cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ectodermal control of the dorsoventral axis in the leg bud of the chick embryo.

Mesodermal cores from right or left leg buds of chick embryos in stages 19 through 22 were recombined with ectodermal hulls of right or left limb-bud donors with anteroposterior and dorsoventral axes arranged aadd, apdv, aadv, or apdd. The recombinants were grafted to the somites of the right side of host embryos, with both mesodermal axes corresponding or not to those of the host, either individually or simultaneously. Recombinants formed well developed limbs with all segments present, and usually terminated in a complete set of digits. Proximal parts characteristically showed the direction of outgrowth and flexion of the knee joint expected on the basis of the original polarity of the mesodermal component and its orientation on the host. Distal parts likewise conformed to the asymmetric pattern expected according to the mesodermal polarity except in cases in which the dorsoventral axis of the ectodermal component was reversed with respect to that of the mesoderm (association: apdv, aadv). In the latter instances the dorsoventral polarity of foot parts was reversed with respect to that of proximal parts, and hence the feet were of opposite “handedness” to the proximal leg parts. These results show clearly that embryonic ectoderm exercises a significant role in differentiation of the dorsoventral organization of limb parts in the chick embryo.
Rates of iodine remineralization in terrigenous near-shore sediments

Much of the sedimentary geochemistry of iodine has been surmised from analyses of solid phase distributions without direct documentation of reactions or reaction rates. It is shown here that the anoxic production rate of dissolved I in nearshore terrigenous sediments decreases rapidly below the sediment-water interface and is strongly temperature controlled. An apparent activation energy of ~19.3 Kcal/mole comparable to that found for other microbially mediated reactions, describes the temperature dependence of release. Production of dissolved iodide is zeroth order with respect to natural ranges of pore water concentrations and apparently first-order with respect to a reactive I component in the solid phase. First order reaction coefficients in sediments from Mud Bay, South Carolina and Long Island Sound, Connecticut, U.S.A., are strongly depth dependent, varying from ~6.9/yr in the top few centimeters to an average of ~0.011/yr over the upper 70 cm. About 90% of the dissolved I flux comes from the top 10 cm with estimated values of ~ 15 and 29 μmoles/m2/day at 22–23°C in Mud Bay and Long Island Sound, respectively. The I/C net release ratio of decomposing material changes rapidly below the sediment surface. When temperature corrections are made, I remineralization rates from nearshore sediments below the bioturbated zone appear to be similar to those observed in deep water sediments underlying oxygenated waters.
EFFECT OF PRE-RECOGNITION EXPOSURES ON TACHISTOSCOPIC WORD PERCEPTION.

This experiment tests the hypothesis that partial information about a word from a pre-recognition tachistoscopic exposure affects subsequent recognition accuracy for that word. Word recognition under modified Methods of Limits and Single Stimuli was compared, with the only procedural difference being that O saw five different words on five successive ascending exposures (Single Stimuli), or the same word on five successive ascending exposures (Limits). It was predicted that the pre-recognition exposures would facilitate recognition of “Predictable” words, i.e., words which could be correctly guessed after only some letters had been perceived, but hinder perception of “Non-predictable” words. Since words of predictable and non-predictable categories were recognized equally often, the procedure for differentiating between these words was not effective. Perceptual accuracy was greater under the Method of Limits for both classifications of words.
What happens to “useless” natural language mediators?

Underwood (1972) has hypothesized that natural language mediation may be an epiphenomenon, overloading our conception of human memory. This study examines the specific proposition that natural language mediator (NLM) dropout during learning indicates that they become “useless” and that they are weakened or are replaced by more direct associations. Subjects learned CVC-adjective pairs with the aid of NLMs in a study-test paradigm. After subjects reported that the NLM was no longer needed for response recall (“useless”), they received either 0 or 15 additional study-test sequences of the item. On a later retention test, significant differences were found favoring the 15 additional trials condition for both response and NLM retention. It appears that NLMs do not disappear with disuse, but that they can be long-lasting products of acquisition, potentially serving useful memorial functions.
Infection of aerial parts of potato plants byColletotrichum cocodes and its effects on premature vine death and yield

