cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Damping directly impacts flicker frequency noise of piezoelectric aluminum nitride resonators

This paper presents an analysis on the effect of damping on flicker frequency (1/f) noise of 1.1 GHz aluminum nitride (AlN) contour mode resonators (CMR). A total of 52 different AlN-CMRs are systemically designed and fabricated to give quality factors (Q) ranging from 300 to 3500, allowing the study of how two major damping mechanisms in AlN-CMRs, 1) anchor losses and 2) thermoelastic damping (TED), affect the resonator 1/f noise. In total, we have measured 104 CMRs and the results confirm that 1/f noise shows a clear power law dependence that is close to 1/Q3, independently of the main nature of the damping mechanism. Understanding and accounting for the effect of damping on 1/f noise is crucial for building ultra-low noise Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators for sensing, timing, and frequency applications.
Hydrologic Factors Triggering a Shallow Hillslope Failure

In February, 1983, an intense rainstorm triggered a shallow, rapid slump/debris-flow on a monitored hillslope of coastal central California. Discontinuous records of rainfall and maximum ground-water levels within the slide mass were collected before and after the event. These water levels show the development of a shallow perched water table in soil overlying an older, low permeability landslide deposit. Although this perched water table had an overall downslope hydraulic gradient, the slope failure occurred in an area of localized gradient decrease or mounding. The cause of this localized mounding was not apparent from field observations. We used a mathematical model of variably saturated water flow to investigate the pre-failure hillslope hydrology and to demonstrate a possible cause of the localized ground-water buildup. Simulations indicate that only a slight decrease in soil hydraulic conductivity, relative to the overall soil variability, would have been needed to create the observed buildup.
IB-01GLIOMA-DERIVED GALECTIN-1 IS A POTENT SUPPRESSOR OF NK IMMUNOSURVEILLANCE.

Natural killer (NK) cells safeguard against early tumor formation by destroying transformed target cells in a process referred to as NK immunosurveillance. However, the mechanisms used by malignant brain tumors to subvert this innate immune function remain unclear. We show that shRNA-mediated knockdown of the β-galactoside-binding lectin, galectin-1 (gal-1), in malignant glioma cells leads to the failure to form lethal intracranial tumors in RAG1-/- mice, a mouse strain devoid of adaptive immunity. However, gal-1 deficient glioma growth is fully restored on implantation into the brain of severely immunocompromised NOD-scid IL2Rg null mice, which lack both adaptive and innate immune function, thus implicating the innate immune response in the early rejection of gal-1 deficient glioma. Immunodepletion of NK cells in RAG1-/- or C57BL/6J mice using anti-asialo GM1 or anti-NK1.1 antibodies permit the growth of large gal-1 deficient gliomas. Antigen-specific IFN-γ ELISpot assays using splenocytes from immunocompetent C57BL/6J mice indicate that gal-1 deficient glioma is cleared prior to the onset of an adaptive anti-tumor immune response. Flow cytometric analysis of brain tumor-infiltrating immune cells reveal that gal-1 deficient gliomas contain significantly more granzyme B+ NK cells compared to gal-1 expressing gliomas. In-vitro experiments further show that gal-1 deficient glioma cells are over three times more sensitive to NK-mediated tumor lysis. We conclude that glioma-derived gal-1 is a powerful inhibitor of NK-mediated cytotoxicity in-vivo, and predict that its suppression will be of therapeutic value in the treatment of human malignant brain tumors by dramatically heightening anti-tumor NK immunosurveillance.
Information-Optimal Adaptive Spectral Classification Imaging

We propose a notional optical architecture for information-optimal, adaptive spectral classification at multiple spatial locations without acquisition of the spectral datacube. We will report on our simulation, design, and experimental progress.
Mobile Elements in Maize: A Force in Evolutionary and Plant Breeding Processes

Mobile elements in maize Zea mays L. are DNA segments of various sizes that insert into DNA sequences. When a mobile element is inserted into a functional gene, the gene becomes incapacitated by the element interrupting its activity. This interruption in the genes’ functional capacity is caused by precocious termination of the transcript or by an early stop signal because it is possible to form a chimeric transcript.
Study of the 49 site of A/G polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene exon 1 in Graves diseases in Jiangxi

Objective To investigate the 49 site of A/G polymorphism of cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen 4(CTLA-4) gene exon 1 and Graves' s disease. Methods Using polymerase chain reaction restriction Fragment length polymorphism(PCRRFLP) methods in 99 patients with GD and 107 healthy controls Detected the 49 site of A/G polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene exon 1. Results Patients with GD the 49 site of A/G polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene exon 1 AA homozygotes is 14.14%,the AG heterozygotes was 39.39%,GG homozygotes is 46.47%,healthy controls was 25.23%,53.27% and 21.50% respectively,GD patients and healthy controls are statistically significant between GG homozygote differences(P0.01);Gene frequency in patients with GD the 49 site of A/G polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene exon 1 for was 33.84%,the gene frequency of G was 66.16%,Gene frequency was significantly higher than that of A gene of health(P0.05);there was no significant difference between each gender(P0.05). Conclusion The 49 site of A/G polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene exon 1 in Jiangxi Han population and GD have positive correlation.
Dressed Hard States and Black Hole Soft Hair

