cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Banking and Finance in Antebellum Louisiana: Their Influence on the Course of Economic Development

The thesis is an economic study of Louisiana's banking and financial system from the chartering of the first bank in 1804 to the Civil War. Primary attention is focused on the chartered banks, and on the years after the mid 1820's. This emphasis results in part from the limitations of available evidence but also from a belief that the chartered bank was the most important financial institution and that the major development of the Louisiana economy occurred after 1820. The study moves from an examination of the internal structure of the banking system itself to its setting in the state and worldwide financial system, its relations to government policy, and finally to the role of the financial system in the fluctuations and developmental patterns in the larger economy. In terms of total banking capital, antebellum Louisiana ranked fourth behind New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania; her peak of relative importance came in 1840, when she had 12 per cent of the nation's total banking capital. The entire banking system was centered in New Orleans and was concentrated in a small number of large chartered banks. New Orleans merchants and business leaders dominated the banks, although sugar or cotton planters played a major role in some of them. Traditionally Louisiana's banks have been divided into several typesordinary commercial banks, property banks which specialized in rural and urban mortgages, and improvement banks which financed the construction of canals, railroads, waterworks, street lighting, or hotels. To these three types of the 1830's must be added the unchartered private banks and the later "free" banks of the 1850's, some of which succeeded the improvement banks in helping to finance railroad construction. Contrary to these traditional categories, however, all types of banks actually engaged primarily in commercial lending. Aggregate balance-sheet data reveal a generally conservative pattern of banking, especially after the crisis of 1837-1843, with increasingly liquid assets and exceptionally high reserve ratios (commonly 40 per cent) behind both notes and deposits. Rural Louisiana relied for its banking facilities and for a portion of its supply of credit upon branches of the New Orleans banks. Most widespread in the 1830's and contracted thereafter, these branches served mainly the areas of commercialized plantation agriculture. The New Orleans bankers resisted legislative pressures for unprofitable smalltown branches, balancing the gains from branch profits and from more extensive note circulation against the risks of illiquid rural loan portfolios.
Acute repair of crushed guinea pig spinal cord by polyethylene glycol.

Acute repair of crushed guinea pig spinal cord by polyethylene glycol. We have studied the responses of adult guinea pig spinal cord white matter to a standardized compression within a sucrose gap ...
Microfocus X-ray mapping of fatigue processes in single-crystal copper

A series of fatigue tests in tension were performed on symmetrically notched, single-crystal, copper specimens. A microfocus X-ray mapping technique is described and used to map the distortion in the crystal after various cycles of stressing. Two stages in the fatigue process were monitored simultaneously: (1) the progress of a general type of distortion, and (2) the breaking up of the crystal into small crystallites of almost identical orientation. The observations are related to dislocation formation and pileup.
Underemployment: social fact or socially constructed reality?

This paper contrasts rural underemployment as a social fact with rural underemployment as a socially constructed reality. Using both survey data and in-depth interviews with persistently underemployed rural residents, we were able to determine whether we were imposing our definition of reality on the interviewees. The data from the interviews largely demonstrated a correspondence between our objective definition of reality as defined by measures of underemployment and the informants' subjective interpretation of their employment situation. This procedure demonstrated that the underemployed had created their own subjective reality, which had become an objective reality : a socially created fact. A few cases, however, raised concerns about the extent to which that reality was widely shared because the interviewees' definitions did not correspond to our objective definitions or did not make sense in their own situations. Other interviewees' comments raised significant questions about the applicability of formal labor market concepts and measures, which tend to overlook the unique characteristics of rural labor markets such as uncompensated labor, self-employment, and multiple job holding. Thus the in-depth interviews provided conceptual checks on the extent to which we can impose our definitions of the situation on respondents' subjective reality
Management of Adult Acute Epiglottitis by Tracheal Intubation

We present a case of adult acute epiglottitis that was successfully managed by endotracheal intubation without the need for subsequent tracheostomy.
Lactate: A major product of glutamine metabolism by human diploid fibroblasts

Human diploid fibroblasts metabolize up to 13% of the glutamine in tissue culture medium to lactate. Four microCi of glutamine-U-14C were added to media containing 5 mM or 65 microM glucose or medium containing no added glucose, but supplemented with purine and pyrimidine nucleosides (HGTU). Aliquots of the media were taken at daily intervals and were assayed for glucose, lactate, pyruvate, malate, citrate, aspartate, glutamine, and glutamate. The label incorporation into these compounds was determined, except for glutamine and glucose. The distribution of label from glutamine-U14C in 5 mM glucose medium by day 4 was lactate (10.2%), glutamate (15.2%), citrate (1.9%), pyruvate (2.0%), malate (1.1%), and aspartate (< 0.1%). The accumulation of label in lactate and glutamate occurred continuously during the growth cycle. Malate, citrate, and aspartate accumulation occurred primarily in confluent cultures. The label in aspartate was seen only in stationary phase cells or when the glucose concentration was decreased to 65 microM or less; net aspartate accumulation was increased twofold in low glucose media. These data demonstrate an actively functioning pathway for the conversion of 4-carbon TCA-cycle intermediates to 3-carbon glycolytic intermediates in human diploid fibroblasts.
The zitterbewegung interpretation of quantum mechanics

