cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Resident performed two-point compression ultrasound is inadequate for diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in the critically III.

Doppler ultrasonography is a standard in diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) but is often delayed. Clinician-performed focused vascular sonography (FVS) has proven to accurately diagnose DVT in the ambulatory and emergency room settings. Whether trained medical residents can perform quality FVS in the critically ill is unknown. Medical residents were trained in a 2-hour module in FVS assessing for complete compressibility of common femoral and popliteal veins. Residents imaged consecutive medical ICU and intermediate care patients awaiting comprehensive, sonographer-performed and radiologist-interpreted examinations. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the focused examination were calculated against the comprehensive study. Fleiss Kappa (κ), the degree of agreement between resident and radiologist, was calculated. Time savings was measured. Nineteen residents performed 143 studies on 75 patients. Twelve patients had above-the-knee DVTs, a prevalence of 16 %. All 6 common femoral and 7 of 9 popliteal vein DVTs were identified. None of 6 isolated superficial femoral DVTs were identified. Sensitivity for above-the-knee DVT was 63 %, specificity 97 %. Sensitivity for common femoral and popliteal DVT was 86 %, specificity 97 %. Residents showed substantial agreement with radiologists for diagnosis of DVT (κ = 0.70, SE 0.114, p < 0.001).Time from order of a formal ultrasound to a radiologist’s read averaged 14.7 h. The two-point compression ultrasound method demonstrated insufficient sensitivity in a cohort of critically ill medical patients due to a high-incidence of superficial femoral DVT. However, residents demonstrated substantial agreement with radiologists for the diagnosis of clinically relevant DVT after a 2-hour course. FVS should include the superficial femoral vein and is associated with a significant time savings.
Reorganization points for file designs with nonlinear processing costs

An important problem in accessing and updating large scale data bases is the determination of when to reorganize the data and eliminate records that have been flagged for deletion but have not as yet been physically deleted. Such records take up valuable storage space and cause a degradation of access times to the active records, mainly because of the necessity to maintain overflow areas. After a certain length of time it is usually desirable to merge the old data and its overflow areas into a new data base of the original format, thus reallocating the physical storage for maximum efficiency within the constraints imposed by the data base organization. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of various system and user parameters on the choice of optimal reorganization points over a wide range of file organizations and user applications. The analysis of file reorganization is seen as a first step toward understanding large scale data base reorganization.
Primary care of children and adolescents with down syndrome: an update.

D own syndrome is perhaps the most recognizable and well-described genetic syndrome encountered in pediatrics. Undoubtedly seen in ges past, John Langdon Down was the first to escribe it in great detail in his landmark paper titled Observations on an Ethnic Classification of Idiots” in 866. He believed that a certain group of people with ental retardation had physical features similar to that f the Asian or Mongolian races. The terms “Mongoian” or “Mongoloid” became widely used to describe hese individuals. It was not until the 1970s that this erm became pejorative and fell into disuse. It was eplaced by the eponym, Down syndrome. In the 19th nd early 20th centuries, there were a variety of heories regarding the cause of Down syndrome inluding maternal tuberculosis or hypothyroidism. In 959, Lejeune and coworkers confirmed the presence f trisomy 21 as the cause of Down syndrome. In the early part of the 20th century, parents were iven a very bleak outlook for their infant with Down yndrome. They were often told that the child would ot live long, or that he or she would never walk, talk, r even recognize their own parents. Parents were also dvised to place their child in an institution and the arents should tell everyone that the baby had died. ortunately, attitudes began to change, both socially
Effect of alpha, adrenoceptorantagonists on prostatic pressure and blood pressure in the anesthetized dog

Objectives In the current study we have profiled a range of compounds at alpha1 adrenoceptor subtypes in vitro and have assessed their effects in vivo using the anesthetized dog in an attempt to elucidate the predominant alpha1 adrenoceptor subtype mediating contractile responses of the canine prostate.
Octogenarians and Nonagenarians Starting Dialysis in the United States

Data from a national registry of end-stage renal disease patients showed that the number of octogenarians and nonagenarians starting dialysis has nearly doubled from 1996 to 2003. Patients starting...
Nebraska's Sandhills Lakes: a Hydrogeologic Overview

: Lakes, marshes and wet meadows occur in the broad, flat, interdune valleys of the Nebraska Sandhills, a vegetation-stabilized dune field underlain by sediments containing an enormous supply of groundwater. Hydrologic, geologic and possibly climatologic factors influence the chemical quality of lake water. Central and eastern lakes generally are in connection with the groundwater reservoir. The hydrologic nature of western lakes and the cause of their high alkalinity is not fully understood. Lakes in close proximity may vary in both their chemical characteristics and in the degree to which they change in size and depth over time. Climatic, hydrogeologic and natural lake-aging processes of accumulation of organics appear to be primarily responsible for lake-size variations.
Dual Wavelength Photoactivation of cAMP- and cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Signaling Pathways

