cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Age-related shifts in distortion product otoacoustic emissions peak-ratios and amplitude modulation spectra.

Abstract Amplitude modulation (AM) is an important temporal cue for precise speech and complex sound recognition. However, functional decline of the auditory periphery as well as degradation of central auditory processing due to aging can reduce the salience and resolution of temporal cues. Age-related deficits in central temporal processing have previously been observed at more rapid AM frequencies and various AM depths. These centrally observed changes result from cochlear changes compounded with changes along the ascending auditory pathway. In fact, a decrease in ability to detect temporally modulated sounds accurately could originate from changes in cochlear filtering properties and in cochlear mechanics due to aging. Nonetheless, few studies have examined cochlear mechanisms in AM detection. To assess integrity of the mechanical properties of the auditory periphery, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are a tool commonly used in clinics and in research. In this study, we measured DPOAEs to reveal age-related changes in peak f2/f1 ratio and degradation in AM detection by basilar membrane vibration. Two tones (f1 and f2, f2 > f1) at various f2/f1 ratios and simultaneous presentation of one AM and one pure tone were used as stimuli to evoke DPOAEs. In addition of observing reduced DPOAE amplitudes and steeper slopes in the input–output DPOAE functions, higher peak f2/f1 ratios and broader f2/f1 tuning were also observed in aged animals. Aged animals generally had lower distortion product (DP) and first sideband (SB 1) responses evoked by an f1 pure tone and an f2 AM tone, regardless of whether the AM frequency was 45 Hz or 128 Hz. SB 1 thresholds, which corresponds to the smallest stimulus AM depth that can induce cochlear vibrations at the DP generator locus, were higher in aged animals as well. The results suggest that age-related changes in peak f2/f1 ratio and AM detection by basilar membrane vibration are consistent with a reduction in endocochlear potential and reduced prestin activity but with preserved hair cell bundle function. SB 1 responses evoked by f2 AM/f1 pure tone with various AM depths could serve as an estimate for cochlear AM detection. The sidebands of DP could also serve as additional physiological cues for detection of AM in the presence of other tone(s), even at typical conversational levels in speech.
Originalism As a Political Practice: The Right’s Living Constitution

To whatever extent the Rehnquist Court actually executed a counterrevolution, surely a good deal of its inspiration came from “originalism,”1 from the view that the only acceptable method of interpreting the U.S. Constitution is to apply “the text and original meaning of various specific constitutional provisions.”2 Originalists attacked progressive Warren Court decisions as judicial usurpations3 in need of discipline and reversal.4 Drawing on the work of pioneer conservative academics like Robert Bork5 and Raoul Berger,6 originalism became a central organizing principle for the Reagan Justice Department’s assault on what it regarded as a liberal federal judiciary.7 Originalism was proudly
La importancia de la evaluación formativa

Los resultados de la investigacion educativa en los ultimos 40 anos han revelado que los metodos de ensenanza tradicionales basados en la exposicion de conocimientos son poco efectivos en el desarrollo de aprendizajes significativos. La evidencia acumulada en el area de ensenanza de las ciencias sugiere que la comprension de ideas centrales en una disciplina, asi como el desarrollo de practicas cientificas demanda la participacion activa de los estudiantes en la construccion de su propio conocimiento ( NRC, 2011, 2012, 2015 ). Desde esta perspectiva, la ensenanza de la quimica debe modificarse de manera que los alumnos tengan multiples oportunidades para observar fenomenos, realizar experimentos, analizar datos, generar modelos, construir argumentos y comunicar sus ideas publicamente.
Analysis of large-scale ocean bottom pressure variability in the North Pacific

[1] We use the leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of ocean bottom pressure (OBP) derived from an ocean model and the technique of EOF reconstruction to reduce noise in the large-scale OBP variations derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). The subsequent OBP variations from the model and GRACE are then examined in the North Pacific between January 2003 and May 2007. Although annual and semiannual variations are similar, GRACE observes large interannual fluctuations poleward of 30°, where OBP increases from a low of nearly 3 cm below normal in early 2003 to normal throughout 2004 and 2005, then an increase of nearly the same magnitude in 2006. These fluctuations have also been observed in OBP inferred from satellite altimetry corrected for steric variations computed from Argo float data. Since GRACE and steric-corrected altimetry are completely independent observations of OBP, we conclude that the model has errors or deficiencies in predicting the interannual OBP fluctuations in the North Pacific.
Administration of 17β-estradiol to ovariectomized obese female mice reverses obesity-hypertension through an ACE2-dependent mechanism

We recently demonstrated that female mice are resistant to the development of obesity-induced hypertension through a sex hormone-dependent mechanism that involved adipose angiotensin-converting enz...
A New Direction for Gene Looping

Upon binding to a promoter, RNA polymerase II can synthesize either a coding mRNA or a divergently transcribed noncoding RNA. In a recent issue of Science, Tan-Wong et al. (2012) find that intragenic looping increases the proper orientation of RNA polymerase II, reducing the production of divergent noncoding transcripts.
Inaccuracies in total serum IgE measurements by immulite caused by omalizumab in specimens.