Thezitterbewegung is a local circulatory motion of the electron presumed to be the basis of the electron spin and magnetic moment. A reformulation of the Dirac theory shows that thezitterbewegung need not be attributed to interference between positive and negative energy states as originally proposed by Schroedinger. Rather, it provides a physical interpretation for the complex phase factor in the Dirac wave function generally. Moreover, it extends to a coherent physical interpretation of the entire Dirac theory, and it implies azitterbewegung interpretation for the Schroedinger theory as well.
Flux weighted efficiency calibration of The University of Texas at Austin PGAA Facility

Work was conducted on The University of Texas at Austin Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis Facility located on Beam Port 3 of the 1.1 MW Triga reactor at the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory. This effort required that the flux weighted detector efficiency be determined. Measurements of the neutron beam intensity as a function of spatial position over the target were conducted. In addition, the point-wise detector efficiency was mapped over the area where the neutron beam hits the sample. The flux-weighted efficiency was then calculated to match the sample geometry. This average efficiency was then utilized for quantitative analysis of the prompt gamma-ray spectra.
Changes in surface chemistry of an IrW mixed metal coated cathode during activation

Abstract A comparative study has been made between a mixed metal (60% Ir-40%W) coated cathode and a “B” cathode during activation and also in their respective steady states. The rate limiting factor in the activation of the coated cathode is the oxidation of the initial Ba type surface to a BaO type surface. Since on the “B” cathode Ba and O emerge together, its activation is faster than the coated cathode. In the steady state of operation, both cathodes exhibit a surface near BaO stoichiometry which is the optimum composition for the minimum work function. This work function is about 0.2 eV lower on the coated cathode than on the “B” cathode. An accelerated life test at 1575 K indicated a gradual decrease of the Ir concentration in the coating.
Density Dependence and Vulnerability of Fish to Entrapment by Offshore-Sited Cooling-Water Intakes

Simultaneous measurements of the offshore fish density and inplant fish entrapment were made during eight surveys at four electric-generating stations along the Southern California coastline in 1979. Hourly estimates of the fish biomass in the vicinity of the cooling-water intake sites with state-of-the-art precision were made possible with hydroacoustic techniques. Synchronous hourly measurements of fish entrapment were made in order to describe the density dependence of fish entrapment. An entrapment vulnerability statistic, the ratio of the weight (kg) of fish entrapped in the plant ( E ) to the weight (kg) of fish offshore in the vicinity of the intake ( B ), i.e., E/B , was employed to describe the effect of water transparency, the velocity-cap and volume of flow on the entrapment of fish.
FACILITATION BY CLONIDINE OF PURINE RELEASE INDUCED BY HIGH KC1 FROM THE RABBIT PULMONARY ARTERY

Abstract 1 The effect of clonidine on the 3H-purine release evoked by KCl or (-)-adrenaline was assessed in the superfused helical strip of the rabbit pulmonary artery pretreated with [3H]-adenosine. 2 Clonidine (3 x 10(-5) M to 10(-4) M) significantly enhanced the 3H-purine efflux evoked by 50 mM KCl but not by 3 x 10(-6) M) (-)-adrenaline. 3 This facilitatory effect of clonidine on the KCl-induced purine release was unaltered by phentolamine 3 x 10(-6) M. It was absent in arterial segments denervated with 6-hydroxydopamine 30 microgram/ml. 4 A sustained contractile response was evoked by clonidine 3 x 10(-5) M without an increase in the 3H-purine efflux. This was significantly reduced by phentolamine 3 x 10(-6) M, but not by yohimbine 10(-5) M or by denervation with 6-hydroxydopamine. 5 The uptake of [3H]-adenosine into the segments was not inhibited by clonidine 3 x 10(-5) M. 6 It is suggested that the facilitation by clonidine of the KCl-induced purine release is due to prevention of presynaptic autoinhibition of purine release from adrenergic nerves, by an antiadenosine action of the drug.
Changes in osteonectin distribution and levels are associated with mineralization of the chicken tibial growth cartilage.