The spatial and temporal organization of biolog-ical systems offers a level of complexity that is challenging to probe with conventional reagents. Photoactivatable (caged) compounds represent one strategy by which spatiotemporal organizational complexities can be addressed. However, since the vast majority of caged species are triggered by UV light, it is not feasible to orthogonally control two or more spatiotemporal elements of the phenomenon under investigation. For example, the cGMP- and cAMP-dependent protein kinases are highly homologous enzymes, separated in time and space, which mediate the phosphorylation of both distinct and common protein substrates. However, current technology is unable to discriminate, in a temporally or spatially selective fashion, between these enzymes and/or the pathways they influence. We describe herein the intracellular triggering of a cGMP-mediated pathway with 360 nm light and the corresponding cAMP-mediated pathway with 440 nm light. Dual wavelength photoactivation w...
The interaction between burn injury and vitamin D metabolism and consequences for the patient.

The stress and inflammatory responses to burn injury are associated with bone loss. The stress response entails production of large amounts of endogenous glucocorticoids that decrease osteoblasts on the mineralization surface of bone and decreases differentiation of marrow stromal cells into osteoblasts, thereby decreasing the amount of bone formation. Deficiency of osteoblasts also blocks osteoclastogenesis thus leading to low bone turnover and bone loss. The inflamma- tory response generates cytokines such as interleukin 1-beta and interleukin-6, which normally increase osteoclastogenic bone resorption via stimulation of osteoblast production of RANK ligand. However, in the absence of osteoblasts as a tar- get we postulate that they attack the parathyroid gland chief cells and up-regulate the calcium-sensing receptor. The con- sequence of this upregulation is the lowering of the circulating calcium necessary to suppress parathyroid hormone pro- duction and the development of hypocalcemia and urinary calcium wasting. It is the parathyroid hormone suppression that causes us to postulate acute deficiency of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and the consequence of this for post-burn metabolism could include derepression of the gene that controls renin production, leading to elevated levels of angiotensin II, which can contribute to insulin resistance, as can vitamin D deficiency itself .Moreover, the skin from burned patients cannot synthesize vitamin D normally. Thus vitamin D supplementation is the only means by which to ensure vitamin D suffi- ciency for burn victims. The proper requirement for vitamin D in acutely burned patients remains unknown.
Twelve Years into the Performance Measurement Revolution: Where We Need to Go in Implementation Research

Abstract The heightened interest in performance measurement (PM) in government holds tremendous promise for both academicians and practitioners. Indeed, under a best-case scenario, PM is a subject in which public administration researchers provide relevant information that informs practice and bolsters citizen views of government. However, as the authors contend, many fundamental questions remain regarding implementation. Moreover, the research methods generally deployed in PM research are unlikely to answer these questions, not the least of which is the cost-effectiveness of PM implementation. Thinking paradigmatically about PM research entails an appropriate linkage of important questions and appropriate research methods. Twelve years after the Governmental Accounting Standards Board first proposed Service Efforts and Accomplishment reporting, the authors believe it is time to begin as systematic approach to PM implementation. Public Administration as a discipline can make a huge contribution to public ...
Investigation of two cases of paternal disomy 13 suggests timing of isochromosome formation and mechanisms leading to uniparental disomy

Uniparental disomy (UPD) is the abnormal inheritance of two copies of a chromosome from the same parent. Possible mechanisms for UPD include trisomy rescue, monosomy rescue, gametic complementation, and somatic recombination. Most of these mechanisms can involve rearranged chromosomes, particularly isochromosomes and Robertsonian translocations. Both maternal and paternal UPD have been reported for most of the acrocentric chromosomes. However, only UPD for chromosomes 14 and 15 show an apparent imprinting effect. Herein, we present two cases of paternal UPD 13 involving isochromosomes. Both cases were referred for UPD studies due to the formation of a de novo rea(13q13q). Case 2 was complicated by the segregation of a familial rob(13q14q) of maternal origin. Both propositi were phenotypically normal at the time of examination. Polymorphic marker analysis in Case 1 showed the distribution of alleles of markers along chromosome 13 to be complete isodisomy, consistent with an isochromosome. This rearrangement could have occurred either meiotically, without recombination, or mitotically. A likely mechanism for UPD in this case is monosomy rescue, through postzygotic formation of the isochromosome. In Case 2 the distribution of proximal alleles indicated an isochromosome, but recombination was evident. Thus, this isochromosome must have formed prior to or during meiosis I. A likely mechanism for UPD in this case is gametic complementation, since the mother carries a rob(13q14q) and is at risk of producing aneuploid gametes. However, trisomy rescue of a trisomy 13 conceptus cannot be completely excluded. Given that both cases were phenotypically normal, these data further support that paternal UPD 13 does not have an adverse phenotypic outcome and, thus, does not show an apparent imprinting effect.
The function of glycosyl phosphoinositides in hormone action

