cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term stability of students' evaluations: A note on Feldman's “consistency and variability among college students in rating their teachers and courses”

Feldman (1977), reviewing research about the reliability of student evaluations, reported that while class average responses were quite reliable (.80s and .90s), single rater reliabilities were typically low (.20s). However, studies he reviewed determined single rater reliability with internal consistency measures which assumed that differences among students in the same class (within-class variance) were completely random—an assumption which Feldman seriously questioned. In the present study, this assumption was tested by collecting evaluations from the same students at the end of each class and again one year after graduation. Single rater reliability based upon an internal consistency approach (agreement among different students in the same class) was similar to that reported by Feldman. However, single rater reliability based upon a stability approach (agreement between end-of-term and follow-up ratings by the same student) was much higher (medianr=.59). These results indicate that individual student evaluations were remarkably stable over time and more reliable than previously assumed. Most important, there was systematic information in individual student ratings—beyond that implied by the class average response—that internal consistency approaches have ignored or assumed to be nonexistent.
Transcriptional Regulation of β-Glucanase Activity in the Ruminal Bacterium, Prevotella bryantii B14

The ruminal bacterium, Prevotella bryantii B(1)4, grew more rapidly with glucose as an energy source than mannose (0.73 versus 0.47 h(-1)) and had 8-fold less beta-glucanase activity (50 versus 400 nmol reducing sugar mg protein(-1) min(-1)). Cultures that were provided with glucose and mannose had little beta-glucanase activity even though both sugars were utilized simultaneously. The observation that glucose and mannose were utilized simultaneously indicated that beta-glucanase expression was not merely a simple induction or inducer exclusion. When glucose was added to cultures growing on mannose, hexose flux through the glucomannokinase increased 1.5-fold, and this increase was associated with an almost immediate decrease in beta-glucanase mRNA. After only three generation (doubling) times, the amount of beta-glucanase mRNA was comparable to that observed in cells growing only with glucose. These results indicate that beta-glucanase activity is transcriptionally regulated. However, further work will be needed to define more precisely the nature of this regulation and to identify the intermediate in this response.
Pulsed amperometric detection of carbohydrates in lysosomal storage disease fibroblasts: A new screening technique for carbohydrate storage diseases

A first step in determining the metabolic defect in patients with an unknown storage disease is to identify the stored material. In the case of fibroblasts storing carbohydrates, this can be accomplished by trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) hydrolysis producing monosaccharides which are separated by anion-exchange chromatography and quantitated by pulsed amperometric detection. This technique separates neutral, amino, and acidic monosaccharides in a single run with a detection limit of 50 pmol. The method, applied to hydrolyzed 100,000 g supernatants of ten normal fibroblast sonicates, revealed a mean +/- S.D. content of the following monosaccharides (in nmol/mg of protein): fucose, 7 +/- 3; galactosamine, 4 +/- 2; glucosamine, 20 +/- 3; galactose, 11 +/- 3; mannose, 27 +/- 6; glucuronic acid, 56 +/- 28; iduronic acid, 17 +/- 11. Six mucopolysaccharidosis fibroblast strains (types I, II, IIIB, IVA, VI and VII) contained 2 to 8 times the normal glucuronic acid levels, and types I and II exhibited 10- to 30-fold normal levels of iduronic acid and 40-fold increases in galactosamine. All the mucopolysaccharidoses could be distinguished from normal based upon an increased concentration of some monosaccharide. Fibroblasts from patients with mannosidosis and fucosidosis contained 7-fold normal amounts of mannose and 11-fold normal amounts of fucose, respectively. The quantitation of monosaccharides in fibroblasts after TFA hydrolysis can identify cells that store excess amounts of a glycosaminoglycan, glycoprotein, oligosaccharide or, presumably, a glycolipid. This may comprise the first step toward identifying novel lysosomal storage disorders and point the way toward new glycoconjugate degradative pathways.
Effects of ibogaine on responding maintained by food, cocaine and heroin reinforcement in rats

The effects of ibogaine (40 and 80 mg/kg, i.p.), an indole alkaloid proposed for the treatment of drug abuse, were determined in three different groups of rats responding under an FR10 schedule of food, cocaine or heroin reinforcement. Ibogaine (80 mg/kg, i.p.) given 60 min before the start of the session resulted in a 97% decrease in the number of ratios completed under the food reinforcement schedule and resulted in a decrease in responding the following day. Neither 40 mg/kg ibogaine given 60 min prior to the session nor 80 mg/kg given 24 h before the session suppressed responding maintained by cocaine infusions (0.33 mg/infusion). Pretreatment with 80 mg/kg ibogaine either 60 or 90 min prior to the session suppressed cocaine self-administration on the day it was administered and the longer pretreatment continued to suppress responding for 48 h. Responding maintained by heroin (18 micrograms/infusion) was the most sensitive to the effects of ibogaine. Both 40 and 80 mg/kg ibogaine resulted in an almost complete suppression of responding following a 60-min pretreatment period. Responding maintained by heroin returned to control levels the day following the administration of ibogaine.
Long Lived Neutral Solitons in Pernigraniline Base

