-Efficacy for Affect Regulation as a Predictor of Future Life Satisfaction and Moderator of the Negative Affect—Life Satisfaction Relationship

Life satisfaction is an important index of mental health and also predicts other important outcomes such as longevity and decreased mortality. Negative affect has a unique inverse relationship with life satisfaction across the life span. Therefore, determining psychological factors that uniquely predict future life satisfaction and that reduce the trait negative affect—life satisfaction relationship is theoretically and clinically important. In light of recent evidence from long-term longitudinal studies that self-efficacy for regulation of negative emotions (SERN) predicts higher future life satisfaction, as well as evidence from a cross-sectional study that a subtype of SERN—self-efficacy for regulating anger—buffers the relationship between trait negative affect and life satisfaction, we tested whether SERN and subtypes of SERN predicted higher life satisfaction and buffered the negative affect—life satisfaction relationship longitudinally over short time periods. After controlling for time 1 life satisfaction, higher time 1 self-efficacy for regulating despondency and distress (SEDes) predicted higher future life satisfaction over average time periods of 17 days (N = 127), 32 days (N = 83), and 41 days (N = 65) among college students. However, in post hoc exploratory regressions that included self-efficacy for experience and expression of positive emotions (SEPos), SEDes predicted higher time 2 life satisfaction, but only SEPos uniquely predicted higher time 3 and time 4 life satisfaction.
Chemotherapy of pancreatic carcinoma.

Approximately 23,000 cases of carcinoma of the exocrine pancreas will be identified in the United States this year, and nearly all will die within 12 months. Surgery with curative intent has a 5-year survival of less than 4%. In unresectable tumors, combination chemotherapy with 5-FU and mitomycin-C appears to have activity and increased survival duration. New combination regimens and trials of chemotherapy combined with radiation are currently under study and appear to offer survival benefit. The development of chemotherapeutic trials and future directions are discussed.
Paramagnetic neutron scattering from the Heisenberg ferromagnet EuO.

Paramagnetic neutron scattering from the insulating Heisenberg ferromagnet EuO has been studied through the entire Brillouin zone. The measured linewidth \ensuremath{\Gamma} of the quasielastic scattering at ${T}_{c}$ follows the predictions of dynamic scaling \ensuremath{\Gamma}=${\mathrm{Aq}}^{2.5}$ up to momentum transfers q=0.4 A${\r{}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$. The new results disagree with an early work by Passell et al., where a smaller exponent and smaller linewidths have been reported, but agree perfectly with recent spin-echo measurements performed by Mezei at very small q. The ${q}^{2.5}$ dependence of \ensuremath{\Gamma} is now established over nearly four decades in energy. At large momentum transfers the energy distribution evolves into a three-peaked structure with much more spectral weight near E=0, in disagreement with the two-peaked structure reported by Mook. The cross sections near the zone boundary are in quantitative agreement with recent calculations by Young and Shastry. We conjecture that peaks at finite energy occur in EuO and EuS because of the short-ranged exchange interactions.
Acute and chronic effects of benzthiazide in dogs.

Abstract Benzthiazide has a rapid onset of action characterized by a significant increase in urinary excretion of sodium and chloride and a smaller increase in potassium in acute experiments. Benzthiazide causes a hyponatremia in 2–4 days in dogs at dosage levels of 0.2 mg/kg to 4.0 mg/kg. This response corrected itself with continued administration if the dog was on a regular diet. Benzthiazide caused a similar decrease in plasma sodium with a much slower return to normal in dogs on a low-sodium diet. In dogs on a regular diet benzthiazide did not cause a hypopotassemia or an alkalosis with continued administration for periods as long as 4 weeks. All dogs showed a constant weight or gain in weight. A hypopotassemia of sudden onset developed in dogs on a low-sodium low-potassium diet and benzthiazide which continued without an associated alkalosis. Dogs on the low-sodium low-potassium diet developed a similar hypopotassemia without mecation. Anorexia was observed in dogs receiving medication on a low-sodium low-potassium diet. This was related to the diet since it also appeared in control dogs. Benzthiazide produced increased sodium and chloride excretion in the presence of either metabolic acidosis of metabolic alkalosis. Benzthiazide was effective in reversing the sodium-retaining effect of 9α-fluoro-hydrocortisone. Benzthiazide did not produce a change in the responsiveness of the arterioles to norepinephrine in either normal or nephrectomized dogs. Benzthiazide did not produce a change in plasma potassium concentration in bilaterally nephrectomized dogs.
Techniques for fast electro-thermal simulation of ICs