The molecular events involved in the cellular actions of insulin remain unexplained. Some of the acute actions of the hormone may be due to the intracellular generation of a chemical substance which modulates certain enzyme activities. Such an enzyme-modulating substance has been identified as an inositol phosphate-glycan, produced by the insulin-sensitive hydrolysis of a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (glycosyl-PtdIns) precursor. This precursor glycolipid is structurally similar to the glycosyl-phosphoinositide membrane protein anchor. The exposure of fat, liver or muscle cells to insulin results in the hydrolysis of glycosyl-PtdIns, giving rise to the inositol phosphate glycan and diacylglycerol. This hydrolysis reaction is catalysed by a glycosyl-PtdIns-specific phospholipase C. This enzyme has been characterized and purified from a plasma membrane fraction of liver. This reaction also results in the acute release of certain glycosyl-PtdIns-anchored proteins from the cell surface. Elucidation of the functional role of glycosyl-phosphoinositides in the generation of second messengers or the release of proteins may provide further insights into the pleiotropic nature of insulin action.
Using structured choice to increase child engagement in low-preference centres

It is recommended practice for early childhood educators to provide children with extended periods of free play in which children are able to learn through hands-on experiences in the classroom environment. Early childhood educators plan meaningful experiences for each interest centre based on standards and objectives. Although some children choose to participate in all the provided activities, other children require additional assistance in choosing between the varieties of experiences that are provided in the early childhood classroom environment. Children who avoid spending time in certain interest centres or spend time not engaged in any activity miss the opportunity to practise the skills associated with those centres. In this study, a structured choice intervention was used to provide a choice between two low-preference centres and to also decrease the amount of time children spend not engaged in any activity. Results indicate that the structured choice intervention increased the amount of time chil...
The effects of bar width and spatial frequency-specific adaptation on visual persistence

Two experiments investigated the properties of visual persistence as functions of spatial frequency, stimulus duration, and pattern-specific adaptation. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the perceived duration of sine-wave gratings presented for 50 msec increased from 250 to 500 msec as spatial frequency ranged from .4 to 6.4 cycles per degree of visual angle. Similarly, visual persistence for single bars increased as their widths decreased. Experiment 2 found that adaptation to a specific spatial frequency reduced the perceived duration of gratings that were close to the adaptation value in spatial frequency.
Internal conversion studies in the I132 decay

Abstract The electron spectrum in the energy range of 575 to 675 keV from the decay of I132 was studied by means of an ion-free spectrometer. Internal conversion lines corresponding to transitions of 522±1, 630.4±0.7, 672±2, 667.7±0.5 and 652±4 (tentatively established) keV were recorded. The last four transitions have not been resolved from each other before. The K-conversion coefficient of the 668-keV transition was measured by the internal-external method to be (3.3±0.9) × 10−3. This value agrees, within the large limits of error, with the theoretical E2 conversion coefficient value calculated by Rose.
Advancing three-dimensional MEMS by complimentary laser micro manufacturing

This paper describes improvements that enable engineers to create three-dimensional MEMS in a variety of materials. It also provides a means for selectively adding three-dimensional, high aspect ratio features to pre-existing PMMA micro molds for subsequent LIGA processing. This complimentary method involves in situ construction of three-dimensional micro molds in a stand-alone configuration or directly adjacent to features formed by x-ray lithography. Three-dimensional micro molds are created by micro stereolithography (MSL), an additive rapid prototyping technology. Alternatively, three-dimensional features may be added by direct femtosecond laser micro machining. Parameters for optimal femtosecond laser micro machining of PMMA at 800 nanometers are presented. The technical discussion also includes strategies for enhancements in the context of material selection and post-process surface finish. This approach may lead to practical, cost-effective 3-D MEMS with the surface finish and throughput advantages of x-ray lithography. Accurate three-dimensional metal microstructures are demonstrated. Challenges remain in process planning for micro stereolithography and development of buried features following femtosecond laser micro machining.
V-Go Insulin Delivery System Versus Multiple Daily Insulin Injections for Patients With Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus affects over 29.1 million Americans, diagnosed and undiagnosed. Achieving and maintaining glycemic control for these patients is of extreme importance when working to prevent complications and improve quality of life for patients. The V-Go is a newly developed insulin delivery system. The push of a button inserts a needle into the patient once daily and remains attached for 24 hours. The V-Go is designed to release a set basal rate throughout the day, while allowing patients to provide up to 36 units of on-demand bolus insulin with the manual click of 2 buttons. It is a spring-loaded device filled daily with rapid-acting insulin that runs without the use of batteries or computer software. The main objective of this prospective active comparator study was to observe the A1C lowering effects of multiple daily insulin injections (MDII) versus the use of the V-Go insulin delivery system for patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus over a 3-month period. In addition, the effect on insulin requirement for these patients was assessed with secondary comparisons of weight, blood pressure, prevalence of hypoglycemic events, and quality of life before and after 3 months of intensified insulin therapy with regular monitoring by a clinical pharmacist at an internal medicine clinic. The average A1C lowering experienced by the 3 patients in the V-Go group was 1.5%, while the average A1C change in the 3 patients in the MDII group was an increase of 0.2%. All patients in the V-Go group experienced a decrease in insulin total daily dose (TDD), with an average decrease of 26.3 units. All patients in the MDII group experienced an increase in insulin TDD with an average of 15 units daily to achieve therapeutic goals individualized for each patient. All patients who underwent intensification of insulin therapy experienced an increase in subjective quality of life (QOL) as determined using the Diabetes-39 (D-39) questionnaire, though QOL results lacked statistical significance.
Retinoic acid reduces p11 protein levels in bronchial epithelial cells by a posttranslational mechanism

