cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Medical Image registration using sparse coding and belief propagation

Recently, various medical imaging such as CT and MRI imaging has been used more and more widely in clinical and medical research. As a result, there is an increasing interest in accurately relating information in different images for diagnosis, treatment, and the sake of basic science. As images are typically acquired at different times and often by different modalities, registering (or aligning) one image with another is not a simple task in general and it success will affect the effectiveness and accuracy of all subsequent analysis. We propose an efficient medical image registration method based on sparse coding and belief propagation for medical CT imaging. We used 3-D image blocks as features, and then we employed sparse coding to find a set of candidate voxels. To select optimum matches, belief propagation was subsequently applied on these candidate voxels. The outcome of belief propagation was interpreted as probabilistic map between candidate voxels and source voxel. We compared with the state-of-the-art of medical image registration, MIRT [1] and GP-Registration algorithm [2]. Our objective results based on RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) are smaller than those from MIRT and GP-Registration. Our results also proved the effectiveness of our algorithm in registering reference image to source image.
LTP and memory: can we enhance the connection?

ploration-induced effects are short lived, leading to the name 'shortterm exploratory modulation' (STEM). In addition, while both LTP and STEM are characterized by an increased EPSP, they differ with respect to the evoked population spike, which is enhanced in LTP, and reduced in STEM. However, this discrepancy was interpreted as STEM involving the summed strengthening of synapses on a select few excitatory cells and on many inhibitory cells that produce a feedforward inhibition 5. These exciting discoveries, combined with replications of STEM, including controls for EEG state and locomotion 5, caused many of us to embrace the notion that STEM might reflect specific information processing. Enthusiasm was further raised by a neuro
Higher order hydrodynamic interactions in the calculation of polymer transport properties

Higher order hydrodynamics interactions are short-range modifications to the Oseen tensor Tij and its self-interaction counterpart Tii. They differ from the Oseen tensor in having terms of higher order than the first in a/R, a being a bead radius and R being a bead-bead distance. Effects of higher order hydrodynamic interactions on whole chain–whole chain hydrodynamic interactions are here computed. Higher order hydrodynamic interactions are shown to lead to a concentration dependence of the diffusion and friction coefficients of a free monomer. However, while higher order interactions make contributions of the same nature to the drag coefficients of a monomer and of a whole chain, the contributions are not simply multiplicative, removing a justification for the common practice of correcting polymer solution transport data for “monomer friction effects” via a normalization with data on friction coefficients of free monomers. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Environmental Education Tools for Elementary Schoolchildren: The Use of a Popular Children's Magazine

Abstract A popular children's nature magazine, Ranger Rick, was evaluated for its ability to increase children's knowledge of animals and the natural world. A pretest/posttest design was used in a classroom comparison of 491 fifth graders from Wake County, North Carolina. Treatment subjects were given three issues of Ranger Rick magazine over a three-month period and all subjects were tested on the contents of the magazine features. Results show that these children increased their knowledge in portions of three different content areas including animals, plants, and ecological principles. Both treatment and control subjects ranked magazines as their primary source of information about wildlife and the environment. The results of this study indicate that the magazine can be used by classroom teachers as an effective environmental education tool.
Self-consistent simulations of a four-gated vertical quantum dot

We present three-dimensional (3D) finite-element simulations of symmetric and asymmetric chargings of a four-gated vertical quantum dot (4GVQD) structure. Emphasis is placed on 3D device effects with no a priori assumption about, the shape of the electron confining potential (CP). We show that, by acting asymmetrically on the electric gates, small elliptic deformations in the electron CP are induced with little changes in the addition energy spectrum of the 4GVQD. Charging spin sequences are, however, strongly modified by small deformations, and can therefore be controlled electrostatically by tuning the gates accordingly.
Self-Efficacy Cognitions and Causal Attributions for Children's Motor Performance: An Exploratory Investigation

Abstract Although Bandura (1986) has suggested that cognitive motivators such as self-efficacy cognitions and causal attributions might be causally related, there has been little effort to examine such a relationship within the motor behavior domain. The present investigation attempted to determine whether manipulated self-efficacy and children's causal attributions for performance in a competitive bicycle ergometer were related. Self-efficacy cognitions were found to be significantly related to perceptions of success on the task and to stable and controllable attributions. The results suggest that efficacy cognitions, formed as a function of consistent patterns of behavior, play an important role in the formation of causal attributions independent of the subject's perception of the achievement outcome.
The incorporation of ingested glycerol-C14 into the lipids of the rat.

