cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PROCESSING AND USE OF ZIRCONIUM BASED MATERIALS

ABSTRACT The basic physical properties and steps in the manufacture of zirconium and important zirconium based materials are discussed. Once considered prohibitively expensive for structural use, its current cost is becoming competitive with other special alloys for various industrial applications. Its actual life cycle cost in many cases has been considerably lower than that experienced with alternative materials Physical properties which combine to make zirconium attractive include: high strength, particularly when alloyed, outstanding resistance to many forms of corrosion in marine, industrial and most other environments, superior fatigue resistance and good metallurgical workability. Its oxide compound, zirconia, has become a base material for a new generation of tough ceramics. These ceramics are also candidates for fiber reinforcement. Several modern ceramic fabrication techniques are discussed This review is a compilation of data and information from various sources concerning the physical properti...
Derivatives of the lactam of α-guanidinoglutaric acid (N-amidinopyroglutamic acid, ApGlu) for peptide formation

Abstract Methods are described for the preparation of the tosyl, N-tert -butoxycarbonyl (BOC), and carbobenzoxy (CBZ) derivatives of 1-amidino-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid ( N -amidinopyroglutamic acid, ApGlu) to be used as an end group for bioactive peptides. The derivatives were formed by the reaction of ApGlu with toluenesulfonyl chloride for the tosyl, benzylformoyl chloride for the CBZ, and t -butylformoyl chloride for the BOC derivative. Strong alkali (pH 12–13) is necessary to carry out the reaction, and the reaction does not take place below 15 °C. In each case the major product is the diacyl derivative. These derivatives form esters readily with nitrophenol, pentachlorophenol, and pentafluorobenzyl phenol in the presence of N,N′ -dicyclohexycarbodiimide (DCI). The pentachlorophenyl ester was preferred because of a high yield and ease of crystallization. These esters react with glycyl proline amide (as an example of a peptide) to form the protected tripeptide. The diacyl derivatives of ApGlu also react directly with glycyl proline amide in the presence of DCI. Anhydrous HCl or HBr cannot be used to free the peptide since it strips off the amidino group. Reduction of the CBZ derivative with Pd on BaSO 4 was effective in this regard but the tripeptide formed was unstable.
Interactions of water vapor with oxides at elevated temperatures

Many volatile metal hydroxides form by reaction of the corresponding metal oxide with water vapor. These reactions are important in a number of high temperature corrosion processes. Experimental methods for studying the thermodynamics of metal hydroxides include: gas leak Knudsen cell mass spectrometry, free jet sampling mass spectrometry, transpiration and hydrogen-oxygen flame studies. The available experimental information is reviewed and the most stable metal hydroxide species are correlated with position in the periodic table. Current studies in our laboratory on the Si-O-H system are discussed.
Regularization in retrieval-driven classification of clustered microcalcifications for breast cancer

We propose a regularization based approach for case-adaptive classification in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of breast cancer. The goal is to improve the classification accuracy on a query case by making use of a set of similar cases retrieved from an existing library of known cases. In the proposed approach, a prior is first derived from a traditional CAD classifier (which is typically pretrained offline on a set of training cases). It is then used together with the retrieved similar cases to obtain an adaptive classifier on the query case. We consider two different forms for the regularization prior: one is fixed for all query cases and the other is allowed to vary with different query cases. In the experiments the proposed approach is demonstrated on a dataset of 1,006 clinical cases. The results show that it could achieve significant improvement in numerical efficiency compared with a previously proposed case adaptive approach (by about an order of magnitude) while maintaining similar (or better) improvement in classification accuracy; it could also adapt faster in performance with a small number of retrieved cases. Measured by the area of under the ROC curve (AUC), the regularization based approach achieved AUC = 0.8215, compared with AUC = 0.7329 for the baseline classifier (P-value = 0.001).
Hierarchical design of integrated control for hypersonic vehicles

A hierarchical design methodology for decentralized integrated control of a hypersonic vehicle is described. A hierarchical design methodology is developed for an integrated model comprising many subsystems. The design objective for the higher level of augmentation is to compensate for subsystems' interactions by making the subsystems as weakly coupled as possible through this level of augmentation. With a reduced coupling strength between subsystems, individual subsystems can be augmented separately and independently irrespective of their interactions. The combination of the two levels of augmentation results in an integrated control scheme with reduced complexity in both the design and structure of the controller. The design methodology is applied to an integrated dynamic model of an engine and airframe for a hypersonic vehicle. The derived control laws are compared with a nonintegrated design technique for an identical design objective. It is shown that the proposed integrated control scheme reduces the stabilizing surface deflection requirements in control power partitioning. >
Variability in the diagnosis and management of adenoma-like and non-adenoma-like dysplasia-associated lesions or masses in inflammatory bowel disease: an Internet-based study.