p11 is a member of the S100 family of proteins, is the cellular ligand of annexin II, and interacts with the carboxyl region of 85-kDa cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), inhibiting cPLA2activity a...
Land Use and Road Improvements: A Spatial Perspective:

The literature on whether new roads cause deforestation in developing countries has grown rapidly. However, improvements rather than new construction are increasingly common. Renovations are undert...
Social categories guide young children’s preferences for novel objects

To whom do children look when deciding on their own preferences? To address this question, 3-year-old children were asked to choose between objects or activities that were endorsed by unfamiliar people who differed in gender, race (White, Black), or age (child, adult). In Experiment 1, children demonstrated robust preferences for objects and activities endorsed by children of their own gender, but less consistent preferences for objects and activities endorsed by children of their own race. In Experiment 2, children selected objects and activities favored by people of their own gender and age. In neither study did most children acknowledge the influence of these social categories. These findings suggest that gender and age categories are encoded spontaneously and influence children’s preferences and choices. For young children, gender and age may be more powerful guides to preferences than race.
Effect of anatomy on spectroscopic detection of cervical dysplasia

It has long been speculated that underlying variations in tissue anatomy affect in vivo spectroscopic measurements. We inves- tigate the effects of cervical anatomy on reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy to guide the development of a diagnostic algorithm for identifying high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions HSILs free of the confounding effects of anatomy. We use spectroscopy in both contact probe and imaging modes to study patients undergoing either colposcopy or treatment for HSIL. Physical models of light propaga- tion in tissue are used to extract parameters related to tissue morphol- ogy and biochemistry. Our results show that the transformation zone, the area in which the vast majority of HSILs are found, is spectroscopi- cally distinct from the adjacent squamous mucosa, and that these anatomical differences can directly influence spectroscopic diagnostic parameters. Specifically, we demonstrate that performance of diag- nostic algorithms for identifying HSILs is artificially enhanced when clinically normal squamous sites are included in the statistical analy- sis of the spectroscopic data. We conclude that underlying differences in tissue anatomy can have a confounding effect on diagnostic spec- troscopic parameters and that the common practice of including clini- cally normal squamous sites in cervical spectroscopy results in artifi- cially improved performance in distinguishing HSILs from clinically suspicious non-HSILs. © 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. DOI: 10.1117/1.3194142
The effects of a pre-workout supplement containing caffeine, creatine, and amino acids during three weeks of high-intensity exercise on aerobic and anaerobic performance

A randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel design study was used to examine the effects of a pre-workout supplement combined with three weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on aerobic and anaerobic running performance, training volume, and body composition. Twenty-four moderately-trained recreational athletes (mean ± SD age = 21.1 ± 1.9 yrs; stature = 172.2 ± 8.7 cm; body mass = 66.2 ± 11.8 kg, VO2max = 3.21 ± 0.85 l·min-1, percent body fat = 19.0 ± 7.1%) were assigned to either the active supplement (GT, n = 13) or placebo (PL, n = 11) group. The active supplement (Game Time®, Corr-Jensen Laboratories Inc., Aurora, CO) was 18 g of powder, 40 kcals, and consisted of a proprietary blend including whey protein, cordyceps sinensis, creatine, citrulline, ginseng, and caffeine. The PL was also 18 g of powder, 40 kcals, and consisted of only maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavors and colors. Thirty minutes prior to all testing and training sessions, participants consumed their respective supplements mixed with 8-10 oz of water. Both groups participated in a three-week HIIT program three days per week, and testing was conducted before and after the training. Cardiovascular fitness (VO2max) was assessed using open circuit spirometry (Parvo-Medics TrueOne® 2400 Metabolic Measurement System, Sandy, UT) during graded exercise tests on a treadmill (Woodway, Pro Series, Waukesha, WI). Also, four high-speed runs to exhaustion were conducted at 110, 105, 100, and 90% of the treadmill velocity recorded during VO2max, and the distances achieved were plotted over the times-to-exhaustion. Linear regression was used to determine the slopes (critical velocity, CV) and y-intercepts (anaerobic running capacity, ARC) of these relationships to assess aerobic and anaerobic performances, respectively. Training volumes were tracked by summing the distances achieved during each training session for each subject. Percent body fat (%BF) and lean body mass (LBM) were assessed with air-displacement plethysmography (BOD POD®, Life Measurement, Inc., Concord, CA). Both GT and PL groups demonstrated a significant (p = 0.028) increase in VO2max from pre- to post-training resulting in a 10.3% and 2.9% improvement, respectively. CV increased (p = 0.036) for the GT group by 2.9%, while the PL group did not change (p = 0.256; 1.7% increase). ARC increased for the PL group by 22.9% and for the GT group by 10.6%. Training volume was 11.6% higher for the GT versus PL group (p = 0.041). %BF decreased from 19.3% to 16.1% for the GT group and decreased from 18.0% to 16.8% in the PL group (p = 0.178). LBM increased from 54.2 kg to 55.4 kg (p = 0.035) for the GT group and decreased from 52.9 kg to 52.4 kg in the PL group (p = 0.694). These results demonstrated improvements in VO2max, CV, and LBM when GT is combined with HIIT. Three weeks of HIIT alone also augmented anaerobic running performance, VO2max and body composition.
Tight frame approximation for multi-frames and super-frames