Abstract Pernigraniline base is the first Peierls degenerate ground state polymer beyond trans-polyacetylene. It is similar to trans-polyacetylene in that is sustains neutral and charged solitons and charged polarons as photoexcitations. Pernigraniline base differs substantially from trans-polyacetylene in that photoexcited neutral solitons are stable for long times for temperatures below 150 K and that at high photoexcitation densities, photoexcited neutral solitons are stable, even at room temperature. The origin of this anomalous behavior is attributed to the central role of ring rotations and interchain interactions in the system.
International Trade and Business Cycles: Is Vertical Specialization the Missing Link?

Within academic and policy circles, it is a given that international trade is important in transmitting business cycles from one country to another. Most analyses of the effects of the 1997–1998 Asia currency crisis on the world economy focused on the trade linkages between the Asian-crisis countries and the rest of the world. With mounting evidence of a slowdown in U.S. growth, questions have already been raised about the effect of a reduction in U.S. imports on emerging economies. Indeed, the metaphor, “when the U.S. sneezes, Europe catches a cold” is often invoked to highlight the importance of these linkages. Recent empirical research has reaffirmed the above wisdom by finding that pairs of countries with stronger international trade linkages tend to have more highly correlated business cycles. The goal of this paper is to examine whether these findings can be explained by standard international-business-cycle models. We focus on the model by David Backus et al. (1994), which is the workhorse two-good internationalbusiness-cycle model. In the Backus et al. (1994) model, trade is induced by an Armington aggregator, which combines domestic and foreign intermediate goods to produce the final good. While the aggregator has the drawback of forcing the specialization pattern to be determined in advance, flying in the face of trade theory, it has been very useful in quantitative and empirical applications. We add transportation costs to the model in order to be consistent with the empirical research (Frankel and Rose, 1998; Clark and van Wincoop, 2001), which deals with the endogeneity of trade by employing instrumental variables such as distance and adjacency. We simulate the model and compute the effect of different transportation costs (different trade intensities) on the correlation of business cycles. Our main result is that the standard international-business-cycle model cannot deliver results that are quantitatively consistent with the recent empirical work. In a world of fully integrated asset markets, the model delivers a qualitatively counterfactual result, as high trade intensity is associated with lower businesscycle correlations. Under portfolio autarky, the model delivers increased correlations as trade intensity increases, but the increased correlation is only a fraction of what it is in the data. We then introduce the idea that an increasing amount of trade is vertical or fragmented. Countries increasingly specialize in particular stages of a good’s production sequence, as opposed to producing the entire good. Allowing for more of this “back-and-forth” trade might lead to greater business-cycle-correlation responsiveness to stronger trade ties. However, we find that adding the simplest form of vertical specialization to the model also falls short.
Observing large‐scale temporal variability of ocean currents by satellite altimetry: With application to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

A new method is developed for studying large-scale temporal variability of ocean currents from satellite altimetric sea level measurements at intersections (crossovers) of ascending and descending orbit ground tracks. Using this method, sea level time series can be constructed from crossover sea level differences in small sample areas where altimetric crossovers are clustered. The method is applied to Seasat altimeter data to study the temporal evolution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) over the 3-month Seasat mission (July-October 1978). The results reveal a generally eastward acceleration of the ACC around the Southern Ocean with meridional disturbances which appear to be associated with bottom topographic features. This is the first direct observational evidence for large-scale coherence in the temporal variability of the ACC. It demonstrates the great potential of satellite altimetry for synoptic observation of temporal variability of the world ocean circulation.
InfoLand: information lay-of-land for session search

Search result clustering (SRC) is a post-retrieval process that hierarchically organizes search results. The hierarchical structure offers overview for the search results and displays an "information lay-of-land" that intents to guide the users throughout a search session. However, SRC hierarchies are sensitive to query changes, which are common among queries in the same session. This instability may leave users seemly random overviews throughout the session. We present a new tool called InfoLand that integrates external knowledge from Wikipedia when building SRC hierarchies and increase their stability. Evaluation on TREC 2010-2011 Session Tracks shows that InfoLand produces more stable results organization than a commercial search engine.
The need for specialized preanesthesia clinics for day admission cardiac and major vascular surgery patients.