Background Dysplasia-associated lesions or masses (DALMs) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with different natural histories. Objectives Our purpose was to determine the ability of gastroenterologists (GE) to distinguish adenoma-like (ALD) from non-adenoma-like DALMs (NALD) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and to evaluate management practices with regard to these lesions. Participants Randomly chosen academic and private practice members of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and a group of IBD experts. Design All GEs answered a series of questions related to UC-associated DALMs and were asked to classify 13 digitally transmitted endoscopic images (5 ALD, 5 NALD, and 3 inflammatory polyps [IP]). Setting Internet-based survey. Patients Not applicable. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measurements Percentage of respondents who answered management questions and classified endoscopic images correctly. Results ALD, NALD, and IP were correctly diagnosed by 68%, 75%, and 82% of IBD experts; 58%, 56%, and 57% of academic gastroenterologists; and 60%, 73%, and 60% of private practice GEs, respectively. Overall, there were no significant differences in rates of correct diagnosis for the 3 types of polyps (P = .603). IBD experts showed a significantly higher correct diagnosis rate (P = .048) and interobserver agreement (P Limitations Only a single endoscopic image was used in this study. The response rate was 32%. Conclusion These data suggest that academic GEs and private practice GEs have more difficulty than IBD experts do in distinguishing between and managing DALMs in patients with UC.
Prognostic variables at intake and long-term level of function in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the relationship between symptoms and cognitive measures at intake and functional outcome 2–8 years later (average 3 years) in first-episode and previously treated schizophrenia patients. METHOD: A composite cognitive score was assessed at intake to determine the influence of cognition on later functional outcome. At intake and follow-up, positive and negative symptoms were assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, and affective symptoms were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Level of function in seven domains (social function, occupational function, independent living, symptom severity, fullness of life, extent of psychiatric hospitalization, and overall level of function) at intake and follow-up was assessed with the Strauss-Carpenter Level of Function scale. The contributions of sex, education, and duration of illness to functional outcome were also examined. RESULTS: The result...
Astronomy: an elementary puzzle.

A type Ia supernova has no hydrogen around it. But hydrogen gas has now been found in the vicinity of a supernova that otherwise fits the type Ia classification. Might this offer clues to the origin of these objects?
Conducting economic policy analysis at a landscape scale: examples from a Philippine watershed

Abstract Given the strong and growing policy concern about high rates of hillside erosion and downstream sedimentation associated with upland agriculture, there is a need for analytical tools that can be easily used by researchers and environmental managers at several levels. In order to help meet this need, this paper presents an approach to policy modeling that emphasizes links between economic policy changes and environmental outcomes at a landscape scale. Stylized farm models are used to predict changes in household land allocation arising from agricultural policy changes, with explicit incorporation of biophysical feedback from erosion outcomes to agricultural productivity and subsequent crop choices made by optimizing farmers. Outcomes are combined to predict aggregate economic and environmental impacts. The method is applied to data from the Manupali watershed in the Philippine province of Bukidnon. Simulation results show how input and output pricing policies can have deleterious effects on the environment, but also show that in some cases policies that appear detrimental to producers—such as a modest tax on production of highly erosive crops—can produce welfare gains by discouraging patterns of land use that are unsustainable in the long run. The paper concludes that such analyses can help those involved with watershed management, from policy makers to local institutions, by focusing attention on key issues and trade-offs.
Characterization of physicochemical properties of nanomaterials and their immediate environments in high-throughput screening of nanomaterial biological activity.

Thousands of nanomaterials (NMs) are in commerce and few have toxicity data. To prioritize NMs for toxicity testing, high-throughput screening (HTS) of biological activity may be the only practical and timely approach to provide the necessary information. As in all nanotoxicologic studies, characterization of physicochemical properties of NMs and their immediate environments in HTS is critical to understanding how these properties affect NM bioactivity and to allow extrapolation to NMs not screened. The purpose of the study, the expert-groups-recommended minimal characterization, and NM physicochemical properties likely to affect measured bioactivity all help determine the scope of characterization. A major obstacle in reaping the full benefits of HTS for NMs is the low throughput of NM physicochemical characterization, which may require more sample quantity than HTS assays. Increasing the throughput and speed, and decreasing the amount of NMs needed for characterization are crucial. Finding characterization techniques and biological activity assays compatible with diverse classes of NMs is a challenge and multiple approaches for the same endpoints may be necessary. Use of computational tools and nanoinformatics for organizing and analyzing data are important to fully utilize the power of HTS. Other desired advances include the ability to more fully characterize: pristine NM without prior knowledge of NM physicochemical properties; non-pristine NMs (e.g., after use); NM in not-perfectly-dispersed suspension; and NM in biological samples at exposure-relevant conditions. Through combining HTS and physicochemical characterization results, we will better understand NM bioactivities, prioritize NMs for further testing, and build computational models to predict NM toxicity.
Warming may create substantial water supply shortages in the Colorado River basin