Abstract Glycerol-C 14 has been shown to provide precursors for the glyceride-glycerol of the rat intestinal tissue lipids when fed under conditions favoring the competition of the ingested material with compounds available from endogenous sources. Glycerol absorption rates maintained nearly constant at each of three feeding levels but enhanced with increase of dose led to C 14 incorporation into the total lipids of the intestine, which was, in general, proportional to the quantities of the tagged alcohol absorbed. Glycerides given simultaneously in 0.5-ml amounts further increased, at each dose level, the incorporation of the isotope into the total fats. Fractionation of these lipids into glycerides and phospholipids showed that increased C 14 incorporation at the medium level was due to a greater isotope content in both fractions. However, at the maximum glycerol-C 14 dose, radioactivity in the phospholipids had reached a plateau, and further increments in the total lipid C 14 inclusion were derived entirely from the greatly enhanced isotopic content of the glycerides. When the fat fed contained deuteriostearic acid, comparisons between the labeling by the C 14 and the deuterium indicated that the glyceride-glycerol of the newly formed phosphatids was derived largely from the exogenous alcohol, while up to 38.5% of that moiety in the glycerides similarly formed could have had an origin in the ingested glycerol-C 14 . Some 95% of the C 14 found in the fat was present in the glycerol portion of the molecule. In the liver, glycerol-C 14 incorporation into the lipids was of much greater magnitude than into the intestinal tissue fat, with the radioactivity tending to be somewhat greater in the glyceride than in the phospholipid fraction. Although increased incorporation of C 14 followed augmented glycerol administration, the liver fats from the nonfat-fed rats contained more isotope at each dose level than those from the animals to which fat was given. This may be indicative of a greater substrate competition to provide for immediate glycogen formation under the latter regime.
A study of the structure and stability of SrCuO2

Abstract We have investigated the structure and stability of SrCuO2 using both lattice statics and dynamics techniques as well as molecular dynamics. Short range interatomic pair potentials were obtained using Gordon-Kim1 techniques. Lattice dynamics indicates that the infinite layer, high Tc parent structure of Azuma et. al. 2 should not be stable for this material, with the largest instabilities appearing in the plane perpendicular to the Cu-Cu bonds (i.e. in the ab plane). The ground state structure and temperature variation of physical parameters obtained from molecular dynamics simulations will be discussed, as will the effects of varying ionicity.
Dynamic Response of Sandwich Plates to Medium-velocity Impact:

Overall and local deflections of a single span of a continuous sandwich plate are evaluated under local contacts with a rigid indenter, at relative velocities of 10 and 20 m/s (20-40 knots), to simulate the effect of impacts that can be applied to ship sandwich structures by floating objects or moorings. Laminated carbon-vinyl ester face sheets and a H100 PVC foam core, possibly separated from the impacted face sheet by a stiff and ductile polyurethane (PUR) interlayer, comprise the sandwich plate. As in our previous study of the effect of quasi-static contacts (Suvorov, A.P. and Dvorak, G.J. (2005). Protection of Sandwich Plates from Low Velocity Impact, Journal of Composite Materials (to appear)), the focus is on the evaluation of contact forces and deflections of the face sheet and foam core interface, and on the membrane or in-plane strains in the face sheet at the contact point. These quantities are well-known potential sources of damage, causing core crushing, and face sheet delamination and/or pene...
Counseling Vietnamese refugees: the new challenge

In working with Vietnamese American refugees the mental health worker needs to be knowledgable of and sensitive to several areas: (1) the cultural history and history of the migration experience of the group; (2) the group's mental health dispositions; (3) cultural and systemic biases affecting counseling; and (4) the role of paraprofessionals.
How expensive are free smartphone apps

Proliferation of data-enabled mobile devices has fueled the popularity of smartphone applications (apps) at a rapid pace, and the trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Along with the increase in popularity, the characteristics and concept of paid apps and free apps is also changing. In general, paid smartphone apps generate their revenue simply from the cost of downloading the app. On the other hand, free apps rely on advertisements, and/or virtual currencies, for their revenue generation. There are several variants of these generalized approaches. In this work, we focus on identifying the overhead traffic that is generated by the free apps with respect to the paid apps. The overhead traffic is not associated with the operation of the app itself and thus should not impact the usage experience of the apps. Specifically, we consider advertisements, and the transmission of analytic data, as the main components of overhead traffic. With the gradual disappearance of unlimited data plans, the overhead traffic does not come for free. The goal of this paper is quantify the cost of the overhead traffic of the popular free apps and compare it with the paid apps. We have developed an intricate methodology for identifying and measuring the bandwidth requirements of the overheads associated with the free apps. Through comprehensive measurements, we have shown that in most cases, the paid versions of the apps will indeed be a fraction of the cost to the end users when compared to the actual cost of the free versions.
William B. Wood and the “Pathos of Paternalism”