To the EditorI read the paper by Dal Negro and colleagues (1) with great interest in which the authors search for an effective predictor of atopic asthma patient responsiveness to prolonged anti-Ig...
The HTLV receptor is a widely expressed protein.

The receptor for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was found to be expressed on a broad range of cell lines derived from multiple species. Receptor expression was assessed using human immunodeficiency virus type 1 particles, pseudotyped with the HTLV-1 envelope glycoprotein, and expressing luciferase under the control of an SV40 enhancer and promoter. Infection by pseudotyped virus was blocked with neutralizing antibodies to HTLV-1, and infection was dependent on the presence of the cleavage and fusogenic sequences in the envelope protein precursor. Trypsin treatment of susceptible target lymphocytes reduced entry. Entry was partially resistant to ammonium chloride.
Oxygen and hydrogen isotope effects in an active site tyrosine to phenylalanine mutant of peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase: Mechanistic implications

Peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM) and dopamine β-monooxygenase (DβM) are homologous copper-containing enzymes that catalyze an oxygen-dependent hydroxylation of peptide-extended glycine residues and phenethylamines, respectively. The mechanism whereby these enzymes activate molecular oxygen and the C−H bond of substrate has been the subject of numerous studies, and various mechanisms have been put forth. From the magnitude of 18O isotope effects as a function of substrate structure in DβM, an active site tyrosine had been proposed to function in the reductive activation of Cu(II)−OOH to generate a reactive copper−oxo species [Tian et al. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 226]. The presence of a tyrosine residue, Y318, in the active site of PHM was subsequently confirmed from crystallographic studies [Prigge et al. (1997) Science 278, 1300]. We now report extensive kinetic and isotope effect studies on the Y318F mutant form of PHM, analyzing the role of this tyrosine in the catalytic mechanism. It ...
The Emperor’s new tests

In the past two decades, striking examples of allegedly infe- rior likelihood ratio tests (LRT) have appeared in the statistical litera- ture. These examples, which arise in multiparameter hypothesis testing problems, have several common features. In each case the null hypothe- sis is composite, the size a LRT is not similar and hence biased, and competing size a tests can be constructed that are less biased, or even unbiased, and that dominate the LRT in the sense of being everywhere more powerful. It is therefore asserted that in these examples and, by implication, many other testing problems, the LR criterion produces "inferior," "deficient," "undesirable," or "flawed" statistical procedures. This message, which appears to be proliferating, is wrong. In each example it is the allegedly superior test that is flawed, not the LRT. At worst, the "superior" tests provide unwarranted and inappropriate in- ferences and have been deemed scientifically unacceptable by applied statisticians. This reinforces the well-documented but oft-neglected fact that the Neyman-Pearson theory desideratum of a more (or most) powerful size a test may be scientifically inappropriate; the same is true for the criteria of unbiasedness and a-admissibility. Although the LR criterion is not infallible, we believe that it remains a generally reasonable first option for non-Bayesian parametric hypothesis-testing problems.
An organizational perspective to funding science: Collaborator novelty at DARPA

Research funding is known to affect the rate and direction of scientific and inventive activity. Most commonly, this is understood as occurring through the allocation of funds toward certain types of research and by altering the disclosure regime. This paper calls attention to another set of factors that likely also influence scientific and technological outcomes, but has gone largely unexamined: organizational practices at research funding organizations. I explore these factors in a mixed-methods study of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Leveraging 39 interviews of DARPA-funded scientists and program managers, I describe DARPA’s agency-driven approach to research program development and intense interpersonal management style. Next, I investigate the impact of these organizational practices on the behaviors of sponsored researchers, in particular the tendency of scientists to form novel collaborations. Using patent disclosure data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Licensing Office and employing coarsened exact matching to identify a control set of collaborations, I find that DARPA-funded research is at least 6.0 percentage points more likely to involve novel collaborations. A detailed exploration of the novel collaborations presents a picture that is consistent with the paper’s description of collaboration-promoting practices at DARPA. By identifying important organizational practices and examining their impact on scientist behavior, this paper aims to highlight the potential influence of organization practices on scientific and inventive activity.
Cardiovascular and other risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia

Factors accelerating cerebral degenerative changes represent potentially modifiable risks for cognitive decline. Putative risks accelerating subtle cognitive decline and dementia were correlated with repeated measures of cerebral atrophy, CT densitometry, perfusions, and cognitive testing among 224 neurologically and cognitively normative aging volunteers. After age 60, cerebral atrophy, ventricular enlargement, polioaraiosis, and leukoaraiosis geometrically increased as perfusions declined. Risks accelerating perfusional decline, cerebral atrophy, polioaraiosis, and leukoaraiosis were: transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, male gender. At age 71.5 +/- 11.9, subtle cognitive decline began, accelerated by TIAs, hypertension, and heart disease. Leukoaraiosis began before cognitive decline. TIAs, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia correlated with vascular dementias. Excessive cortical perfusional decreases and cerebral atrophy correlated with cognitive decline. Family history of neurodegenerative disease correlated with Alzheimer's disease. We concluded that TIAs, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and male gender accelerate cerebral degenerative changes, cognitive decline, and dementia.
Bleeding for the Mother(Land): Reading Testimonial Bodies in Nuruddin Farah's Maps