Osteonectin is a calcium-binding matrix protein thought to play a role in regulating calcium distribution in a variety of biologic processes. To examine its role in endochondral bone formation, we examined the distribution of the protein during mineralization of the chicken tibial growth cartilage, using immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy. The synthesis of osteonectin was also determined in chondrocyte populations isolated from premineralizing and mineralizing regions of growth cartilage and assayed in short-term culture. The resuls show that a very low level of osteonectin is detectable in the resting, proliferating, and early hypertrophic zones of growth cartilage; in these zones, osteonectin is largely cell-associated. In contrast, a large amount of osteonectin is present in the mineralizing zone where it is associated with the matrix. Biosynthetic data from short-term culture experiments indicate, however, that osteonectin is synthesized and secreted by chondrocytes from both premineralizing and mineralizing zones. As indicated by immunoprecipitation, Northern hybridization,in vitro translation of hybrid-selected messenger RNA (mRNA), and electrophoretic analysis, osteonectin synthesized by chondrocytes of the premineralizing zones is not obviously different in structure from that synthesized by chondrocytes of the mineralizing zone. We conclude that osteonectin is a product of chondrocytes in each zone of growth cartilage but accumulates only in the mineralizing zone. The high affinity of the protein for calcium could favor its retention in calcifying matrix.
Preparation of silicon carbide–silicon nitride fibers by the controlled pyrolysis of polycarbosilazane precursors

The development of silicon carbide-silicon nitride fibers (SiC-Si3N4) by the pyrolysis of polycarbosilazane precursors is reviewed. Precursor resin, which was prepared by heating tris(N-methylamino)methylsilane or tris(N-methylamino)phenylsilane to about 520 C, was drawn into fibers from the melt and then made unmeltable by humidity conditioning at 100 C and 95 percent relative humidity. The humidity treated precursor fibers were pyrolyzed to ceramic fibers with good mechanical properties and electrical resistivity. For example, SiC-Si3N4 fibers derived from tris(N-methylamino)methylsilane had a tensile rupture modulus of 29 million psi and electrical resistivity of 6.9 x ten to the 8th power omega-cm, which is ten to the twelfth power times greater than that obtained for graphite fibers.
Actin-based motility is sufficient for bacterial membrane protrusion formation and host cell uptake.

Summary Shigella flexneri replicates in the cytoplasm of host cells, where it nucleates host cell actin filaments at one pole of the bacterial cell to form a ‘comet tail’ that propels the bacterium through the host’s cytoplasm. To determine whether the ability to move by actinbased motility is sufficient for subsequent formation of membrane-bound protrusions and intercellular spread, we conferred the ability to nucleate actin on a heterologous bacterium, Escherichia coli. Previous work has shown that IcsA (VirG), the molecule that is necessary and sufficient for actin nucleation and actin-based motility, is distributed in a unipolar fashion on the surface of S. flexneri. Maintenance of the unipolar distribution of IcsA depends on both the S. flexneri outer membrane protease IcsP (SopA) and the structure of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the outer membrane. We co-expressed IcsA and IcsP in two strains of E. coli that differed in their LPS structures. The E. coli were engineered to invade host cells by expression of invasin from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and to escape the phagosome by incubation in purified listeriolysin O (LLO) from Listeria monocytogenes. All E. coli strains expressing IcsA replicated in host cell cytoplasm and moved by actin-based motility. Actin-based motility alone was sufficient for the formation of membrane protrusions and uptake by recipient host cells. The presence of IcsP and an elaborate LPS structure combined to enhance the ability of E. coli to form protrusions at the same frequency as S. flexneri, quantitatively reconstituting this step in pathogen intercellular spread in a heterologous organism. The frequency of membrane protrusion formation across all strains tested correlates with the efficiency of unidirectional actin-based movement, but not with bacterial speed.
Nucleosome Assembly on CTG Triplet Repeats

Expansion of CTG repeat sequences is associated with several human genetic diseases. We have examined the consequences of CTG repeat expansion for nucleosome assembly and positioning. Short CTG repeats are found within the most favored DNA sequences yet defined for nucleosome assembly. We find that as few as six CTG repeats will facilitate nucleosome assembly to a similar extent as the 50 or more repeats found in disease genes. Thus an increase in nucleosome stability on expansion of existing triplet repeats is unlikely to explain the acquisition of the disease phenotype. However, the CTG repeat sequence is efficiently wrapped around the histone octamer, preferring to associate with histones at the nucleosomal dyad. Thus short segments CTG repeat sequence will facilitate the assembly of a stable positioned nucleosome which might contribute to the expansion phenomenon and the functional organization of chromatin.
Predicting Audience Exposure to Television in Today's Media Environment: An Empirical Integration of Active-Audience and Structural Theories

Scholars have long advocated empirical integration of active-audience and structural theories to best explain audience exposure to television. This study incorporated both uses and gratifications and structural variables in an integrated model of audience exposure. Results indicated that seven statistically significant factors—ritualistic motivations, use of the Internet, audience availability, the cost of multi-channel service, age, instrumental motivations, and gender—combined to explain 30.3% of the variance in audience exposure to television. Findings suggest that no single theoretical construct explains the complexities that determine exposure to television. Future inquiry should continue to seek theoretical and empirical integration as a way to understand and explain media behavior.
Differences in the translation efficiency and mRNA stability mediated by 5'-UTR splice variants of human SP-A1 and SP-A2 genes.