We consider a generator Φ = (φ1 ...,φN) for either a multi-frame or a super-frame generated under the action of a projective unitary representation for a discrete countable group. Examples of such frames include Gabor multi-frames. Gabor super-frames and frames for shift-invariant subspaces. We show that there exists a unique normalized tight multiframe (resp. super-frame) generator Ψ = (ψ1,.....,ψN) such that Σj-1N||φj - ψj||2 ≤ Σj-1N||φj - ψj||2 holds for all the normalized tight multi-frame (resp. super-frame) generators η = (η1,.....ηN). We also investigate the similar problems for dual frames and discuss a few applications to Gabor frames and some other frames.
The Power Approach to Intergroup Hostility

The power approach views intergroup hostility as a natural product of competition among groups for scarce resources. The findings of this study show clear support for the operation of this approach in the area of American race relations. Consistent with the model, whites' racial tolerance and support for government policies favorable toward blacks are found linked to black competition measured by the black concentration in the local context and to whites' sense of group identity. The effects of black concentration are nonlinear with a positive but decreasing slope. The effects of the power variables remain significant even after controls for respondents' education, affect toward blacks, and region of origin. In general, the results suggest that white opposition to blacks reflects, in part, a reaction to the loss that governmental policies signify for whites in the ongoing group competition for status, power, and advantage.
Chemoautotrophy in the redox transition zone of the Cariaco Basin: A significant midwater source of organic carbon production

During the CARIACO time series program, microbial standing stocks, bacterial production, and acetate turnover were consistently elevated in the redox transition zone (RTZ) of the Cariaco Basin, the depth interval ( ;240‐450 m) of steepest gradient in oxidation-reduction potential. Anomalously high fluxes of particulate carbon were captured in sediment traps below this zone (455 m) in 16 of 71 observations. Here we present new evidence that bacterial chemoautotrophy, fueled by reduced sulfur species, supports an active secondary microbial food web in the RTZ and is potentially a large midwater source of labile, chemically unique, sedimenting biogenic debris to the basin’s interior. Dissolved inorganic carbon assimilation (27‐159 mmol C m 22 d 21 ) in this zone was equivalent to 10%‐ 333% of contemporaneous primary production, depending on the season. However, vertical diffusion rates to the RTZ of electron donors and electron acceptors were inadequate to support this production. Therefore, significant lateral intrusions of oxic waters, mixing processes, or intensive cycling of C, S, N, Mn, and Fe across the RTZ are necessary to balance electron equivalents. Chemoautotrophic production appears to be decoupled temporally from short-term surface processes, such as seasonal upwelling and blooms, and potentially is more responsive to longterm changes in surface productivity and deep-water ventilation on interannual to decadal timescales. Findings suggest that midwater production of organic carbon may contribute a unique signature to the basin’s sediment record, thereby altering its paleoclimatological interpretation.
CONCENTRATED DISADVANTAGE, TRADITIONAL MALE ROLE MODELS, AND AFRICAN‐AMERICAN JUVENILE VIOLENCE*

In a stagnating urban economy, Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street depicts a disadvantaged environment where residents face high levels of joblessness, poverty, racial residential isolation, and family disruption. Anderson argues that the loss of job opportunities for African-American men deprived younger generations of traditional male role models. That is, in a disadvantaged urban setting with a lack of male role models participating in legitimate labor market activity, many young people may turn to violence. Drawing on insights from Anderson's ethnographic work, we assess the generality of Anderson's claims more broadly and explore the potential connection between his work and the macrolevel research on urban violence. Specifically, we explore the influence of male role models (older, employed black males) and the concentration of urban disadvantage on black juvenile arrests for violence across multiple cities in 2000. Overall, we find empirical support for Anderson's concerns over the removal of traditional male role models from urban areas as a result of concentrated disadvantage. Specifically, we find that the presence of traditional male role models reduces the rates of African-American youth violence. Additionally, our measure of traditional male role models mediates the relationship between structural disadvantage and juvenile violence. We discuss the contributions of Anderson's work to the macrolevel study of urban violence.
Velocity variations in the uppermost mantle beneath the southern Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane

We model Pn waveforms from two earthquakes in the southwestern United States (Mammoth Lakes, California, and western Nevada) to determine a velocity model of the crustal and mantle structure beneath the southern Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane. We derive a one-dimensional velocity model that includes a smooth crust-mantle transition east of Death Valley and extending south into the eastern Mojave desert. West of Death Valley and toward the Sierra Nevada a low-velocity mantle (V_p = 7.6 km/s) directly below the crust indicates the lithosphere is absent. At the base of this low-velocity structure (at 75–100 km depth) the P wave velocity jumps discontinuously to V_p 8.0 km/s. The area of low velocity is bounded by the Garlock Fault to the south and the Sierra Nevada to the west, but we cannot resolve its northern extent. However, on the basis of teleseismic travel times we postulate that the anomaly terminates at about 38°N. The presence of a low-velocity, upper mantle anomaly in this area agrees with geochemical research on xenoliths from the southern Sierras and recent studies of receiver functions, refraction profiles, tomography, and gravity. However, the velocity discontinuity at 75–100 km is a new discovery and may represent the top of the once present, now unaccounted for and possibly sunken Sierra Nevada lithosphere.
Enhanced fluidization of nanoparticles in an oscillating magnetic field

Some experimental observations on the fluidization characteristics of nanoparticles in the form of agglomerates with magnetic assistance are presented. The nanoagglomerates consist of Degussa Aerosil® R974 fumed silica, with a primary particle size of 12 nm. An oscillating AC magnetic field is used to excite large (mm size) permanent magnetic particles mixed in with the nanoparticle agglomerates, and the fluidization behavior of the nanoagglomerates, including the fluidization regime, the minimum fluidization velocity, the bed pressure drop, and the bed expansion are investigated. It is shown that, with the aid of an oscillating magnetic field at low frequencies, the bed of nanoparticle agglomerates can be smoothly fluidized, and the minimum fluidization velocity is significantly reduced. In addition, channeling or slugging of the bed disappears and the bed expands uniformly without bubbles, and with negligible elutriation. The bed expansion and the minimum fluidization velocity depend on the mass ratio of magnetic particles to nanoparticles, and the intensity and frequency of the oscillating magnetic field. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005
The Obsidian Artifacts of Quelepa, El Salvador

Nearly 600 obsidian artifacts dating from about 200 b.c. to a.d. 950 at Quelepa, El Salvador, are assigned to geological source areas using visual criteria and an abbreviated neutron activation analysis (NAA) technique. This combined methodology affords highly accurate results, is inexpensive, and allows large collections to be sourced. Results of lithic analyses describe the evolution of procurement and production strategies at the site. Despite the location of the site on the far southeastern periphery of Mesoamerica, the lithic analyses indicate that Quelepa participated in a Mesoamerican rather than Central American transference network.
Regulation of Insulin Receptors in Cultured Human Fibroblasts

The ability of insulin to regulate its own receptor was investigated in cultured human fibroblasts. Physiological insulin concentrations led to a loss of insulin receptors, and this process was dependent on cellular energy and ongoing protein synthesis. The insulin concentration primarily affected the rate of receptor loss rather than the eventual cellular receptor concentration. Studies of receptor regeneration revealed that the absolute rate of insertion of new or recycled receptors into the plasma membrane was constant and independent of the amount of proceeding receptor loss or the time over which receptor loss occurred. These results are compatible with the Concept that insulin-induced receptor loss in cultured human fibroblasts is a self-limited process mediated by an endocytotic internalization pathway which is dependent on new protein synthesis. Receptor regeneration is a distinct cellular process dependent on ongoing protein synthesis and does not simply represent the absence of ongoing receptor ...
Parameter identification for nonlinear systems

Preliminary results from an investigation into identification of parameters appearing nonlinearly in system dynamics are presented. After presentation of background material on identifiability of such systems, an identifier based on the extended Luenberger observer is constructed for a class of nonlinear systems. Conditions sufficient for global convergence of its parameter estimates are discussed. An example illustrates the identifier's construction, and computer simulation results depict the parameter estimate's global exponential convergence. >
Task assignment by parallel simulated annealing