This essay traces the ways in which damaged bodies function as readable traumatic testimonies of gendered and racialized postcolonial violence in Somalia. Characters in Nuruddin Farah’s Maps read and learn from each other’s marked bodies while simultaneously instructing the novel’s reader on how to read the narrative. The novel represents traumatic suffering in images of bodily illness and mutilation to signify hypochondriacal responses to the psychic violence that accompanies the physical violation wrought by neocolonialism. Characters’ bodies transgress patriarchal gender role and geographical boundaries, dismantling established constructions of postcolonial nation and personhood. Postcolonial motherhood becomes a new kind of subjectivity that transgresses both anatomical and national borders. As testimony, the narratives and marked bodies in Maps signify social change by suggesting new kinds of bodies rather than by reiterating the established alignment of birth and motherhood with the emerging nation. They suggest new ways of reading Anglophone African postcolonial literatures.
Hearing-impaired students learning new words from written context

Normally hearing students acquire most of their reading vocabulary from printed context, but little is known about this process in hearing-impaired students. Two studies, therefore, investigated hearing-impaired students' ability to derive lexical and syntactic information about unknown words embedded in short passages of text. The passages varied in their informativeness about the meaning of the unknown words. Ability to derive at least a partial meaning for a word in context was determined both by the type of context and the reading comprehension levels of the students. However, there was no relationship between reading comprehension scores and ability to determine the form class of the words in context. The results are related to the importance of integrating semantic information into a meaning schema for the passage in order to acquire new meanings for unknown words and to the local strategies adopted by poorer readers when attempting to answer comprehension questions. Implications for explaining, and trying to ameliorate, the well-documented vocabulary limitations of hearing-impaired students are discussed.
Least weight structures for threshold frequencies in a seismic environment

Abstract Conventional component seismic design procedures fall into two categories: a table of component forces (which often result in grossly conservative or grossly underdesigned structures); or sophisticated computer analyses using detailed models which undergo dynamic time-history force simulations. Aerospace engineers have designed many component structures to a minimal-fundamental, or “threshold” frequency specification. Although it does not appear as generally applicable for ground-supported “base structures”, the design of substructures for earthquake induced forces can similarly adopt such specifications. For example, radio towers, water tanks, electrical gear, etc., which are supported by larger structures will be subjected to the filtered natural frequencies of the “base structure” regardless of the earthquake spectrum. By knowing approximate amplification factors for the principal contributing frequencies (and corresponding base-excitation levels) of its “base structure”, a substructure specification for the (1) dynamic amplification factor, (2) arbitrary safety-factor and (3) threshold design frequency can be determined. This paper describes adjustment of a structure's fundamental frequency to a prescribed minimum level by a modified Rayleigh method which simultaneously converges to the fundamental mode while being proportioned accordingly to a fully-stressed optimum design.
A Characteristic Physiognomy, Resembling that Encountered in (Hushing's Syndrome, Observed in Newborn Infants of Diabetic Mothers

Summary The author describes a characteristic habitus in newborn infants of diabetic mothers.1 The physiognomy is particularly striking and merits the designation tomato face, thus resembling that encountered in Cushing's syndrome. A tabulation of data from the literature, particularly Hultquist's investigations, shows that changes in the anterior lobe of the hypophysis and in the suprarenal glands, resembling those observed in Cushing's syndrome, occur in foetuses of experimental animals with diabetes and in infants of diabetic mothers. The observation is thus evidence of the conception that endocrine disturbances are of decisive significance for the development of those special features which characterize newborn infants of diabetic mothers.
Environmental influences on the particle sizes of purified κ-casein: metal effect

Abstract Kappa-casein as purified from bovine milk exhibits a rather unique disulfide bonding pattern as revealed by SDS-PAGE. The disulfide bonded caseins present, range from dimer to octamer and above and preparations contain about 10% monomer. All of these heterogeneous polymers, however, self-associate into nearly spherical uniform particles with an average radius of 8.9 nm as revealed by negatively stained transmission electron micrographs. Evidence is presented that multivalent cations play a role in the stabilization of these spherical particles. Treatment with EDTA causes disruption of the κ-casein particles and leads to a broader size distribution as judged by electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and analytical ultracentrifugation. The size and shape of the particles are in accord with earlier proposed 3D models for κ-casein, that actually predicted participation of divalent cations in the structure.
Technology Decisions Under Architectural Uncertainty: Informing Investment Decisions Through Tradespace Exploration

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Grant)
Catalytic hydrogenation of o-nitroanisole in a microreactor : Reactor performance and kinetic studies