Surfactant protein A (SP-A) plays an important role in host defense, modulation of inflammatory processes, and surfactant-related functions of the lung. The human SP-A (hSP-A) locus consists of two...
Reactive Glia not only Associates with Plaques but also Parallels Tangles in Alzheimer's Disease

Senile plaques are a prominent pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but little is understood about the association of glial cells with plaques or about the dynamics of glial responses through the disease course. We investigated the progression of reactive glial cells and their relationship with AD pathological hallmarks to test whether glial cells are linked only to amyloid deposits or also to tangle deposition, thus integrating both lesions as a marker of disease severity. We conducted a quantitative stereology-based post-mortem study on the temporal neocortex of 15 control subjects without dementia and 91 patients with AD, including measures of amyloid load, neurofibrillary tangles, reactive astrocytes, and activated microglia. We also addressed the progression of glial responses in the vicinity (≤50 μm) of dense-core plaques and tangles. Although the amyloid load reached a plateau early after symptom onset, astrocytosis and microgliosis increased linearly throughout the disease course. Moreover, glial responses correlated positively with tangle burden, whereas astrocytosis correlated negatively with cortical thickness. However, neither correlated with amyloid load. Glial responses increased linearly around existing plaques and in the vicinity of tangles. These results indicate that the progression of astrocytosis and microgliosis diverges from that of amyloid deposition, arguing against a straightforward relationship between glial cells and plaques. They also suggest that reactive glia might contribute to the ongoing neurodegeneration.
Scepticism, Causal Science and ‘The Old Hume’

This paper replies to Peter Millican (Mind, 2009), who argues that Hume denies the possible existence of causal powers which underlie the regularities that we observe in nature. I argue that Hume's own philosophical views on causal power cannot be considered apart from his mitigated skepticism. His account of the origin of the idea of causal power, which traces it to a subjective impression, only leads to what he calls ‘Pyrrhonian scepticism’. He holds that we can only escape such excessive skepticism by way of a natural judgment based on the association of ideas, which forms the basis of what he calls ‘a legitimate ground of Assent’.
Protein cleavage and poxvirus morphogenesis: Tryptic peptide analysis of core precursors accumulated by blocking assembly with rifampicin

Abstract Rifampicin was used to block vaccinia virus assembly and accumulate structural proteins that have not undergone maturational processing. Two of these proteins were purified and shown by tryptic peptide analysis to be higher molecular weight precursors of the major core components. In contrast, rifampicin did not prevent the formation from its precursor of another virion protein located outside the virus core.
Femtosecond Real-Time Probing of Reactions. 24. Time, Velocity, and Orientation Mapping of the Dynamics of Dative Bonding in Bimolecular Electron Transfer Reactions†

In this paper, we give a full account of our studies of the dynamics of electron-transfer reactions. We examine bimolecular reactions of various donors and acceptors and focus on the reversible and dissociative elementary steps probed directly using femtosecond time, speed, and angular resolutions. In particular, we report studies of the bimolecular systems of the following electron donors: diethyl sulfide, p-dioxane, acetone, and benzene. The electron acceptors are iodine and iodine monochloride. The general phenomena of reversible and dissociative electron transfer are found for all systems studied. The dynamics of the dative bonding, from the transition state (TS) to final products, involve two elementary processes with different reaction times, speed and angular distributions. For example, for the diethyl sulfide·iodine system, it is shown that after charge separation, the entire complex is trapped in the TS region and the reversible electron transfer occurs in less than 500 femtosecond (lifetime), followed by the rupture of the I−I bond with the release of the first exterior I-atom. However, the second process of the remaining and trapped (caged) interior I-atom takes 1.15 ps with its speed (500 m/s) being much smaller than the first one (1030 m/s). The initial structure is determined to be a nearly linear configuration of S−I−I (165°), consistent with the ab inito calculations and predictions of the HOMO−LUMO frontier orbitals. The observed time scales and bifurcation of the wave packet, with different speeds, are illustrated on the global potential energy surface with the help of molecular dynamics simulations. The findings on this and the other systems reported here elucidate the mechanism and address the concepts of nonconcertedness, caging, and restricted energy dissipation, which are important to the description of reaction mechanisms in the condensed phase, on surfaces, and in electrochemical studies.
METABOLISM IN DIABETIC COMA PRODUCED BY ALLOXAN

Alloxan given parenterally produces in the rat a state of diabetic coma which is analogous to the severe coma of human diabetes. Such animals, moreover, show a rise in plasma inorganic phosphate and blood sugar. They also show in the liver a decrease in glycogen and in the total acid-soluble phosphates. An increase in liver inorganic phosphate occurs with a concurrent fall in adenosine pyrophosphate and other organo-phosphates. Hence the rise in plasma inorganic phosphate during coma is at least partially due to a loss of liver phosphate. It is probable that this rise in plasma inorganic phosphate results from a breakdown of organo-phosphates which result from the depressed oxidations associated with insulin lack. Insulin, when administered in exceptionally large doses, tends to cause improvement in both the clinical and chemical state of comatose rats.
1 Volt digital logic circuits realized by stress-resilient ALN parallel dual-beam MEMS relays

