cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Plasmon light scattering of a single gold nanoparticle attached to a single mode optical fiber tip

Single gold nanoparticle was attached to a single mode optical fiber tip by picking it up from the glass surface. Plasmon scattering from the absorbed nanoparticle was detected through the optical fiber in various solution environments
Wetting and capillary phenomena of water on mica

The structure of water films on mica was locally modified by contact with the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) in a humid environment. The subsequent evolution of the film was studied by noncontact scanning polarization force microscopy. At high relative humidity (>20%), capillary condensation caused water to form droplets and two-dimensional islands around the contact point. The droplets evaporated in a short period of time, but the islands remained for much longer periods (hours). At low relative humidity (<20%), the tip contact produced a circular depression in the local polarizability. None of these structures could be observed in contact AFM images which revealed only the usual atomically flat mica surface.
Inhibition of human polymorphonuclear leukocyte functions by ibuprofen.

Abstract We have found that pretreatment of human neutrophils with ibuprofen (0.10–1.0 mg/ml) results in an irreversible, concentration-dependent inhibition of superoxide anion generation and release of lysosomal enzymes (myeloperoxidase, lysozyme) stimulated by the synthetic peptide, N -formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), the complement fragment C5a, and to a lesser extent by serum opsonized zymosan. Inhibition of granule exocytosis and oxygen radical generation at ibuprofen concentrations less than 5 mg/ml was not due to drug cytotoxicity since release of the cytoplasmic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase was not affected by ibuprofen. In contrast to neutrophil responses mediated by C5a or FMLP, ibuprofen did not inhibit either enzyme release or superoxide anion generation by neutrophils stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate. Ibuprofen did not function as an oxygen radical scavenger in a 3ell-free system in which superoxide anion was generated by the aerobic action of xanthine oxidase on hypoxanthine. Ibuprofen also inhibited in a concentration-dependent fashion both directed migration (chemotaxis) and stimulated random migration (chemokinesis) of neutrophils exposed to either FMLP or C5a. Inhibition of neutrophil adherence to plastic surfaces and bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells was equally effective when the neutrophils were treated with ibuprofen before stimulation with FMLP or phorbol myristate acetate. The inhibitory effects of ibuprofen pretreatment of neutrophils could not be overcome by addition of prostaglandins E 1 or E 2 (0.3–300 nM). These results demonstrate that ibuprofen is capable of suppressing many functions thought to be important in neutrophil-mediated acute pulmonary inflammatory processes. Results of these experiments further suggest that ibuprofen may inhibit neutrophil functions by acting on cellular components separate from membrane receptors or by blockade of cyclo-oxygenase products which may be involved in these neutrophil functions.
Clinical Characterization and the Caregiver Burden of Dementia in China

Objectives: The prevalence of dementia in China is among the highest in the world, but systematic estimates of the rate of dementia subtypes and characterization of associated deficits are lacking. The primary aim of this study was to determine the clinical presentation of dementia and describe the caregiver burden in mainland China. Methods: A 3-month, open-enrollment, multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted at 48 tier-3 hospitals. Caregivers who qualified for study entry (provided amount and duration of care information), had intimate knowledge of patient status, and accompanied enrolled patients to study sites were asked to participate in an interview about patient care and caregiver burden. Caregiver burden was assessed via the Chinese version of the validated Zarit Burden Interview. Results: A total of 1425 caregivers completed the survey. Patients had mild to moderate dementia (mean Clinical Dementia Rating score of 1.67 0.79), and the most common dementia subtypes were Alzheimer disease (46.7%) and vascular dementia (28.7%). Among caregivers, 57% were females, 52% were patients’ spouses, and 67.3% had been caring for patients for 1 year or more. Most patients required family help and lived at home or with a family member. Caregiver awareness of dementia was limited. The mean total caregiver Zarit Burden Interview score was 26.6. Observations were similar across age, gender, education, dementia type, Clinical Dementia Rating score, and duration of care. Conclusions: China faces multiple obstacles in preparing to care for its fast-growing dementia population. Better understanding of patients and caregivers may mitigate these challenges by improving awareness and education.
Immunotherapeutic effect of tumor necrosis after cryosurgery, electrocoagulation, and ligation

Tumor necrosis in situ by cryosurgery, electrocoagulation, or ligation generally induces or augments some increase in tumor-specific transplantation immunity (TSTI) as compared with excision. Excision of the tumor 24 hours after it has been rendered ischemic by either ligation or cryosurgery seems to produce TSTI that is significantly greater than that after excision of viable tumor without prior ligation or cryosurgery; the degree of this immunity is similar to that seen after the tumor is left in situ indefinitely after treatment. These data suggest that most of the immunization following tumor necrosis in situ occurs within 24 hours of treatment. The experimental findings support the clinical reports of putative immunologic potentiation after tumor necrosis in situ.
Synergism between Pax-8 and lim-1 in embryonic kidney development.