[1] The high demand for water, the recent multiyear drought (1999–2007), and projections of global warming have raised questions about the long-term sustainability of water supply in the southwestern United States. In this study, the potential effects of specific levels of atmospheric warming on water-year streamflow in the Colorado River basin are evaluated using a water-balance model, and the results are analyzed within the context of a multi-century tree-ring reconstruction (1490–1998) of streamflow for the basin. The results indicate that if future warming occurs in the basin and is not accompanied by increased precipitation, then the basin is likely to experience periods of water supply shortages more severe than those inferred from the long-term historical tree-ring reconstruction. Furthermore, the modeling results suggest that future warming would increase the likelihood of failure to meet the water allocation requirements of the Colorado River Compact.
The Language of Psychological Change: Decoding an Expressive Writing Paradigm

This study uses linguistic analysis to investigate psychological changes associated with an emotion regulation strategy integrating psychological acceptance and positive reappraisal, as compared to two established strategies. Two hundred and sixty-nine undergraduate participants wrote for 4 consecutive days, 20 minutes each day, about the biggest problem in their lives and were randomly assigned to use one of three emotion regulation strategies: (a) acceptance + positive reappraisal, (2) emotional disclosure, or (3) positive reappraisal. Linguistic analyses were conducted to examine changes in attentional focus and insightful and causal thinking in the writings. Results indicated that participants who integrated acceptance and positive reappraisal wrote less about the past and more about the future, and used more insight words, over the course of writing relative to the other two conditions. In addition, they used a decreasing amount of first-person singular pronouns (e.g., “I”) and increased more in thei...
Racial Differences in the Characteristics of Firearm Suicide Decedents in the United States

Focusing on the reported growing use of firearms to complete suicide among African Americans, this article analyzes the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey to examine the association of firearm suicide with race, education, geographic region, access to a firearm, depressive symptoms, and mental health service utilization on decedents aged 15 years and older. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical variables, the analysis indicates that African American men were twice as likely as White men to use a firearm to complete suicide. The findings suggest the importance for clinicians to screen for the presence of firearms in depressed African Americans and to reduce their access to firearms. In addition, clinicians, social workers, and public health professionals should consider racial differences in correlates of firearm suicide when designing prevention and intervention initiatives.
Penalized least squares estimation of Volterra filters and higher order statistics

Volterra filters (VFs) and higher order statistics (HOS) are important tools for nonlinear analysis, processing, and modeling. Despite their highly desirable properties, the transfer of VFs and HOS to real-world signal processing problems has been hindered by the requirement of very large data records needed to obtain reliable estimates. The identification of VFs and the estimation of HOS both fall into the category of ill-posed estimation problems. We develop penalized least squares (PLS) estimation methods for VFs and HOS. It is shown that PLS is a very effective way to incorporate prior information of the problem at hand without directly constraining the estimation procedure. Hence, PLS produces much more reliable estimates. The main contributions of this paper are the development of appropriate penalizing functionals and cross-validation procedures for PLS based VF identification and HOS estimation.
Inflorescences of Neotropical herbs as a newly discovered microhabitat for myxomycetes

An assemblage of myxomycetes associated with inflorescences of large Neotropical herbs, a microhabitat not previously known to support these organisms, is described and characterized ecologically from a number of study sites in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico. Thirty-one different taxa were found among 652 specimens of myxomycetes recorded in the field or obtained from 358 moist chamber cultures prepared with decaying floral parts. A comparison with the results of 696 moist chamber cultures prepared with various other litter substrates showed that thirteen myxomycete taxa occurred more often on inflorescences. Six taxa had a strong preference for this microhabitat, and three of those seem to be new for the Neotropics. Correspondence analysis of the data set compiled for inflorescences indicated that the assemblage of myxomycetes was relatively consistent across all of the various study sites. The actual myxomycete substrates were the rapidly decaying floral parts enclosed by the massive, still living bracts. Richest in myxomycetes were species of Heliconia and Costus. Here, nectar residuals probably promoted a rapidly developing community of yeasts and bacteria. A high density of these organisms was indicated by the frequent occurrence of myxobacteria in the moist chamber cultures prepared with floral parts. Results from canonical correspondence analysis suggested that a substrate pH between 8 and 9 and the presence of massive, compact inflorescences on plants occurring at lower elevations in localities with moderate annual rainfall provide optimal conditions for inflorescence-inhabiting myxomycetes. An incidental dispersal of myxomycete spores by birds that pollinate the flowers or feed upon the fruits seems possible and may have accounted for the high degree of preference exhibited by some of the inflorescence-inhabiting myxomycetes, for which the term "floricolous" is proposed.
Information Seeking Expressions of Users.