An approach to electrothermal simulation in which SPICE3 provides a framework as the nonlinear electrical simulator is described. For long-term reliability determinations in which DC and steady-state simulations are appropriate, the proposed thermal simulator uses the iterative incomplete Coleski/conjugate gradient (ICCG) optimization technique. For determining electrothermal interactions in which transient thermal simulation is appropriate, the simulator uses a macromodeling technique. Since SPICE3 uses modified nodal analysis, an admittance (Y-) parameter representation for the macromodel of the thermal circuit is formed. The speed advantages gained using these thermal and electrical thermal simulation techniques depend on the total number of thermal nodes in the circuit. Two orders improvement are obtained with circuits of about 10000 nodes. >
Termination of spiral wave breakup in a Fitzhugh–Nagumo model via short and long duration stimuli

Rotating spiral waves have been observed in a variety of nonlinear biological and physical systems. Spiral waves are found in excitable and oscillatory systems and can be stationary, meander, or even degenerate into multiple unstable rotating waves (a process called “spiral wave breakup”). In the heart, spiral wave breakup is thought to be the underlying mechanism of cardiac fibrillation. The spatiotemporal complexity of multiple unstable spiral waves is difficult to control or terminate. Here, the mechanisms of the termination of spiral wave breakup in response to global stimulation are investigated. A modified Fitzhugh–Nagumo model was used to represent cellular kinetics to study the role of the fast (activation) and slow (recovery) variables. This simplified model allows a theoretical analysis of the termination of spiral wave breakup via both short and long duration pulses. Simulations were carried out in both two-dimensional sheets and in a three-dimensional geometry of the heart ventricles. The short duration pulses affected only the fast variable and acted to reset wave propagation. Monophasic pulses excited tissue ahead of the wave front thus reducing the amount of excitable tissue. Biphasic shocks did the same, but they also acted to generate new wave fronts from the pre-existing wave tails by making some active regions excitable. Thus, if the short duration stimuli were strong enough, they acted to fill in excitable tissue via propagating wave fronts and terminated all activity. The long duration wave forms were selected such that they had a frequency spectrum similar to that of the pseudoelectrocardiograms recorded during fibrillation. These long duration wave forms affected both the recovery and activation variables, and the mechanism of unstable multiple spiral wave termination was different compared to the short duration wave forms. If the long duration stimuli were strong enough, they acted to alter the “state” (i.e., combination of fast and slow variables) of the tissue throughout 1.5 cycles, thus “conditioning” the tissue such that by the end of the stimuli almost no excitable tissue remained. The peak current, total energy, and average power of stimuli required to terminate spiral wave breakup were less for the long duration wave forms compared to the short duration wave forms. In addition, closed loop feedback via stimulation with a wave form that was the difference of the pseudoelectrocardiogram and a strongly periodic chaotic signal was successful at terminating spiral wave breakup. These results suggest that it may be possible to improve cardiac defibrillation efficacy by using long duration wave forms to affect recovery variables in the heart as opposed to the traditional brief duration wave forms that act only on the fast variables.
Expression of novel genes linked to the androgen-induced, proliferative shutoff in prostate cancer cells

Abstract Androgens control cell numbers in the prostate through three separate pathways: (a) inhibition of cell death, (b) induction of cell proliferation (Step-1) and (c) inhibition of cell proliferation (Step-2, proliferative shutoff). The mechanisms underlying these phenomena are incompletely understood. The human prostate carcinoma LNCaP variants express these pathways as follows: LNCaP-FGC express both steps, LNCaP-LNO expresses Step-2, LNCaP-TAC expresses Step-1, and LNCaP-TJA cells express neither step. These cells facilitated the search for mediators of the androgen-induced proliferative shutoff pathway. Androgen exposure for 24 h or longer induced an irreversible proliferative shutoff in LNCaP-FGC cells. The Wang and Brown approach for identifying differentially expressed mRNAs was used to search for mediators of Step-2. Ten unique inserts were identified and from those ten, three genes were further studied. The basal expression of these genes in shutoff-negative variants was not affected by androgen exposure. They were induced by androgens in shutoff-positive LNCaP variants and the androgen receptor-transfected, shutoff-positive, MCF7-AR1 cells. These genes were induced only in the range of androgen concentrations that elicited the shutoff response. Time course analysis showed that their induction precedes the commitment point by 12–18 h. In addition, they were expressed in the normal prostate during proliferative shutoff. These features suggest that the candidate genes have a role in the regulation cascade for proliferative shutoff.
Copula-Based Models of Systemic Risk in U.S. Agriculture: Implications for Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Contracts