Pax genes encode a family of highly conserved DNA-binding transcription factors. These proteins play key roles in regulating a number of vertebrate and invertebrate developmental processes. Mutations in Pax-6 result in eye defects in flies, mice, and humans, and ectopic expression of this gene can trigger the development of ectopic compound eyes in flies. Likewise, mutation of other Pax genes in vertebrates results in the failure of specific differentiation programs-Pax-1 causes skeletal defects; Pax-2, kidney defects; Pax-3 or Pax-7, neural crest defects; Pax-4, pancreatic beta-cell defects; Pax-5, B-cell defects; Pax-8, thyroid defects; and Pax-9, tooth defects. Although this class of genes is obviously required for the normal differentiation of a number of distinct organ systems, they have not previously been demonstrated to be capable of directing the embryonic development of organs in vertebrates. In this report, it is demonstrated that Pax-8 plays such a role in the establishment of the Xenopus embryonic kidney, the pronephros. However, in order to efficiently direct cells to form pronephric kidneys, XPax-8 requires cofactors, one of which may be the homeobox transcription factor Xlim-1. These two genes are initially expressed in overlapping domains in late gastrulae, and cells expressing both genes will go on to form the kidney. Ectopic expression of either gene alone has a moderate effect on pronephric patterning, while coexpression of XPax-8 plus Xlim-1 results in the development of embryonic kidneys of up to five times normal complexity and also leads to the development of ectopic pronephric tubules. This effect was synergistic rather than additive. XPax-2 can also synergize with Xlim-1, but the expression profile of this gene indicates that it normally functions later in pronephric development than does XPax-8. Together these data indicate that the interaction between XPax-8 and Xlim-1 is a key early step in the establishment of the pronephric primordium.
Rapidly Progressive Lymphoma of the Lung Appearing as the Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome

We present a patient with diffuse malignant lymphoma involving the lungs who suddenly developed acute respiratory insufficiency with the typical picture of the adult respiratory distress syndrome. The interstitial and intraalveolar spaces were replaced by malignant cells with destruction of the alveolar lining cells. Other possible causes of this syndrome were excluded. Although lymphomatous involvement of the lungs may gradually lead to respiratory insufficiency in the course of several months, rapidly developing respiratory failure with severe hypoxemia refractory to 100 percent inspired oxygen over the period of several hours has not been previously reported.
The role of biotransformation in the toxicity of chemicals

Aquatic and terrestrial animals metabolize foreign chemicals mainly by oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis and conjugation reactions catalyzed by various enzymes, predominantly localized in the liver, but also found in lower concentrations in other tissues. Xenobiotics are thus biotransformed via several different pathways to less toxic, more polar products which are then readily excreted by the liver, kidney or gill. Whereas biotransformation reactions normally result in detoxification, some chemicals also may be enzymatically converted to highly reactive, electrophilic metabolites (epoxides, free radicals, etc.) which may induce cytotoxic, teratogenic, mutagenic or carcinogenic effects through reaction with various cellular constituents. The initial biotransformation of a less toxic chemical to one or more reactive metabolites, a process commonly referred to as ‘metabolic activation’, is now recognized as an essential initial step for many chemically induced toxicities. The metabolic activation of many mutagens and carcinogens, for example, is primarily catalyzed by the cytochrome P-450-dependent mixed-function oxygenase system in the endoplasmic reticulum, with the formation of epoxides or other reactive species capable of covalently binding to nucleic acids or proteins. Whether or not a xenobiotic causes toxicity, is detoxified, or undergoes metabolic activation to more toxic products, depends not only on the chemical and physical properties of the xenobiotic and its metabolites, but also on the species, strain, age, and sex of the animal, the dose and route of exposure, and the effect of various environmental, nutritional and physiological factors.
Immigration Reform and the Latino Small Service Sector

Immigration reform is a policy of particular concern within the low-wage service sector and among self-employed ethnic entrepreneurs. This study uses U. S. Census microdata to show that Latino entrepreneurs differ in earnings by nativity and industry. Although foreign-born entrepreneurs usually have lower earnings than native-born Latino entrepreneurs, the situation reverses itself among restaurateurs and small retailers. The study then uses data from the “Six-City Study” to examine nativity and industry as variables affecting attitudes toward IRCA. High levels of support toward IRCA are reported, but the expected variations by nativity and industry emerge.
Ant communities and livestock grazing in the Great Basin, U.S.A.