Collectotrichum coccodes, the pathogen causing black dot disease of potato, was investigated to determine its potential for causing symptoms on the aerial parts of potato plant, premature vine death, and reduction in yield under greenhouse and field conditions. Spray inoculations with conidial suspensions (106 colony forming units/ml) ofC. coccodes caused sunken, dark, necrotic lesions on stems, leaves and petioles, vein and leaf necrosis, dieback and premature vine death under growth chamber and greenhouse conditions. Field inoculations in 1986 and 1987 provided evidence for an increased incidence of premature vine death in seven potato genotypes (Russet Burbank, Norgold Russet, Superior, Butte, NDA 8694-3, A68113-4 and A66107-51). Late season application of metribuzin at 0.84 kg/ha significantly increased the incidence of stems with black dot symptoms in cv. Russet Burbank at one location. Field inoculations in 1987 at two locations resulted in yield reduction in the late-maturing cv. Russet Burbank (6.3 and 6.5 t/ha) and clone A68113-4 (5.0 t/ha), but not in the early maturing cv. Norgold Russet. Similar results were obtained in greenhouse studies following soil inoculations withC. coccodes: yield reduction was observed in cv. Russet Burbank but not in cvs. Norgold Russet, Superior and Katahdin. Colonization of stem ends of tubers byC. coccodes from spray inoculated field plots was higher than in tubers from uninoculated plots at one of the two locations. These results point to a much broader potential ofC. coccodes as a potato pathogen, than hitherto documented.
Economics and International Relations: A Conceptual Framework

mathematics and quantitative techniques. Capital theory has been transformed as we broadened it to include human capital, with all the new insights this more inclusive concept has provided to the theory of income distribution, trade theory, and the theory of economic development (Schultz 1964, Becker). We have revitalized our insights into the family and the household with the new household economics, rooted in the insights of Becker and Lancaster but going back at least to Margaret Reid. We are constructing a microeconomic base for our macroeconomic theory. We have reincorporated the "political" into political economy. And we finally are beginning to recognize that if economic entities are really as rational as we assume, they create serious problems for policy makers-an idea pointedly brought to our attention by the rational expectations school (Lucas and Sargent). An important challenge still before us, however, is to understand the emerging world economic system and to devise the institutions that can make it more orderly. The theme of this paper is that within the corpus of economics, we have the conceptual and quantitative tools to understand this complex new world and to design a more orderly, efficient, and equitable international economic system. Moreover given the importance of agriculture in the world economy, it is likely that food and agricultural issues will dominate the international dialogue in the decades ahead. Because of our own proclivity to address applied problems, agricultural economists have important contributions to make in expanding that stock of knowledge. U.S. foreign policy has been in disarray for at least a decade. Part of this disarray is because our relative political and economic power has clearly declined. At home our domestic institutions either were not designed for today's world, or they are evolving in directions that make it difficult (if not impossible) for us to deal with the world that is emerging. Perhaps uniquely among the democratic countries of the world, our president does not speak for a political party capable of being rallied to provide legislative support for his foreign policy-a phenomenon which baffles other countries. Within the federal bureau-
Mechanisms of Cascade Collapse

The spontaneous collapse of energetic displacement cascades in metals into vacancy dislocation loops has been investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Simulations of 5 keV recoil events in Cu and Ni provide the following scenario of cascade collapse: (i) atoms are ejected from the central region of the cascade by replacement collision sequences; (ii) the central region subsequently melts; (iii) vacancies are driven to the center of the cascade during resolidification where they may collapse into loops. Whether or not collapse occurs depends critically on the melting temperature of the metal and the energy density and total energy in the cascade. Results of TEM are presented in support of this mechanism.
Office versus Home-Based Family Therapy for Runaway, Alcohol Abusing Adolescents: Examination of Factors Associated with Treatment Attendance.