Hydrogenation of o-nitroanisole to o-anisidine was conducted in a packed-bed microreactor as a model hydrogenation reaction of importance to the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries with the aim of investigating the reactor performance and kinetics of the reaction. The effects of different processing conditions viz. hydrogen pressure, o-nitroanisole concentration, temperature, and residence time on the conversion of o-nitroanisole, space-time yield (STY), and selectivity of o-anisidine were studied using 2% Pd/zeolite catalyst. The kinetic study was undertaken in a differential reactor mode keeping the conversion of o-nitroanisole at less than 10%. During the kinetic study, it was observed that the intermediate 2-methoxynitrosobenzene was present in the reactor at low catalyst loading and low conversions because of short residence time in the reactor. Therefore, for the kinetics study, the overall reaction was treated as comprising two separate reactions: first the reduction of o-nitroanisole to 2-methoxynitrosobenzene and then, the reduction of 2-methoxynitrosobenzene to o-anisidine. Internal and external mass and heat transfer limitations in the microreactor were examined. Different rate laws using different mechanisms from the literature were considered to fit the experimental data. Two rate equations for the two consecutive reactions assuming Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism provided the best fit to the experimental data. These two rate equations predicted the experimental rates within 10% error. Experiments were also carried out in an integral reactor, and the reactor performance data were found to be in agreement with the predictions of the theoretical models.
Structures and stabilities of small carbon interstitial clusters in cubic silicon carbide

Abstract Knowledge of the configurations and stabilities of defect clusters in SiC is important for understanding radiation damage in this material, which is relevant to its nuclear and electronic applications. Such information is, however, often difficult to obtain experimentally. In this study, we perform Monte Carlo basin-hopping simulations with both empirical potential and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to search for the ground state (GS) configurations of small carbon interstitial clusters and carbon–antisite-based defects in cubic SiC (3C–SiC). Educated guesses of possible GS configurations have also been made. Our new approach can successfully identify many hitherto unknown GSs and energetically highly competitive metastable structures. For carbon penta- and hexa-interstitials, the GS structures predicted by DFT and empirical potential differ, and the plausible origin of this discrepancy is discussed from the chemical bonding point of view. Surprisingly, the GS structures of large carbon interstitial clusters in SiC are disjointed and composed of di- and tri-interstitial clusters as fundamental building blocks. Based on the present results, a possible mechanism for the carbon tri-interstitial defect to grow into the extended {1 1 1} planar interstitial defects observed in neutron-irradiated 3C–SiC is proposed. Furthermore, we show that C interstitial clusters can get trapped at a carbon antisite and form very stable complexes in SiC.
Regional cerebral glucose utilization in the immature rat: effect of hypoxia-ischemia.

ABSTRACT: The 2-deoxy-[14C]-glucose (2-DG) method of Sokoloff was used to assess regional cerebral glucose utilization (CGU) in the immature rat. The 7-d postnatal rats received 2.5 Alt+0181Ci 2-DG subcutaneously, after which blood was collected for measurement of plasma glucose and 2-DG activity at intervals up to 90 min. The brains of the 90-min rat pups either were frozen for analysis of glucose concentration and chromatographic separation of 2-DG and 2-DG-6-phosphate or for [14C]-autoradiography. A lumped constant of 0.55 was calculated from plasma and brain glucose levels of 6.4 and 1.62 mmol/L.kg, respectively. Of the [14C] activity in brain, 75.6% was in the 2-DG-6-phosphate fraction; this percent was substituted for Kl*, K2*, and K3* in the Sokoloff equation. Cerebral hemispheric CGU (n = 6) averaged 11.4 ± 1.5 Alt+0181mol/100 g/min, 1/10 the value of adult rat brain. Rates in 16 brain structures (n = 10) ranged from 7.8 (frontal white matter) to 16.9 (cerebellum) Alt+0181mol/100 g/min. During hypoxiaischemia (unilateral common carotid artery ligation combined with exposure to 8% oxygen), the lumped constant increased to 1.04, and 99% of 2-DG was converted to 2-DG-6-phosphate. Increases in CGU occurred in all eight structures of the cerebral hemisphere ipsilateral to the carotid artery occlusion (n = 9), ranging from 287% (frontal white matter) to 445% (striatum) of control values (p < 0.05). Relatively comparable elevations in CGU (234-435% of control) occurred in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere, which were not significantly different from those of the ipsilateral hemisphere. The relatively proportionate increases in regional CGU of the two cerebral hemispheres, only one of which sustains tissue injury, suggest interhemispheric differences in the extent to which glucose is metabolized via anaerobic glycolysis to maintain cellular energy production. The investigation demonstrates the feasibility of measuring regional CGU in the small laboratory animal, which is applicable to a variety of physiologic and pathologic situations.
Beneficial and harmful effects of augmented feedback on physicians' clinical-teaching performances.