The majority of patients undergoing surgical procedures today are not admitted to the hospital prior to the morning of surgery. In a medical world that strives not only for patient safety, but also for cost containment, Day Admission Surgery (DAS) plays an important role in our healthcare systems. This is true even for patients undergoing cardiac and major vascular (CMV) procedures. However, CMV patients often present with more complicated pre-, intra- and post-operative issues than other surgical patients.In order to optimize the preoperative evaluation and care of CMV patients, we developed a specialized Pre-Anesthesia Clinic (PAC). We believed that patients, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and intensive care unit (ICU) teams would all benefit when appropriate preoperative evaluations are thoughtfully performed by those specializing in the care of these complicated patients. Planning for this specialized clinic included a survey of other institutions’ practices. Following initiation of our clinic, we perfo...
New and Emerging Roles for Medical Librarians

In this current environment, where fiscal uncertainty seems to be a constant and budget and personnel cuts are a frequent concern, librarians are exploring new and exciting ways to help their patrons and institutions. Although traditional services—the swift and timely delivery of up-to-date and accurate information—should continue to be performed with the uniform excellence on which library patrons depend, librarians can add value to these core services by seeking out additional functions applicable to their patrons’ needs, and embracing these new and emerging roles.
The v-src inducible gene 9E3/pCEF4 is regulated by both its promoter upstream sequence and its 3' untranslated region.

Abstract The 9E3/pCEF4 mRNA is strongly induced in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chicken embryo fibroblasts when compared to untransformed cells. To identify cis-acting transcriptional elements that confer inducibility by v-src, we isolated the 9E3 promoter upstream region. We found that 1.53 kilobases upstream of the transcriptional start site, when placed in front of a reporter gene, conferred a small degree of inducibility by v-src, in both transient and stable transfections. Two potential AP-1 sites were identified in the 9E3 promoter. AP-1 elements have been implicated previously in mediating a transcriptional response to v-src in fibroblast cell lines. These elements alone do not confer a significant inducibility by v-src in primary chicken embryo fibroblasts. Since the 9E3 mRNA is stabilized in transformed cells, we replaced the 3' untranslated region of the reporter gene with the 9E3 3' untranslated region and found this construct to be strongly responsive to stimulation by v-src. In addition, the 9E3 3' untranslated region increased the response to serum and the tumor promoter phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. This suggests that a posttranscriptional mechanism plays a major role in the induction of 9E3 expression.
Aminoacylation of tRNA 2′- or 3′-hydroxyl by phosphoseryl- and pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetases

Class I and II aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARSs) attach amino acids to the 2′- and 3′-OH of the tRNA terminal adenosine, respectively. One exception is phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (PheRS), which belongs to Class II but attaches phenylalanine to the 2′-OH. Here we show that two Class II AARSs, O-phosphoseryl- (SepRS) and pyrrolysyl-tRNA (PylRS) synthetases, aminoacylate the 2′- and 3′-OH, respectively. Structure-based-phylogenetic analysis reveals that SepRS is more closely related to PheRS than PylRS, suggesting that the idiosyncratic feature of 2′-OH acylation evolved after the split between PheRS and PylRS. Our work completes the understanding of tRNA aminoacylation positions for the 22 natural AARSs.
Hyperprolactinemia-Induced Precocious Puberty in the Female Rat: Ovarian Site of Action*

Hyperprolactinemia induced in immature female rats by chronic treatment with sulpiride, a dopaminergic receptor blocker, resulted in advancement of the onset of puberty. While serum PRL levels increased promptly after initiation of the treatment and remained elevated throughout the entire period studied (day 22 to first diestrus after vaginal opening), gonadotropin levels did not appear to be altered and increased abruptly only at the time of the first preovulatory surge. Except for a decrease during the first diestrus, serum TSH and GH were not consistently altered by sulpiride. After 5 days of treatment, serum progesterone levels, but not those of androgens, were increased in hyperprolactinemic (HP) rats. Uterine weight, taken as an index of estrogen secretion, was unambiguously increased in HP rats, the first significant difference being observed 5 days after initiation of the sulpiride treatment (day 27). Ovarian estrogen and progesterone responsiveness of normal animals to gonadotropins, as determined by in vitro release of the steroids after incubation with hCG, increased with age. The response was dramatically enhanced in HP rats, its magnitude increasing markedly as the animals approached puberty. Androgen response to hCG was, however, similar in HP and control rats. In vitro release of adrenal progesterone, but not that of estrogen or androgens, was slightly enhanced in HP rats. When sulpiride treatment was terminated on the first day of diestrus after vaginal opening, the animals continued to show estrous cycles. By contrast, maintenance of the treatment for several days after vaginal opening resulted in a condition of constant diestrus. The results suggest that one of the mechanisms by which PRL induces precocious puberty in the female rat is by sensitizing the ovaries to the low circulating gonadotropin levels observed during the prepubertal period. In addition, PRL also seems to stimulate progesterone secretion by the adrenal glands.
A scalable sparse matrix-vector multiplication kernel for energy-efficient sparse-blas on FPGAs