Five types of information seeking expressions of users are identified by an analysis of a sample of such expressions and of analogous expressions in another social context. The treatment of these expressions in the literature of information retrieval iFive types of information seeking expressions of users are identified by an analysis of a sample of such expressions and of analogous expressions in another social context. The treatment of these expressions in the literature of information retrieval iFive types of information seeking expressions of users are identified by an analysis of a sample of such expressions and of analogous expressions in another social context. The treatment of these expressions in the literature of information retrieval iFive types of information seeking expressions of users are identified by an analysis of a sample of such expressions and of analogous expressions in another social context. The treatment of these expressions in the literature of information retrieval is reviewed. Two recommendations are offered: (1) information specialists should call questions “questions,” requests “requests,” statements “statements,” commands “commands,” and truncated expressions “truncated expressions,” and (2) both the search interview and the search itself should focus upon user questio requests “requests,” statements “statements,” commands “commands,” and truncated expressions “truncated expressions,” and (2) both the search interview and the search itself should requests “requests,” statements “statements,” commands “commands,” and truncated expressions “truncated expressions,” and (2) both the search interview and the search itself should requests “requests,” statements “statements,” commands “commands,” and truncated expressions “truncated expressions,” and (2) both the search interview and the search itself should focus upon user questions.
Bipolar affective disorder. I. Comprehensive quantitative computed tomography.

— Since the clinical significance of CT abnormalities found in bipolar patients remains obscure, we studied 26 DSM-III bipolar patients who had specific CT abnormalities (third ventricle enlargement, and hyperdensity of the caudate, thalamus, anterior frontal white matter, and right temporal lobe) on numerous parameters such as EEG, the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery, premorbid personality adjustment, family history of affective disorder, positive and negative symptoms, employment history, and response to lithium carbonate treatment. None of these measures could differentiate between the CT abnormal and CT normal subgroups. The implications of these findings are discussed.
The Development of the Small Group

The literature of small group development is vast but, despite two recent reviews, theoretically inconclusive. This article summarizes a selection of prominent theories representative of the field, clustering them around three related models, a recurring phase model, a sequential phase model, and a changing leadership model. A conceptual synthesis is then presented using two related dimensions, the fluctuating psychological closeness of the members as they approach individuation and the stepwise generation of the group's culture. It is suggested that groups evolve through a series of stable structures separated by phases of hostility and narcissism as the leader, or later the culture, fails to satisfy the needs of the group.
Ciprofloxacin absorption is impaired in patients given enteral feedings orally and via gastrostomy and jejunostomy tubes.

Twenty-six hospitalized patients participated in a randomized crossover study to evaluate the effect of enteral feedings on ciprofloxacin absorption when given orally or via gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes. Patients in the oral group received an intact 500-mg ciprofloxacin tablet alone or ciprofloxacin plus three oral doses of Sustacal (240 ml given 8 h before, with, and 4 h after ciprofloxacin administration). Patients with gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes received 500 mg of crushed ciprofloxacin in 60 ml water via the feeding tube. After a washout period, the patients received ciprofloxacin with a continuous enteral formula (Jevity) given at 60 to 90 ml/h beginning 6 h before drug administration and continuing for 10 h. Serial blood samples were analyzed for ciprofloxacin concentration by high-performance liquid chromatography. The maximum ciprofloxacin concentrations in serum for ciprofloxacin given and for ciprofloxacin plus enteral feeding for the oral, gastrostomy, and jejunostomy groups were (mean +/- standard deviation) 2.59 +/- 1.24 versus 1.43 +/- 0.61 micrograms/ml (P < 0.05), 3.68 +/- 1.36 versus 2.27 +/- 0.67 micrograms/ml (P < 0.05), and 3.78 +/- 1.87 versus 1.45 +/- 0.48 micrograms/ml (P < 0.05), respectively. Corresponding values for area under the concentration-time curve were 13.4 +/- 8.32 versus 9.44 +/- 4.74 micrograms/h/ml (P < 0.05) 15.9 +/- 6.62 versus 7.44 +/- 3.16 (micrograms/h/ml (P < 0.05), and 18.1 +/- 9.37 versus 5.82 +/- 2.63 micrograms.h/ml (P < 0.05). We conclude that enteral feedings given orally or via gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes resulted in a 27 to 67% reduction in the mean bioavailability of ciprofloxacin in hospitalized patients. The decreased absorption may be clinically important, especially when the enteral feeding is coadministered with ciprofloxacin by the oral and jejunostomy tube routes. Reductions in maximum levels of ciprofloxacin in serum as a result of feedings given via a gastrostomy tube are similar to those following oral administration on an empty stomach, making a clinically important interaction by this route less likely.
Type II collagen distribution in rodents.