Abstract The objectives of this study were to determine if metrics for ant species assemblages can be used as indicators of rangeland condition, and to determine the influence of vegetation and ground cover variables, factors often influenced by livestock grazing, on ant communities. The study was conducted in two areas in the Great Basin: a sagebrush-steppe in southeastern Idaho (n=30 sites), and a salt-desert shrub in western Utah (n=27 sites). Sites were selected based on known rangeland condition (i.e. good, fair, poor) associated with livestock grazing. Ant communities differed considerably between the two study areas. Collectively, more ant species occurred at the Idaho sites (30) than at the Utah sites (21), relatively few species (eight) occurred in both areas, species richness was significantly greater at the Idaho sites (mean=12·0 species) than the Utah sites (mean=6·9 species), and Formica spp. were diverse (total of 15 species) at the Idaho sites but rare (one species) at the Utah sites. In Idaho, all species collectively, generalists, and Formica spp. were significantly less abundant on sites in poor condition than that on sites in good or fair condition, whereas in Utah, seed harvesters and Pheidole spp. were significantly more abundant on sites in poor condition than that on sites in good or fair condition. In Idaho, species richness was significantly lower on sites in poor condition. In Idaho, species richness and relative abundances of several ant groups were significantly related to bare patch size and parameters for cover or species richness of several vegetation groups. In contrast to the comparisons involving sites in poor condition, no differences in ant communities in either Idaho or Utah were evident between sites in good and fair condition. Thus, the ant communities responded only to large changes in rangeland condition and to large differences in climatic/edaphic conditions between the two areas. Hence, ant community metrics appear to have limited utility as indicators of rangeland condition in the Great Basin.
THE ELECTRICAL ACTIVATION OF PASSIVE IRON WIRES IN NITRIC ACID.

1. The relation between the E. M. F. and the minimal duration of an activating current has been determined for passive iron wires in nitric acid under varying conditions of concentration of acid, duration of recovery period, and presence of surface-action compounds. 2. The characteristic intensity-duration curves resemble those of irritable living tissues with moderate speeds of response to stimulation (with chronaxies of the order of 10 to 30σ). 3. The intensity of the current required for activation, as well as its minimal effective duration for a given intensity, increases rapidly with increase in the concentration of HNO3. 4. The responsiveness of the iron wire to brief currents is low immediately after activation and returns progressively to the original level during the immediately following period, at first rapidly and then slowly, following a time curve resembling the corresponding curve of living tissues during the relative refractory period. 5. Surface-active compounds decrease reversibly, to a degree dependent on concentration, the responsiveness of iron wires to brief currents. 6. Conditions are described under which the iron wire is activated by the break of an already flowing constant current.
Selected Papers from the First International Conference on Microchannels and Minichannels

Microchannels and minichannels have received tremendous attention in the last couple of years. Research is being conducted worldwide in traditional heat transfer laboratories as well as in newly fo...
Comparison of Transaminase Activity in Three Strains of Ergot

It was observed that the degree of transaminase activity was significantly higher in the alkaloid producing Pennisetum strain as compared to the degree of transaminase activity present in the nonalkaloid producing Claviceps purpurea (Fries) Tulasne and Claviceps litoralis Kawatani strains when they were grown in a defined medium as still cultures.
Delayed Diagnosis of Pituitary Tumors

Of 38 patients with presumed or proven pituitary adenomas, 24 first presented with ocular complaints. Of these, ten patients had a physician-caused delay in the formulation of the correct diagnosis. Reasons for the physician-caused delay in diagnosis include inadequate history evaluation, failure to perform adequate testing, provide follow-up examination, and recognize typical signs of pituitary adenomas.
Pestle use and modification by tufted capuchins ( Cebus apella )

We examined the use and modification of pestles by tufted capuchins (Cebus apella). In each of two experiments we presented 18 subjects with an apparatus that held sugarcane along with materials that the animals could use as tools. In Experiment 1 we presented the subjects with sticks, and in Experiment 2 we presented them with sticks, stones, paper towels, and food biscuits. Seven subjects used sticks as pestles to break down fiber to and squeeze sap from sugarcane in Experiment 1. Five of them modified sticks for this purpose. In Experiment 2, 10 animals used pestles and sponges, combined tools, and used pestles to mix together different kinds of food. These results provide further evidence of functional convergence for the use and modification of tools byCebus andPan and are consistent with the view that extractive foraging is associated with the tool-using and toolmaking behavior of primates.
Isotopic ecology of deer bones

Abstract The carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of CO 2 evolved from the apatite fraction of bones from freshly killed deer, and the carbon isotopic composition of bone collagen is controlled by environmental factors. Deer from high latitudes have δ 13 C CO 2 values of about −15‰ relative to PDB and δ 18 O CO 2 values of about −3‰. A fairly constant difference (Δ) of about 8‰ exists between δ 13 C collagen and δ 13 C CO 2 , and the bones all contain about 3.4 wt.% CO 2 . Deer from more arid areas are systematically enriched in both 13 C and 18 O, but Δ values and the amount of CO 2 in the bones are unaffected. Most Pleistocene deer bones we have analyzed have isotopic compositions inconsistent with recent kills despite the fact that the weight % CO 2 in the bone (after leaching with acetic acid to remove calcite) and X-ray diffraction data are unchanged. In most cases the CO 2 derived from apatite is unsuitable for paleoecologic or 14 C age determinations, and in several cases the δ 13 C of collagen appears to have been altered as well.
Members leaving groups: theoretical and practical considerations

This article examines the process of leave-taking (termination) in terms of the social goals and remedial and reciprocal models of group work. A typology of termination, consisting of planned and u...
Interferon regulatory factor-1 is inducible by prolactin, interleukin-2 and concanavalin A in T cells.