Sparse Matrix-Vector Multiplication (SpMxV) is a widely used mathematical operation in many high-performance scientific and engineering applications. In recent years, tuned software libraries for multi-core microprocessors (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the status quo for computing SpMxV. However, the computational throughput of these libraries for sparse matrices tends to be significantly lower than that of dense matrices, mostly due to the fact that the compression formats required to efficiently store sparse matrices mismatches traditional computing architectures. This paper describes an FPGA-based SpMxV kernel that is scalable to efficiently utilize the available memory bandwidth and computing resources. Benchmarking on a Virtex-5 SX95T FPGA demonstrates an average computational efficiency of 91.85%. The kernel achieves a peak computational efficiency of 99.8%, a >50x improvement over two Intel Core i7 processors (i7-2600 and i7-4770) and showing a >300x improvement over two NVIDA GPUs (GTX 660 and GTX Titan), when running the MKL and cuSPARSE sparse-BLAS libraries, respectively. In addition, the SpMxV FPGA kernel is able to achieve higher performance than its CPU and GPU counterparts, while using only 64 single-precision processing elements, with an overall 38-50x improvement in energy efficiency.
Investigations Of Bonded, And Curved Microchannel Plate Stacks

The technique of fusing, or bonding, individual microchannel plate (MCP) stacks together offers the possibility of improving the uniformity of MCP stack operating characteristics and provides a convenient monolithic format. Here, the effectiveness of bonded MCP stacks and stacks of MCPs with curved surfaces is investigated to determine if MCP requirements for future astrophysical detectors can be achieved. The results show that both configurations give superior MCP performance characteristics. However, some problems remain with regard to the fabrication of bonded MCP stacks resulting in poor flat field characteristics and increased background.
The role of positive conditioned reinforcement in the maintenance of keypecking which prevents delivery of primary reinforcement

When a pecking key is briefly illuminated prior to the presentation of a grain reinforcer, keypecking is reliably developed and maintained in pigeons, even when pecking extinguishes the keylifeht and prevents reinforcement (negative automaintenance). This experiment assessed the role of response-produced key offset as a possible conditioned positive reinforcer of keypecking. Pigeons responded in a substantial proportion of the trials (50%–66%) on a procedure in which key illumination coterminated with reinforcer availability, and in which keypecks prevented reinforcement but did not extinguish the keylight. Thus, the notion that negative automaintenance keypecking is a function of conditioned positive reinforcement must be rejected.
Software localization for Internet software, issues and methods

For use by a global audience, Web sites must be adapted to many local requirements. This article examines key issues in such adaptation (termed localization), considers the costs and specific aspects of software that must be localized, and presents an approach for analyzing and documenting software localization. The article is based on a review of relevant literature, meetings with localization industry representatives, and an ongoing participant observation in a global telehealth company. Examples from the company illustrate the localization issues and their possible outcomes or solutions.
Comparable outcomes of living donor kidney transplants in obese recipients

Abstract Clinical outcomes in obese kidney transplant recipients have been inconclusive. Most of these studies have been done in deceased donor transplants. We compared the outcomes of living donor kidney transplants in obese and nonobese transplant recipients. Data from 54 living donor transplants between January 1999 and November 2002 were analyzed. One patient was excluded due to a high panel reactive antibody (PRA). Of the remaining 53 patients, 37 (70%) had a BMI of less than 30 (nonobese) and 16 (30%) had a BMI equal to or greater than 30 (obese). Clinical outcomes with respect to various parameters (as shown in the table) were compared. No statistical difference in outcomes was noted between the outcomes in the two groups of patients. We found comparable outcomes in obese and nonobese recipients of living donor kidney transplants. The policy to withhold transplantation in obese recipients needs careful scrutiny, especially if the transplant can be performed with a living donor. TABLE—ABSTRACT P34 . BMI BMI ≥ 30 (n = 16) P value Age (yrs) 43 ± 16 50 ± 16 0.11 Sex (M/F) 22/15 12/4 Race (AA/non AA) 4/33 0/16 Creat at 1 yr (mg/dl) 1.44 ± 0.41 1.63 ± 0.45 0.14 Length of Stay (days) 6.4 ± 5 8.4 ± 7 0.68 Delayed graft function 2.7% 19% 0.077 1 yr graft survival 97% 94% 0.51 Acute rejection 8% 19% 0.35 Wound complications 13.5% 19% 0.68 Other complications 11% 25% 0.22 Patient survival 100% 100%
Time and duration: a persistent illusion.

Attention is drawn to a persistent illusory correlation between the words time and duration. This illusory correlation led Ward (1991) to conclude that neural adaptation and informational adaptation are asynchronous. But when the illusion is dispelled so that like is compared to like, it then appears possible that informational adaptation and neural adaptation may be closely linked.
Postoperative adhesive intestinal obstruction: The role of intestinal stenting

Aim: Six children with adhesive obstruction in the postoperative period were treated with stenting the small bowel with long intestinal tube. Materials and Methods : In two children the stenting was done through jejunostomy, and in the other four through the base of appendix. Results: During a follow-up period of 2-14 years, there had been no recurrence. Conclusions: Use of an intraluminal tube stent in preventing recurrent small bowel obstruction due to adhesions is safe and effective when used on appropriately selected patients.
Transient Cardiovascular Toxicity with Unintentional Intravascular Injection of 3% 2-Chloroprocaine in a 2-month-old Infant