This paper reports on the first implementation of low-voltage (∼ 1 V pp ) complementary logic elements achieved by body-biasing of novel parallel dual-beam design piezoelectric mechanical relays. By leveraging the mechanical actuation and the nature of these switches we have been able to develop and demonstrate a 2-to-1 multiplexer (mux) based logic design architecture that results in reduced component counts. Low-voltage (1 V pp ), lithographically integrated logic elements such as XOR, OR, AND, Half-Adder, Latch, and a 2-Stage Inverter have been synthesized by using the mux as a building block. This constitutes a step forward in the development of a low energy mechanical computing platform.
Note on a mathematical “theory” of coital frequency in marriage∗

The factual status of such a theory would require a long and complex determination; perhaps some day a few data can be reported by the grandson of the man who began a project to test it-if someone ever begins the project, and if he can get subjects, . . . In any case, since it can safely be assumed that the theory does not assert that its prediction is a physiological necessity, such data would be obsolete by the time they could be reported. Times might have changed. Cross cultural verification might give one some assurance that times are unlikely so to change. If data gathered over a dozen disparate cultures consistently supported the theory, one might begin to have a little real confidence in it. If the theory is mathematically restated, however, it becomes easier to test. Let us take the simplest function that will yield the prediction more colorfully stated above, namely, that the number of coital events in the first year of a marriage exceeds the number of coital events in all succeeding years combined, or:
First passage of a sliding rigid structure on a frictional foundation

The first passage problem for a sliding rigid block on a frictional foundation, subjected to Gaussian white noise through the foundation, is studied. A well-posed boundary value problem is formulated from Markov process theory and solved for the ordinary moments of time to first passage by the finite element method. A range of parameters is studied representing a simple seismic base isolation system. Results of Monte Carlo simulation are given for comparison.
Women in AA: “Sharing Experience, Strength and Hope” The Relational Nature of Spirituality

This article examines how specific practices within Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) assist women to develop an understanding of spirituality that promotes and sustains sobriety. AA's conceptualization of alcoholism as an illness that only a spiritual awakening can conquer seems outdated and irrelevant to many especially with the pharmacological advances that have been made in the addiction recovery field (Sanders, 2006). Using data from a qualitative exploratory study of women's experiences in AA, this paper reports that for some women in the program it is the spirituality learned and experienced through the relationship of sponsorship that has allowed them to achieve sobriety (Sanders, 2006).
The electrocardiogram and the central nervous system

Abstract Abnormalities of ECG wave form occur in some patients with central nervous system lesions. Distinctive electrocardiographic abnormalities associated with central nervous system lesions are prolonged QT intervals, large upright or deeply inverted T waves, bradycardia, and prominent U waves. In some instances deeply inverted T waves occur, similar to those due to acute myocardial infarction. Less striking abnormalities of the ST segments and T waves occur in some cases, and may be misinterpreted as due to ischemic heart disease, drugs, or electrolyte disorders. It is likely that the ECG changes are mediated by abnormalities of sympathetic tone to the heart. A functional change in action potential form as the cause of the ECG findings is supported by the findings of normal hearts at autopsy and by the experimental data showing almost immediate ECG changes during sympathetic stimulation and ablation. Anatomic cardiac lesions, however, have been reported in some patients dying with central nervous system disease and in experimental animals with central nervous system stimulation or induced lesions.
Distribution of neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactive perikarya and processes in the medulla of the cat.

Abstract Neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactive (NPY-LI) perikarya and processes have been identified in the medulla of the cat. NPY-LI perikarya were found in 4 regions; (1) the medial N. of the solitary tract (MNTS), (2) the lateral tegmental field (LTF), (3) the ventrolateral medullary surface (VLMS), and (4) in the spinal trigeminal nucleus. Tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive (TH-LI) neurons were also found in the first 3 regions noted above. NPY-LI and TH-LI neurons had a similar morphology and distribution. NPY-LI and TH-LI neurons were counted in sections from 3 representative levels of the medulla. NPY-LI cells were most numerous in the LTF, especially at the level of the area postrema and more rostrally. The lowest number of NPY-LI cells was seen in the MNTS, particularly at a level caudal to the area postrema. NPY-LI cells were at least 3-fold less numerous than TH-LI cells at all levels of the MNTS, but there was a 27-fold greater number of TH-LI neurons at a level of MNTS caudal to the area postrema. In the LTF, NPY-LI cells were 2- to 5-fold less common than TH-LI cells. Approximately equal numbers of NPY-LI and TH-LI cells were counted in the VLMS at the level of the area postrema and rostrally. These data indicate that the majority of TH-LI cells in the MNTS of the cat probably do not contain NPY as a co-transmitter. Co-localization of NPY in significant numbers of TH-LI neurons of the LTF and VLMS is suggested by the similarity in distribution and morphology of these neurons, but remains to be established.
This IS NOT Acceptable

Students in introductory courses often question the “system” concerning testing and assessment. The appropriateness of these concerns is discussed, as are some of the traditions in large-enrollment courses in chemistry education.
The Washington Letters