The anatomical distribution of type II collagen in animal ears was studied by immunohistochemical techniques, using defined monoclonal antibodies to type II collagen. Type II collagen was observed in the cartilage plate of the auricle and external auditory meatus, tympanic annulus, lamina propria of tympanic membrane (pars tensa), interossicular joints, stapes footplate, eustachian tube cartilage, enchondral layer and globuli interossei of the otic capsule, Rosenthal canal, cribriform base, osseous spiral lamina, spiral ligament, limbus, tectorial membrane, semicircular canal membrane and subepithelial layer of the ampullary crista, utricular and saccular maculae, and the endolymphatic duct and proximal part of the sac. Thus, type II collagen should be considered as an important component of ear tissue that might act as a target organ in an immune response.
Individual differences in successful job searches following lay-off.

A field study was conducted to examine attitudinal and behavioral variables associated with reemployment following job termination. Thirty-five employees were surveyed within two days following termination. Of those surveyed, 23 were contacted one month later regarding employment status. Analyses revealed that reemployed persons were significantly more confident of job search skills and had engaged in a greater number of search behaviors than had individuals who had remained unemployed. No significant differences between the reemployed and still unemployed groups were obtained in affective responses to termination or nonwork-related variables. The findings suggest that reemployment success is related to individual differences in expectations of successful job search. Implications for future research on job loss and reemployment are discussed.
How Formal Dynamic Verification Tools Facilitate Novel Concurrency Visualizations

With the exploding scale of concurrency, presenting valuable pieces of information collected by formal verification tools intuitively and graphically can greatly enhance concurrent system debugging. Traditional MPI program debuggers present trace views of MPI program executions. Such views are redundant, often containing equivalent traces that permute independent MPI calls. In our ISP formal dynamic verifier for MPI programs, we present a collection of alternate views made possible by the use of formal dynamic verification. Some of ISP's views help pinpoint errors, some facilitate discerning errors by eliminating redundancy, while others help understand the program better by displaying concurrent even orderings that must be respected by all MPI implementations, in the form of completes-before graphs. In this paper, we describe ISP's graphical user interface (GUI) capabilities in all these areas which are currently supported by a portable Java based GUI, a Microsoft Visual Studio GUI, and an Eclipse based GUI whose development is in progress.
INTERACTIONS WITH JUNIPER ALTER PINYON PINE ECTOMYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL COMMUNITIES

Belowground interactions can affect plants either directly or indirectly via their associated mycorrhizal fungi. However, few studies have experimentally examined the consequences of interspecific root interactions for these important mutualists in the field. We used a trenching experiment to examine how belowground interactions between pinyon pine and one-seed juniper affected the ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal communities of pinyon pine. Three major findings emerged: (1) pinyons responded to the reduction of juniper roots with a near doubling of fine root biomass in just two years, (2) this increase in pinyon roots translated into a potential two-fold increase in EM abundance, and (3) the EM fungal communities of trenched trees differed significantly from controls largely due to a decrease in ascomycete fungi. Because species of EM fungi vary in the benefits they provide, changes in EM communities could have long-term consequences for host-plant establishment, growth, and survival. Belowground interactions with juniper may contribute to the high mortality of pinyons and the reduced diversity of EM fungi associated with recent droughts.
Great Bahama Bank Aragonitic Muds: Mostly Inorganically Precipitated, Mostly Exported

Sr concentrations in aragonitic muds on the banktop and leeward slope of Great Bahama Bank (GBB) are greater than in the needles produced by codiacean green algae but the same as in precipitated sand-size ooids and other nonskeletal grains. Results of two-part and three-part mixing models suggest that chemically precipitated aragonite contributes an average of 55-78% of the clay-size aragonite; individual samples contain as much as 95% chemically precipitated aragonite. Nonskeletal aragonitic needles apparently are precipitated ubiquitously over GBB but accumulate on the banktop only leeward of Andros Island. Much of the mud produced on the bank is exported to deeper waters: the thickness of mud-dominated Holocene sediments on the leeward slope can reach 90 m, and the aragonitic lysocline around the Bahamas is depressed by nearly 1500 m.
Approximate description of coulomb scattering

The modified WKB method as given by Miller and Good is applied to the attractive-Coulomb-scattering case for the second order in Ħ following the calculation of Barlett, Eice and Good. The method developed by Bertocchi, Fubini and Furlan and Garola is used. The improvement of the attractive-Coulomb-scattering cross-sections is shown by a numerical example.
Relationships between Psychodynamic and Behavior Therapies

Recent years have seen some constructive efforts at the reconciliation of behavior therapy and psychodynamic therapies (Marmor & Woods, 1980; Wachtel, 1977; Wachtel, 1982). These are in happy contrast to the antagonistic polemics that have taken place in the past. For the most part, adherents of each have had little comprehension of the goals and methods of the other and have simply reiterated their own idealistic stances rather than look for common ground or seek to understand the real differences. In view of recent cutbacks in insurance funding for mental health care, the erosive effects of inflation on income available for care, and the push to document the effectiveness of treatments, it seems imperative that we try to determine which therapy or which combination of therapies works best for what conditions and which are most cost-effective.
Choice of computational method for swimming and pumping with nonslender helical filaments at low Reynolds number