Abstract There is a dearth of research examining treatment engagement and attendance among runaway youth and their families. Such research is needed in order to inform treatment providers on factors associated with engagement and maintenance of these difficult to engage families into counseling. This study examined differential treatment attendance for alcohol abusing runaway youth residing at a local shelter. A traditional office-based family systems approach, Functional Family Therapy (FFT), was compared to a non-traditional, home-based, multisystemic family therapy approach, Ecologically Based Family Therapy (EBFT). As expected, treatment engagement and attendance was significantly higher for those assigned to EBFT (N = 37) compared to FFT (N = 40). Predictors of treatment attendance (income, family chaos, externalization problems and level of youth substance use) were examined within each treatment modality. Findings suggest that home-based (compared to office-based) treatment modalities may significa...
Is Ford 2000 the right strategy for innovation? A management theory perspective

• In consolidating its North American and European product development into five Vehicle Program Centers (VPCs) to develop cars for all markets, integrating its manufacturing, supply, marketing and sales into a worldwide operation, Ford is moving from a so-called multi-domestic strategy to a global one. • The question is if this is the right strategy for an automobile company that wants to offer new low cost and/or differentiated products to its customers worldwide. • This article advances three points: • First, that although the strategic change is appropriate, it may not have gone far enough. • Second, to get the best out of the strategy, in any case, Ford must implement it well, moulding the right organizational structure, systems/processes, and the right people in the right positions. • Third, it must integrate into its systems, the right information and communications technologies. Optimal performance requires a fit between strategy, structure, systems/processes and people. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quantum effects on electron-proton bremsstrahlung spectrum in a two-component plasma

The electron-proton low energy bremsstrahlung process is investigated in a two-component plasma. The corrected Kelbg potential taking into account the quantum effects is applied to describe the electron-proton interaction potential in a two-component plasma. The straight-line trajectory method is applied to the motion of the projectile electron in order to investigate the variation of the bremsstrahlung cross-section as a function of the scaled impact parameter, thermal de Broglie wavelength, projectile energy, and photon energy. The results show that the quantum-mechanical effects decrease the bremsstrahlung cross-sections when the de Broglie wavelength (λ) is greater than the Bohr radius (a0). It is also found that the quantum effects are important only for the region of impact parameters b < 3a0.
Antithymocyte globulin has limited efficacy and substantial toxicity in unselected anemic patients with myelodysplastic syndrome

Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) has recently been popularized as an effective treatment in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). We treated 8 anemic MDS patients (refractory anemia [RA] and refractory anemia with excess blasts [RAEB-1]) with ATG (40 mg/kg/d for 4 days) and prednisone in a phase 2 trial. The study was stopped early according to a preset termination rule because of lack of efficacy. There were no salutary responses. Toxicities included serum sickness (in all patients), transient neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, vomiting, and syncope with a generalized seizure. At least 3 patients had the HLA-DR15 (DR2) allele. We conclude that the risk-benefit ratio of ATG in an unselected population of MDS patients may be unfavorable, and more work is needed to define the subset of patients who will respond to ATG before its widespread use can be recommended.
Efficient Energy Delivery Management for PHEVs

We consider an Energy Services Company (ESCo) acting as a mediator between the wholesale market and the PHEV owners providing them with energy for battery charging using the distribution network as the delivery infrastructure. Furthermore, the ESCo exploits the flexibility in the charging process by offering reserves in the market. To achieve this objective, the ESCo faces the decision problem of purchasing energy, provision of reserves and scheduling PHEVs for minimization of the expected total cost of operation subject to electricity price volatility and uncertainty, demand deadlines and distribution network capacity constraints. We consider this problem as formulated in [1]. In this paper, we first develop an efficiently computable lower bound on the objective function of this problem. Then, inspired by the lower bound, we propose an efficient linear programming based approximate solution for the problem and analyze its performance under different capacity constraints through simulation. In particular, we demonstrate that for practical ranges of uncertainty, the lower bound is tight and the performance of the proposed solution is very close to the optimal DP solution, effectively eliminating the need for complex solutions. Moreover, we show that with current prices of electricity, this energy delivery management model makes a strong business and reliability case by potentially cutting the PHEV energy costs to less than half, providing substantial amounts of efficient and agile reserve to the grid, counterbalancing the intermittency and uncertainty of the renewable generation, and managing PHEV energy demand to observe distribution network limits.
Early Adolescent Perceptions of Neighborhood: Strengths, Structural Disadvantage, and Relations to Outcomes