Abstract Interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) gene expression is rapidly upregulated in the prolactin (PRL)-activated Nb2 rat T lymphoma cell line. To further elucidate its role as a T cell activation molecule, IRF-1 gene expression in response to various T cell stimuli was examined. In Nb2 T cells, PRL induced two peaks of IRF-1 gene expression: a rapid, transient peak at 1 h and a sustained peak at 12 h. PRL subsequently induced interferon-γ (IFN-γ) gene expression at 3–6 h. However, the early induction of IRF-1 and IFN-γ does not appear to be interdependent. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) also induced IRF-1 gene expression in Nb2 T cells but only one broad peak at 10 h was observed. In primary mouse splenocytes, concanavalin A induced rapid and transient expression of the IRF-1 gene; maximal expression occurred by 6 h, and then returned to basal levels by 12–15 h. These results provide additional evidence for the importance of IRF-1 in T cell activation.
Torsional waves on the sun and the activity cycle

The detailed relation of the sun's torsional oscillation velocity feature to magnetic activity indicates (1) that these motions represent a fundamental oscillation within the sun which is responsible for the solar activity cycle, and (2) that they are not a natural consequence of an alpha-omega dynamo. It is demonstrated that a solar torsional oscillation with wave number 1/hemisphere exists.
Guest editorial: 14th International Meshing Roundtable Special Issue

The 14th International Meshing Roundtable was held in San Diego, California in September of 2005. In addition to contributed papers, the conference also included keynote and invited speakers, short courses, and a poster session. The conference continues to be an international focus point for researchers and developers in the mesh generation field. The committee of the 14th International Meshing Roundtable is pleased to publish this special edition of Engineering with Computers. This edition includes papers selected by the committee from among the 30 papers presented at the conference. These papers discuss various aspects of mesh generation, from adaptive mesh refinement, provably good tetrahedral meshes, and automatic hexahedral meshing; to geometric challenges, such as detecting thin sections, locating edge features, and geometry-based mesh sizing. We would like to thank the many contributors to the continued success of the conference, and we hope the reader will enjoy these selections. Committee of the 14th International Meshing Roundtable.
Pleomorphic adenoma arising in an incidental midline isthmic thyroid nodule: a case report and review of the literature

Ectopic salivary gland tissue is common in the head and neck, usually associated with lymph nodes in lateral areas. It is rarely noted in the thyroid gland. Here we report the first case of a pleomorphic adenoma presenting as a midline nodule in the isthmus of thyroid in a 66-year-old man. We propose the possibility of origin in ectopic salivary gland tissue that may have aberrantly migrated with the median anlage from the foramen cecum in the base of the tongue during embryogenesis.
The Impact of Temporal Factors on Mobility Patterns

Many applications such as management of wireless networks and the spread of mobile or biological viruses depend on modeling and predicting human mobility. However, widespread wireless localization technology, such as pervasive cell-tower/GPS location estimation, has only been available for the last few years, thus many factors that impact human mobility patterns remain under-researched. In this paper, we investigate how temporal factors impact mobility characteristics and location prediction. Our analysis of 180 mobile phone location traces show that people move farther distances, choose more unpredictable locations to visit, and have a more scattered spatial probability distribution for their location on the weekends compared to week days, or at after-work hours compared to work hours. We also analyzed location traces for a month and divided days and hours into groups for each user to obtain probability distribution of their places for each group of time intervals, and observed major improvement in future 'time-based' predictions of their location.
Structured curricula and curriculum development in ophthalmology residency

There has been a shift in graduate medical education (GME) from the traditional "apprenticeship" model to a more curriculum-based and competency driven model. Reflecting a global trend towards residency education reform, the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) introduced a resident and specialist curriculum and several live educational programs to promote standardization and more effective GME and continuing professional training. Implementation of these educational innovations will require efforts by local educator champions; modification and customization of teaching and assessing tools to the local learning environment; alignment of the implementation blueprint with available resources; and creation of accountability and sustainability mechanisms to insure long-term viability of the educational reforms. An ultimate goal of the ICO curriculum is to allow real world testing and modification so that the ideas generated in one part of the world might be applicable and generalizable in other areas. We aim to describe the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies in the United States (US) and ICO curriculum, as well as to provide a step-by-step plan for implementation of an ophthalmology residency curriculum.
Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Nursing Practice as Complementary Degrees

The introduction of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) has raised serious concerns about the discipline's continuing ability to build its body of knowledge at an appropriate rate. After noting the various concerns that have been raised that the DNP siphons off prospective doctor of philosophy (PhD) students and compromises the standing of schools of nursing in universities, the distinct but complementary roles of nurses with the two preparations are described. Rather than worry about the DNP distracting from the PhD, the argument is made that these two degrees support one another and together can help to advance the creation and translation of knowledge into the practice of the discipline. Similar discussions about the distinction between practice and research in the field of education are noted.
"Malignant" hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: identification of a subgroup of families with unusually frequent premature death.