The flows induced by biological and artificial helical filaments are important to many possible applications including microscale swimming and pumping. Microscale helices can span a wide range of geometries, from thin bacterial flagella to thick helical bacterial cell bodies. While the proper choice of numerical method is critical for obtaining accurate results, there is little guidance about which method is optimal for a specified filament geometry. Here, using two physical scenarios — a swimmer with a head and a pump — we establish guidelines for the choice of numerical method based on helical radius, pitch, and filament thickness. For a range of helical geometries that encompass most natural and artificial helices, we create benchmark results using a surface distribution of regularized Stokeslets and then evaluate the accuracy of resistive force theory, slender body theory, and a centerline distribution of regularized Stokeslets. For the centerline distribution of regularized Stokeslets or slender body theory, we tabulate appropriate blob size and Stokeslet spacing or segment length, respectively, for each geometry studied. Finally, taking the computational cost of each method into account, we present the optimal choice of numerical method for each filament geometry as a guideline for future investigations involving filament-induced flows.
Decomposition of14C-Labeled Maple and Spruce Lignin by Marine Fungi

Fungi occur on driftwood, intertidal wood, manila rope, and other lignocellulosic substrates in marine and estuarine environments (Johnson and Sparrow, 1961; Hughes, 1975; Kohlmeyer and Kohlmeyer, 1979). Several Ascomycetes and Deuteromycetes cause soft rots of wood submerged in seawater (Barghoorn and Linder, 1944; Henningsson, 1976). The marine basidiomycete Nia vibrissa Moore & Meyers causes a white rot (Leightley and Eaton, 1979). Relatively few fungi can decompose lignin, an extremely complex aromatic polymer (Crawford and Crawford, 1980; Crawford, 1981). Fukuzumi et al. (1975) demonstrated that the marine hyphomycete Dendryphiella salina (Sutherland) Pugh & Nicot could degrade sodium lignosulfonate, an industrially modified lignin. Henningsson (1976), using sulfuric acid hydrolysis to measure lignin content, found a strain of Zalerion maritimum (Linder) Anastasiou that degraded 12% of the lignin in birch wood in six months. Methods involving the use of 14C-labeled lignocellulosic substrates have made it possible to determine the amounts of lignin degraded by microorganisms to CO2 and water-soluble products (Crawford and Crawford, 1976). Using [lignin'4C]-lignocelluloses prepared from Norway maple and blue spruce as substrates, we measured the degradation of hardwood and softwood lignin by pure cultures of 12 marine and estuarine fungi. The fungi tested were Asteromyces cruciatus Moreau & Moreau ex Hennebert (F-156), Ceriosporopsis halima Linder (R-592), Corollospora maritima Werdermann (R-19), Dendryphiella salina (DS-1), Diplodia oraemaris Linder (F-162), Halosphaeria mediosetigera Cribb & Cribb (R-575), Heleococcum japonense Tubaki (R-692), Humicola alopallonella Meyers & Moore (F-164), Monodictys pelagica (Johnson) Jones (F-80), Nia vibrissa (RDB-8), Papulaspora halima Anastasiou (F-167), and Zalerion maritimum (R-6). Twigs of Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) and blue spruce (Picea pungens Engelm.) were incubated with a solution of L-[U-14C]-phenylalanine to label the lignin (Crawford and Crawford, 1976). [Lignin-l4C]-lignocelluloses were prepared from the twigs by grinding and extracting the phloem layer (Crawford and Crawford, 1976). Specific activities of the maple and spruce lignocelluloses were 539 and 902 dpm mg-l, respectively. Triplicate culture tubes containing 50 mg of labeled lignocellulose each were autoclaved and 15 ml of a sterile liquid medium [oven-dried Rila Marine Salts (Rila Products, Teaneck, New Jersey) 20 g, yeast
Study of camera lens effects for a deflectometry surface measurement system: SCOTS

The camera lens effects for deflectometry surface measurements are analyzed. The evaluations of aberration induced errors are based on image simulation. Experiments for verification are undergoing.
Effect of Propranolol on the Peripheral Circulation.