Considerable evidence shows the detriments of neighborhood social disorganization for urban youth. Researchers have focused less on potential neighborhood strengths or on the interplay of neighborh...
On the long way from the Coulombic Hamiltonian to the intermolecular energy surfaces: Concluding remarks at the tromsø conference, June 20–22, 1989

After a brief review of the main results given at the conference, the general properties of the Coulombic Hamiltonian for a system of electrons moving in a gramework of moving atomic nuclei―considered as point charges―are discussed. Since this Hamiltonian is invariant under translations and rotations, the total momentum and the angular momentum are constants of motion, which means that it is possible to separate the motion of the center of mass and the rotation of the system as a whole. Even ifthese separations are simple in principle, they lead to a mixing of the electronic and nuclear coordinates that complicates the transformed Hamiltonian. The' general features of this Hamiltonian are discusszeed both in pure quantum mechanics and general quantum theory dealing with wave function Ψ respective density matrices ρ or system operators T. The principles of the latter are derived from five simple axioms, and it is shown that oure quantum mechanics is a special case of the general theory and that the analogy between these tqo approaches is essential for the economy of thinking. It is indicated that the general theory of the shape and topology of the energy surface (H)=TrHΓ and its critical points, as a function of the system operator Γ involving both electronic and nuclear coordinates, is a very difficult mathematical problem and that calculation of this surface even for simple molecular systems represents a formidable computational problem, which hasto be solved in order to be able to understand the nature of chemical reactions from first principles
Lepirudin in the management of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Background: Lepirudin is a recombinant hirudin that exerts its anticoagulant effect by direct inhibition of thrombin. Lepirudin is indicated for anticoagulation in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and associated thromboembolic disease to prevent further thromboembolic complications. Objective: This review addresses various clinical uses of lepirudin including but not limited to FDA approved indication. The objective is to provide an updated overview of the clinical use and pharmacology of the agent. In addition, we address certain areas of controversy especially pertaining to dosing of lepirudin and its use in different clinical situations. Methods: Literature was reviewed using appropriate search terms in Pubmed and Ovid medline databases. Results/conclusion: Lepirudin continues to be a valuable anticoagulant in the management of HIT. Lepirudin has the highest recommendation in treatment of HIT based on evidence from clinical trials. Minor modifications in dosing over the standard lab...
A New Genetic Determinant of γG3

. A new antigenic determinant Ry confined to the γG3 subgroup is described. It was revealed by an antibody detected in the serum of a healthy Caucasian female. Ry is present in almost all normal human sera of all Gm phenotypes. However, its absence is associated with the Gmazg and Gmazb0b3st haplotypes and the absence of the Gm(f) determinant on the γG1 subgroup.
The branchwidth of graphs and their cycle matroids

We prove a conjecture stating that the branchwidth of a graph and the branchwidth of the graph's cycle matroid are equal if the graph has a cycle of length at least 2.
Attitudes and knowledge of primary care physicians regarding prostate cancer screening.

Recently, several prospective randomized prostate cancer screening studies have been reported. We report the results of a questionnaire administered to primary care physicians (PCPs) to determine their attitudes on prostate cancer screening and compared these results to those obtained when the same questionnaire was administered to a different large cohort of PCPs in 2006 prior to the reporting of these randomized studies. A 24-item questionnaire designed to assess prostate cancer knowledge and screening attitudes was administered to PCPs within central Florida and those PCPs attending a state conference. Completed surveys were returned and analyzed. All reported p values were two-sided, and those p values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Seven hundred and eighty PCPs received the study questionnaire, and 168 (22 %) PCPs returned the completed questionnaire. Sixty-eight percent of responders stated that they recommend prostate cancer screening to >75 % of their patients over the age of 50 years, up from 47 % in 2006 (p < 0.001). Seventy-four percent of responders felt screening was effective. The overall mean score of the knowledge survey was 66 %, which was similar to the cohort from 2006. Knowledge scores were not associated with screening attitudes and behaviors. On multivariate analysis, practice setting and percentage of Medicaid patients in the practice were associated with attitude scores. Our current findings imply that despite the recent landmark studies published on prostate cancer screening, PCPs’ screening attitudes have changed minimally over the past 5 years.
Long-term morbidity following jejunoileal bypass: The continuing potential need for surgical reversal J. A. REQUARTH, K. W. BURCHARD, T. A. COLACCHIO, ET AL Arch Surg 130:318–325, 1995