Theatre historians have been kind to William B. Wood, actor and co-manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre in the early nineteenth century. Reese D. James, in his Old Drury of Philadelphia: A History of the Philadelphia Stage, 1800–1835 (1932), set the sentimental tone that subsequent historians would echo. Relying extensively on Wood's Personal Recollections of the Stage (1855), James lamented that the Chestnut Theatre, following the breakup of Warren and Woods' management in 1826, became “a body without a soul.” In his Theatre U.S.A. (1959), Barnard Hewitt quoted copiously from Wood's Recollections , allowing the co-manager the final word on the deleterious effects of the star system. Calvin Primer's two articles published in the 1960s on Warren and Wood continued the tradition, picturing both managers as the unfortunate victims of rapacious stars.
Expansion of CD8+ T cells with regulatory function after interaction with intestinal epithelial cells

Abstract Background & Aims: Regulatory T cells play a role in the control of immune responses in the intestinal mucosa and their absence may predispose to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We have previously shown that T cells activated by intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) are suppressive in function. Our goal was to characterize the phenotype and function of T cells proliferating after interaction with IECs. Methods: Irradiated human IECs, isolated from normal resection specimens, were cultured with carboxy fluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) labeled T cells. Flow cytometric analysis of T cells was performed at days 5–10. CD8+ T cells proliferating in culture with IECs were sorted and added to suppressive assays. Results: The precursor frequency of T cells proliferating in response to IECs ranged from 0.3%–0.9%. Several subpopulations were shown to proliferate (CD8+CD28−/CD8+CD28+/CD4+CD25+), but one population (CD8+CD28−CD101+CD103+) appeared to be dependent on contact with the CD8 ligand gp180. After sorting, culture in the presence of interleukin (IL)-7 and IL-15 allowed for the generation of cell lines. IEC-activated CD8+ T cells, but not nonactivated CD8+ T cells, were suppressive in function. Suppression belonged to the CD101+CD103+ subset of IEC-activated CD8+ T cells and appeared to require cell contact. CD8+ lamina propria T cells also showed suppressive function, suggesting the presence of CD8+ regulatory T cells in the mucosa. Conclusions: IECs are able to induce the proliferation of a small fraction of CD8+ peripheral T cells. The CD8+CD28− subset of IEC-activated CD8+ T cells, which express CD101 and CD103, interacts with IECs through gp180 and has regulatory function. GASTROENTEROLOGY 2002;123:1516-1526
The Crystal Structure of Six-transmembrane Epithelial Antigen of the Prostate 4 (Steap4), a Ferri/Cuprireductase, Suggests a Novel Interdomain Flavin-binding Site

Steap4 is a cell surface metalloreductase linked to obesity-associated insulin resistance. Initial characterization of its cell surface metalloreductase activity has been reported, but thorough biochemical characterization of this activity is lacking. Here, we report detailed kinetic analysis of the Steap4 cell surface metalloreductase activities. Steap4 shows physiologically relevant Km values for both Fe3+ and Cu2+ and retains activity at acidic pH, suggesting it may also function within intracellular organelles to reduce these metals. Flavin-dependent NADPH oxidase activity that was much greater than the equivalent Steap3 construct was observed for the isolated N-terminal oxidoreductase domain. The crystal structure of the Steap4 oxidoreductase domain was determined, providing a structural explanation for these differing activities. Structure-function work also suggested Steap4 utilizes an interdomain flavin-binding site to shuttle electrons between the oxidoreductase and transmembrane domains, and it showed that the disordered N-terminal residues do not contribute to enzymatic activity. Background: In-depth biochemical and structural analyses of Steap4 are lacking. Results: Crystallographic and kinetic characterization of Steap4 metalloreductase and flavin-dependent NADPH oxidase activities are reported. Conclusion: Physiologically relevant ferric/cupric reductase and flavin-dependent NADPH oxidase activities are observed at neutral and endosomal pH; the N-terminal tail is dispensable for these activities. Significance: Metalloreductase activity should be considered in Steap4-associated insulin resistance.
Spectral measurements of nitrogen continuum radiation behind incident shocks at speeds up to 13 km/sec

Spectral measurements of nitrogen continuum radiation behind incident shocks at high speeds, suggesting free bound neutral atom-electron interactions origin
RNA synthesis as a measure of microbial growth in aquatic environments. II. Field applications

Rates of stable ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis have been calculated from time-series measurements of the uptake of 3H-adenine and labeling of the intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and stable RNA pools for microbial communities from a variety of freshwater and marine ecosystems. Total rates of microbial RNA synthesis ranged from 6.6 pmol to 3.8x105 pmol of adenine incorporated into RNA l−1 h−1. Most of the variation was attributable to differences in microbial biomass; if total rate data are normalized to living microbial carbon (based on ATP measurements), the variation in specific rates of RNA synthesis is decreased by a factor of 100 to 1 000 for microbial communities from diverse environments. Light/dark experiments indicated that the uptake and incorporation of 3H-adenine are uncoupled from photophosphorylation. The measurement of rates of stable RNA synthesis of microbial assemblages in nature can yield useful information concerning in situ growth rates and the response of communities to changes in environmental conditions such as nutrient additions.
The Impact of Polypropylene-graft-Maleic Anhydride on the Crystallization and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Isotactic Polypropylene