SummaryThe effect of propranolol on the peripheral vascular beds was studied in anesthetized dogs in which the regional artery was perfused constantly with arterial blood using a Sigmamotor pump. It was found that the effect of the intra-arterial administration of propranolol on the peripheral vascular beds is biphasic, an initial, rapid decrease in perfusion pressure (vasodilatation) being followed by a prolonged increase (vasoconstriction) without any change in the systemic circulation. The initial vasodilator effect was not blocked either by atropine, DCI or by repeated injections of propranolol which sufficiently blocked the effect of isoproterenol on the vessel.
Signal and Symbol How State and Local Policies Address Data-Informed Practice

Numerous actors influence how educational policies play out in practice, but this does not mean that policies themselves are without power. Policies are crafted and enacted in part because they ser...
Graft rejection in sensitized recipients

Recipient sensitization to MHC antigens is among the most critical of problems currently facing clinical transplantation in terms of magnitude and impact. Approximately 20% of all patients awaiting kidney transplantation have elevated levels of broadly reactive alloantibodies, resulting from multiple transfusions, prior failed allografts, or pregnancy. These highly sensitized patients experience an increased rate of graft rejection, compared to unsensitized individuals, which is often irreversible and difficult to control by currently used immunosuppressive agents. The evidence suggests that the common denominator in the pathogenesis of allograft rejection in presensitized recipients is the combined cellular and humoral immune alloreactivity. Although the relative significance of these responses varies, all successful immunosuppressive therapies have common three elements of diminished or abrogated mononuclear cell activation, cytokine expression, and endothelial cell activation. The main target for the antibody-mediated damage, the vascular endothelium, may also be affected by nonspecific effector mechanisms, complement, coagulation, phagocytic cells, and their products. The dissection and better appreciation of the complexity of the rejection cascade may be important for the much needed progress in the management of allograft rejection in sensitized hosts, and may provide insights relevant to the development of xenotransplantation.
Shaping future directions for incontinence research in aging adults

Background: The Center for Gerontological Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, as part of the John A. Hartford Foundation's Geriatric Nursing Initiative, convened an invitational nursing research summit onincontinence in St. Paul, Minnesota on October 16-18, 2003. Objective: To identify new approaches for conducting urinary and fecal incontinence research in aging adults, identify strategies for reinvigorating and better positioning nursing research on incontinence, and develop recommendations for attracting new nurse investigators to incontinence research and facilitating their research training and mentorship. Method: Forty-seven researchers, project officers, clinician leaders, doctoral students, and consumer advocates from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, and Australia attended a 1½ day conference involving trigger talks, reaction papers, and small and large group discus‖: sions around broad thematic areas on incontinence research. Recommendations with suggested strategies were derived from the discussion groups. Results: Participants identified issues related to each of the summit objectives and discussed potential strategies to overcome these challenges. Twenty-one recommendations were derived: eleven recommendations focused on new approaches to incontinence research; eight on reinvigorating and repositioning nursing research on incontinence; and two on attracting and mentoring new investigators. Conclusions: The summit model used effectively engaged an international cadre of researchers and clinicians in stimulating discussions that yielded the identification of strategic directions for conducting and funding incontinence research and strategies for reinvigorating and repositioning nursing research on incontinence.
Extrusion Temperature and Pellet Size Interact to Influence Growth Performance of Hybrid Striped Bass Fed Industrially Compounded Aquafeeds

AbstractThe objective of this experiment was to jointly assess the possible influences of aquafeed extrusion temperature and pellet size and uniformity on growth performance of juvenile hybrid Striped Bass (White Bass Morone chrysops × Striped Bass M. saxatilis). A diet formulated to meet or exceed the nutritional requirements of hybrid Striped Bass was coupled with different feed manufacturing strategies to yield a range of compositionally identical but physically distinct feeds. Batches of feed were extruded at 107 ± 6°C or 127 ± 3°C through dies estimated to yield pellets that were “small” (3 mm), “recommended” (4 mm), or “large” (5 mm) relative to the size ranges suggested for the target fish size. Portions of the uniformly small and large feeds were combined (25:75, 50:50, and 75:25 ratios of small : large pellets) to create additional mixed-sized feeds. Fish were stocked in a recirculating aquaculture system (fish size: 19.6 ± 0.7 g [mean ± SE]; 10 fish/tank) comprising thirty-six 119-L circular tan...
Sex Differences in Visual Pathways: A Comment on Handa and McGivern (2015)

Dear Editor,A recent mini-review published in Current Eye Research1 builds on the authors’ earlier analysis of androgen effects on cortical development and the neurobehavioral organization of front...
Internal discharge analysis

The Combined Release Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) will be launched in 1987 to map out the radiation belts surrounding Earth. One of the experiments on the CRRES is the Internal Discharge Monitor (IDM), which will measure the characteristics of discharges caused by charged particles which penetrate samples. These discharges are related to the Lichtenberg patterns caused in plastics, which have been radiated by electrons [1]. The IDM has three objectives: 1) to confirm the existence of internal discharges on operating spacecraft; 2) to validate ground simulations and test techniques by measuring the characteristics of discharges in space; and, 3) to provide data on internal discharges to refine predictive models.
Developing and financing neglected disease vaccines in our new era of “blue marble health” and the anthropocene epoch

Abstract New findings of widespread neglected diseases among the poor living in wealthy group of 20 (G20) economies and the concept of “blue marble health” offer innovative mechanisms for financing urgently new vaccines, especially for vector-borne neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This approach could complement or parallel a recently suggested global vaccine development fund for pandemic threats.
Product Line Design with Superior Information on Consumers’ Preferences: Implications of Data Aggregation