Jejunoileal bypass (JIB) was a widely employed modality in the treatment of morbid obesity beginning in the late sixties. A significant number of patients had complications within a short time after the procedure.1,2 The most severe of these was acute liver failure occurring in up to 7% of patients, occasionally irreversible leading to death. Fluid and electrolyte imbalances and renal disease accounted for other indications for early failure. The initial impression was that if patients survived the early complications following jejunoileal bypass, then they tended to have a more benign, long-term course.Requarth et al at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center followed 453 patients who had undergone JIB for up to 23 years postoperatively. They quantified weight loss, morbidities, and the need for reversal of the bypass, even many years after the initial procedure.Between 1965 and 1977, 453 patients underwent jejunoileal bypass for morbid obesity at the Center. Most of these cases involved an end-to-side je...
Bilateral midbrain transections block the behavioral effects of cholecystokinin on feeding and exploration in rats

Abstract The mechanism by which peripherally administered cholecystokinin (CCK) reduces feeding and exploration involves a sensory feedback pathway from the gastrointestinal regions, via the vagus nerve7,22,31 through the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS)9. Bilateral dorsal midbrain transections rostral to the NTS abolish the ability of CCK to reduce food consumption, decrease exploratory approaches, and increase pauses of behavioral inactivity, as compared to these actions of CCK in normal and sham-lesioned control rats, suggesting that ascending NTS fibers are a necessary component in this feedback system.
Neonatal listeriosis: Distribution of serotypes in relation to age at onset of disease

SINCE THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION of neonatal listeriosis by Burn, 1 considerable information has accumulated regarding the causative organism; it has become clear that two distinct clinical gyndromes are seen in neonates: an early septicemic form and a delayed meningitic form. 2-7 Nevertheless an understanding of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of this disease is far from complete. Recent studies of group B streptococcal infections in infants have led to the association of certain serotypes with the clinical syndromes of early and late onset.S, 9 This report concerns the distribution of serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from 40 infants with neonatal listeriosis.
Aluminum retention by aged rats fed aluminum and treated with desferrioxamine.

Abstract Our primary purpose was to assess the impact of chronic exposure to dietary aluminum on aging rats. Male rats were fed diets containing 0.4 or 36.8 μmol Al/g diet for 8 months until 23 months of age. The aging rats fed supplemental aluminum accumulated more aluminum in sera, tibias, and kidneys than control rats, but accumulated similar concentrations of aluminum in bone as young rats fed aluminum for short periods of time in previous studies. Although the rats had increased bone turnover (as indicated by urinary hydroxyproline excretion) after 22 months of age, the amount of bone turnover was not sufficient to explain the urinary excretion of aluminum by the aged rats.
Maximum time delay achievable on propagation through a slow-light medium

We consider the question of whether there are any fundamental limits to the maximum time delay that can be achieved for a pulse propagating through a slow-light medium. We include in our analysis what we consider to be the dominant competing effects, and we show that in principle they do not lead to a limitation on the maximum achievable time delay. From this result we conclude that, through optimization, one should be able to delay a pulse by very many pulse lengths; the ability to do so can have important implications for the use of slow-light methods for applications in photonics.
Method to make paraffin-embedded breast and lymph tissue mimic fresh tissue in DNA analysis