Simulated annealing for obtaining approximate solutions to combinatorial optimization problems is addressed. The serial algorithm, however, can require extensive computation time. Most parallel algorithms for simulated annealing are problem-specific and/or violate the serial decision sequence, thereby allowing errors not present in the serial algorithm. Maintaining the serial sequence is necessary to prove that the algorithm converges to a global optimum solution when allowed to reach equilibrium at each temperature. A parallel algorithm which is both problem-independent and maintains the serial decision sequence is presented. The parallel algorithm uses the concurrency techniques of speculative computation to achieve speedup which can exceed log/sub 2/P, on P processors. For three problems investigated, the average speedup on eight processors was 2.6. >
Microbial Endophytes: Future Challenges

Endophytes are represented by a diverse group of prokaryotic (bacteria or cyanobacteria) or eukaryotic (fungi or parasitic vascular plants) organisms that form lifelong associations within tissues of plants. Ecologically, these associations are viewed as mutualistic and as sources of secondary metabolites capable of serving as novel medicinals and agrichemicals. It is this area that serve to stimulate the large research investigations from all parts of the planet. The challenges as we see them are multifaceted. These include an understanding of the genetics nature of microbial endophytes, how endophytes communicate and partition themselves within hosts, how do these biotrophic organisms obtain nutrients, and are specific nutrient acquisitions key to the final effects observed? Further, are there basic difference between bacterial endophytes and fungal endophytes? What influence the host interactions to produce the desired effects, and how is the stability of the system affected. Thus, future challenges are dependent on identifying, delineating, dissecting, and defining the mechanisms whereby hosts and their symbionts accomplish this curious lifestyle. Defining these biological mechanisms will ensure the present and future successful technological applications of microbial endophytes.
The Invention of Market Freedom: The Market Synthesis

Their aim was the aim of kings: that needing nothing, and obeying no one, they might enjoy liberty, the mark of which is to live just as one pleases. Cicero, On Duties , book 1 §68 (Atkins trans.) THE LOCKEAN LEGACY We have seen that the debates about the political implications of the rise of commerce in the early modern period brought to the surface the long-standing tensions in republican thought between procedural and substantive conceptions of arbitrary power, and between instrumental and intrinsic conceptions of the value of virtue. As a result, early modern thinkers had to make a series of difficult choices about the meaning and implications of republican freedom that their forebears had been able to avoid, between options that their forebears may not have clearly recognized as such. The “republican” defense of commercial society that emerged in these debates represented a substantial departure in many ways from the classical republican view. The classical republican expects the free man to be independent; to depend on the market for the satisfaction of one's own wants and needs is to depend in a radical sense on the wants and needs of other people. The classical republican sees the pursuit and enjoyment of luxury as a threat to individual virtue, and thus to freedom itself; the flourishing of a commercial economy depends on the assumption that people will always want more material goods than they actually have.
Sexual violence and the creation of an empowered female voice

This paper describes how slang serves as a source of empowerment for a marginalised social group, helping speakers create an inhabitable voice that contests community norms. Within the insular youth community known as the Sinhalese Raggers, females differentiate the terms they use to describe sexual assault from terms used by males. In doing so, they construct a voice in opposition to a male subject they hold responsible for sexual assault. The study of sexual assault slang contributes to recent register studies by exploring register at the community level, providing ethnographic evidence of the social motivations behind non-uniform language use. More broadly, this work documents negotiations between individuals and group collectives – how dominated speakers (female Raggers) exhibit agency through language.
Sending the Bureaucracy to War

Administrative law has been transformed after 9/11, much to its detriment. Since then, the government has mobilized almost every part of the civil bureaucracy to fight terrorism, including agencies that have no obvious expertise in that task. The vast majority of these bureaucratic initiatives suffer from predictable, persistent, and probably intractable problems - problems that contemporary legal scholars tend to ignore, even though they are central to the work of the writers who created and framed the discipline of administrative law. We analyze these problems through a survey of four administrative initiatives that exemplify the project of sending bureaucrats to war. The initiatives - two involving terrorism financing, one involving driver licensing, and one involving the adjudication of asylum claims - grow out of the two statutes perhaps most associated with the war on terrorism, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the REAL ID Act of 2005. In each of our case studies, the civil administrative schemes used to fight terrorism suffer from the incongruity of fitting civil rules into an anti-civil project, the difficulties of delegating wide discretion without adequate supervision, and the problem of using inexpert civil regulators to serve complex law enforcement ends. We conclude that anti-terrorism should rarely be the principal justification for a new administrative initiative, but offer some recommendations as to when it might make sense to re-purpose civil officials as anti-terrorism fighters.
Three-Dimensional Strains in Human Posterior Sclera Using Ultrasound Speckle Tracking

Intraocular pressure (IOP) induced strains in the peripapillary sclera may play a role in glaucoma progression. Using inflation testing and ultrasound speckle tracking, the 3D strains in the peripapillary sclera were measured in nine human donor globes. Our results showed that the peripapillary sclera experienced through-thickness compression and meridional stretch during inflation, while minimal circumferential dilation was observed when IOP was increased from 10 to 19 mmHg. The maximum shear was primarily oriented in the through-thickness, meridional cross sections and had a magnitude slightly larger than the first principal strain. The tissue volume had minimal overall change, confirming near-incompressibility of the sclera. Substantial strain heterogeneity was present in the peripapillary region, with local high strain areas likely corresponding to structural heterogeneity caused by traversing blood vessels. These 3D strain characteristics provide new insights into the biomechanical responses of the peripapillary sclera during physiological increases of IOP. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and investigate the role of these biomechanical characteristics in ocular diseases.
Frontier search