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were used to identify the mechanisms that lead to differences in the mechanical behavior of formulations of polypropylene blended with maleated polypropylene (MAPP) copolymers. MAPP lowered the melting temperature of PP indicating that less stable crystals were formed possibly because of cocrystallization of PP and MAPP. Crystallization kinetics revealed that copolymers do not change the rate of crystal growth, but may retard nucleation leading to a more spherulitic morphology. The dynamic storage modulus slightly increased in the glassy region with the small addition amounts of MAPP, while mechanical dampening systematically decreased with MAPP addition. An analysis of the viscoelastic behavior did not reveal any real differences in molecular coupling around the β-transition of PP with the addition of the MAPP copolymer. At low addition levels, MAPP does not appear to have a significant impact on the viscoelastic properties of the polymer blend. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
The 1st Balloon Valvuloplasty: An Historical Note

Balloon valvuloplasty (BV) is currently the treatment of choice for pulmonic stenosis in humans and dogs. Before permission was obtained to attempt the 1st BV in a child in 1982, the safety and efficacy of the procedure were tested in 1980 in an English Bulldog with spontaneous pulmonic stenosis. A fatal outcome would have caused indefinite postponement of BV in human patients, a procedure that currently benefits over 25,000 patients a year worldwide. This article describes the initial test procedure and its fortunate outcome in spite of unrecognized coronary anomalies in the bulldog. A small balloon was used in the test procedure, and fatal disruption of the anomalous left coronary artery (CA) did not occur as it has in several bulldogs since that time.
CE21--Maryland: the state of computer science education in Maryland high schools

The goals of UMBC's CE21-Maryland project are to build community and to increase the accessibility, diversity, and quality of high school CS education in Maryland. The ultimate objective is for all Maryland students to have access to high-quality, college preparatory CS courses. We present findings from a survey of high school computing teachers regarding the status of CS education in Maryland. Some findings of interest are that urban and rural students have less access to computing courses than suburban students; female teachers are more likely to attract female students and to have larger AP CS classes; and neither teacher race nor gender is correlated with the number of minority students enrolled in CS classes. We describe community building successes through two Google CS4HS workshops, a Maryland CSTA chapter, and statewide summit meetings for educators and administrators. We also discuss how our methodology can be used as a model for other states who are working towards CS education reform at the high school level.
Tissue dissection with ultrafast laser using extended and multiple foci

Ultrashort lasers are typically utilized for tissue dissection by sequential application of tightly focused beam along a scanning pattern. Each pulse creates a small (on the order of 1μm) zone of multiphoton ionization (optical breakdown). At energies exceeding vaporization threshold cavitation bubble is formed around the focal volume. A continuous cut is formed if the rupture zones produced by separate bubbles coalesce. We present an alternative approach, in which an extended zone of tissue is cut by simultaneous application of laser energy in multiple foci. Simultaneous formation of multiple cavitation bubbles results in hydrodynamic interactions that can lead to significant extension of the rupture zone in tissue. Two simultaneously expanding bubbles compress and strain material between them, while simultaneously collapsing bubbles can produce jets towards each other. We calculated and experimentally imaged the flow dynamics of expanding and collapsing bubbles and obtained maps of tissue deformation. With the measured tissue threshold strain, the deformation map allows predicting the rupture zone as a function of maximum bubble size and distance between the bubbles. We also demonstrate an optical system producing 1 mm long dissection with a single laser pulse. A combination of a lens and an axicon produces a line of optical breakdown, with aspect ratio 250:1. The subsequent cavitation bubble has aspect ratio 100:1 at early stage of expansion. We calculated an optimal laser beam intensity profile to create axiallyuniform elongated ionization pattern.
Stereospecific 1,4-addition reaction of sulfinylallyl anion: Synthesis of (±)-pentalenolactone e methyl ester

Stereospecific 1,4-Addition reaction of lithiated sulfinylallyl anion and enone 2 provided the corresponding 1,4-γ-adduct, 7. In seven steps, 7 was converted into octahydro-2-methoxy-8,8-dimethylpentalenol[1,6a-c]pyran-5-(6H)-one (9) whose conversion into pentalenolactone E methyl ester (1) has been previously reported.
Effect of atropine-induced flow rate depression on the composition of unstimulated human parotid fluid