The federal crop insurance program has been a major fixture of U.S. agricultural policy since the 1930s, and continues to grow in size and importance. Indeed, it now represents the most prominent farm policy instrument, accounting for more government spending than any other farm commodity program. The 2014 Farm Bill further expanded the crop insurance program and introduced a number of new county‐level revenue insurance plans. In 2013, over $123 billion in crop value was insured under the program. Crop revenue insurance, first introduced in the 1990s, now accounts for nearly 70% of the total liability in the program. The available plans cover losses that result from a revenue shortfall that can be triggered by multiple, dependent sources of risk—either low prices, low yields, or a combination of both. The actuarial practices currently applied when rating these plans essentially involve the application of a Gaussian copula model to the pricing of dependent risks. We evaluate the suitability of this assumption by considering a number of alternative copula models. In particular, we use combinations of pair‐wise copulas of conditional distributions to model multiple sources of risk. We find that this approach is generally preferred by model‐fitting criteria in the applications considered here. We demonstrate that alternative approaches to modeling dependencies in a portfolio of risks may have significant implications for premium rates in crop insurance.
Combined demand and capacity sharing with best matching decisions in enterprise collaboration

Abstract Demand and capacity sharing (DCS) among entities within a supply network are common practice, and have become attractive strategies for competing and non-competing supply enterprises (SEs). Examples include airlines, test and assembly factories, and outsourced maintenance and logistics providers. The purpose: maximize profit and resource utilization, enable timely delivery to customers in spite of uncertain market demands and unexpected capacity shortages, and maximize the overall stability. DCS protocols are defined for the SEs with capacity shortage, known as demand sharing SEs, to utilize excess capacities of other SEs, known as capacity sharing SEs, thus fulfilling their current customers' demand more effectively, while eliminating excess inventory of capacity sharing SEs. These DCS roles vary over time. High frequency of DCS decisions could impose additional costs to the Collaborative Network of SEs (CNSE) in terms of transactions, negotiations, and lateral transshipment of stocks between SEs. Attention must be paid to the inevitable costs of collaboration for DCS. Best Matching (BM) protocol is proposed to minimize the DCS costs through dynamic matching of SEs and customers with respect to the customers' demand and SEs' available capacity to share. BM protocol is also applied for finding the best matches between DCS proposals during collaboration negotiations among SEs. A novel Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) formulation is developed for modeling and analyzing the combined DCS–BM decisions. The DCS–BM model is then validated using the Queuing Theory. It is shown mathematically and through numerical experiments that the DCS–BM model: (1) outperforms the previous non-collaborative models in terms of resource utilization and stability, and (2) provides a dominating strategy, compared with both collaborative and non-collaborative models, for optimizing the total CNSE profit and service level.
Bronchial Artery Embolization: Experience With 54 Patients

Objectives To report our experience with bronchial arteriography and bronchial artery embolization (BAE). Materials and methods A review of clinical experience to evaluate the demographics, clinical presentation, radiographic studies, bronchoscopy, and complications of bronchial arteriography and BAE at Mayo Medical Center, Rochester, MN, from 1981 to 2000. Results Fifty-four patients underwent bronchial arteriography. There were 34 men and 20 women with a mean age of 53 years. Hemoptysis was the most common indication in 53 patients (98%). Hemoptysis was caused by bronchiectasis (9 patients), pulmonary hypertension (9 patients), malignancy (7 patients), mycetoma (7 patients), and other identified causes (14 patients). The cause could not be identified in eight patients. Bronchoscopy was performed in 49 patients (92%), and the results identified the bleeding lobe in 32 patients, lateralized the side of the bleeding in 5 patients, and were not helpful in 12 patients. Bronchial arteriography revealed hypervascularity (45 patients), bronchial artery hypertrophy (17 patients), hypervascularity with shunting (15 patients), dense soft tissue staining (8 patients), vascular abnormalities (7 patients), and extravasation of contrast (1 patient). BAE was attempted in 54 patients, completed in 51 patients, and was unsuccessful in 3 patients. Overall, 72 embolization sessions were performed with a total of 131 arteries embolized, and the average number of arteries embolized per patient was 2.5. Control of hemoptysis was observed in 46 patients (85%) at 1 month. Rebleeding occurred within 30 days in five patients. Eight patients had recurrent hemoptysis that occurred 30 days after the procedure. The complications of embolization included subintimal dissection of a bronchial artery (two patients), bronchial arterial perforation by a guidewire (one patient), and the reflux of embolic material into the aorta without adverse sequelae (one patient). Conclusions BAE is a useful therapy to control both acute and chronic hemoptysis. BAE may help to avoid surgery in patients who are not good surgical candidates. Should hemoptysis recur in these patients, repeat embolization can be performed safely.
Soluble nitrogen and phosphorus excretion of exotic freshwater mussels (Dreissena spp.): potential impacts for nutrient remineralisation in western Lake Erie