Eight families were identified in which premature cardiac death due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurred with unusual frequency. A total of 69 first degree relatives in the eight families were studied; 41 relatives had evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and 31 (75 per cent) died of their heart disease. Eighteen of these 31 patients were less than 25 years of age at the time of death. Death was sudden and unexpected in 23 of the 31 patients; in 15 of these 23 patients sudden death was the initial manifestation of cardiac disease. The remaining eight patients (seven were from two families) died after a chronic cardiac illness characterized by congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation or thromboembolic events. Hence, premature cardiac death occurs frequently in certain families with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Such deaths are usually sudden, often occur in previously asymptomatic subjects and are common in children and young adults. These findings suggest that some families may manifest an unusually virulent expression of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Although this study cannot establish the precise prevalence with which "malignant" hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs, such families appear to be uncommon.
The Economics of Food Reserve Systems

For many years the United States had farm programs that caused food and feed grain surpluses. The decade of the 1950s was a period of large grain stock buildup. In the early 1960s, these programs were changed to discourage further buildups and to facilitate drawdowns. After major exporting countries expanded output sharply in the late 1960s, however, stocks expanded again. Then production shortfalls in 1972 and again in 1974, particularly in the United States, depleted stocks to the lowest level in twenty-two years. Critically low stock levels, resultant high food prices, and uncertainty about food supplies have raised issues: should future programs have accumulation and maintenance of specific stock levels as explicit objectives and, if so, under what condition and by whom? Such issues have been treated in a number of
Optimal manufacturing batch size with rework process at a single-stage production system

Determining an optimal batch quantity in a production system that produces defective items has been the primary focus recently among the researchers. While most of the work has been reported to explore the traditional optimal inventory level in ideal cases, little appears to have been done with rework option. In this paper, models have been developed to determine the optimum batch quantity in a single-stage system in which rework is done under two different operational policies to minimize the total system cost. The first policy deals with rework being completed within the same cycle. The second policy deals with the rework being done after N cycles causing less than the desired quantity of good products in each cycle. The models have been validated with illustrating numerical examples and the sensitivity of optimal batch size and total system cost with respect to the defective proportion have also been performed.
Aspects of Lipid Synthesis Unique to Brown Fat

Chemical thermogenesis, necessary for extra-uterine adaptation, is partly mediated through oxidation of fatty acids in brown fat, requiring a rapid rate of trigly-ceride turnover. Previous studies from our laboratory indicated that brown fat contains glycerokinase, making it possible for brown fat to reutilize glycerol. Tri-glyceride synthesis in brown fat, thus, may not be completely dependent on glucose transport. The role of glycerol in triglyceride synthesis in brown fat has been further studied, using both in vitro and in vivo techniques. Explants of brown fat were incubated for periods up to 3 days, with either glucose or glycerol as substrate. Insulin was added at varying times, as were tracer quantities of acetate C14, glucose C14 or glycerol C14. Glycerol promoted a greater incorporation of acetate C14 into mono-, di- and triglycerides of brown fat thatn did glucose. Incorporation of glycerol C14 and glucose C14 into lipids of brown fat were both increased by insulin. IP injection of glycerol-2-H3 into newborn rats was followed by much greater incorporation into lipids of brown as compared to white fat. Net triglyceride synthesis was not demonstrable in vitro regardless of substrate or insulin, suggesting marked enhancement of triglyceride turnover by insulin. Increased turnover rate is also indicated by greater conversion of acetate C14 to C14O2 in the presence of insulin. These results suggest the following: (1) Glycerol can be utilized by brown fat as substrate for lipid synthesis; (2) transport of glycerol in brown fat is subject to regulation by insulin; and (3) the anti-lipolytic effect of insulin is not demonstrable in the in vitro system used in these studies.
Inducing fair trade out of hegemonic trade

This paper provides a model of the transition from hegemonic trade to contemporary (or fair) trade. Hegemonic trade is an instance of the two player game called Bully (Poundstone 1992) and Called Bluff (Snyder and Diesing 1977); contemporary trade is an instance of Prisoner's Dilemma (Krugman and Obstfeld 1991). In this paper, I show that a nation under the thumb of a hegemon, called the conciliatory nation, can induce fair trade. Further, I show that to induce fair trade, the conciliatory nation must not be timied.
Longshore Current and Sediment Transport on Beaches