Abstract Parotid fluid was collected without exogenous stimulation from 300 healthy young male adults, and physiologic baselines at this unstimulated rate of flow (0.054 ml/min) were established for sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Amylase, Acid Phosphatase, Uric Acid, Urea Nitrogen, total protein, Glucose, total solids, osmolality, specific gravity, and viscosity. Another sample was collected after atropine administration and these same analyses were performed; significant increases in the concentrations of 11 constituents (those capitalized above), total solids and osmolality occurred accompanied by significant decreases in flow rates. Sodium concentration was not affected by the atropine, while bicarbonate and pH decreased significantly. “Rates of secretion” for each constituent were calculated as follows: flow rate × concentration. The change in the rate of secretion of sodium following atropine paralleled the change in flow rate—in contrast to quite different rates of secretion changes for all other constituents. A mechanism of fluid volume production in the human parotid glands that is related and perhaps dependent upon sodium secretion is suggested from these findings.
Direct in vitro effects of bis(tri-n-butyltin)oxide on hepatic cytochrome P-450.

Abstract Bis(tri-n-butyltin)oxide, an agriculturally important biocidal agent, when added in vitro to liver microsomes containing the phenobarbital-induced form of cytochrome P-450, produced a typical type I binding spectrum (an absorption maximum at 390 nm; an absorption minimum at 420 nm). Studies with microsomal preparations containing cytochrome P-448, induced by 3-methylcholanthrene or β-naphthoflavone, revealed that this hemeprotein was more susceptible to direct degradation by bis (tri-n-butyltin)oxide than was the uninduced or phenobarbital-induced forms of cytochrome P-450. The disappearance of spectrally detectable cytochrome P-450 was accompanied by an increase in cytochrome P-420. The formation of cytochrome P-420 was both time and temperature dependent, and it also occurred to a greater extent in microsomal preparations containing cytochrome P-448 than in microsomes containing the phenobarbital-induced form of cytochrome P-450. In all cases, the decreases in spectrally detectable cytochrome P-450 produced by the organotin were not accompanied by decreases in microsomal heme or cytochrome b5 content. The findings provide evidence for the direct interaction followed by conversion of cytochrome P-450 to cytochrome P-420 produced by a trialkyltin compound in vitro, and indicate that different susceptibilities to degradation exist within the various subspecies of this hemeprotein.
Fourier transform infrared study of butene adsorption and reaction on a silica-supported nickel catalyst

The adsorption of 1-butene, trans-2-butene, cis-2-butene, and 1,1-d/sub 2/-1-butene on a well-characterized silica-supported nickel catalyst was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The resultant hydrocarbon surface species were subjected to vacuum and hydrogen. Reaction products were monitored at temperatures from 28 to 100/sup 0/C. The initial adsorption of each of the n-butenes resulted in similar infrared spectra. The main spectral features are proposed to be associated with two surface species: a weakly adsorbed 2,3-dimetallabutane and a strongly adsorbed 1,1,2- and/or 1,1,3-trimetallabutane. The surface orientations of the initially adsorbed metallabutanes are discussed along with the effect of the surface selection rule on the observed infrared bands. Heating the catalyst under vacuum resulted in the desorption of the 2,3-species to form butane and the further dehydrogenation of other metallabutanes. The addition of hydrogen to the initially adsorbed surface species resulted in the evolution of butane and the partial hydrogenation of the strongly adsorbed metallabutanes. The resultant structures were relatively stable in hydrogen at temperatures to 120/sup 0/C. Evidence was also found for the presence of allylic species during the linear isomerization of the n-butenes. It is proposed that allylic species may be precursors to the formation of the metallabutanes as well asmore » possible intermediates in the isomerization reaction.« less
An Empirical Analysis of Stock Prices in Major Asian Markets and the United States

This study uses unit root and cointegration tests to examine the relationships among the stock markets in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. All the stock prices are analyzed both individually and collectively to test for international market efficiency. Unit roots in stock prices are found. Pairwise and higher-order cointegration tests indicate that there is no evidence of cointegration among the stock prices. The findings suggest that the stock prices in major Asian markets and the United States are weak-form efficient individually and collectively in the long run. It also implies that international diversification among the markets is effective.
Parenchymal Volume Preservation and Ischemia During Partial Nephrectomy: Functional and Volumetric Analysis

Objective To determine the relative effect of type and duration of ischemia and parenchymal volume preservation on renal function after partial nephrectomy (PN). Materials and Methods Ninety-two patients with localized renal tumors (2007-2012) managed with PN at our center with necessary studies for analysis were included. This comprised 37 patients with a solitary kidney and 55 with a contralateral kidney. Thirty-five patients were managed with hypothermia and 57 with limited warm ischemia. Volumetric computed tomography was used to measure the volume of functional parenchyma before and after PN in the operated and contralateral kidneys. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was determined by the modification of diet in renal disease 2 equation, along with renal scan data for patients with a contralateral kidney. Regression analysis assessed the relationships between %GFR preserved in the operated kidney and potential predictive factors. All postoperative analyses were performed 4-12 months after surgery. Results Median age was 61 years, median tumor size 3.5 cm, and median RENAL nephrometry score 8. Median cold ischemia time was 28 minutes and median warm ischemia time 21 minutes. Median %GFR preserved in the operated kidney was 79%. Median %parenchymal volume saved was 83%. Function in the contralateral kidney only increased marginally (median increase 6%). On regression analysis, %GFR preserved associated most strongly with %parenchymal volume saved (P <.0001), but also with lower RENAL scores (P = .0457) and the use of hypothermia (P = .0209). In contrast, ischemia time did not correlate with %GFR preserved (P = .5051). Conclusion Ultimate function after PN primarily correlated with parenchymal volume preservation, whereas ischemia played a secondary role. Thus, maximal parenchymal preservation with a precise PN should be a priority during PN.
Kinetic properties and adaptations of liver glucose-6-phosphatase.