SUMMARY 1. Recent increases in phytoplankton biomass and the recurrence of cyanobacterial blooms in western Lake Erie, concomitant with a shift from a community dominated by zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) to one dominated by quagga mussels (D. bugensis), led us to test for differences in ammonia-nitrogen and phosphate-phosphorus excretion rates of these two species of invasive molluscs. 2. We found significant differences in excretion rate both between size classes within a taxon and between taxa, with zebra mussels generally having greater nutrient excretion rates than quagga mussels. Combining measured excretion rates with measurements of mussel soft-tissue dry weight and shell length, we developed nutrient excretion equations allowing estimation of nutrient excretion by dreissenids. 3. Comparing dreissenid ammonia and phosphate excretion with that of the crustacean zooplankton, we demonstrated that the mussels add to nitrogen and phosphorus remineralisation, shortening nitrogen and phosphorus turnover times, and, importantly, modify the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in Lake Erie. The increased nutrient flux from dreissenids may facilitate phytoplankton growth and cyanobacterial blooms in well-mixed and/or shallow areas of western Lake Erie.
A hybrid spectral integral - Finite element method for layered media including graphene-like Atomically Thin Layered Materials

Layered medium Green's functions (LMGFs) are calculated for a multilayered medium including graphene-like atomically thin layered materials. A spectral integral method (SIM) implemented with LMGFs is used as an exact radiation boundary condition to truncate the computational domain in the finite element method (FEM) to form a hybrid SIM/FEM which is applicable to arbitrary inhomogeneous objects. Numerical studies confirm the accuracy of the method.
Prophase Association in Triploid Nicotiana tabacum

The origin of four modified triploid plants of Nicotiana tabacum var. purpurea is described.In each rase, approximately diploid female gametes (46) from the monosomic female parent, when uniting with the normal male gamete (24), produced (3n-2) plants.The triploids were found to conform to the generally described behaviour of other triploid plants, in that there were a variable number of trivalents at first metaphase.From a detailed study of prophase pairing, it is concluded that synapsis may occur in either one of three ways:1. Pairing at zygotene, once commenced between any two chromonemata, proceeds along the length of the chromosomes in a progressive manner. Pairing between any two homologues interferes with association of the third, so that at early pachytene two chromonenata are completely synapsed, the third later coming in contact with the couple at one or a few points.2. Pairing at zygotene may involve all three threads simultaneously. In such Gases, there is usually an exchange of partner, one thread pairing with a second and farther an with a third. More complex associations may occur.3. In rare Gases there may be failure of orientation of the three homologues, so that one thread is left out of association entirely.Triple synapsis may occur for skort regions of the chromosome, but triple threads are never found in which synapsis is complete thruout the whole length of the chromosome. The reason suggested is that linear contraction of paired chromonemata is more rapid than that of a single chromonema. This also applies to portions of chromonemata, so that there is a failure of chromomere alignment which hinders further triple pairing. Although complete triple synapsis may be potentially possible, it is prevented by the onset of diplotene.Association between all three chromosomes is more intimate at late pachytene than at any previous stage of prophase.
BEM and FEM analysis of planar moving cracks in creeping solids

Applications of the boundary element method (BEM) and the finite element method (FEM), to the analysis of two-dimensional problems of moving cracks in creeping bodies, is the subject of this paper. In the absence of an acceptable crack growth law valid under small scale transient as well as extended steady state creep conditions, the computer simulations are carried out here for crack extension at prescribed constant speeds. It is shown here that the BEM is most effective for the analysis of transient crack growth under small scale creep conditions while the FEM appears to be best suited for the study of crack growth under conditions of extensive creep throughout most of the structure. These two methods, therefore, tend to complement each other for this class of problems. It is felt that the numerical methods presented here can, in conjunction with experiments, be very useful for the evaluation of existing crack growth laws as well as for the development of new ones.
Towards culture- and population-specific norms for self-reported depressive symptomatology.

This paper: (1) reviewed and integrated the small body of cross-cultural literature on Zung SDS scores among college students and (2) reported new SDS data on students in four countries. Its purpose was to facilitate the development of population- and culture-specific norms for the measurement of depression and to identify pat terns in the data available at this time.The results indicated considerable culture and gender specificity. Females had higher SDS scores in all but one group. There was a slight tendency for scores to increase over time. The pattern of mean scores across cultural groups was somewhat inconsistent. Korean and Philippine students had the highest scores, Caucasian Americans the lowest. There was moderate concordance of ranked symptoms across eleven samples. This concordance increased within cultural groups and especially within nations. Finally, two specific methodological problems were discussed. First, nine of ten of the highest ranked symptoms were stated in negative form, which sug...
Worldview Construction and Identity Formation in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Elementary Schools