A recent, intriguing Letter by Hawking, Perry, and Strominger suggests that soft photons and gravitons can be regarded as black hole hair and may be relevant to the black hole information paradox. In this Letter we make use of factorization theorems for infrared divergences of the S matrix to argue that by appropriately dressing in and out hard states, the soft-quanta-dependent part of the S matrix becomes essentially trivial. The information paradox can be fully formulated in terms of dressed hard states, which do not depend on soft quanta.
Transendothelial migration: unifying principles from the endothelial perspective

Transendothelial migration (TEM) of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) involves a carefully orchestrated dialog of adhesion and signaling events between leukocyte and endothelial cell. This article focuses on the contribution of endothelial cells to transmigration. The initiation of TEM itself generally requires interaction of PECAM on the leukocyte with PECAM at the endothelial cell border. This is responsible for the transient elevation of cytosolic-free calcium ions in endothelium that is required for TEM and for recruitment of membrane from the lateral border recycling compartment (LBRC). TEM requires LBRC to move to the site at which TEM will take place and for VE-cadherin to move away. Targeting of the LBRC to this site likely precedes movement of VE-cadherin and may play a role in clearing VE-cadherin from the site of TEM. The process of TEM can be dissected into steps mediated by distinct pairs of PMN/endothelial interacting molecules. CD99 regulates a step at or close to the end of TEM. CD99 signals through soluble adenylyl cyclase to activate PKA to trigger ongoing targeted recycling of the LBRC. Paracellular transmigration predominates (≥90% of events) in the cremaster muscle circulation, but transcellular migration may be more important at sites such as the blood-brain barrier. Both processes involve many of the same molecules and recruitment of the LBRC.
High-dose Catecholamines Diminish the Effect of Erythromycin on Antral Motility and Gastric Emptying in Intensive Care Unit Patients

Gastric emptying is impaired in about half of all critically ill patients [1]. This may delay the start of enteral feeding and lead to large gastric residues. In addition, this situation may favor the occurrence of duodenogastric reflux, thereby predisposing the patient to colonization of the stomach by enteric bacteria. Several motility- enhancing drugs, such as metoclopramide or cisapride, are used in this setting, although their clinical effects are limited. Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, which as a ’side effect’ strongly stimulates gastroduodenal motility via stimulation of receptors for motilin, a gastrointestinal hormone [2, 3]. It has also been shown that erythromycin is effective in intensive care unit (ICU) patients [4]. Although erythromycin is increasingly used for improving gastric emptying in ICU patients, little is known about its interaction with other drugs often used in this setting, such as catecholamines or opiates, which delay gastric emptying. The aim of this study was to test for any influence of catecholamines on the effect of erythromycin concerning antral motility and gastric emptying.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Bone

The term inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses classically two main entities, Crohn disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC), that are usually diagnosed in adolescents and young adults. However, based on recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and new clinical observations, paired with genetic and functional insights, IBD is now thought to represent a spectrum of conditions with different pathogenic mechanisms. These converge into a common phenotype of chronic gastrointestinal inflammation that can strike at any age, including very young infants. Both UC and CD are associated with significant bone mass deficits in adults and children. Nevertheless, CD and UC have important clinical and pathogenic differences that are relevant to how they affect bone mass and architecture, especially in pediatric patients.
Primary Care Spending Rate — A Lever for Encouraging Investment in Primary Care

The proportion of a health system’s resources that it devotes to primary care — including clinician incomes, performance payments, case-management activities, and health information technologies — could be used for assessing its orientation toward high-value care.
Psychosocial Burden of Family Caregivers to Adults with Cancer

A person living with cancer will potentially have some degree of physical, cognitive, and/or psychological impairment, periods of unemployment, financial concerns, social isolation, and existential questions, any or all of which can impact the family and friends who surround them. In our current era of healthcare, patients with cancer receive invasive diagnostic studies and aggressive treatment as outpatients, and then convalesce at home. As such, cancer family caregivers are essential partners with the healthcare team. The intricacies of the cancer family caregiver role and responsibilities are demanding and may lead to increased morbidity and mortality-in effect, the cancer family caregiver can become a second patient in need of care. This chapter discusses the psychosocial burden of family caregivers to adults with cancer, and includes information on caregiver mood disturbance and psychological impairment and some of the mutable factors that contribute to these states (i.e., sleep disturbance, decline in physical health, and restriction of activities), uncertainty, spiritual concerns, and caregiver witnessing. There is a discussion of the factors that influence the caregiving experience (caregiver characteristics, patient characteristics, and social supports). The chapter concludes with comments on the state of caregiver research.
On the cayley index of a group