Determination of DNA ploidy has been found to be of diagnostic and prognostic value with regard to many solid tumors. Flow cytometric analysis of DNA ploidy is dependent on the binding of fluorescent dyes to DNA. Preserving cell morphology by fixing the tissue in formalin interferes with the binding of propidium iodide (PI) and other fluorescent dyes to DNA. This distortion of DNA content measurement can cause inaccuracies in DNA-ploidy determinations of formalin-fixed tissue specimens and precludes the use of appropriate DNA standards. Therefore, it has been impossible to determine accurately the DNA ploidy of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. Using formalin-fixed cells as a model for FFPE cells, we developed a thermal treatment method to reverse the effect of formalin on the binding of propidium iodide to DNA. Applying this approach to the preparation of FFPE lymph node and breast tissue for DNA analysis, we have developed a method that makes the binding of PI to the DNA of FFPE tissue mimic that of fresh tissue. Following dewaxing, rehydration, and trypsin treatment, the FFPE tissue, resuspended in PBS, was heated to 75 degrees C for 90 min to restore the PI binding to that of fresh cells. This method makes it possible to use fresh, DNA-diploid cells as an internal control and, thus, determine more accurately the DNA ploidy of tumors preserved in formalin and paraffin.
Immunoregulation in Atopic Dermatitis: Functional Analysis of T-B Cell Interactions and the Enumeration of Fc Receptor-Bearing T Cells

Immune aberrations in atopic dermatitis (AD) are multiple and interrelated. We investigated immunoregulatory cell markers and functional interactions of purified T- and B-enriched cells in a pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-stimulated IgG production assay in patients with AD. Atopic mononuclear leukocytes and autologous recombinations of purified atopic T and B cells were hyporesponsive to PWM stimulation of IgG synthesis. When atopic B cells were cultured with normal T cells, they were still less responsive than normal B cells. Atopic T cells generated normal levels of suppression in three responder systems. Radioresistant T-cell help was also in the normal range whereas nonirradiated AD T cells produced slightly less help than normal T cells. We noted reduced levels of T lymphocytes with FcIgG receptors (Tγ) and found that Tγ reduction correlated inversely with log serum IgE. In the light of normal T suppression, we critically examined AD cell adherence and contamination at various steps in the Tγ assay to rule out technical causes of Tγ reduction in AD. Lowered Tγ cells in AD were not associated with circulating IgG immune complexes and subsequent blockade of the FcIgG receptors. Thus, we have identified defects in the numbers of an immunoregulatory T cell, and in the generation of PWM-responsive B cells. A model is proposed in which the alterations in atopic cyclic nucleotide metabolism of T- cell helpers could result in abnormalities of immunoregulatory T cells and PWM-recruitable B cells.
Optical microactuation in piezoceramics

Optically/electrically operable flexible film microactuators that can offer up to two orders high efficiency of photonic to mechanical conversion compared to ceramic actuators are conceptualized. A polarized ceramic wafer of non- centrosymmetric perovskite ferroelectric ABO3 compounds, such as lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT), when exposed to an illumination (approximately 350 to 400 nm wavelength) close to the bandgap energy, can generate a large photovoltage (approximately 1.0 kV/mm) across its length, and by the inverse piezoelectric effect cause the piezoceramic wafer to deflect in the direction away from the illumination. The optical actuation effect in piezoceramic wafers is investigated as a function of thickness, composition, and surface roughness. Such flexible microactuators would enable a new generation of micro- electro-mechanical and micro-opto-mechanical systems where the actuation will not be restricted by the clamping effect due to the rigid substrate as in the current silicon based micromachined structures. To deposit the piezoceramic film directly onto a flexible substrate, the substrate must have high temperature stability, high strength (Young's Modulus approximately 4.9 X 1010 N/m2), a close match of thermal coefficients of expansion with the piezoceramic film, and a tailorable crystal orientation in order to provide a desired template for growth of oriented PLZT. This paper also presents a comparison of a variety of flexible substrate films and fibers and our recent results on polybenzoxazole (PBO), a polymeric candidate for a flexible high temperature substrate. Variation of the properties of PBO as a function of temperature are also presented.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A clinical evaluation of local anaesthetic solutions containing graded epinephrine concentrations