This article examines how ultra-Orthodox Jewish elementary schools in America construct and maintain a distinct religious identity through the production of an all-encompassing communal worldview. The author argues that ultra-Orthodox schools model cultural engagement with secular American society by conceptually isolating secular education within a larger framework of religious study—one that extends beyond the classroom to include students' home lives. Schools thereby subvert students' potential existential experience of the world as secular (within which Judaism must be accommodated), into one that is dominated by a culture of religious study, within which secular society can (if necessary) be accommodated. 1See, however, Horowitz (2002) for alternative conceptions of Jewish identity that may not be captured by much of this data. 2Simply in terms of size, given current communal growth rates, the Chasidic population (one branch of ultra-Orthodoxy) is expected to more than double every twenty years (Come...
Fracture processes in polymeric materials. I. The surface energy of poly(methyl methacrylate)

The general aspects of the problem of fracture and strength are briefly reviewed. The discrepancy between the observed strength of materials and the theoretical value calculated from the molecular structure is usually ascribed to the presence of adventitious flaws present in all samples tested. The Griffith theory of brittle fracture gives the relation between the tensile strength T and the size of the flaw in the sample c as T = A(Eγ/c)1/2. The tensile strengths of samples of poly(methyl methacrylate) containing artificially induced cracks of known size were determined. The results could be represented over a wide range of experimental conditions by the form of the Griffith theory. The value of the specific surface energy obtained from the position of the theoretical curve was ∼3 × 105 ergs/cm.2. The value calculated from the molecular structure of the material is ∼450 ergs/cm.2. The discrepancy is attributed to the energy consumed in a viscous flow process in a thin layer of material at the fracture surface. As a result of this process it is believed that in the surface layer polymer molecules are oriented normally to the fracture plane. This mechanism accounts for the colors observed on the fracture surface and for their lability on exposure to solvents or heating. The Griffith theory postulates a strong dependence of tensile strength on surface energy. In poly(methyl methacrylate) the largest contribution to the surface energy appears to arise from a viscous flow process. Hence for polymers the strength may depend much more on the intermolecular (van der Waals) forces than on then ature of the intramolecular primary valence bonds.
"We've Got Next" — PETE Faculty's Role in Promoting Professional Learning

Physical educators' lack of involvement in professional state, district, and national professional organizations is noted in the literature. What role, however, do teacher educators play in increasing involvement in professional associations? This article highlights how physical education teacher education faculty members, at three institutions in one state, involve preservice teachers in their professional organizations in meaningful ways. Collectively, the faculty members share a deliberate intent to motivate students to initiate their involvement during preservice education, as well as to encourage them to continue their involvement and membership in the professional organization beyond graduation. The underlying theme of communities of practice is expanded upon with examples of course-embedded experiences, participation in professional development endeavors, and service-learning projects at each institution.
Molecular cloning and characterization of FX3, a novel zinc-finger protein

In a screen for cyclin G1 interacting proteins using the yeast two-hybrid system, we identified a cDNA clone encoding a novel zinc-finger protein. In addition to a C-terminal zinc-finger domain, the 18 kDa protein, designated FX3, contains a bipartite nuclear targeting sequence and a number of putative protein kinase phosphorylation sites. The physical interaction of FX3 with cyclin G1 was confirmed in vitro by co-immunoprecipitation. Further studies demonstrated that the zinc-finger domain is not required for the observed interaction between FX3 and cyclin G1. FX3 is an essential gene expressed in numerous human tissues, with the highest levels observed in the liver.
Radiation damage in stained catalase at low temperature.

SUMMARY Radiation damage, which occurs in the beam of the electron microscope, has been studied in uranyl acetate stained catalase crystals. Damage is observed in terms of the disappearance of higher orders of the electron diffraction pattern. In this study it has been found that the damage at very low specimen temperatures proceeds both more rapidly and to a greater final degree than is the case at room temperature.
Early-phase physiological response patterns to psychosexual stimuli: comparison of male and female patterns.

The onset and sequential changes of psychosexual arousal for male and female were compared. During an erotic film presentation, genital hemodynamic and groin skin temperature measures of sexual arousal recorded moderate to large increases for both sexes. A sequential analysis revealed strikingly similar male—female response patterns for both the genital and groin measures of arousal. Thus, the commonly held view that males typically show a greater sexual responsivity to visual erotic stimuli than do females was not supported.
The Responsive Community: A Communitarian Perspective

Authentic communities, ones that are responsive to the "true needs" of all community members, reflect the appropriate balance of order and autonomy. The traditional contradiction between order and autonomy can be minimized by responsiveness that considers the community's historical position. When centripetal forces pull too much toward order, an emphasis must be placed on autonomy. When centrifugal forces pull too much toward autonomy, order must be given greater weight. The relationship between centripetal and centrifugal forces is peculiar. Like a symbiotic relationship, the forces enhance each other. However, at a point where one force gains undue supremacy over the other, they become antagonistic. This relationship, labeled inverting symbiosis, informs communitarian analysis of the current social conditions and therefore must be applied within context. As communities develop particularistic identities, boundaries between members and nonmembers evolve. To reduce the potential for conflict, layered loyalties (allegiances to multiple communities) must be fostered. Ultimately, an overarching "community of communities" must develop to respond to the needs of constituent communities as those communities are responsive to their constituent members.
SD-TSOP package thermal design validation and reliability performance evaluation