The set of left multiplications by the elements of a group G form a subgroup LG of the automorphism group A(X) for any Cayley graph X of G. The Cayley index c(G) of G is the minimum of the index [A(X) : LG] taken over all Cayley graphs X of G. The present article is expository, reporting what is known to date about Cayley indices of groups and where some of the results may be found. The general pattern thus far indicates that, with finitely many exceptions, c(G) is determined by whether G is (1) abelian, (2) generalized dicyclic, (3) solvable and finite but neither abelian nor generalized dicyclic, or (4) none of the above.
Theory of Mind

Since the early 1980s there has been a surge of interest in the cognitive basis of our common sense ‘theory of mind’ and how it develops. According to our common sense, other people act because they have mental states of various kinds, for example, intentions, desires, beliefs, hopes, etc.; furthermore, such states have contents, for example, the belief that it is raining has the content ‘it is raining’ and the desire to avoid paying taxes has the content ‘avoid paying taxes.’ Contents individuate mental states (for example, determine which belief or which desire a person has) and play a critical role in causing behavior. Even preschool children have been found to attribute these sorts of mental states to other people and to treat these states-with-contents as causes of behavior. Children who are learning disabled can also employ such a theory of mind, suggesting that it is not the result of a general intellectual ability. Children with autistic disorder are selectively impaired in theory of mind ability even though their general intellectual abilities may be normal. Theory of mind is a key cognitive ability comprising the human social instinct. The psychological mechanisms underlying this ability are of intense current interest but their nature remains controversial.
T-wave patterns associated with the hereditary long QT syndrome.

Mutations involving 6 different ion-channel genes have been identified in subjects with the hereditaryLong QT Syndrome. These gene mutations result in structural and functional changes in ion-channel proteins withresultant alterations in potassium and sodium repolarization currents that affect the morphologic features ofelectrocardiographic repolarization. This review highlights the genotype-phenotype associations related toventricular repolarization that have been reported in the LQTS literature, with particular focus on ECG T-wavepatterns in LQT1, LQT2, and LQT3 genotypes.
Ocular Exposures Reported to United States Poison Control Centers.

Purpose: To investigate the epidemiology of ocular exposures reported to poison control centers in the United States.Methods: A retrospective analysis of ocular exposures from 2000 to 2016 was cond...
Predicting New Workload or CPU Performance by Analyzing Public Datasets

The marketplace for general-purpose microprocessors offers hundreds of functionally similar models, differing by traits like frequency, core count, cache size, memory bandwidth, and power consumption. Their performance depends not only on microarchitecture, but also on the nature of the workloads being executed. Given a set of intended workloads, the consumer needs both performance and price information to make rational buying decisions. Many benchmark suites have been developed to measure processor performance, and their results for large collections of CPUs are often publicly available. However, repositories of benchmark results are not always helpful when consumers need performance data for new processors or new workloads. Moreover, the aggregate scores for benchmark suites designed to cover a broad spectrum of workload types can be misleading. To address these problems, we have developed a deep neural network (DNN) model, and we have used it to learn the relationship between the specifications of Intel CPUs and their performance on the SPEC CPU2006 and Geekbench 3 benchmark suites. We show that we can generate useful predictions for new processors and new workloads. We also cross-predict the two benchmark suites and compare their performance scores. The results quantify the self-similarity of these suites for the first time in the literature. This work should discourage consumers from basing purchasing decisions exclusively on Geekbench 3, and it should encourage academics to evaluate research using more diverse workloads than the SPEC CPU suites alone.
catena-Poly[bis(trimethylphenylammonium) [hexa-μ-chlorido-dichloridotricuprate(II)]]: an alternating zigzag chain of CuCl4and Cu2Cl6complexes

The title compound, {(C(9)H(14)N)(2)[Cu(3)Cl(8)]}(n), consists of parallel chains of alternating quasiplanar Cu(2)Cl(6) and planar CuCl(4) complexes separated by trimethylphenylammonium cations. Both inorganic complexes possess inversion symmetry. Pairs of neighboring chloride ions of the CuCl(4) complex each form a symmetric bridge and an asymmetric bridge to Cu(2)Cl(6) complexes on either side. The Cu(2)Cl(6) complex contains two symmetric chloride bridges between the copper cations with a terminal chloride bound to each five-coordinated Cu(II) ion. The CuCl(4) complex completes its coordination environment by forming two long semicoordinate contacts to the bridging chloride ions of neighboring Cu(2)Cl(6) complexes. The use of the bridging rather than the terminal chloride ions to form semicoordinate contacts generates a new zigzag chain structure that differs from the straight chain structures found for other A(2)Cu(3)Cl(8) compounds. The zigzag chain structure is adopted so as to conform to the shorter repeat distance dictated by stacking of the organic cations.
Review of 3 Ciphers by Carol Ritz

Attorney and screenwriter Carol Ritz has recently published her first novel and it is a very interesting read. 3 Ciphers is a combination spy story and murder mystery that will keep the reader inte...
Anti-coagulation management in pediatric traumatic vascular injuries.