A numerical model based on the time-averaged continuity, cross-shore momentum, longshore momentum, and energy equations is developed to predict the cross-shore variations of the mean and standard deviation of the free surface elevation and depth-averaged cross-shore and longshore velocities under obliquely incident irregular breaking waves. The suspended sediment volume per unit horizontal area is estimated using the computed energy dissipation rates due to wave breaking and bottom friction. The longshore suspended sediment transport rate is estimated as the product of the longshore current and suspended sediment volume. The developed model is compared with limited field and laboratory data. The calibrated model is in fair agreement with the data. The longshore suspended sediment transport rate is shown to be approximately proportional to the square of the longshore current. The developed model appears promising but will need to be evaluated using extensive data sets.
Laying out and visualizing large trees using a hyperbolic space

We present a new focus+context (fisheye) scheme for visualizing and manipulating large hierarchies. The essence of our approach is to lay out the hierarchy uniformly on the hyperbolic plane and map this plane onto a circular display region. The projection onto the disk provides a natural mechanism for assigning more space to a portion of the hierarchy while still embedding it in a much larger context. Change of focus is accomplished by translating the structure on the hyperbolic plane, which allows a smooth transition without compromising the presentation of the context.
Distances forbidden by two-colorings of Q 3 and A n

Abstract For X= Q 3 or A n (where A n is the set of points in Q n whose coordinates have odd denominators), we characterize all sets of distances D ⊂ R + with the following property: there exists some two-coloring of X such that, for all d ϵ D , no two points in X that are a distance d apart are the same color. We also find all numbers d 0 ϵ R + such that all sets of distances D ⊂ R + with this property retain the property under multiplication or division by d 0 .
Noise-Enhanced Eversion Force Sense in Ankles With or Without Functional Instability

Context: Force sense impairments are associated with functional ankle instability. Stochastic resonance stimulation (SRS) may have implications for correcting these force sense deficits. Objective...
Toward a theoretical model of dispositional influences on transfer of learning: A test of a structural model

This study explores the hypothesized relationship between dimensions of the Five Factor model of personality, goal orientation, self-efficacy, and intent to transfer training on the job. This study attempts to model the complex relationship between these characteristics and intent to transfer using structural equation modeling approach. A set of propositions is presented for each individual variable and its relationship to intent to transfer. Finally, a model of relationships is tested and the results are discussed. The findings revealed that conscientiousness was the only dispositional variable that had a significant relationship to intent to transfer. In addition, control variables, learner readiness and motivation to transfer, were significant in the model. The results suggest that dispositions may not be as important in the transfer system as other constructs like situational, motivational, and ability variables. Recommendations for further research and testing of the model are discussed.
Infant origins of childhood asthma associated with specific molds

Background The specific cause or causes of asthma development must be identified to prevent this disease. Objective Our hypothesis was that specific mold exposures are associated with childhood asthma development. Methods Infants were identified from birth certificates. Dust samples were collected from 289 homes when the infants were 8 months of age. Samples were analyzed for concentrations of 36 molds that comprise the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) and endotoxin, house dust mite, cat, dog, and cockroach allergens. Children were evaluated at age 7 years for asthma based on reported symptoms and objective measures of lung function. Host, environmental exposure, and home characteristics evaluated included a history of parental asthma, race, sex, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms, season of birth, family income, cigarette smoke exposure, air conditioning, use of a dehumidifier, presence of carpeting, age of home, and visible mold at age 1 year and child's positive skin prick test response to aeroallergens and molds at age 7 years. Results Asthma was diagnosed in 24% of the children at age 7 years. A statistically significant increase in asthma risk at age 7 years was associated with high ERMI values in the child's home in infancy (adjusted relative risk for a 10-unit increase in ERMI value, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.5-2.2). The summation of levels of 3 mold species, Aspergillus ochraceus , Aspergillus unguis , and Penicillium variabile , was significantly associated with asthma (adjusted relative risk, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.8-2.7). Conclusion In this birth cohort study exposure during infancy to 3 mold species common to water-damaged buildings was associated with childhood asthma at age 7 years.
An extreme and life-threatening case of recurrent D-lactate encephalopathy

D-lactic acidosis has been reported in patients after a variety of gastrointestinal surgeries, particularly jejunoileal bypass. An insufficient length of small intestine to metabolize ingested carbohydrates leads to an abnormal carbohydrate load in the colon. These carbohydrates are metabolized by colonic anaerobes (especially Lactobacillus species) into the dextrorotary isomer of lactate. Unlike its levorotary counterpart, D-lactate has neurotoxic effects and patients suffering from a significant D-lactate burden may suffer encephalopathic symptoms. These symptoms are usually mild and self-limiting in patients with normal renal function. We present here a case of D-lactic acidosis in a patient with end-stage renal disease who developed recurrent and life-threatening respiratory failure due to severe D-lactic acid encephalopathy. To our knowledge, no previously reported case has been sufficiently severe to necessitate endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. An array of treatments including hemodialysis effected a prompt reversal of sensorium to baseline. We describe the potential treatments for D-lactic acidosis, which can be viewed as a paradigm of substrate, catalyst and pathologic product and review reports of their relative efficacy.
Rounding Up Spinsters: Gender Chaos and Unmarried Women in Colonial Asante