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether clinical-teaching skills could be improved by providing teachers with augmented student feedback. METHOD: A randomized, controlled trial in 1994 included 42 attending physicians and 39 residents from the Department of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine
Turbulent penetration of a thermally stratified interfacial layer in a wind tunnel

A stably stratified interface, with strong turbulence below and quiescent air above, is studied in a wind tunnel with the aim of simulating the conditions at the inversion cap at the top of the atmospheric boundary layer. The interfacial layer was generated by means of a composite grid, with small mesh size above and a large one below (Veeravalli & Warhaft 1989). A temperature step generated in the plenum of the wind tunnel, was located at the centre of the layer. There is no shear and thus turbulence interactions, usually masked by turbulent production in traditional mixing layers, are highlighted. Close to the grid where the velocity fluctuations are strong, buoyancy effects are insignificant, but as the turbulence decays they become dominant. The bulk Richardson number, N2B/(〈u2〉2/L2u), where NB is the Brunt—Vaisala frequency across the layer, and 〈u2〉2 and Lu are the velocity variance and integral lengthscale, respectively, of the turbulence on the lower side of the layer, varied from approximately zero close to the grid to 80 far downstream. The stratification inhibited the turbulent penetration into the layer, reducing the high skewness and kurtosis of the velocity field for the neutral case, to Gaussian values. The layer, which initially thickened with downstream distance, thinned when buoyancy became pronounced, owing to the collapse of the heat flux. Significant regions of countergradient heat flux, and reversals in sign of the triple moment transport terms were observed in the upper part of the layer. An analysis of the value of the heat flux conditioned on the temperature fluctuations, showed that the large temperature fluctuations associated with weak turbulence became affected by stratification first. Cospectral analysis shows that these fluctuations are associated with large scales. We also show that although the joint normal approximation between velocity and temperature fluctuations is sound for a passive scalar field, it becomes less good with the onset of stratification, failing completely when the stratification is strong.
Monitoring state of health by imaging of delayed luminescence in plants

Spontaneous delayed luminescence (biophoton emission) in plant leaves can be correlated with state of health without the need for markers or external stimulation. We present a technique for tracking and monitoring this emission for diagnostic purposes utilizing a high-performance low-noise CCD imaging array with time series analysis of images.
On the equivalence of the r·E and the p·A interaction hamiltonian

Abstract It is shown by explicit calculation to all orders that transition amplitudes calculated with the r·E and with the p·A interaction are identical.
Inoculation with a Native Soil Community Advances Succession in a Grassland Restoration

Restoration on post-agricultural land may be hindered by the degradation of the soil community, which has been shown to contribute to structuring plant communities and driving succession. Our experiment tested the effect of inoculation with remnant grassland whole soil with or without nurse plants on the survival and growth of uninoculated early and late successional plant species. In 2007 and 2008, we planted uninoculated early, mid, and late successional plant species 0.25–2 m away from a central point of inoculated nurse plants. We found a negative response to inoculation on early successional plants and a positive response to inoculation on mid to late successional plants. This work suggests that the restoration of the soil community is critical to establishing a late successional plant community and that the benefit of inoculated plants can spread to neighbors.
The radiologic diagnosis of autopsy-proven ventilator-associated pneumonia.

An abnormal chest roentgenogram is essential for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The diagnostic accuracy of various roentgenographic signs of pneumonia has not been assessed previously in the portable anteroposterior roentgenograms obtained in ventilated patients. Seven roentgenographic signs (air bronchograms, alveolar infiltrates, silhouette sign, cavities, fissure abutment, atelectasis, and asymmetric infiltrates superimposed on diffuse bilateral infiltrates) were evaluated for their accuracy in predicting pneumonia alone, in combination with other signs, or in combination with clinical parameters. The last roentgenogram prior to autopsy of 69 ventilated patients was interpreted by three reviewers and the above signs were correlated with autopsy evidence of pneumonia. Pneumonia was present in 24 (35 percent) of the 69 autopsies. No roentgenographic sign had a diagnostic efficiency of greater than 68 percent. By stepwise logistic regression, the presence of air bronchograms was the only roentgenographic sign that correlated with pneumonia in the total group, correctly predicting 64 percent of pneumonias. In patients without adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the presence of air bronchograms or alveolar infiltrates correlated with pneumonia, while in patients with ARDS, no roentgenographic sign and only the clinical parameter of purulent sputum correlated with pneumonia. Only a minority (7/22) of worsening alveolar infiltrates in all groups were due to pneumonia and were often confused with ARDS. Alveolar hemorrhage occurred with a surprising frequency (38 percent of autopsies), including 13/45 (29 percent) patients without pneumonia. Alveolar hemorrhage was associated with 29 percent of multiple air bronchograms and 30 percent of bilateral alveolar infiltrates in patients without pneumonia. We conclude that in intubated patients with diffuse bilateral roentgenographic infiltrates, no roentgenographic sign correlates well with pneumonia. No clinical parameter added to the accuracy of either an alveolar infiltrate or an air bronchogram in patients without diffuse infiltrates. Pulmonary hemorrhage and/or infarction are frequent autopsy findings in intubated patients and may be confused radio-logically with pneumonia.
Oxygen Reperfusion Damage in an Insect