This paper outlines and demonstrates the advantages of applying both predictive thermal modeling and reliability stressing as design validation strategies in stack die-thin small outline package (SD-TSOP) technology development. JEDEC test standard in both thetas-JA (JESD51-2, junction to still air thermal resistance) and thetas-JB (JESD51-8, junction to board thermal resistance) environments have been introduced as a figure of merit to monitor low density interconnect (LDI) package thermal characteristic post various reliability stressing. In an effort to develop comprehensive understanding of package thermal performance, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) engineering tool has been employed in board design options, material set, maximum thermal design power (TDP) and die power ratio optimization studies prior to experimental testing. Modeling analysis suggested both board metal layers and die power ratio have significant impact to package thermal performance. Thermal enhancement can be achieved by using higher copper metal layers and lower power ratio on top die. In addition, reliability performance evaluation revealed that SD-TSOP is robust as no significant thermal degradation was observed at the end of the evaluation. Thus, with optimized design and extensive reliability validation, a reliable package thermal design was successfully delivered
Detecting moving objects from a moving platform

The authors present a system that successfully detects edge segments of moving objects viewed by a translating camera. The system uses two key concepts. First, a complex logarithmic mapping (CLM) is used to simplify detection of the desired movement. This converts the problem from one of detecting a complex motion along both the X and Y axes, to one of detecting vertical motion along an angular axis. Second, a mechanism to detect vertically moving edges has been developed to detect the requisite vertical motion within the CLM image. Results of processing both synthetic and real image sequences are shown. The synthetic sequence consisted of imagery, containing a moving truck, taken from an observation vehicle that was following a road. The system correctly detected portions of the truck as it passed the observer. Important similarities exist between biological vision systems and the techniques presented for motion detection. >
A Low Cost Approach to Pediatric Pedestrian Safety in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) technology has shown tremendous advancements in recent times. Several VR tools have been developed which depict advanced virtual environments that allow user interaction and manipulation. These tools have found many applications in training and learning. A VR tool is proposed in this paper to study the behavior of children when they are faced with real-world situations of road safety. The driver for this study is the fact that pedestrian injuries are a major cause of death among children ages 5-9 in the United States. The proposed VR tool includes VR software and hardware to simulate a virtual environment faced by a typical pedestrian while crossing the street(s). The VR tool represents a street with simulated traffic patterns and an avatar to represent the pedestrian. It is aimed at training children on safely crossing the roads in order to avoid accidents. The virtual environment will allow users to engage in (and investigators to measure)street-crossing behavior in a controlled environment.
Nucleic acid-based risk factors and biomarkers: a future perspective on their use and development in Alzheimer's disease

As our population lives longer the impact of Alzheimer's disease threatens to exert socioeconomic influences across generations. We now know that by the manifestation of memory problems, the neuropathological processes associated with Alzheimer's disease have progressed in the brain for over a decade. This represents an opportunity for medicine – a window to detect, diagnose and treat to prevent the onset of these cognitive symptoms. To achieve these goals we need the confluence of safe effective treatments and an improved ability to identify individuals at highest risk for the disease as early as possible. We will touch on current work in that arena and discuss the future of diagnostic and risk assessment capabilities through the use of nucleic acid-based measurements.
Should Investors Avoid All Actively Managed Mutual Funds? A Study in Bayesian Performance Evaluation

This paper analyzes mutual-fund performance from an investor's perspective. We study the portfolio-choice problem for a mean-variance investor choosing among a risk-free asset, index funds, and actively managed mutual funds. To solve this problem, we employ a Bayesian method of performance evaluation; a key innovation in our approach is the development of a flexible set of prior beliefs about managerial skill. We then apply our methodology to a sample of 1,437 mutual funds. We find that some extremely skeptical prior beliefs nevertheless lead to economically significant allocations to active managers. ACTIVELY MANAGED EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS have trillions of dollars in assets, collect tens of billions in management fees, and are the subject of enormous attention from investors, the press, and researchers. For years, many experts have been saying that investors would be better off in low-cost passively managed index funds. Notwithstanding the recent growth in index funds, active managers still control the vast majority of mutual-fund assets. Are any of these active managers worth their added expenses? Should investors avoid all actively managed mutual funds? Since Jensen (1968), most studies have found that the universe of mutual funds does not outperform its benchmarks after expenses.' This evidence indicates that the average active mutual fund should be avoided. On the other hand, recent studies have found that future abnormal returns ("alphas") can be forecast using past returns or alphas,2 past fund
Inactivation of avirulent pgm(+) and Δpgm Yersinia pestis by ultraviolet light (UV-C).