Abstract Background Pediatric traumatic vascular injuries are rare. Given the paucity of data to guide anti-coagulation (AC) management of these injuries in children, who have a lower overall risk for thrombosis compared to their adult counterparts, we sought to examine and summarize our recent experience. Method We conducted a retrospective review of all patients ( Results Ninety-nine patients had traumatic vascular injuries. Eighty-four patients sustained a major arterial injury, 26 had a major venous injury, and 11 had both arterial and venous injuries. The arterial injury cohort had a median age of 13.3 years. Most of the arterial injury patients (65/84, 77%) required vascular repair. In-hospital AC management for the arterial injury patients consisted of a post-operative heparin drip (18%, 15/84), aspirin (39%, 26/84), enoxaparin (23%, 19/84), or none (42%, 43/84). Approximately one-half of the patients with arterial injuries (54%, 45/84) were discharged home on AC therapy, most commonly aspirin. Fifty-six patients (66%) followed up post-injury, of which 25% (14/56) had experienced complications. Conclusion Pediatric traumatic arterial injuries that require surgical intervention other than ligation should be considered for discharge AC – most commonly aspirin – in the absence of contraindications. Pediatric patients with vascular injuries to the aorta, carotid artery, inferior vena cava, portal vein, or lower extremities that are managed non-operatively should also be considered for AC. The preferred AC for pediatric venous injuries is enoxaparin, in the absence of contraindications. Study Type Treatment Study Level of Evidence IV
The Heart of the Game: Girls, Sports and the Limits of “Empowerment”:

As one of the most widely celebrated documentaries about female athletes to date, The Heart of the Game remains an important text to examine for the ways it represents female athletic experience an...
State Policies for Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Adverse Opioid-related Hospital Events.

Background State policies to optimize prescriber use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) have proliferated in recent years. Prominent policies include comprehensive mandates for prescriber use of PDMP, laws allowing delegation of PDMP access to office staff, and interstate PDMP data sharing. Evidence is limited regarding the effects of these policies on adverse opioid-related hospital events. Objective The objective of this study was to assess the effects of 3 PDMP policies on adverse opioid-related hospital events among patients with prescription opioid use. Research design We examined 2011-2015 data from a large national commercial insurance database of privately insured and Medicare Advantage patients from 28 states with fully operating PDMPs by the end of 2010. We used a difference-in-differences framework to assess the probabilities of opioid-related hospital events and association with the implementation of PDMP policies. The analysis was conducted for adult patients with any prescription opioid use, a subsample of patients with long-term prescription opioid use, and stratified by older (65+) versus younger patients. Results Comprehensive use mandates were associated with a relative reduction in the probability of opioid-related hospital events by 28% among patients with any opioid and 21% among patients with long-term opioid use. Such reduction was greater (in relative terms) among older patients despite the lower rate of these events among older than younger patients. Delegate laws and interstate data sharing were associated with limited change in the outcome. Conclusion Comprehensive PDMP use mandates were associated with meaningful reductions in opioid-related hospital events among privately insured and Medicare Advantage adults with prescription opioid use.
Whole-Exome Sequencing Analysis of Alzheimer's Disease in Non-APOE*4 Carriers

The genetics of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is complex due to the heterogeneous nature of the disorder. APOE*4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for AD. Genome-wide association studies have identified more than 30 additional loci, each having relatively small effect size. Known AD loci explain only about 30% of the genetic variance, and thus much of the genetic variance remains unexplained. To identify some of the missing heritability of AD, we analyzed whole-exome sequencing (WES) data focusing on non-APOE*4 carriers from two WES datasets: 720 cases and controls from the University of Pittsburgh and 7,252 cases and controls from the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project. Following separate WES analyses in each dataset, we performed meta-analysis for overlapping markers present in both datasets. Among the four variants reaching the exome-wide significance threshold, three were from known AD loci: APOE/rs7412 (odds ratio (OR) = 0.40; p = 5.46E-24), TOMM40/rs157581 (OR = 1.49; p = 4.04E-07), and TREM2/rs75932628 (OR = 4.00; p = 1.15E-07). The fourth significant variant, rs199533, was from a novel locus on chromosome 17 in the NSF gene (OR = 0.78; p = 2.88E-07). NSF was also significant in the gene-based analysis (p = 1.20E-05). In the GTEx data, NSF/rs199533 is a cis-eQTL for multiple genes in the brain and blood, including NSF that is highly expressed across all brain tissues, including regions that typically show amyloid-β accumulation. Further characterization of genes that are affected by NSF/rs199533 may help to shed light on the roles of these genes in AD etiology.
Rhyming Techniques and Identity in Korean Hip Hop