The deleterious effects of anoxia followed by reperfusion with oxygen in higher animals including mammals are well known. A convenient and genetically well characterized small-animal model that exhibits reproducible, quantifiable oxygen reperfusion damage is currently lacking. Here we describe the dynamics of whole-organism metabolic recovery from anoxia in an insect, Drosophila melanogaster, and report that damage caused by oxygen reperfusion can be quantified in a novel but straightforward way. We monitored CO2 emission (an index of mitochondrial activity) and water vapor output (an index of neuromuscular control of the spiracles, which are valves between the outside air and the insect's tracheal system) during entry into, and recovery from, rapid-onset anoxia exposure with durations ranging from 7.5 to 120 minutes. Anoxia caused a brief peak of CO2 output followed by knock-out. Mitochondrial respiration ceased and the spiracle constrictor muscles relaxed, but then re-contracted, presumably powered by anaerobic processes. Reperfusion to sustained normoxia caused a bimodal re-activation of mitochondrial respiration, and in the case of the spiracle constrictor muscles, slow inactivation followed by re-activation. After long anoxia durations, both the bimodality of mitochondrial reactivation and the recovery of spiracular control were impaired. Repeated reperfusion followed by episodes of anoxia depressed mitochondrial respiratory flux rates and damaged the integrity of the spiracular control system in a dose-dependent fashion. This is the first time that physiological evidence of oxygen reperfusion damage has been described in an insect or any invertebrate. We suggest that some of the traditional approaches of insect respiratory biology, such as quantifying respiratory water loss, may facilitate using D. melanogaster as a convenient, well-characterized experimental model for studying the underlying biology and mechanisms of ischemia and reperfusion damage and its possible mitigation.
Temperature regulation responses of ornate box turtles, Terrapene ornata, to heat

Abstract 1. 1. Eleven ornate box turtles after being preheated to 30°C core temperature were exposed to 38,41,43·3,48 and 51°C experimental environments to assess their ability to thermoregulate. 2. 2. Exposure to 38 and 41°C was not a heat stress for these turtles as evidenced by absence of restless activity, very little evaporative weight loss, no frothing and no change in heart rate. 3. 3. Frothing was adopted as an indicator of maximum physiological thermoregulation because after frothing commenced, core to air temperature gradients were established. Core to air gradients were larger in the hotter environments and onset of frothing began earlier during the heat exposure. At 48°C an 8·5°C core to air gradient was maintained for 3 hr and at 51°C a 10·5°C core to air gradient was maintained for 1·5 hr. 4. 4. Increased heart rate and evaporation of saliva and urine were effective responses which accompanied thermal balance. Weight loss appears to be a much better index of thermal stress than is heart rate.
Gravity gradient mapping from the lunar polar orbiter - a simulation study

Simulations of the gravity data to be expected from a Lunar Polar Orbiter spacecraft utilizing either a Doppler velocity tracking system or a gravity gradiometer instrument system are generated using a point mass model that gives an excellent representation of the types of gravity anomalies to be found on the Moon. If the state of the art in instrumentation of both systems remain at the level of ±1 mm/sec at 10 sec integration time for the Doppler velocity system accuracy and at ±1 Eotvos at 10 sec integration time for the gravity gradiometer system accuracy, inspection of the simulations indicates that a gravity gradiometer system will give science data with better resolution and higher amplitude-to-measurement noise ratio than the Doppler velocity system at altitudes below 100 km. The error model used in the study is one where the system errors are assumed to be dominated by the point measurement noise and data quantization noise. The effects of other, more controllable, systematic error sources are not considered in this simplified analysis. For example, both systems will be affected by errors in LPO orbital altitude and position knowledge, spacecraft maneuvers, and data reduction errors. In addition, a Doppler tracking system will be sensitive to errors produced by spacecraft acceleration (from outgassing or solar pressure) and poor relative position of the LPO, Relay Satellite and ground tracking station, while a gravity gradiometer system will be sensitive to errors from spacecraft attitude and angular rates. These preliminary study results now need to be verified by a more complete error analysis in which all the uncertainties of the data gathering process are formally mapped into uncertainties in the resulting gravity maps.
High-performance liquid chromatography in the analysis of antibiotics

Abstract High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been increasingly adopted in the fields of antibiotic production, research, and analysis and in the detection of antibiotic contamination. For many antibiotics the official or most widely accepted assay is now performed by HPLC.
Automated Measurement of Facial Expression in Infant–Mother Interaction: A Pilot Study

Automated facial measurement using computer vision has the potential to objectively document continuous changes in behavior. To examine emotional expression and communication, we used automated measurements to quantify smile strength, eye constriction, and mouth opening in two 6-month-old infant–mother dyads who each engaged in a face-to-face interaction. Automated measurements showed high associations with anatomically based manual coding (concurrent validity); measurements of smiling showed high associations with mean ratings of positive emotion made by naive observers (construct validity). For both infants and mothers, smile strength and eye constriction (the Duchenne marker) were correlated over time, creating a continuous index of smile intensity. Infant and mother smile activity exhibited changing (nonstationary) local patterns of association, suggesting the dyadic repair and dissolution of states of affective synchrony. The study provides insights into the potential and limitations of automated mea...
The social consequences of tropical shrimp mariculture development