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of bubonic plague. Though not considered a foodborne pathogen, Y. pestis can survive, and even grow, in some foods, and the foodborne route of transmission is not without precedent. As such, concerns exist over the possible intentional contamination of foods with this deadly pathogen. Here we report the inactivation of avirulent (pYV-minus) strains of Y. pestis by ultraviolet light (UV-C, 254 nm). Two strains of Y. pestis containing an intact pgm virulence locus (pgm+) and strains from which the pgm locus was spontaneously deleted (Δpgm) were tested using cells grown in both logarithmic and stationary phase. The D10 values for inactivation (the UV-C dose required to inactivate one log of bacterial cells) of Y. pestis on the surface of agar plates ranged from 0.69 to 1.09 mJ/cm2. A significant difference was observed between the inactivation of cells of Y. pestis strain Yokohama grown in logarithmic and stationary phases, but no significant difference between growth phase sensitivity to UV-C was observed in Y. pestis strain Kuma. No difference in D10 values was observed between pgm+ and Δpgm strains of Yokohama grown to either logarithmic or stationary phase. A measurable difference was observed between the D10 of Kuma pgm+ and Kuma Δpgm grown in logarithmic phase, but this difference was diminished in the Kuma strains grown to stationary phase. Though strain variations exist, the results showing that UV-C can inactivate Y. pestis cells on agar surfaces suggest that UV-C would be effect in inactivating Y. pestis on food surfaces, particularly foods with a smooth surface.
Following musical sources by example

In this paper we present a system that is capable of tracking the pitch and volume of a musical source by making use of training data. We show how we can use pitch-tagged training example sounds to construct a model of a target source, and then use that model to track such a source in unseen mixtures. We do so using a regularized decomposition approach that is designed to strive for semantic continuity in its estimates.
Homogenization of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equations with Respect to Time-Space Shifts in a Stationary Ergodic Medium

We consider a family fu".t;x;!/g,">0, of solutions to the equation@u"=@t C "�u "=2CH.t=";x="; ru";!/D0 with the terminal datau".T;x;!/ DU.x/. Assuming that the dependence of the Hamiltonian H.t;x;p;!/ on time and space is realized through shifts in a stationary ergodic random medium, and that H is convex inp and satisfies certain growth and regularity conditions, we show the almost sure locally uniform convergence, in time and space, of u".t;x;!/ as " ! 0 to the solution u.t;x/ of a deterministic averaged equation @u=@t C H.ru/ D 0, u.T;x/ D U.x/. The “effective” Hamiltonian H is given by a variational formula.
A novel technique for narrowband/broadband interference excision in DS-SS communications

A novel technique for narrowband/broadband frequency selective limiting in direct sequence-spread spectrum (DS-SS) communications is presented. This technique relies on setting the magnitude response of the received signal Fourier transform to a predetermined function while leaving the phase response unchanged. When the Fourier transform magnitude response of the signal is made constant over the entire signal spectrum, this nonlinear processor will operate as a whitening filter. >
Executive dysfunction, brain aging, and political leadership

Decision-making is an essential component of executive function, and a critical skill of political leadership. Neuroanatomic localization studies have established the prefrontal cortex as the critical brain site for executive function. In addition to the prefrontal cortex, white matter tracts as well as subcortical brain structures are crucial for optimal executive function. Executive function shows a significant decline beginning at age 60, and this is associated with age-related atrophy of prefrontal cortex, cerebral white matter disease, and cerebral microbleeds. Notably, age-related decline in executive function appears to be a relatively selective cognitive deterioration, generally sparing language and memory function. While an individual may appear to be functioning normally with regard to relatively obvious cognitive functions such as language and memory, that same individual may lack the capacity to integrate these cognitive functions to achieve normal decision-making. From a historical perspective, global decline in cognitive function of political leaders has been alternatively described as a catastrophic event, a slowly progressive deterioration, or a relatively episodic phenomenon. Selective loss of executive function in political leaders is less appreciated, but increased utilization of highly sensitive brain imaging techniques will likely bring greater appreciation to this phenomenon. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was an example of a political leader with a well-described neurodegenerative condition (cerebral amyloid angiopathy) that creates a neuropathological substrate for executive dysfunction. Based on the known neuroanatomical and neuropathological changes that occur with aging, we should probably assume that a significant proportion of political leaders over the age of 65 have impairment of executive function.
A Computer Program for a Trilinear Diagram Plot and Analysis of Water Mixing Systemsa.