This article examines the development of Korean rhyming techniques by musically analysing phonetic and grammatical structure in Korean rap. Due to major differences between Korean and English, Korean MCs had to redefine what constitutes “rhyme” in Korean rap, and the conflicting definitions of what it means to rhyme in Korean reflect diverse identities in the Korean hip hop community. Through my musical analyses, I present five types of Korean rhyming techniques: flexible word order, artificial stress accents or artificial pitch accents, rhythmic motives, multisyllabic internal rhymes and translingual rhymes. I close the article by suggesting that there is an inevitable hybridity in Korean hip hop and socioeconomic class struggles that persists in Korea.
Patterns of responses and time-course of changes in muscle size and strength during low-load blood flow restriction resistance training in women.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the individual and composite patterns of responses and time-course of changes in muscle size, strength, and edema throughout a 4 week low-load blood flow restriction (LLBFR) resistance training intervention. Twenty recreationally active women (mean ± SD; 23 ± 3 years) participated in this investigation and were randomly assigned to 4 weeks (3/week) of LLBFR (n = 10) or control (n = 10) group. Resistance training consisted of 75 reciprocal isokinetic forearm flexion–extension muscle actions performed at 30% of peak torque. Strength and ultrasound-based assessments were determined at each training session. There were quadratic increases for composite muscle thickness (R2 = 0.998), concentric peak torque (R2 = 0.962), and maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque (R2 = 0.980) data for the LLBFR group. For muscle thickness, seven of ten subjects exceeded the minimal difference (MD) of 0.16 cm during the very early phase (laboratory visits 1–7) of the intervention compared to three of ten subjects that exceeded MD for either concentric peak torque (3.7 Nm) or MVIC (2.2 Nm) during this same time period. There was a linear increase for composite echo intensity (r2 = 0.563) as a result of LLBFR resistance training, but eight of ten subjects never exceeded the MD of 14.2 Au. These findings suggested that the increases in muscle thickness for the LLBFR group were not associated with edema and changes in echo intensity should be examined on a subject-by-subject basis. Furthermore, LLBFR forearm flexion–extension resistance training elicited real increases in muscle size during the very early phase of training that occurred prior to real increases in muscle strength.
Family Physicians' Perception of the New mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines.

INTRODUCTION: This study was conducted to assess family physicians' perception of the US Food and Drug Administration-approved mRNA Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, their plans to be vaccinated with an approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, and their support for vaccination of patients and family members. METHODS: The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of 307 practicing family physicians, full-time faculty physicians, and resident physicians in Kansas from December 14, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The study participants completed an anonymous, 20-item survey assessing family physicians' concerns about exposure to COVID-19 and their perceptions of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to control SARS-CoV-2. A mixed-method approach was used to collect, analyze, and interpret the data. RESULTS: There was a 51.1% response rate. The proportion of family physicians who reported their intentions to be vaccinated for COVID-19 was significantly higher than those who were hesitant to receive the mRNA vaccines (90.6% vs 9.4%; χ2 [1, n = 307] = 201.9.1; P < .0001). Among those who were willing to be vaccinated with an approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, the main reasons were to prevent COVID-19 infection; protect self, family, and community; contribute to herd immunity; inspire confidence that the vaccines are safe and end the pandemic and bring life back to normal. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest a significantly positive association between a physician's concerns and their willingness to be vaccinated with an approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. With the authorization of 2 new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, future studies should investigate the number of physicians in our study who received the vaccine.
ELECTRONIC ENERGY LEVEL STRUCTURE OF Er3+ DOPED INTO 3 GARNET HOSTS

The A3B2C3O12 (space group Ia3d) family of host crystals, better known as the garnets, is the most technologically important class of solid-state laser host materials in existence. The electronic spectra of these crystalline hosts containing the Er3+ ion (or any other tripositive lanthanide ion) display numerous sharp, weak transitions, closely clustered in between large energy gaps over the UV to near-IR energy range. A comparison between the experimental energy levels and the computationally predicted levels was presented for four selected J-multiplets of the Er3+ ion when doped into the Y3Al5O12 (YAG), Y3Sc2Al3O12 (YSAG), and Y3Sc2Ga3O12 (YSGG) hosts. The agreement between theory and experiment is considerably improved when two-particle correlation crystal field (CCF) effects are included in our model.
Mechanisms of Selective Neuronal Vulnerability to 1-Methyl-4-Phenylpyridinium (MPP+) Toxicity

A common feature of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease is the selective, inappropriate death of specific populations of central neurons. In Parkinson’s disease, dopaminergic neurons are lost in the zona compacta of the substantia nigra.1 This selective neuronal death gives rise to a progressive movement disorder whose cause is unknown and for which there is no known cure.
The Near Circumstellar Environment of Miras