THE caudal approach to epidural anesthesia is a safe and effective analgesic technique for neonates and infants. However, amide local anesthetics may cause serious cardiovascular complications such as arrhythmias and life-threatening depression of myocardial contractility. 1-3 We describe transient cardiovascular toxicity in a 2-month-old infant after unintentional intravascular injection of 3% 2-chloroprocaine through an epidural catheter. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cardiovascular toxicity after accidental intravenous injection of an ester local anesthetic.
Victim Blaming Others: Rape Myth Acceptance and the Just World Belief

Rape myth acceptance which are false beliefs regarding the incidence of sexual assault, and are more prevalent among males, may influence how victims are treated. Acceptance of the just world belie...
Observation of transient stress states in eutectic composite creep

Results are presented of experiments in which strain-time creep data are used to determine the stress transients present in individual phases of Ni--45.5 wt percent W eutectics. The results confirm a previously developed theory of transient stress states in composite creep. (JRD)
Beyond the Obvious: Constructing Meaning From Subtle Patterns in the Language Environment

This article addresses the acquisition of meaning of words and phrases that refer to aspects of the world that are not directly perceivable. It examines the patterns of semantic input that are available in the linguistic environment that provide clues to allow a child to construct a lexicon that is both broad and deep. These patterns are illustrated with examples from the author's research on implicit verb causality, underlying dimensions of affective meaning, and the acquisition of rare adjectives. Throughout the article, the author selectively reviews the literature on children with language impairments to examine what is known about depth of vocabulary knowledge in these populations.
Beat Hamiltonians and generalized ponderomotive forces in hot magnetized plasma

A novel approach to the theory of nonlinear mode coupling in hot magnetized plasma is presented. The formulation retains the conceptual simplicity of the familiar ponderomotive-scalar-potential method, but removes the approximations. The essence of the approach is a canonical transformation of the single-particle Hamiltonian, designed to eliminate those interaction terms which are linear in the fields. The new entity (the 'oscillation centre') then has no first-order jittering motion, and generalized ponderomotive forces appear as nonlinear terms in the transformed Hamiltonian. This viewpoint is applied to derive a compact symmetric formula for the general three-wave coupling coefficient in hot uniform magnetized plasma, and to extend the conventional ponderomotive-scalar-potential method to the domain of strongly magnetized plasma.
Requirements for induction of delayed hypersensitivity in the chicken

Abstract Delayed hypersensitivity (DH) reactions to bovine serum albumin (BSA) or human gamma globulin (HGG) emulsions in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) were elicited in normal and bursectomized (BX) SC and FP chickens of varying ages. Responses in normals could be obtained with doses of BSA as low as 2 μg. Reactivity in agammaglobulinemic BX birds was generally lower than in normal animals. Attempts to increase DH with Bacillus Calmette Guerin pretreatment failed in both normal and BX birds. Cytoxan pretreatment did increase DH in normal but not in BX chickens. Similarly, replacement of whole Mycobacteria with the E. coli water soluble cell wall extracts, “Mur-Nac” and peptidoglycans, was effective in normal chickens but failed in BX birds. Modification of BSA with dodecanoyl side groups allowed the induction of DH by i.v. immunization in normal chickens unlike unsubstituted BSA. When immunization was performed with D-BSA or BSA in CFA, no significant difference was evident. Because of the generally poor health of BX birds, attempts were made to improve their responsiveness by pretreatment with normal chicken Ig or normal chicken spleen cell injections. Such pretreated BX chickens indeed gave higher DH to HGG. Thus, the inability of BX animals to respond to the same modifying influences in DH as did normal birds may have been due to an overall lack of responsiveness rather than to a role of B cell or antibody in these effects.
A false transmitter at excitatory synapses

Abstract We used the low affinity N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor agonist d-glutamate to study the time course of synaptic activation of NMDA receptors. Repetitive stimulation of cultured hippocampal neurons loaded with d-glutamate caused a dramatic shortening of both the rising and decaying phases of NMDA receptor excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) evoked by autaptic stimulation. The EPSC time course was mimicked by NMDA receptor currents evoked in outside-out patches by 1–4 ms applications of d-glutamate Thus, d-glutamate can be released as a false transmitter. The results show that both the rise and fall of the NMDA receptor EPSCs are normally controlled by the slow unbinding rate of the natural neurotransmitter and that the concentration of free transmitter is elevated in the cleft for only a few milliseconds after release.
NOTES ON CALIFORNIAN EUPHYDRYAS SPECIES (LEPID.: RHOPAEOCERA)

In the last few years, Lepidopterists have devoted a great deal of interest to the genus Euphydryas . This interest, however, has resulted in a great many valid and invalid names, but in little organization or understanding of specific variation and interrelation. Gunder (Pan Pacific Entomologist, VI, 1-8. 1929), in a carefully prepared and well illustrated paper, made the mistake of lumping all American species under five specific names, which is taxonomically incorrect, regardless of genitalic similarities (Pan-Pacific Entomologist, XI, 144, 1935).
Does Human Proximity Affect Antibody Prevalence in Marine-Foraging River Otters (Lontra canadensis)?