The Piper (1953) trilinear diagram has been widely used to graphically represent the dissolved constituents of natural waters and to test for apparent mixtures of waters from different sources. Because of the time required to plot points and calculate the proportional values of mixing, this treatment of data was often quite tedious, particularly in studies involving large numbers of chemical analyses. The PIPER program was written in BASIC to be run on a Hewlett-Packard desktop computer with an X-Y plotter. Data input is in ppm units. The program plots points in all three fields of the trilinear diagram, draws at each point within the central diamond field a circle with a radius correspondent to the concentrations expressed in meq/1, checks for points that fall on a straight line (or within a predetermined tolerance of a straight line) representing postulated mixtures with two end members, and/or within a triangle representing mixtures of three end members. Finally, the program does a numerical analysis of the mixing ratios of the constituents for postulated mixing systems according to the methodology as presented by Piper (1953).
Toxicity of Mercury to Young Chickens 3. Changes in Immunological Responsiveness

Abstract Levels of mercury in the drinking water of 250 p.p.m. or greater suppressed the immunological responsiveness of young chickens. Immunosuppression of hemagglutinins to sheep red blood cells and agglutinins to a killed Salmonella pullorum antigen was caused by the higher levels of mercury. The levels of mercury below 250 p.p.m. did not alter the concentration of hemagglutinins, however 25 p.p.m. increased significantly the agglutinin response to S. pullorum.
Limits of Dynamic Balance Control Derived by Center of Mass Acceleration during Sit-to-Stand Movement

The purpose of this study was to establish a region of stability using the center of mass (COM) acceleration and characterize age-related differences in the control of COM in relation to the region during sit-to-stand (STS) movement. A single-link-plus-foot inverted pendulum model was used to determine boundaries of the regions of stability using COM velocity and acceleration (ROSv and ROSa). Ten healthy young and elderly adults [Young (Norm) and Elderly] were asked to stand up from a chair at self-selected natural speed. Young subjects were also asked to perform another block of trials with purposely bending their trunk prior to seat-off [Young (Bend)]. No significant differences among the three groups were detected in COM velocity at seat-off. However, peak COM acceleration differed significantly, suggesting that even though a similar momentum is observed at seat-off to achieve the STS task, the momentum is controlled differently prior to seat-off. The ROSa could serve as a complement to the ROSv, providing insights into how the COM is controlled prior to seat-off during STS movement.
Nestleaving and Coresidence by Young Adult Children The Role of Family Relations

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households on focal children in 1987-1988 aged 18 years and older and out of high school in 1992-1993, the authors investigated associations between parent-child coresidence in early adulthood and parents' reports of the quality of parent-child and marital relations. The quality of parent-child or marital relations at Wave 1 had little relation to whether children coresided at Wave 2; child situations were the primary predictors. Children who left and returned tended to be negatively selected on prior relationship quality, but parents accommodated them nonetheless. Coresidence between waves did not affect marital quality or general parent-child relations at Wave 2, though it was associated with increased parent-child disagreements, particularly when prior disagreement was greater. Coresidence appeared to be experienced as part of ongoing exchanges between parents and adult children.
Two mechanisms for spreading depression in the chicken retina

Two mechanisms have been proposed to explain spreading depression (SD): one based on a release of glutamate (Van Harreveld, 1959), and the other on a release of potassium (Grafstein, 1956) from neuronal elements. Both glutamate and KCl cause transparency changes in the retina, comparable to those occurring in this tissue during SD. The glutamate effect is inhibited by MgCl2 (10 mM), in contrast to the transparency change due to KCl which is not affected by Mg++. Also SD is usually inhibited by MgCl2 which suggests that such SDs are based on a glutamate release. Impairment of the tissue metabolism promotes SDs which are insensitive to MgCl2. The resulting failure of the mechanisms that transport K+ and glutamate which leak out of the intracellular compartment back into the cells and fibers, seems to be involved in the generation of Mg++ insensitive SDs. This may facilitate either K-based SDs or glutamate-based SDs since the inhibitory effect of Mg++ is counteracted by an enhanced glutamate concentration. Both proposed mechanisms for SD seem to be possible under special circumstances.
Three-dimensional remote sensing by optical scanning holography

A technique is presented by which holograms can be recorded when an object or scene is scanned with an optically heterodyned Fresnel zone pattern. The experimental setup, based on optical scanning holography, is described and experimental results are presented. We apply the scanning holography technique to three-dimensional reflective objects for the first time to our knowledge and address the unique requirements for such a system. We discuss holographic recording and numerical image reconstruction using a system point-spread function (PSF) approach. We demonstrate numerical image reconstruction of experimentally recorded holograms by two techniques: deconvolution with a simulated PSF and an experimentally acquired PSF.