This article places in context and transcribes two original letters of George Washington. The first is a military order, of June 20, 1777, from headquarters at Middle Brook [New Jersey], directed to Brigadier Generals McDougall and Glover.Â The second contains certificates from from Washington and Lafayette concerning the Marquis de Vienne, who fought in the American army and requested a leave from the war. It is dated September 29, 1778 and sent to The President of the Congress.
Missing boundary conditions of electromagnetics

The well known boundary conditions describing the behaviour of the electric and magnetic fields across a surface distribution of electric and magnetic currents are generalised to cover the case where these currents have vector components normal to the surface. This generalisation is helpful in solving Green's function problems of electromagnetics.
Metadata Standards and Applications

Digital versions of the library are proliferating as information becomes ever more electronic. Traditional methods of library cataloging are inadequate to fully describe digital objects in this new dynamic environment. Thus, new standards of metadata are being devised to provide access for objects in digital libraries. These new standards extend beyond mere description; there is also a need to include other metadata functions that provide administrative, access, preservation, and structural information. This preconference provided an overview of newer metadata formats, as well as current trends in the field, and encouraged librarians to engage with their information technology partners to ensure optimal use and development of digital libraries.
Expression of calbindin-D28K mRNA as a function of altered serum calcium and phosphorus levels in vitamin D-replete chick intestine.

Abstract The availability of specific cDNA probes to the chick intestinal calbindin-D28K (CaBP) mRNA has allowed us to assess the regulation of this mRNA in response to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)3D3) administration. It has previously been demonstrated that dietary calcium and phosphorus can effect alterations in the steady-state intestinal levels of chick CaBP. We have examined whether or not perturbations in dietary calcium and phosphorus have an effect on the expression of the intestinal mRNA coding for CaBP in the vitamin D-replete chick. We found altered protein levels of CaBP as expected; however there was surprisingly no difference in steady-state CaBP mRNA levels between the different dietary groups. These data suggest that calcium and phosphorus regulation of CaBP occurs at a post-transcriptional level. In addition, we have examined what effect dietary manipulations of calcium and phosphorus levels have on the response of the vitamin D-replete intestine to 1,25(OH)2D3 administration as assessed by CaBP mRNA changes. Administration of 1,25(OH)2D3 to vitamin D-replete chicks maintained on normal calcium and phosphorus levels resulted in a less than 2-fold increase in CaBP mRNA levels. Previous studies have demonstrated that receptor occupancy goes up 6-fold under these conditions; therefore there is apparently a very tight regulation of CaBP gene activity. 1,25(OH)2D3 administration to chicks raised on either low calcium, high calcium, or low phosphorus vitamin D-replete diets similarly showed only small changes in the intestinal CaBP mRNA levels; however there seemed to be qualitative differences in response attributable to the dietary alterations.
Evolution of in-grain orientation gradient in plastically strained particulate materials

Abstract The in-grain orientation gradient and grain fragmentation are essential features of substructure development under cold deformation up to large strains. In the previous study [P. Trivedi, D.P. Field, H. Weiland, Alloying effects on dislocation substructure evolution of aluminum alloys, Int. J. Plasticity 20 (2004) 459–476], we showed that the Mg and Si elements can influence the development of dislocation structures. The present study extends the above-mentioned work to the materials where effective hardening particles are distributed throughout the polycrystalline structure, and the interaction of dislocation substructures and these particles is significant. We focus upon the small strain regime and compare the in-grain orientation gradient of a precipitation hardened aluminum alloy as a function of precipitate morphologies during deformation. The precipitate morphologies were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, and the dislocation structure was analyzed using electron backscatter diffraction analysis of deformed specimens. The results clearly show that the deformation response was a function of the precipitate characteristics. Although, grain fragmentation increased during deformation, the effect of precipitates on the in-grain orientation gradient, and dislocation substructure evolution was more pronounced in the presence of semi-coherent β″ precipitates. This investigation offers motivation to include the precipitate parameters in the deformation framework of physics based computational modeling of crystals containing hardening particles.
Radioactivity in Silver Induced by Fast Neutrons

Radioactive silver, ${\mathrm{Ag}}^{112}$, has been produced by fast neutron bombardment of ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{112}$ and ${\mathrm{In}}^{115}$. A half-life period of 3.2 hours is observed with the upper limit of the electron beta-ray spectrum at 2.2 Mev. Gamma-rays are also emitted, the number per beta-ray is about four. The radioactive silver isomer, ${\mathrm{Ag}}^{106}$, produced by fast neutron bombardment of ${\mathrm{Ag}}^{107}$, has a positron beta-ray spectrum upper limit of 1.9 Mev and an electron beta-ray spectrum upper limit of 1.3 Mev. The half-life periods are respectively 24.5 min. and 8.2 days. The former emits no gamma-rays other than the annihilation radiation. The latter emits a complex gamma-ray spectrum. The number of gamma-rays per beta-ray is about 35. Nuclear $K$ electron capture is offered to explain this anomalously high gamma to beta ratio. A total of twenty nuclear reactions all leading to the production of radioactive silver have been observed.
How adversity gets under the skin

Rat models implicate epigenetic regulation of hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor expression in mediating the effects of early life experience on adult behavior. A report now suggests that the same mechanism might also be at work in humans.
Human lung stem cells: has the future arrived?