Time series spectra were used to analyze the CO Δv=2 spectrum (2.3–2.5 μm) of 5 Miras and 1 SRa variable. A similar analysis previously was undertaken for the S-type Mira χ Cyg (Hinkle, Hall and Ridgway 1982). The Δv=2 spectrum of long period variables is complex with high excitation lines originating entirely in the (IR) photosphere and the lower excitation lines being formed through the photosphere and one or two extended atmospheric regions. The photospheric lines are characterized by large amplitude velocity and temperature changes with a mean excitation temperature of ~3000K (Hinkle, Scharlach and Hall 1984). In contrast, the extended atmospheric regions exhibit much smaller velocity changes plus lower and near stable excitation temperature.
Amplitude and Phase Acoustic Microscopy and its Application to QNDE

We have two amplitude and phase measuring acoustic microscopes, one at low frequency (3-10 MHz) which is used for measurements in metals and composites, and the other operating at frequencies of up to 200 MHz which is used for higher resolution measurements. The added dimension of having phase information allows us to use image processing for a variety of applications. We have demonstrated the following applications with these two microscopes: V(z) inversion for reflectance function calculations, depth determination for delaminations in composite materials, slowness curve measurements in anisotropic materials, image enhancement of subsurface defects, measurements of depth of trenches in aluminum samples (scaled problem of silicon trenches), and measurement of visco-elastic properties of thin surfactant films on a water surface.
A New Variant of the Matsumoto-Imai Cryptosystem through Perturbation

Though the multivariable cryptosystems first suggested by Matsumoto and Imai was defeated by the linearization method of Patarin due to the special properties of the Matsumoto-Imai (MI) cryptosystem, many variants and extensions of the MI system were suggested mainly by Patarin and his collaborators. In this paper, we propose a new variant of the MI system, which was inspired by the idea of “perturbation”. This method uses a set of r (a small number) linearly independent linear functions \(z_i=\sum_{j=1}^n \alpha_{ij} x_j+\beta_i,\) i=1,..,r, over the variables x i , which are variables of the MI system. The perturbation is performed by adding random quadratic function of z i to the MI systems. The difference between our idea and a very similar idea of the Hidden Field Equation and Oil-Vinegar system is that our perturbation is internal, where we do not introduce any new variables, while the Hidden Field Equation and Oil-Vinegar system is an “external” perturbation of the HFE system, where a few extra (external) new variables are introduced to perform the perturbation. A practical implementation example of 136 bits, its security analysis and efficiency analysis are presented. The attack complexity of this perturbed Matsumoto-Imai cryptosystem is estimated.
NH2-Terminal Formylmethionine- and NH2-Terminal Methionine-Cleaving Enzymes in Rabbits

Staining for peptidase activities on starch gel after the electrophoresis of lysates of rabbit red blood cells or reticulocytes and the identification of the reaction products revealed the existence of the following three enzymes: (a) An enzyme that hydrolyzes NH2-terminal methionine from methionyl peptides longer than tetrapeptides and from shorter methionyl peptides with blocked carboxy ends. This enzyme does not hydrolyze several peptides tested without methionine at the NH2 termini. (b) An enzyme that cleaves formylmethionine from formylmethionyl peptides. This enzyme can also react with acetylmethionyl peptides but does not hydrolyze several peptides tested without an acylmethionine at the NH2 termini. (c) An enzyme that deformylates formylmethionine. This enzyme can hydrolyze various formyl- and acetylamino acids and may be identical with the nonspecific dipeptidase in red cells. These three enzymes exist also in other tissues and are not bound to ribosomes. NH2-terminal methionine and formylmethionine in the short nascent peptides obtained from reticulocytes were hydrolyzed by hemolysates. These findings suggest that biological function of the methionine aminopeptidase and the formylmethionine-releasing enzyme is to remove the terminal methionine and formylmethionine from nascent peptides.
Number of observations required for the comparison of two correlated proportions

Previous sample size tables for studies with pairwise matching of experimental units and all-or-none responses have relied upon asymptotic results for the power function given the effective sample size of the experiment. In this paper the exact power function is employed to construct detailed sample size tables for such studies.
Brief report: specific executive function profiles in three neurodevelopmental disorders

It has been proposed that deficient executive functions, such as flexibility, set maintenance, organization, planning, and working memory, may be primary cognitive deficits of autism (Hughes, Russell, & Robbins, 1994; Ozonoff, Pennington, & Rogers, 1991). Executive deficits may also play a part in several other developmental and neurological disorders, however (Ozonoff, 1997; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996), including attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Chelune, Ferguson, Koon, & Dickey, 1986) and Tourette syndrome (TS; Bornstein, 1990; Gladstone el al., 1993). This finding has raised the so-called "discriminant validity question" (Pennington, 1994; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996): That is, how can disorders differing in behavioral phenotype share the same cognitive underpinnings? One answer to this question is that specific types of executive impairment may be associated with specific neurodevelopmental disorders. Since the class of executive behaviors is large and diverse, it is important to clarify precisely which functions are impaired in each disorder. We hypothesized that when the broad domain of executive function was parsed into specific components (e.g., planning, flexibility, inhibition), different disorders would demonstrate different executive profiles. Three measures, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), the Tower of Hanoi (TOH), and the Stroop Color-Word Test, have traditionally been used to measure executive function deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders. The WCST (Grant & Berg, 1948; Heaton, Chelune, Talley, Kay, & Curtiss, 1993) was designed primarily to test flexibility, the TOH (Borys, Spitz, &
Energy Cascade in Large-Eddy Simulations of Turbulent Fluid Flows