SummaryThe activities and apparent kinetic constants (Km') of liver glucose-6-phosphatase were measured following treatments causing increases in activity. Differences in Km'values were observed after fructose feeding, either as fructose or sucrose, and after diabetes produced by alloxan. The liver glucose-6-phosphatase obtained from fructose fed animals had significantly lower Km'values than from glucose fed animals. This was noticeable in both the whole homogenate and isolated microsomal fraction. Km'values obtained from diabetic animals were significantly higher than those from normal animals. All other treatments increasing the liver glucose-6-phosphatase activity produced no significant changes in the kinetic properties of this enzyme.
Inland technology: the quest for genuine replicas

Purpose – Proposes exploring a unique approach to the new product development process and its implications for new product developersDesign/methodology/approach – The case was written after in depth interviews with company managers and customers.Findings – Provides information and a description of an innovative guiding philosophy applied to new product development.Research limitations/implications – As with most case studies the situation, industry response and results are pertinent to this particular company. There may be limitations in generalizing to other industries or other companies.Practical implications – Demonstrates a reactive approach to new product development. Also illustrates a successful means of interacting with government markets.Originality/value – The case reflects a successful strategy based on establishing a trusted expert position in an environmental protection industry. That position allowed the company to act as a pollution avoidance advocate and to gain effective access to decisio...
Dimensional changes of processed denture bases after relining with three resins

This study compared the dimensional change of simulated processed denture bases after relining with three resins. Thirty simulated denture bases 1.5 to 2 mm thick were processed from Lucitone 199 resin following the manufacturer's instructions using the long-cure method. Ten bases were relined with Lucitone 199 (long-cure), 10 were relined with Triad resin, and 10 were relined with Accelar 20 resin. The relined bases were processed on a metal die using a reline jig, and three measurements (from distobuccal flange to distobuccal flange) were made with a traveling microscope immediately before and after relining. Each relined simulated denture base showed a significant dimensional shrinkage after processing. The mean dimensional change values of the Triad resin relined bases were significantly greater than those of the other two resin relined bases. All of the dimensional change values, however, would probably be insignificant in a clinical situation.
Decision Making in Vocational Theory: Evolution and Implications

This article examines the evolution of decision making from a position of minor significance to one of primary importance in vocational theory.
The telomere terminal transferase of tetrahymena is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme with two kinds of primer specificity

We have analyzed the de novo telomere synthesis catalyzed by the enzyme telomere terminal transferase (telomerase) from Tetrahymena. Oligonucleotides representing the G-rich strand of telomeric sequences from five different organisms specifically primed the addition of TTGGGG repeats in vitro, suggesting that primer recognition may involve a DNA structure unique to these oligonucleotides. The sequence at the 3' end of the oligonucleotide primer specified the first nucleotide added in the reaction. Furthermore, the telomerase was shown to be a ribonucleoprotein complex whose RNA and protein components were both essential for activity. After extensive purification of the enzyme by a series of five different chromatographic steps, a few small low abundance RNAs copurified with the activity.
Group Treatment for Female Adolescent Sexual Abuse Victims

The incidence of childhood sexual abuse has reached epidemic proportions. Many of the perpetrators are family members or a parent figure to the victim. Adolescent sexual abuse victims are identified as an underserved population. The Sexual Assault Center in Seattle, Washington, offers a treatment group for older adolescent females who have been sexually abused and who exhibit significantly disturbed behaviors as a result. Group composition, goals, and organization are discussed. Using the framework of the four traumagenic dynamics of child sexual abuse, as developed by Finkelhor and Browne (1985), the wide range of symptoms seen in these adolescents is described. Each dynamic-traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness, and stigmatization-is reviewed in terms of how it manifests in victims' responses to the abuse. Practical application of these dynamics in terms of group intervention strategies is reviewed.
Nutrient regeneration and denitrification in low oxygen fjords