The investigation of diseases of free-ranging river otters (Lontra canadensis) is a primary conservation priority for this species; however, very little is known about diseases of river otters that forage in marine environments. To identify and better understand pathogens that could be important to marine-foraging river otters, other wildlife species, domestic animals, and humans and to determine if proximity to human population could be a factor in disease exposure, serum samples from 55 free-ranging marine-foraging river otters were tested for antibodies to selected pathogens. Thirty-five animals were captured in Prince William Sound, Alaska (USA), an area of low human density, and 20 were captured in the San Juan Islands, Washington State (USA), an area characterized by higher human density. Of 40 river otters tested by indirect immunofluorescent antibody test, 17.5% were seropositive (titer ≥320) for Toxoplasma gondii. All positive animals came from Washington. Of 35 river otters tested for antibodies...
Restoration of clouded pixels in multispectral remotely sensed imagery with cokriging

The presence of clouds and their shadows in remotely sensed images limits their potential uses for extracting information. The commonly used methods for replacing clouded pixels by land cover reflection estimates usually yield poor results if the images being combined exhibit radical differences in target radiance due, for example, to large date separation and high temporal variability. This study focuses on introducing geostatistical techniques for interpolating the DN values of clouded pixels in multispectral remotely sensed images using traditional ordinary cokriging and standardized ordinary cokriging. Two case studies were conducted in this study. The first case study shows that the methods work well for the small clouds in a heterogeneous landscape even when the images being combined show high temporal variability. Although the basic spatial structure in large size clouds can be captured, image interpolation-related artefacts such as smoothing effects are visually apparent in a heterogeneous landscape. The second case study indicates that the cokriging methods work better in homogenous regions such as the dominantly agricultural areas in United States Midwest. Various statistics including both global statistics and local statistics are employed to confirm the reliability of the methods.
p42/44 MAP Kinase-dependent and -independent Signaling Pathways Regulate Caveolin-1 Gene Expression ACTIVATION OF RAS-MAP KINASE AND PROTEIN KINASE A SIGNALING CASCADES TRANSCRIPTIONALLY DOWN-REGULATES CAVEOLIN-1 PROMOTER ACTIVITY

Caveolin-1 is a principal component of caveolae membranes in vivo. Caveolin-1 mRNA and protein expression are down-regulated in NIH 3T3 cells in response to transformation by activated oncogenes, such as H-Ras(G12V) and v-Abl. The mechanisms governing this down-regulation event remain unknown. Here, we show that caveolin-1 gene expression is directly regulated by activation of the Ras-p42/44 MAP kinase cascade. Down regulation of caveolin-1 protein expression by Ras is independent of (i) the type of activating mutation (G12V versus Q61L) and (ii) the form of activated Ras transfected (H-Ras versus K-Ras versus N-Ras). Treatment of Ras or Raf-transformed NIH 3T3 cells with a well characterized MEK inhibitor (PD 98059) restores caveolin-1 protein expression. In contrast, treatment of v-Src and v-Abl transformed NIH 3T3 cells with PD 98059 does not restore caveolin-1 expression. Thus, there must be at least two pathways for down-regulating caveolin-1 expression: one that is p42/44 MAP kinase-dependent and another that is p42/44 MAP kinase-independent. We focused our efforts on the p42/44 MAP kinase-dependent pathway. The activity of a panel of caveolin-1 promoter constructs was evaluated using transient expression in H-Ras(G12V) transformed NIH 3T3 cells. We show that caveolin-1 promoter activity is up-regulated approximately 5-fold by inhibition of the p42/44 MAP kinase cascade. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays we provide evidence that the caveolin-1 promoter (from -156 to -561) is differentially bound by transcription factors in normal and H-Ras(G12V)-transformed cells. We also show that activation of protein kinase A (PKA) signaling is sufficient to down-regulate caveolin-1 protein expression and promoter activity. Thus, we have identified two signaling pathways (Ras-p42/44 MAP kinase and PKA) that transcriptionally down-regulate caveolin-1 gene expression.
Inhaled Corticosteroid Nonadherence and Immediate Avoidable Medical Events in Older Adults with Chronic Pulmonary Ailments

This study examined the association between nonadherence to inhaled corticosteroids and risk of an immediate avoidable medical event (emergency department visit and hospitalization) in elderly patients with chronic pulmonary ailments. The study comprised a cross-sectional analysis comparing patients with and without avoidable medical event occurrence in each year for adherence preceding the event, and a case-crossover analysis examining the same patient's adherence in years with and without events. The cross-sectional study showed risk odds reductions of nearly 20% in the partially adherent patient, and 40% in the adherent patient compared to the nonadherent patient, after controlling for potential group differences.
Nest-site size as a short-term constraint on the reproductive success of paternal fishes