Abstract A double-blind study using five local anaesthetic solutions and 542 patients was conducted by a group of dentists. The following properties of the anaesthetic solutions were evaluated: (1) speed of onset of anaesthesia, (2) efficacy of anaesthesia, (3) duration of soft tissue anaesthesia, (4) degree of haemostasis, (5) toxic symptoms. In comparing the anaesthetic solutions tested, it was found that solutions with 1 300,000 epinephrine were as satisfactory as solutions with 1 100,000 epinephrine, whether the local anaesthetic was lidocaine or propitocaine. Propitocaine without epinephrine compared favourably with any of the solutions with epinephrine when used in mandibular blocks, and in operative dentistry. A less favourable anaesthetic efficacy was obtained for propitocaine without epinephrine when used in infiltration anaesthesia and in surgery. The experiments support the idea that solutions with lower epinephrine concentrations can be used for effective dental anaesthesia, thus reducing the danger of epinephrine toxicity due to intravascular injection.
Comparison of the rapid second generation directigen® EIA with cell culture and immunofluorescence for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus in nasopharyngeal aspirates

Background: A second generation-RSV enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was compared with cell culture and immunofluorescence to determine the improved efficacy of this reformulated system. Objectives: This study was performed to identify whether the EIA might serve an ancillary function during non-operational virology hours, or whether the EIA may serve as a replacement of the commonly used direct fluorescent assay (DFA). Study design: During the 1992–1993 (September–April) RSV season, 124 freshly collected nasopharyngeal (NP) aspirates were tested by the EIA and the DFA for the presence of antigen to the infectious agent. Infectivity was performed by tube culture cytopathic effect (TC-CPE) in parallel with the two antigen detection methodologies. Results: Thirteen of the 48 confirmed positive specimens (27%) failed to yield infectious virus by TC-CPE. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the EIA were 90, 95, 91 and 94% respectively. This observed sensitivity of 90% using freshly collected NP aspirates, represents a marked improvement over an earlier generation EIA kit. Conclusions: Considering the simplicity and speed of this EIA (10 min), the test is recommended for use by medical personnel when facilities for DFA and traditional virus culture are not readily available.
WaveCluster: a wavelet-based clustering approach for spatial data in very large databases

Many applications require the management of spatial data in a multidimensional feature space. Clustering large spatial databases is an important problem, which tries to find the densely populated regions in the feature space to be used in data mining, knowledge discovery, or efficient information retrieval. A good clustering approach should be efficient and detect clusters of arbitrary shape. It must be insensitive to the noise (outliers) and the order of input data. We propose WaveCluster, a novel clustering approach based on wavelet transforms, which satisfies all the above requirements. Using the multiresolution property of wavelet transforms, we can effectively identify arbitrarily shaped clusters at different degrees of detail. We also demonstrate that WaveCluster is highly efficient in terms of time complexity. Experimental results on very large datasets are presented, which show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach compared to the other recent clustering methods.
On the kinetic theory of plasmas

Abstract The hierarchy of distribution-function kinetic equations for a many-body system is usually derived from the Liouville equation, incorporating the elegance of ensemble theory. In this paper emphasis is placed upon the physics of the interactions among particles and the kinetic equations are obtained by considering the time rate of change of the number of particles in phase space due to the flow of particles over phase-space boundaries. In this treatment the connection with experimental requirements is made clear and the distribution functions are identified with coarse grained space and time averages. This paper deals only with nonrelativistic, classical, structureless particles, although guidelines are given for the general treatment whenever approximations are made. The general approach developed here is used to generate kinetic equations for the one-body, the two-body equal-time, and the two-body different-time distribution functions. The remainder of the paper treats the case of an infinite homogeneous system, with a constant ionic background and only Coulomb interactions between electrons. Effective screening potentials are defined whose efficacy is greatest near thermal equilibrium. The one- and two-body kinetic equations are shown to have conservation properties and are analyzed in an energy-angular momentum phase space. The kinetic equation for the correlation function is analyzed to estimate the phase space region of validity for the truncated adiabatic form. Using the effective potentials, a formal solution for g is obtained which leads to a one-particle kinetic equation with no divergence difficulties that is a Boltzmann equation with a distribution function-dependent cross section. This kinetic equation is shown to have an H-theorem to lowest significant order in the plasma parameter. Two phase-space regions are identified, based upon the influence of the effective potential, and an approximate solution for the distribution function is obtained for each region. This analysis shows that, away from thermal equilibrium, the correlation function has an inverse-power asymptotic behavior rather than exponential. Finally, the one-body kinetic equation is shown to reduce in the appropriate region to the Lenard-Balescu form.
Ceroid deposition, retinal degeneration and renal calcium oxalate crystals in cultured clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris*