Between 1929 and 1932 in a number of villages and towns throughout rural Asante, chiefs were ordering the arrest of all women who were over the age of fifteen and not married. A woman was detained until she spoke the name of a man whom she would agree to marry and the man in question paid a release fee. If the man refused, he too was imprisoned or fined up to £5. If he agreed, he paid a small marriage fee to the woman's parents and one bottle of gin. Based on the correspondence of colonial officials, customary court records and the life histories and reminiscences of women who were among the spinsters caught, this article explores gender and social change in colonial Asante by dissecting and contextualizing the round-up of unmarried women. It seeks to understand this unusual episode in direct state intervention into the negotiating of marriage and non-marriage as part of the general chaos in gender relations that shook Asante in the years between the two World Wars. This chaos, often articulated in the language of moral crisis was, more than anything, about shifting power relationships. It was chaos engendered by cash and cocoa, by trade and transformation. From 1921 to 1935, with cocoa well-established in many parts of Asante, women's roles in the cash economy were changing and diversifying. Many wives were making the move from being the most common form of exploitable labour during the initial introduction of cocoa to themselves exploiting new openings for economic autonomy. That women were beginning to negotiate their own spaces within the colonial economy precipitated a profound crisis in conjugal obligations in Asante - a crisis requiring drastic measures. The rounding up of unmarried women was one of several weapons used by Asante's chiefs in the struggle to reassert control over women's productive and reproductive labour.
Alcohol and Marijuana Use among High School and College Students in Phoenix, Arizona: A Test of Kandel's Socialization Theory

Much of the existing research in the area of adolescent drug use is either atheoretical or poorly developed. While there is no widely accepted theory to account for an individual's decision to become involved in drugs, a number of relevant, theoretical frameworks have been developed. These include Kandel's socialization framework, based on her earlier work on selective influences of family and peers. The present research evaluates Kandel's socialization framework, and the findings tend to confirm many of her basic assumptions. The ramifications of this discovery are discussed in relation to the alienation/anomie perspective.
Research achievements and adoption of no-till, dryland cropping in the semi-arid U.S. Great Plains

Abstract The Great Plains region of the United States is an area of widespread dryland crop production, with wheat being the dominant crop. Precipitation in the region ranges from 300 to 500 mm annually, with the majority of precipitation falling during hot summer months. The prevailing cropping system is a two-year rotation of wheat and summer fallow. The adoption of no-till practices has resulted in greater precipitation storage and use efficiency, which has led to greater cropping intensity, higher productivity, more diverse crop rotations, and improvements in soil properties. In Colorado, for example, a no-till rotation of winter wheat–maize–fallow increased total annualized grain yield by 75% compared to winter wheat–summer fallow. Soil erosion was reduced to just 25% of that from a conventional tillage wheat–summer fallow system. The primary challenge with reducing fallow frequency is the increase in yield variability and risk of crop failure. Improved approaches for choosing crop or fallow are being developed based on soil water content and forecasted weather. Development of alternative crops, crop rotations, and integrated livestock systems that are sustainable from both economic and ecological perspectives is an on-going effort. Other research is addressing adaptation of cropping practices to climate change and the potential for dryland biomass crop production for the developing biofuel industry.
Synonymous modification results in high-fidelity gene expression of repetitive protein and nucleotide sequences

Repetitive nucleotide or amino acid sequences areoften engineered into probes and biosensors to achieve functional readouts and robust signal amplification. However, these repeated sequences are notoriously prone to aberrant deletion and degradation, impacting the ability to correctly detect and interpret biological functions. Here, we introduce a facile and generalizable approach to solve this often unappreciated problem by modifying the nucleotide sequences of the target mRNA to make them nonrepetitive but still functional (“synonymous”). We first demonstrated the procedure by designing a cassette of synonymous MS2 RNA motifs and tandem coat proteins for RNA imagingand showed a dramaticimprovement insignal and reproducibility in single-RNA detection in live cells. The sameapproachwasextendedtoenhancingthestabilityofengineeredfluorescentbiosensorscontainingafluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair of fluorescent proteins on which a great majority of systems thus far in the field are based. Using the synonymous modification to FRET biosensors, we achieved correct expression of full-length sensors, eliminating the aberrant truncation products that often were assumed to be due to nonspecific proteolytic cleavages. Importantly, the biological interpretations of the sensor are significantly different when a correct, full-length biosensor is expressed. Thus, we show here a useful and generally applicable method to maintain the integrity of expressed genes, critical for the correct interpretation of probe readouts.
Photonic-crystal-fiber-based femtosecond parametric oscillator with 200 nm tunability around 1/spl mu/m