This research studies the product line design problem when consumers are subject to perceptual errors when assessing their intrinsic preferences. If the errors are driven by common variables, then a firm can filter out the impact of these variables using aggregate consumer data (e.g. survey data, conjoint studies, or anonymous usage data). In this way, we develop micro-foundations necessary to show how and when the firm may deduce consumers’ perceptual errors and acquire superior knowledge on consumer preference. But is superior knowledge ever unprofitable? How should the firm with superior knowledge design its product line? Do consumers receive more-relevant products or simply have more surplus extracted? Can data collection help consumers make better choices? Our results suggest that consumers’ rational suspicions may prevent the firm from exploiting its informational advantage. In addition, the burden of signaling may force the firm to offer efficient quality for its products. Therefore, allowing the firm to collect aggregate consumer data may be strictly Pareto improving.
Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited

I argue that the core of genuinely academic freedom ought to be freedom in research and teaching, subject to disciplinary standards of expertise. I discuss the law in the United States, Germany, and England, and express doubts about the American view that distinctively academic freedom ought to encompass "extramural" speech on matters of public importance (speakers should be protected from employment repercussions for such speech, but not because of their freedom qua academics). I treat freedom of academic expression as a subset of general freedom of expression, focusing on the Millian argument that freedom of expression maximizes discovery of the truth, one regularly invoked by defenders of academic freedom. Marcuse argued against Mill (in 1965) that "indiscriminate" toleration of expression would not maximize discovery of the truth. I show that Marcuse agreed with Mill that free expression is only truth- and utility-maximizing if certain background conditions obtain: thus Mill argues that the British colony in India would be better off with "benevolent despotism" than Millian liberty of expression, given that its inhabitants purportedly lacked the maturity and education requisite for expression to be utility-maximizing. Marcuse agrees with Mill that the background conditions are essential, but has an empirical disagreement with him about what those are and when they obtain: Mill finds them wanting in colonial India, Marcuse finds them wanting in capitalist America. Perhaps surprisingly, Marcuse believes that "indiscriminate" toleration of expression should be the norm governing academic discussions, despite his doubts about the utility-maximizing value of free expression in capitalist America. Why think that? Here is a reason: where disciplinary standards of expertise govern debate, the discovery of truth really is more likely, but only under conditions of "indiscriminate" freedom of argument, i.e., academic freedom. This freedom is not truly "indiscriminate": its boundaries are set by disciplinary competence, which raises an additional question I try to address. In sum, the libertarians (Mill and Popper) and the Marxists (Marcuse) can agree that academic freedom is justified, at least when universities are genuine sites of scientific expertise and open debate.
The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle

Named for its metabolism of the conjugate bases (citrate, isocitrate, and cis-aconitate) of three tricarboxylic acids in the early steps of the pathway, the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (or TCA cycle) is known simply as the Citric Acid Cycle. The term “cycle” refers to the fact that the initial six-carbon substrate (citrate) is oxidatively decarboxylated twice to form the pathway’s ultimate four-carbon product (oxaloacetate), which then combines with two-carbon units (as acetyl-CoA) to regenerate citrate, thereby allowing the cycle to begin anew. This same pathway is also known as the Krebs Cycle in honor of Sir Hans Krebs, the German-born British biochemist, who proposed the pathway in the late 1930s and later earned the Nobel Prize for demonstrating its key properties.
Late effects of blood and marrow transplantation.

We appreciated Inamoto and Lee’s thoughtful review summarizing the late effects of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT),[1][1] particularly their dual emphasis on both the prevention and treatment of potential complications. In the interest of broadening the scope of their review, we wish
Critical Roles of Glutaredoxin in Brain Cells-Implications for Parkinson's Disease.

Abstract Significance: Glutaredoxin (Grx)1, an evolutionarily conserved and ubiquitous enzyme, regulates redox signal transduction and protein redox homeostasis by catalyzing reversible S-glutathionylation. Grx1 plays different roles in different cell types. In Parkinson's disease (PD), Grx1 regulates apoptosis signaling in dopaminergic neurons, so that loss of Grx1 leads to increased cell death; in microglial cells, Grx1 regulates proinflammatory signaling, so that upregulation of Grx1 promotes cytokine production. Here we examine the regulatory roles of Grx1 in PD with a view toward therapeutic innovation. Recent Advances: In postmortem midbrain PD samples, Grx1 was decreased relative to controls, specifically within dopaminergic neurons. In Caenorhabditis elegans models of PD, loss of the Grx1 homologue led to exacerbation of the neurodegenerative phenotype. This effect was partially relieved by overexpression of neuroprotective DJ-1, consistent with regulation of DJ-1 content by Grx1. Increased GLRX c...