Because female signal blennies, Emblemaria hypacanthus (Pisces: Chaenopsidae), exhibited a preference for the larger of two males in laboratory mate-choice experiments, male reproductive success was predicted to be positively correlated with male size in field populations. This prediction was met at one field site, but not a second where shelter size, rather than male size, was the primary correlate of male reproductive success. This finding appeared to be the consequence of the relatively small size of shelters (vacant gastropod shells) at the second site. At this site, significantly more males had their shelters filled with eggs and variance in male reproductive success was lower than at the first site. Limited area for deposition of eggs is potentially an important constraint on the short-term reproductive success of paternal males of shelter- or crevice-spawning fishes.
ASYMPTOMATIC TRANSIENT UVEITIS IN CHILDREN WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

Acute symptomatic anterior uveitis has been seen in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the absence of ocular symptoms, anterior uveitis has not been appreciated in children with IBD. Tb determine if children with IBD might have ophthalmologic signs of uveitis without visual complaints, eye examinations were performed in 19 children with granulomatous bowel disease (GBD) and 7 with ulcerative colitis (UC). In those with GBD, 6 had uveitis by slit lamp examination while no abnormalities were noted in those with UC. The abnormalities consisted of cells and flare in the anterior chamber. Despite a predominance of girls (11) and whites (16) among the 19 children with GBD, all were male and 3 black in the group with asymptomatic uveitis. All 6 with uveitis demonstrated colonic involvement. There were no positive correlations between the presence of uveltis and bowel symptoms, duration of illness, extra-intestinal manifestations, or specific treatment regimens. Contrary to observations in adults with acute anterior uveitis, none of the 6 children had radiographic evidence of spondylitis and 5 were HLA-B27 negative. Repeat eye examinations 6 to 8 months later, revealed no evidence of uveitis in 4 of 5 children. These data suggest that asymptomatic, transient uveitis is common in children with GBD and that males, blacks, and those children who have colonic involvement may be at greater risk.
The movable filter as a user interface tool

Magic Lens filters are a new user interface tool that combine an arbitrarily-shaped region with an operator that changes the view of objects viewed through that region. These tools can be interactively positioned over on-screen applications much as a magnifying glass is moved over a newspaper. They can be used to help the user understand various types of information, from text documents to scientific visualizations. Because these filters are movable and apply to only part of the screen, they have a number of advantages over traditional windowwide viewing modes: they employ an attractive metaphor based on physical lenses, show a modified view in the context of the original view, limit clutter to a small region, allow easy construction of visual macros and provide a uniform paradigm that can be extended across different types of information and applications. This paper describes these advantages in more detail and illustrates them with examples of magic lens filters in use over a variety of applications. CR
Electron-phonon interactions in the high-temperature superconductors

A characterization of the electron-phonon coupling in the high-temperature superconductors is important both in helping to ascertain the role of phonons in the superconductivity and in helping to characterize the phonon ``background'' contribution to the temperature-dependent resistivity. Here we present a ``frozen phonon'' and equivalent diagrammatic scheme for calculating the electron-phonon coupling in the presence of very strong Coulomb correlations. The inclusion of these correlations is essential for creating the insulating state at half-filling. Furthermore, these effects substantially reduce the electron-phonon contribution to the resistivity, so that the experimentally measured coupling constant of the resistivity \ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.2--0.4 can be reconciled with the necessarily smaller electron-phonon contribution. Our frozen-phonon scheme is based on a Coulomb renormalized band structure of the copper-oxygen plane alone. Coulomb correlations lead to a suppression of charge fluctuations as the insulator is approached and thereby a significant reduction in the electron-phonon coupling.Low-frequency modes (\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\simeq}12 meV) imply a quasilinear phonon resistivitiy down to temperatures of the order of 50 K. This band structure also provides reasonable values for the plasma frequency, which like the experimental measurements show a decrease as the insulator is approached. This can be attributed physically to an enhanced effective mass, which is a precursor to Mott localization at half-filling. The combination of the plasma frequency and electron-phonon coupling leads to a relatively concentration-independent resistivity slope, whose magnitude accounts for a large fraction of the measured linear resistivity at moderate and high hole concentrations x. However, this phonon background is significantly less than the measured resistivity slope as the insulator is approached. This suggests that electron-electron scattering may be playing a more dominant role at small x. Following the Mott-Ioffe-Regel criterion, we analyze the implications of our results for the breakdown of the metallic state at finite concentrations x. We conclude with the observation that the strength of the electron-phonon interaction appears to us from transport data, as well as our microscopic calculations to be too weak to be the primary mechanism responsible for high-temperature superconductivity. On the other hand, we cannot with certainty rule this mechanism out.
Metrical variation in the thumb, index, and middle finger among four samples of both sexes.