Pulses as short as /spl sim/460 fs, tuning range as wide as /spl sim/200 nm around 1/spl mu/m have been achieved from a photonic-crystal-fiber-based parametric oscillator by using the modulation instability gain in normal dispersion regime.
IQ interpretation for children with flat and variable test profiles

Despite suggestions that IQ reflects an underlying ability trait, a direct comparison of typical and atypical populations using commonality analysis has not been undertaken. In this study, commonality analysis was used to examine unique and common factor predictors of Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) for typical children with variable (n=707) and flat profiles (n=166) based on significant index score variability. FSIQ was composed of primarily shared variance for the flat profile group, but unique variance for the variable profile group and the Learning-Disabled (LD) and Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) samples, suggesting that FSIQ does not adequately represent global intellectual functioning for either typical children with significant profile variability or children with disabilities.
Functional connectivity and alterations in baseline brain state in humans

This work examines the influence of changes in baseline activity on the intrinsic functional connectivity fMRI (fc-fMRI) in humans. Baseline brain activity was altered by inducing anesthesia (sevoflurane end-tidal concentration 1%) in human volunteers and fc-fMRI maps between the pre-anesthetized and anesthetized conditions were compared across different brain networks. We particularly focused on low-level sensory areas (primary somatosensory, visual, and auditory cortices), the thalamus, and pain (insula), memory (hippocampus) circuits, and the default mode network (DMN), the latter three to examine higher-order brain regions. The results indicate that, while fc-fMRI patterns did not significantly differ (p<0.005; 20-voxel cluster threshold) in sensory cortex and in the DMN between the pre- and anesthetized conditions, fc-fMRI in high-order cognitive regions (i.e. memory and pain circuits) was significantly altered by anesthesia. These findings provide further evidence that fc-fMRI reflects intrinsic brain properties, while also demonstrating that 0.5 MAC sevoflurane anesthesia preferentially modulates higher-order connections.
Phylogenetic distribution of the novel avian endogenous provirus family EAV-0.

Abstract A new family of related endogenous proviruses, existing at 50 to 100 copies per haploid genome and distinguishable by remarkably short long terminal repeats, has been described for domestic chickens (Gallus gallus subsp domesticus). In this communication, by using Southern blot analysis and probes derived from both internal viral sequences and locus-specific, cellular flanking sequences, we studied the genetic distribution of this family of moderately repetitive avian endogenous retroviruses within the genomes of four Gallus species. Eight inbred lines of domestic chickens, the evolutionary progenitor to the domestic chicken (red jungle fowl), and two more distantly related species (grey and green jungle fowl) were studied. All Gallus species harbored this class of elements, although the different lines of domestic chickens and different species of jungle fowl bore distinguishable complements of the proviral loci. Jungle fowl appeared to have fewer copies than domestic chickens. For three randomly isolated proviral loci, domestic chickens (G. gallus subsp. domesticus) and red jungle fowl (G. gallus subsp. gallus) showed only a proviral state, whereas the most primitive and divergent of the jungle fowl, the green jungle fowl (G. varius), consistently demonstrated only preintegration states or disparate alleles. The presence of this family in all Gallus species and of related sequences in other genera suggests that a primordial founding integration event occurred prior to the evolutionary separation of Gallus species and possibly related genera. Additionally, at least one proviral locus has been acquired subsequent to speciation, indicating that this family was actively infectious after the primary founding event. This conserved, repetitive proviral family appears to represent the vestigial remnant of an avian retrovirus class related to and evolutionarily more ancient than the Rous-associated virus-0 family of avian endogenous retroviruses.
Intakes of fish and marine fatty acids and the risks of cancers of the breast and prostate and of other hormone-related cancers: a review of the epidemiologic evidence

Marine fatty acids, particularly the long-chain eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, have been consistently shown to inhibit the proliferation of breast and prostate cancer cell lines in vitro and to reduce the risk and progression of these tumors in animal experiments. However, whether a high consumption of marine fatty acids can reduce the risk of these cancers or other hormone-dependent cancers in human populations is unclear. Focusing primarily on the results of cohort and case-control studies, we reviewed the current epidemiologic literature on the intake of fish and marine fatty acids in relation to the major hormone-dependent cancers. Despite the many epidemiologic studies that have been published, the evidence from those studies remains unclear. Most of the studies did not show an association between fish consumption or marine fatty acid intake and the risk of hormone-related cancers. Future epidemiologic studies will probably benefit from the assessment of specific fatty acids in the diet, including eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, and of the ratio of these to n-6 fatty acids, dietary constituents that have not been examined individually very often.