An intriguing paper was recently published that describes c-kit–positive human lung stem cells that self-renew and differentiate into multiple lineages. While these findings are potentially therapeutically exciting, several questions remain to be answered. We review the paper and the issues that have arisen.
Postnatal Muscle Fiber Assembly: Localization of Newly Synthesized Myofibrillar Proteins

Addition of newly synthesized contractile proteins to striated muscle during postnatal life was studied by labeling young rat diaphragms in vitro with 3H-leucine and extracting the soluble proteins in glycerol. The grain distribution over glycerinated fibers in electron microscopic autoradiographs indicates that new myofibrillar proteins are added about the periphery of existing fibrils.
A Posteriori analysis of a multirate numerical method for ordinary differential equations

In this paper, we analyze a multirate time integration method for systems of ordinary differential equations that present significantly different scales within the components of the model. The main purpose of this paper is to present a hybrid a priori – a posteriori error analysis that accounts for the effects of projections between the coarse and fine scale discretizations, the use of only a finite number of iterations in the iterative solution of the discrete equations, the numerical error arising in the solution of each component, and the effects on stability arising from the multirate solution. The hybrid estimate has the form of a computable a posteriori leading order expression and a provably-higher order a priori expression. We support this estimate by an a priori convergence analysis. We present several examples illustrating the accuracy of multirate integration schemes and the accuracy of the a posteriori estimate.
A Critical Examination of the “White Victim Effect” and Death Penalty Decision-Making from a Propensity Score Matching Approach: The North Carolina Experience

Abstract Purpose Death penalty research has rather consistently demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between defendant race and victim race in general, and for the Black defendant/White victim race dyad specifically. The bulk of this evidence has been derived from correlational studies and from cases over relatively condensed time frames. Methods The current study uses data from North Carolina (n = 1,113) over several decades (1977–2009) to evaluate the link between defendant/victim racial dyad and jury death penalty decision-making. Results Results suggest that there is an apparent “White victim effect” that can be observed in death penalty decision-making in traditional logistic regression models. Yet, once cases are matched via propensity score matching on approximately 50 case characteristics/confounders including the type of aggravators and mitigators accepted by the jury in addition to the number of aggravators and mitigators accepted, the relationship is rendered insignificant. Furthermore, these results hold for a defendant of any race killing a White victim and for the “most disadvantaged” situation for Black defendants (e.g., cases with White victims). Conclusions The “White victim effect” on capital punishment decision-making is better considered as a “case effect” rather than a “race effect.”
Contributions of the Lock Box to Preschool Assessment

The Goodman Lock Box is a measure of young children's ability to impose order upon an unfamiliar complex stimulus. By coding the spontaneous movements of preschoolers for 6 Y2 minutes as they explore 10 locked doors and assorted toys, scores are derived for three scales: Competence, Mental Organization, and Aimless Actions. The construct of mental organization gains support from studies which suggest that children's scores increase with age, that the test identifies deficits in mentally retarded, hyperactive, and autistic/atypical children apart from IQ differences, and that it contributes to the prediction of achievement in kindergarten children. Further support for the construct is found in recent research of cognitive psychologists who emphasize the importance of the executive function in learning and its absence in specific clinical populations.
Diagnosing Possible Hypertension When Blood Pressure Is High in The Emergency Department

Purpose: Emergency physicians refer to primary care for follow-up of conditions identified in the emergency department (ED). Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Its detection is key in decreasing morbidity and mortality. We examined factors associated with diagnosing possible hypertension in patients with high blood pressure (BP), as a first step in outpatient referral. Methods: Data from a national ED survey were examined for visits by adults with high BP. The dependent variable was a hypertension diagnosis. Independent variables were BP elevation stage, age, sex, ethnicity, payment, year, pain severity, and urban versus rural location. Bivariate associations were tested between all independent variables and a diagnosis of possible hypertension. Logistic regression models determined significant predictors of a hypertension diagnosis. Results: Only 5.5 percent of ED patients with high BP were diagnosed with hypertension. Predictors included stage 2 BP elevation, age over 30 years old, females, minority ethnic groups, and mild or no pain. Conclusions: This analysis suggests associated factors influencing the diagnosis of hypertension in the ED to facilitate referral, which can have significant benefits in reducing complications of untreated hypertension.
Increasing trial number produces augmentation, not blocking, in flavor-aversion conditioning