Metrical length and width parameters of the first through third ray metacarpals and phalanges are presented for four samples of adults of both sexes drawn from radiographs of the Ten State Nutrition Survey (1968–1970). Radiographic measurements were obtained with the aid of a digitizer and computer translation program. The establishment of ranges of variation among these samples allows their use in clinical diagnosis, for example of syndromes via pattern profile analysis. Proportional analyses of hand metrics can now be extended to include widths of the first three rays as well as lengths, and data for such a purpose are now available for American blacks, Mexican-Americans, and Oriental-Americans in addition to American white groups. Examples of intersample variation are given; the need to consider such variation in clinical contexts is emphasized.
A Framework for Decisions About Research with HPAI H5N1 Viruses

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveils a Framework for funding decisions about highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 research.
Subdivisions in Planar Graphs

Given four distinct vertices in a 4-connected planar graphG, we characterize when the graphGcontains aK4-subdivision with the given vertices as its degree three vertices. This result implies the following conjecture of Robertson and Thomas: a 5-connected planar graph has noK4-subdivision with specified degree three vertices, if and only if the four specified vertices are contained in a facial cycle in the unique plane embedding of the graph.
Immigrant incorporation and sociocultural transnationalism

This article analyzes sociocultural transnational linkages among Colombian, Dominican, and Salvadoran immigrants in the United States. It emphasizes the importance of comparative analysis and yields three main findings. First, participation in any particular transnational activity is low, but participation over all the different forms of transnational practices is extended. Second, the process of incorporation does not weaken transnational participation. Third, there is more than one causal path that can account for the rise of transnational sociocultural practices. The different paths can be explained by reference to the context of reception and the mode of incorporation of each group.
Performance of a liquid xenon ionization chamber irradiated with electrons and gamma-rays

Abstract The charge and energy resolution response of a liquid xenon ionization chamber has been measured with 207Bi electrons and gamma-rays. The applied electric field was varied in the range 0.06–12 kV/cm. After an initial steep rise, charge collection increases slowly above a few kV/cm and does not reach saturation within our range. This field dependence has been analyzed in view of different recombination models. The best agreement is obtained by including the contribution of delta electrons. The best energy resolution, measured at 12 kV/cm, is 5.9% FWHM for gamma-rays of 570 keV. This value is consistent with the expected recombination fluctuations in the number of electron-ion pairs associated with low energy delta electron tracks.
Sensory neglect after lesions of substantia nigra or lateral hypothalamus: Differential severity and recovery of function

Sensory neglect was studied in cats after unilateral lesions of: lateral hypothalamus (LH); internal capsule (IC) adjacent to the LH; substantia nigra (SN) or the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH). Special behavioral tests were employed to yield quantifiable data and also to exclude any confounding due to simple movement deficits. Lesions of SN or IC produced severe and enduring contralateral visual and somesthetic deficits and a facilitation of ipsilateral visual responsiveness. In contrast, LH lesions sparing the adjacent IC produced only weak and transient deficits and VMH lesions had no effects on sensory function. This suggests that lesions of the SN or its forebrain connections are important for producing sensory neglect and that sensory deficits after LH lesions are due to infringement on fibers of passage to or from the SN. Lesions which produced neglect often suppressed the amplitude of flash evoked responses in the ipsilateral caudate nucleus and visual and association cortex. However, these evoked potential effects were transient. There was no effect on the spontaneous EEG and this fails to support the hypothesis of a lack of hemispheric arousal in sensory neglect. The results are discussed in relation to nigrotectal projections and the process of attention. This lesion-behavior model is suggested for studies of recovery of function.
The reliability and validity of self-reported weight and height

Abstract The reliability and validity of measures of self-reported weight and height are analyzed by using data on 3373 people 14–61 yr of age. Results indicate that these measures are remarkably accurate indicators of actual weight and height. The measures are valid and reliable, even in groups of people for whom one might expect the data to be of a poorer quality, such as those who are severely overweight. Nevertheless, there are some group differences in reliability and validity that may be important in some types of studies.
Budgeting practices in lodging and food service chains: an analysis and comparison

Abstract Chain-affiliated lodging and food service organizations dominate their segments of the hospitality industry and yet little is written about the multi-unit budgeting procedures which they use. Executives from 30 hotels and 31 food service firms with annual sales ranging from less than $1 million dollars (U.S.) to more than S1 billion dollars (U.S.) provided input about current budgeting practices. While some differences were noted, there were more similarities in the budget issues which were studied. Most firms use the ‘bottom—up’ approach which provides a ‘feeling of ownership’ for budget developers. Firms typlcally develop a primary financial goal—often involving net income—before establishing the budget. Chain operations use historical operating data as a benchmark and generally require 4–5 months for the budget calendar. Many firms re-forecast their budgets and utilize them as control tools. Important differences between budget development processes undertaken by multi- and single-unit firms suggest that more attention be given to the former in order to better understand how units in predominant market segments manage financial resources.