Abstract A plot of total combined nitrogen (NO3−, NO2−, NH4+) versus phosphate for the Jervis Inlet system (British Columbia, Canada) reveals ΔN:ΔP = 11.1 – 11.7: 1 instead of 16:1, for the upper 30 m of water of the entire system and for the deep water in the main body of Jervis Inlet. In Narrows Inlet and Princess Louisa Inlet, shallow-silled fjords attached to the main body, the slope in stagnant deep water is even smaller and sometimes negative. This is caused by denitrification in the sediments. These conditions are reflected in the estimated ration at which phytoplankton take up nitrogen and phosphorus, 12.5:1. Rates of nutrient regeneration and microbial respiratory processes for the deep regions of Narrows Inlet and Princess Louisa Inlet were calculated from observed changes in oxygen and nutrient concentrations during summer months when the deep water was stagnant. The mean oxygen consumption rate (some of which occured in the water), normalized to area of sediment, was 0.45–0.55 μg-at. m−2 s−1 for Narrows Inlet and 0.71 μg-at. m−2 s−1 for Princess Louisa Inlet. The mean phosphate regeneration rate was 2.3 × 10−3 μg-at. m−2 s−1 for Narrows Inelt and 4.9 × 10−3 μg-at. m−2 s−1 for Princess Louisa Inlet. Rates of denitrification ranged from 0.016 to 0.073 μg-at. N m−2 s−1 in Narows Inlet and 0.075 to 0.101 μg-at. N m−2 s−1 for Princess Louisa Inlet. The range in sulfate reduction rates was 0.018–0.082 μg-at. m−2 s−1 for Narrows Inlet and 0.089–0.102 μg-at. m−2 s−1 for Princess Louisa Inlet. The denitrification rates are high compared to rates determined for other coastal and inshore environments. This appears to be caused by a combination of very low oxygen water overlying the sediments which allows the denitrification zone to be at or very close to the sediment-water interface, and a strong coupling between nitrification and denitrification, in which ammonium released by sulfate reduction in the sediments, diffuses into the aerobic zone and is oxidized to nitrogen species that are consumed by denitrificaon. The nitrification-denitrification couple probably occurs widely in coastal and continental shelf sediments, and sedimentary denitrification may exceed denitrification that occurs in the oxygen deficient portions of the oceanic water column.
On the value of free foreign-exchange forecasts

The objective of this paper is to assess the value of free foreign-exchange forecasts. Taking the exchange-rate projections published by Lloyds Bank as an example, it is shown that there is no reason to assume that these projections consistently outperform the most easily available benchmark, the current spot exchange rate. Moreover, the returns to speculative investment based on these projections seem to be, at best, insignificant. The value of such forecasts must, therefore, be regarded as negligible.
A qualitative study of continuing education needs of rural nursing unit staff: The nurse administrator's perspective

Summary Background This study reports perceptions of the continuing education (CE) needs of nursing unit staff in 40 rural healthcare facilities (10 hospitals and 30 long-term care facilities) in a rural Midwestern U.S. region from the perspective of nurse administrators in an effort to promote a community-based academic-practice CE partnership. Methods Qualitative data collection involving naturalistic inquiry methodology was based on key informant interviews with nurse administrators (n = 40) working and leading in the participating health care facilities. Results Major themes based on nurse administrators' perceptions of CE needs of nursing unit staff were in four broad conceptual areas: “Cultural issues”, “clinical nursing skills”, “patient care”, and “patient safety”. Major sub-themes for each conceptual area are highlighted and discussed with narrative content as expressed by the participants. Related cultural sub-themes expressed by the nurse administrators included “horizontal violence” (workplace–hospital and LTC nursing unit staff) and “domestic violence” (home–LTC nursing unit staff). Conclusions The uniqueness of nurses' developmental learning needs from a situational point of view can be equally as important as knowledge-based and/or skill-based learning needs. Psychological self-reflection is discussed and recommended as a guiding concept to promote the development and delivery of relevant, empowering and evidence-based CE offerings for rural nursing unit staff.
Why Must Homunculi Be So Stupid?⊘1