Abstract Tropical shrimp mariculture has become a focal point of coastal resource development over the past decade. Strong international demand, combined with static supplies of shrimp from capture fisheries, have made shrimp mariculture attractive to national leaders, international development agencies, and private sector entrepreneurs. In this paper the rapid development of shrimp mariculture over the past decade is briefly reviewed and the impact of this development on coastal ecosystems is discussed. The social consequences of shrimp mariculture development are examined with particular reference to resource allocation and property rights, the role of the state, and the marginalization of small-scale producers. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative policies for promoting shrimp mariculture on a socially sound and sustainable basis.
Two-photon ionization spectrum of the 1 L b ← S 0 transition in toluene

Abstract The multiphoton ionization (MPI) spectrum of toluene arising from the 1B2 (1Lb) valence state has been investigated. The state participates as a two-photon resonance. A total of nine excited state fundamentals have been characterized, including three non-totally symmetric vibrations. The toluene MPI spectrum shows a strong resemblance to the two-photon fluorescence excitation spectrum with the strongest transitions taking place to the origin and excited state modes ν1(a1), ν12(a1) and ν14(b)2). The intensities of the observed fundamentals are rationalized in terms of Franck-Condon and vibronic coupling effects. A major conclusion is, that the primary mechanism for the activity of ν12 is vibronic coupling.
Barley tissue as direct template for PCR: a practical breeding tool

A method for using alkali treated intact plant tissue as a DNA source for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to barley. This method saves up to two days and more than USD 50 per 40 samples by eliminating the need for DNA extraction to produce template for PCR. The conditions were optimized for various barley tissues. Fresh leaves, freeze-dried leaves, and anthers worked well as templates while root, embryo, and endosperm tissues did not. The method was shown to work with several genotypes and different primers. The resulting PCR product could be cut with restriction enzyme to produce clear polymorphism without any interference. This method can be a practical breeding tool by providing a fast, inexpensive method for screening large populations.
Thickness dependent mechanical behavior of submicron aluminum films

Mechanical behavior of thin metallic films has been investigated on aluminum films deposited on a flexible polyimide substrate. Aluminum thin films exhibit a higher tensile strength than bulk aluminum. As film thickness decreases from 480 to 60 nm tensile strength increases from 196 to 408 MPa. These mechanical behaviors are correlated with the microstructure and its evolution with the thickness of aluminum thin films. Films are consisted of fine columnar grains and average grain size increases monotonically with the film thickness. The volume fraction of (111)-textured grains increases and the dispersion of texture axis becomes narrow as the film thickens. The relative contributions of the film thickness, grain size, and texture to the strength of aluminum thin films are estimated using an empirical strengthening model. The result indicates that the high strength of aluminum thin films is due largely to their small grain size, followed by the strengthening due to the film thickness and texture.
Analysis of fill rate in general periodic review two-stage inventory systems

For echelon base-stock policies, Zhang et al. (2010) derive the fill rate expression in which both stages have the same review intervals and use numerical examples to show some properties of the fill rate in regard to model parameters. We extent their model by considering the inventory replenishment at both stages which follows an echelon base-stock policy with periodic batching: each stage is allowed to order at equidistant times and the order interval of the upstream stage is an integer multiple of the order interval of the downstream stage. For such a system, we develop an exact expression for the system’s fill rate. Using stochastic comparison approach, we establish some sensitivity analysis results on fill rate with respect to problem parameters.
Cloning specific complete polyadenylylated 3'-terminal cDNA segments.

Abstract A simple method for extending partial cDNA clones of specific mRNA molecules is described. The method combines plasmid-primed first-strand cDNA synthesis [Okayama and Berg, Mol. Cell. Biol. 2 (1982) 161–170] with second-strand synthesis by primer extension. This approach selects for the synthesis of specific double-stranded cDNAs with complete 3' termini and poly(A) tails. We have used this method to extend preexisting cDNA clones to isolate 3' segments of human β- and Gγ-globin cDNAs. These recombinants are particularly useful for the construction of templates for in vitro transcription of synthetic polyadenylylated mRNAs and pre-mRNAs. In addition, nucleotide sequence analysis of the cloned γ-globin cDNA segment defined a previously unreported sequence polymorphism in the 3' untranslated region.
Computer algebra and undergraduate engineering teaching

The author discusses how computer algebra has been used in mathematics teaching at Cornell University. He begins by illustrating some of the commands available in computer algebra software. He reviews the experience at Cornell with MuMath and other computer algebra systems, including MACSYMA, and describes plans for the future. He also discusses student and faculty reactions to the use of computers in this way. He closes with comments about the future of teaching engineering mathematics at Cornell in light of the above experience and new developments in computer technology and computer support for teaching. >
Student multicultural awareness in online community college classes