The derivation of smoothed or filtered momentum and continuity equations for large-scale, energy-containing eddies is considered. Questions regarding the energy loss of large-scale turbulence are discussed along with aspects of turbulent diffusion of a passive scalar. It is found that the large-scale fluctuations satisfy filtered or averaged momentum and continuity equations. An averaging of the nonlinear advection term yields two terms.
Retinal illuminance and contrast sensitivity in human infants

Several investigators have related infants' low contrast sensitivity to immaturities in the optics and receptor lattice of the immature eye. A critical element in the modeling is how much the lower photon catch of the immature retina reduces sensitivity; the assumptions vary from square-root to Weber's law and lead to very different modeling outcomes. We measured the relationship between retinal illuminance and contrast sensitivity at different spatial frequencies. The sweep visual-evoked potential was used to measure thresholds in 2- and 3-month olds and adults over a 2.5-log-unit range of illuminances. The contrast threshold vs illuminance functions were fit by power functions. The best-fitting exponents for adults were about -0.5 at higher spatial frequencies (consistent with square-root law) and lower at lower frequencies. The best-fitting exponents for 2- and 3-month olds were -0.2 to -0.35 which indicates that threshold is less affected by changes in illuminance than is the case in adults. These results suggest that none of the models relating optical and receptoral immaturities to infants' spatial vision has assumed an appropriate relationship between lower photon catch and contrast sensitivity. Once the models are modified to incorporate the relationship obtained in the present experiment, the predictions fall well short of explaining 2-month olds' low contrast sensitivity.
A surprise from 1954: siloxane equilibration is a simple, robust, and obvious polymer self-healing mechanism.

Tetramethylammonium silanolate-initiated ring-opening copolymerization of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and bis(heptamethylcyclotetrasiloxanyl)ethane (bis-D4) renders cross-linked network polymers that contain ethylene bridges and active silanolate end groups. These “living” reactive anionic species are not neutralized by ambient atmosphere exposure (are stable to water, oxygen, CO2) and promote thermally activated equilibration among different network isomers and cyclic oligomers. The cross-link density of these living networks can be controlled by the ratio of D4:bis-D4, and the density of active chain ends is determined from the initiator:monomer ratio. We report that samples prepared with particular ratios of initiator:D4:bis-D4 can be cut with a sharp knife, even into two pieces, and can heal by siloxane equilibration to restore the original strength of the silicone sample. Fracture toughness measurements were carried out and revealed complete (mechanical) healing. Broken and healed samples gener...
Rapid fractionation technique and re-treatment of cerebral metastases by irradiation.

A total of 131 courses of treatment has been evaluated in 81 patients. Sixty-eight percent of the courses were given as a single dose of 1000 rads. The remainder were treated with a short course of less than 1 week. When symptoms recurred and patient status indicated the necessity, 35 patients were retreated for the second time, 12 for the third time, and 3 patients for a fourth course. Results were evaluated through survival and degree and duration of improvement.
Symbols, not data: rare trees and vegetation history in Mali

Historical analysis of botanical literature concerning the trees Gilletiodendron glandulosum and Guibourtia copallifera in Mali's Manding Plateau reveals that the dominant representation of these plants has helped to perpetuate colonial-era theories of vegetation history, African land management, and natural resource politics in West Africa. The French botanist Aubreville described these plants as proof of the theory of vegetation history that blamed poor land management by rural Africans for a steady and continuing destruction of vegetation from its presumed original forest climax. Although Aubreville's representation of these trees was justified within the 1930s scientific context he worked, subsequent researchers uncritically maintained his conclusions even though the changed scientific context in which they worked did not justify such representation. Subsequent ecological research also failed to substantiate Aubreville's representation of these trees, yet several influential modern botanical works have uncritically accepted colonial-era botanical literature founded on his ideas. Thus, modern botanical works have perpetuated a simplistic and inaccurate narrative of resource use under an appearance of objectivity. As a result, policy recommendations based on the modern botanical sources remain almost identical to colonial-era policies. Based on the similarity of colonial-era and modern portrayals of these trees, this paper argues that a regional discursive formation recently described by other authors may be expanded to include southern Mali, which carries negative implications for decentralization reform in Mali.
Adaptation and the Importance of Local Culture: Creating a Research School at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