Moliere's joke about the sleeping potion's 'dormative virtue' is standard fare in the philosophy of mind. One cannot, so it is claimed, explain someone's seeing, or remembering, or intending something by postulating a little man in the head who looks at an image, retrieves 'a memory trace, or forms a resolve. Taking this lesson to heart, writers like Attneave [I960], Fodor [I968], and Dennett [1978] have argued that explanations of a mental capacity can only avoid the emptiness of Moliere's dormative virtue by decomposing the capacity into a set of components which are more rudimentary. Postulating little men in the head is permissible, as long as the little men do not have the same full-blown abilities as the people they inhabit. Homunculi are all right, if they are stupid. Rorty ([1979], p. 236) has observed that the pattern which allegedly vitiates smart homunculus explanations can be found in other sciences, but without such disastrous results. An explanation of why the bodies of the solar system revolve as they do may with impugnity invoke the idea that the bodies are composed of atoms whose components exhibit the same pattern of motion. Similarly, the digestive capacities of an organism may be explained perfectly well by the fact that it is the host of a parasite which itself has those very abilities. If smart homunculi confer the kiss of death in the context of psychological explanation, then perhaps we have at last uncovered what is unique about the mind. Whatever might be said of planets and parasites, and whatever promise there may be in Brentano's idea of intentionality, it would appear that stupidity is the mark of the mental.2 I suspect, however, that no such distinctive feature is at hand. What goes for physics and biology also applies to psychology. What, then, is wrong with smart homunculi? Why must homunculi be stupider than we are, if 'Chinese box explanations', as we might call them, are permitted in other domains? Sometimes proferred explanations are empty because they rather obviously could not be true. The supposed problem with the evolutionary
Studies on the morphology and function of the skull in the boidae (Serpentes). Part II. Morphology and function of the jaw apparatus in Python sebae and Python molurus

Heads of the boid snakes Python sebae and Python molurus were dissected and the arthrology, myology and dentition studied. Living specimens of these species were observed and their feeding behavior analyzed by means of high- and regular-speed motion pictures. Camera speeds of up to 400 frames per second permitted examination of the jaw movements during the striking and seizing of prey. Motion picture studies conducted at regular speeds provided information on cranial movements during the swallowing of prey. The morphology of the head was correlated with observed movements in an attempt to analyze the functional and adaptive implications of the jaw apparatus. The cranial apparatus was discussed in terms of a linkage or kinematic chain whose constrainment and degrees of freedom were examined and compared with the jaw linkage of lizards. It was concluded that the very rigidly constrained mechanism in lizards is in remarkably sharp contrast to the very loose apparatus in snakes. Motions of various cranial bones were analyzed with particular attention given the mechanical factors involved. In full protraction the maxillae and palatines are lifted and rotated outward about a longitudinal axis. These movements are important in orienting the teeth with respect to the prey and are related to seizing and swallowing.
Evaluating behavioral marital therapy for male alcoholics: Effects on marital adjustment and communication from before to after treatment

Married couples, in which the husband had recently begun individual outpatient alcoholism counseling, were randomly assigned to a no-marital-treatment control group or to 10 weekly sessions of either a behavioral or an interactional couples therapy group. Couples who received the behavioral marital therapy (BMT) improved significantly from before to after treatment on overall marital adjustment, extent of desired relationship change, marital stability, and positiveness of communication when discussing a current marital problem. Interactionally treated couples improved on extent of desired relationship change and positive communication while discussing vignettes from the Inventory of Marital Conflicts. The control couples did not improve on any of the marital relationship variables. BMT produced better results than no marital therapy on marital adjustment and
Comparison of the electronic energy levels of diatomic molecules in the gas phase and in inert solid matrices

Abstract Electronic band origins and vibrational band spacings in excited electronic states have been compared for the approximately 230 electronic transitions of diatomic molecules which have been observed both in the gas phase and in rare-gas or nitrogen matrices. With few exceptions, valence transitions and the associated vibrational band spacings are shifted by less than about 1% in neon matrices. Somewhat larger shifts, often to longer wavelengths, result from isolation of the molecule in a heavier rare-gas or a nitrogen matrix. The perturbation of Rydberg transitions by the matrix, the effects of charge-transfer interaction with the heavier rare-gas matrices, and the behavior of the potential curve of the matrix-isolated molecule in the vicinity of the dissociation continuum are discussed.
Damage Impact of Larval Feeding by the Grape Root Borer in a Commercial Concord Grape Vineyard

The impact of larval feeding by Vitacea polistiformis (Harris) on commercial grape vines in north central Georgia is described by a set of multiple regression equations where the response variables are grape vine yield parameters and the concomitant variables are 2 indices of grape root borer (GRB) infestation level. Correlations between total (cane + berry) yield and 2 GRB infestation level parameters indicate that 21% increase in trunk base girdling by larval feeding is associated with a 90% reduction in total (berry + cane) yield, and the accumulation of 42 or more larval feeding sites in the root system can cause death of grape vines.
The determination of leachable uranium in marine and lacustrine sediments by steam digestion.

Abstract Uranium can be leached with a mixture of nitric and perchloric acids from 1 g of marine or lacustrine sediment in an autoclave at 275° and 2 atm in 4 hr. The leachate resulted from this steam digestion may then be analyzed for uranium by isotope dilution alpha spectrometry with a precision of about ± 7%. In comparison to the conventional leaching scheme by wet digestion in an open beaker, this method is less time consuming, less labor intensive, requires the use of smaller amounts of acids while it yields data with comparable accuracy and precision. In the analysis of a set of samples collected from a variety of depositional environments, this method yielded results that were indistinguishable from those obtained by the conventional method.