The critical resource that limits the application of best-first search is memory. We present a new class of best-first search algorithms that reduce the space complexity. The key idea is to store only the Open list of generated nodes, but not the Closed list of expanded nodes. The solution path can be recovered by a divide-and-conquer technique, either as a bidirectional or unidirectional search. For many problems, frontier search dramatically reduces the memory required by best-first search. We apply frontier search to breadth-first search of sliding-tile puzzles and the 4-peg Towers of Hanoi problem, Dijkstra's algorithm on a grid with random edge costs, and the Aa algorithm on the Fifteen Puzzle, the four-peg Towers of Hanoi Problem, and optimal sequence alignment in computational biology.
Development of a "First Principles" Water Potential with Flexible Monomers. II: Trimer Potential Energy Surface, Third Virial Coefficient, and Small Clusters.

A full-dimensional potential energy function (MB-pol) for simulations of water from the dimer to bulk phases is developed entirely from “first principles” by building upon the many-body expansion of the interaction energy. Specifically, the MB-pol potential is constructed by combining a highly accurate dimer potential energy surface [J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 5395] with explicit three-body and many-body polarization terms. The three-body contribution, expressed as a combination of permutationally invariant polynomials and classical polarizability, is derived from a fit to more than 12000 three-body energies calculated at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory, imposing the correct asymptotic behavior as predicted from “first principles”. Here, the accuracy of MB-pol is demonstrated through comparison of the calculated third virial coefficient with the corresponding experimental data as well as through analysis of the relative energy differences of small clusters.
Citizenship in the shadow of the Euro crisis: explaining changing patterns in naturalisation among intra-EU migrants

ABSTRACTThe Euro crisis has transformed the European political and economic landscape. Amidst lingering political uncertainties, austerity, high unemployment, and diminished levels of trust in the European project, how has the Euro crisis affected the institution of citizenship within the European Union? While the development of EU citizenship and the number of rights and freedoms attached to it since the 1990s has progressively reduced the incentive of intra-EU migrants to acquire citizenship in other member states, I argue that the Euro crisis and its political and economic consequences have reinvigorated the perceived value of national citizenship. In its wake, many intra-EU migrants, and especially those from the most crisis-stricken countries, may have a renewed incentive naturalise in other member states. Using data collected for 14 Western European countries from 2000 to 2013, I demonstrate how a growing lack of trust in political institutions and economic hardship since the Euro crisis has inspire...
Toll-like receptor 2–expressing macrophages are required and sufficient for rhinovirus-induced airway inflammation

Background We have shown that rhinovirus, a cause of asthma exacerbation, colocalizes with CD68 + and CD11b + airway macrophages after experimental infection in human subjects. We have also shown that rhinovirus-induced cytokine expression is abolished in Toll-like receptor (TLR2) −/− bone marrow–derived macrophages. Objective We hypothesize that TLR2 + macrophages are required and sufficient for rhinovirus-induced airway inflammation in vivo . Methods Naive and ovalbumin (OVA)–sensitized and challenged C57BL/6 wild-type and TLR2 −/− mice were infected with RV1B, followed by IgG or anti-TLR2, to determine the requirement and sufficiency of TLR2 for rhinovirus-induced airway responses. Bone marrow chimera experiments using OVA-treated C57BL/6 and TLR2 −/− mice were also performed. Finally, naive TLR2 −/− mice underwent intranasal transfer of bone marrow–derived wild-type macrophages. Results RV1B infection of naive wild-type mice induced an influx of airway neutrophils and CD11b + exudative macrophages, which was reduced in TLR2 −/− mice. After allergen exposure, rhinovirus-induced neutrophilic and eosinophilic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness were reduced in TLR2 −/− and anti-TLR2–treated mice. Transfer of TLR2 −/− bone marrow into wild-type, OVA-treated C57BL/6 mice blocked rhinovirus-induced airway responses, whereas transfer of wild-type marrow to TLR2 −/− mice restored them. Finally, transfer of wild-type macrophages to naive TLR2 −/− mice was sufficient for neutrophilic inflammation after rhinovirus infection, whereas macrophages treated with IL-4 (to induce M2 polarization) were sufficient for eosinophilic inflammation, mucous metaplasia, and airways hyperresponsiveness. Conclusions TLR2 is required for early inflammatory responses induced by rhinovirus, and TLR2 + macrophages are sufficient to confer airway inflammation to TLR2 −/− mice, with the pattern of inflammation depending on the macrophage activation state.