In the 1930s and 1940s a researchschool developed among scientists at theScripps Institution of Oceanography in LaJolla, California. Although that was due inlarge part to Harald U. Sverdrup, a prominentNorwegian oceanographer who served as Scrippsdirector from 1936 to 1948, this paperemphasizes the adaptive, evolving character ofthat research school. Conditions at Scrippsprior to Sverdrup's arrival influenced hisefforts in successfully organizing a group ofscientists. Once at Scripps Sverdrup proved tobe an able leader, but he also had to adapt tothe local scientific culture. Trained in atradition that emphasized the study of physics,chemistry and meteorology, Sverdrup's emphasison dynamical oceanography had a powerful impacton his new colleagues. But in the process hisunderstanding of oceanography also evolved. Hebecame more fully aware of the importance ofbiological and geological investigations, andit was only through close interaction with andreliance on a diverse group of scientists thatthere emerged an ecological understanding ofthe oceans that became a hallmark of Scrippsoceanography. Emphasizing the importance ofadaptation and interaction, and the work ofother scientists in addition to a group leader,this paper offers new insights into theformation of research schools.
Enhancing user-productivity and capability through integration of distinct software in epidemiological systems

Public health policy decision makers need analytical and interactive features in epidemic simulation systems, along with the ability to simulate disease propagation over large scale populations, ranging over millions of individuals. To fulfill these requirements, we decided to re-engineer existing epidemiological software systems and integrate them together such that the performance of the overall system was minimally affected. The systems that were part of the integration effort included EpiFast, an HPC-based simulation engine, that simulates disease diffusion over multiple regions; ISIS, a web-based visual interface tool, used for analyzing the role of different parameters in disease propagation; and a database management system, storing and operating on the demographic and geographic information about different city populations. We analyzed the feasibility of existing middleware platforms to support the integration and developed a new architecture that achieves seamless and efficient integration of component systems. The integrated software system provides a combination of capability along with usability and flexibility, required by public health policy decision makers to study epidemics holistically. It also allows reuse of complex intervention strategies defined by multiple users through the web-based interface and reduces the overall time to set-up experiments and manage data. In this paper, we describe the flexible architecture that made the integration of these distinct software components possible and report on the case studies that show considerable improvement in productivity of decision makers and epidemiologists using the new integrated tool.
Efficacy of atomic-centered basis functions for band calculations: Molecular oxygen

We show that our self-consistent local-orbital (SCLO) method gives ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ eigenvalues which are in good agreement with those obtained from a full-potential self-consistent linearized-augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) method. The SCLO calculation is done with only 32 on-site basis functions and no off-site basis functions, while the FLAPW calculation required 604 plane-wave basis functions for this molecular application. These results indicate that on-site basis functions serve quite effectively in describing electronic wave functions.
The Emerging Role of MicroRNAs as a Therapeutic Target for Cardiovascular Disease

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are endogenously transcribed and processed into approximately 21- to approximately 23-nucleotide products. They are believed to function predominantly as sequence-targeted modifiers of gene expression through inhibition of post-transcriptional processes, including messenger RNA degradation and translational repression. Rapid expansion of functional studies of miRNAs in recent years has established a new paradigm in which miRNAs 'fine-tune' gene expression in complex biologic networks. In this review, we summarize the role of miRNA in heart development and cardiac pathogenesis, and discuss the implication of miRNAs as innovative therapeutic approaches for cardiovascular diseases.
Making the Most of Your First Day of Class.

Instructors of physics courses face the demanding challenge of creating a safe, nurturing community in their classroom while maintaining sufficient rigor. First-day activities are especially important, because they need to both motivate their students and prepare them for the course. Experienced instructors happily share their successful first-day activities,1,2 but what works for one instructor or class might not be as successful for another. We postulate that to be successful, an activity will set expectations, attend to the face needs of the students, and build the instructor's credibility. By modeling the course activities and fostering a supportive learning community, well-suited activities can both orient and motivate students.
Critical period for cycloheximide blockade of light-induced phase advances of the circadian locomotor activity rhythm in golden hamsters

Abstract Recent studies indicate that the protein products of genes involved in transcriptional regulation play an important role in light-induced phase-shifting of the circadian clock, and suggest that protein synthesis may be necessary for some critical steps in the process by which light can induce a phase shift. In order to determine if this protein-dependent step occurs before, during or at some time after the light pulse is presented, golden hamsters were treated with the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (65 mg/kg. injected subcutaneously), at various times relative to the presentation of a light pulse that normally induces an advance in the circadian locomotor activity rhythm. When hamsters were treated with cycloheximide I h or 30 min before, as well as 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 h after the onset of the light pulse, the phase advancing effects of light were completely blocked and delay phase shifts were observed. The observed phase shifts in these groups of animals were not significantly different from those observed in animals treated with cycloheximide without exposure to light. Treatment with cycloheximide 6 or 3 h before the light pulse partially blocked light-induced phase advances. The phase advancing effects of light were not altered in those animals injected with cycloheximide 6 or 9 h after the light pulse. These results support the hypothesis that protein synthesis is necessary for light-induced phase advances in the mammalian circadian clock, and indicate that such synthesis is necessary for at least 4 h after the light pulse for phase shifts to occur. Thus, light may not induce an instantaneous (