Abstract Typically, A+ → AX+ conditioning yields significantly weaker responding to CS X, a phenomenon known as blocking. Yet, in flavor-aversion conditioning, A+ → AX+ conditioning yields a significantly stronger response to X, termed augmentation. Two flavor-aversion experiments with rat subjects and rotationally induced illness were conducted to determine if trial number was a factor that affected the expression of augmentation. An increase in the number of A+ preconditioning trials resulted in a stronger augmented aversion (Experiment 1). Similarly, an increase in the number of AX+ compound conditioning trials also produced a significantly stronger augmentation effect (Experiment 2). Therefore, these data show that variations in trial number are not the determining factor in the expression of augmentation or blocking, and they confirm that the strength of augmented aversions are directly related to the strength of the aversion of the preconditioned cue. Finally, these results are the first to show odor-aversion conditioning and augmented taste aversions produced via rotational stimulation.
Anomalous mercury in near-bottom water of a Mid-Atlantic Rift valley

MERCURY analysis1 of over 1,000 water samples from GEOSECS stations in the western Atlantic indicated extremely low mercury concentrations (2–40 ng 1−1) in much of the ocean between 15°N and 35°S, and identified a large core of water of relatively high concentration (80–400 ng 1−1) between 25°N and 50°N. These increased concentrations may result1 from the entrainment of Hg which diffuses from the active spreading centre of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, by Mediterranean water which flows over the ridge into the western basin of the Atlantic Ocean. Mercury concentrations are as high as 1,370 ng 1−1 at a depth of 2,435 m at GEOSECS station 27 (42°00′N, 41°59′W), (ref. 1).
Clinical illness due to parvovirus B19 infection after infusion of solvent/detergent-treated pooled plasma

BACKGROUND: Lipid-enveloped viruses such as HIV, HBV, and HCV can be inactivated by treatment with solvents and detergents. HAV and human parvovirus B19 lack lipid envelopes and are not inactivated. Solvent/detergent-treated pooled plasma (S/D plasma) contains neutralizing antibodies, but it is not known whether the parvovirus B19 antibody content is sufficient to prevent transmission of the disease. A patient is described who developed a clinical illness due to parvovirus B19 infection after the infusion of S/D plasma. CASE REPORT: A 36-year-old woman with myasthenia gravis underwent five plasma exchange procedures from January 15 to January 25, 1999, using albumin, except for 5 units of SD plasma given because of a low fibrinogen level. Four of the 5 units were implicated in a recall after high levels of parvovirus B19 DNA were found in several lots. Two weeks after the infusion, the patient developed fatigue, a rash, and severe polyarthralgias. Parvovirus B19 IgG and IgM antibody titers were consistent with an apos infection. CONCLUSION: Clinically apparent parvovirus B19 infection can follow the use of S/D plasma that contains high levels of parvovirus B19 DNA.
Naturally-occurring, dually-functional fusions between restriction endonucleases and regulatory proteins

Restriction-modification (RM) systems appear to play key roles in modulating gene flow among bacteria and archaea. Because the restriction endonuclease (REase) is potentially lethal to unmethylated new host cells, regulation to ensure pre-expression of the protective DNA methyltransferase (MTase) is essential to the spread of RM genes. This is particularly true for Type IIP RM systems, in which the REase and MTase are separate, independently-active proteins. A substantial subset of Type IIP RM systems are controlled by an activator-repressor called C protein. In these systems, C controls the promoter for its own gene, and for the downstream REase gene that lacks its own promoter. Thus MTase is expressed immediately after the RM genes enter a new cell, while expression of REase is delayed until sufficient C protein accumulates. To study the variation in and evolution of this regulatory mechanism, we searched for RM systems closely related to the well-studied C protein-dependent PvuII RM system. Unexpectedly, among those found were several in which the C protein and REase genes were fused. The gene for CR.NsoJS138I fusion protein (nsoJS138ICR, from the bacterium Niabella soli) was cloned, and the fusion protein produced and partially purified. Western blots provided no evidence that, under the conditions tested, anything other than full-length fusion protein is produced. This protein had REase activity in vitro and, as expected from the sequence similarity, its specificity was indistinguishable from that for PvuII REase, though the optimal reaction conditions were different. Furthermore, the fusion was active as a C protein, as revealed by in vivo activation of a lacZ reporter fusion to the promoter region for the nsoJS138ICR gene. Fusions between C proteins and REases have not previously been characterized, though other fusions have (such as between REases and MTases). These results reinforce the evidence for impressive modularity among RM system proteins, and raise important questions about the implications of the C-REase fusions on expression kinetics of these RM systems.
Theory of liquid diffusion phenomena

Abstract The available theoretical models for liquid diffusion are critically reviewed. A new theoretical model is developed in which the self-diffusion coefficient is correlated to 1. (1) a geometrical parameter which is defined as the ratio of the diffusing particle radius to the interparticle spacing, 2. (2) a configurational parameter dependent only upon the coordination number of the liquid, and 3. (3) an activation energy which is identical to that for viscosity. This new model accurately predicts the self-diffusion behaviour in ten liquid metals for which data are available. It is shown that the geometrical and configurational parameters can be assigned constant values for the class of liquids comprising the liquid metals. Further, it is shown that even with a temperature independent activation energy the new model predicts the curvature observed in data when the logarithm of the diffusion coefficient is plotted against the reciprocal absolute temperature.