Purpose – US community colleges are based on an open‐door mission and serve to provide access to students of diverse backgrounds. Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments of community college offerings – serving both local and geographical dispersed students. If the community college system embraces its open‐door mission, it must embrace new ways of providing multicultural experiences within online classes. The purpose of this paper is to understand if multiculturalism plays a significant role for students in the traditional face‐to‐face college classroom – what role, if any, does it play for student learning in online classrooms? Literature on multicultural education, distance learning, and social psychology are explored within the context of community colleges.Design/methodology/approach – Using a one‐group pretest‐posttest design, a multicultural awareness survey was administered twice over the course of an academic quarter to determine if online faculty that teach with multicultural pers...
Mutation analysis of Australasian Gaucher disease patients.

We have previously reported phenotype and genotype analyses in 28 Australasian Gaucher patients who were screened for several of the common Gaucher mutations: N370S, L444P, 84GG, and R463C. Horowitz and Zimran have reported that the complex alleles recNciI and recTL, which contain several point mutations including L444P, are relatively common, especially in non-Jewish Gaucher patients. Zimran and Horowitz have also stated that these recombinant alleles could easily be missed by laboratories testing only for the common Gaucher point mutations. Failure to correctly identify these mutations would influence any attempt to correlate genotype with phenotype. We have therefore retested our Gaucher patients for recNciI (L444P, A456P, and V46OV) and recTL (D409H, L444P, A456P, and V46OV) by PCR amplification, followed by hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotides. 4 refs.
Petrogenesis of the contact-metamorphic rocks beneath the Stillwater Complex, Montana

The Stillwater gabbroic complex was emplaced at about 2700 Ma in a metasedimentary section consisting of pelitic schist, iron formation, and quartzite. Contact metamorphism resulted in the development of a 500–1000 m hypersthene hornfels zone at the contact and a 500–1500 m cordierite + cummingtonite hornfels zone farther from the contact. Weakly foliated biotite schist occurs beyond the hornfels. Pelitic rocks are poor in potassium, generally lack muscovite, and typically contain the assemblage garnet + staurolite + gedrite + chlorite + cordierite + biotite + plagioclase + ilmenite + quartz. The diagnostic hornfels assemblage is cordierite + cummingtonite + biotite + plagioclase + ilmenite + quartz. Cummingtonite is replaced by hypersthene near the contact. The assemblages in the biotite schist formed during a low-pressure regional metamorphism. Temperature ranged from 450–625 °C in biotite schist to 650–800 °C in hypersthene hornfels. Pressure estimates range from 100–250 MPa in biotite schist to 50–300 MPa in hypersthene hornfels. The \({\alpha}_{H}_{2}_{O}\) in the hypersthene zone is estimated to have been ∼0.27. Orthoamphibole in the biotite schist has compositions that fall on a well-defined linear trend from Fe 3.5 Mg 3.5 Si 8 O 22 (OH) 2 to Na 0.7 Fe 3.5 Mg 1.4 Al 2.0 (Al 2.5 Si 5.5 )O 22 (OH) 2 . There is no evidence for any immiscibility between anthophyllite and gedrite at the pressure of metamorphism. Orthoamphibole was replaced by clinoamphibole with increasing grade. The petrogenetic grid, calculated from estimates of thermodynamic data for the observed compositions of minerals, indicates that most reactions in biotite schist occur in the temperature range 525–550 °C at 200 MPa. The formation of the assemblage cordierite + cummingtonite occurs at 600 °C, and hypersthene is stable above 700 °C. The net reaction during formation of cordierite + cummingtonite hornfels from biotite schist indicates little loss of H 2 O and a small increase in solid volume. The pressure and temperature of metamorphism are consistent with subvolcanic emplacement of the complex at a depth of ∼6–7 km in metasedimentary country rock following a period of regional metamorphism.
Proteolysis of blood coagulation factor VIII by the factor VIIa-tissue factor complex: generation of an inactive factor VIII cofactor.

Activation of factor VIII by thrombin occurs via limited proteolysis at R372, R740, and R1689. The resultant active factor VIIIa molecule consists of three noncovalently associated subunits: A1-a1, A2-a2, and A3-C1-C2 (50, 45, and 73 kDa respectively). Further proteolysis of factor VIIIa at R336 and R562 by activated protein C subsequently inactivates this cofactor. We now find that the factor VIIa−tissue factor complex (VIIa−TF/PL), the trigger of blood coagulation with restricted substrate specificity, can also catalyze limited proteolysis of factor VIII. Proteolysis of factor VIII was observed at 10 sites, producing 2 major fragments (47 and 45 kDa) recognized by an anti-factor VIII A2 domain antibody. Time courses indicated the slow conversion of the large fragment to 45 kDa, followed by further degradation into at least two smaller fragments. N-Terminal sequencing along with time courses of proteolysis indicated that VIIa−TF/PL cleaved factor VIII first at R740, followed by concomitant cleavage at R...