Abstract. A clinical syndrome characterized by blindness, loss of pigmentation, erratic swimming behaviour and increased mortality is described in cultured clownfish, Amphipnon ocellaris. Histopathological examination of affected fish revealed retinal degeneration, extensive ceroid deposits in visceral and muscle macrophage accumulations, and renal tubular calcium oxalate crystals. The syndrome is discussed in relation to deficiencies of the fat soluble vitamins A and E and lipid peroxidation. Changes in diet correcting these imbalances resulted in a disappearance of the syndrome.
Measurement Based Electro-Thermal Modeling of LDMOSFETs

This paper presents a new approach for the electro-thermal characterization and modeling of LDMOSFETs without using pulsed-IV and pulsed-RF measurement data. The characterization method, which relies on an infrared thermometer to measure the device surface temperature, automatically follows the constant LDMOSFET power contours in order to efficiently acquire in a single sweep of the substrate temperature the targeted iso-thermal IV and microwave measurements. The comparison of the acquired iso-thermal IV's with pulsed-IVs and also with the extracted microwave gm reveals the presence of a relatively small low-frequency dispersion in LDMOSFETS. The temperature and bias dependence of the equivalent circuit model parameters is extracted from the small-signal microwave data acquired. Optimized tensor-product B-splines that distribute knots to minimize fitting errors are then used to represent the equivalent-circuit model parameters and extract the large signal model as a function of voltages and temperature. The accuracy of this measurement-based LDMOSFET model which is implemented in ADS is then verified by comparing the simulated and measured harmonic and IMD large-signal response of a power amplifier.
Automatic generation and tuning of MPI collective communication routines

In order for collective communication routines to achieve high performance on different platforms, they must be able to adapt to the system architecture and use different algorithms for different situations. Current Message Passing Interface (MPI) implementations, such as MPICH and LAM/MPI, are not fully adaptable to the system architecture and are not able to achieve high performance on many platforms. In this paper, we present a system that produces efficient MPI collective communication routines. By automatically generating topology specific routines and using an empirical approach to select the best implementations, our system adapts to a given platform and constructs routines that are customized for the platform. The experimental results show that the tuned routines consistently achieve high performance on clusters with different network topologies.
Unusually high levels of extrapair paternity in a duetting songbird with long-term pair bonds

Previous studies suggest that extrapair young are very rare or absent in socially monogamous avian species that produce vocal duets. These results are generally consistent with functional hypotheses suggesting that duets may signal commitment between partners, or aid males as a paternity guard to ensure genetic as well as social monogamy. Additionally, species that exhibit social monogamy with the same partner across multiple breeding seasons tend to exhibit low levels of extrapair paternity, so duetting species that mate for life may be particularly likely to exhibit genetic monogamy. This study examined the social and genetic mating systems of California towhees (Pipilo crissalis), a duetting species thought to have life-long pair bonds. Observation of a color-banded population confirmed that California towhees exhibit long-term social monogamy. Known social families were genotyped at four microsatellite loci with high allelic diversity. Unexpectedly, paternity exclusion indicated that at least 13 of 31 (42%) nests contained extrapair young. All chicks exhibited maternal alleles, but 21 of 81 (26%) young were not the offspring of social fathers. Thus, in contrast to previous work, this study documents high frequencies of extrapair young among socially monogamous duetting birds with long-term pair bonds.
Noncoding RNA, antigenic variation, and the virulence genes of Plasmodium falciparum

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) are being increasingly recognized as important regulators of gene expression. A recent paper in Genome Biology reports the identification of a lncRNA family in Plasmodium falciparum, the cause of the most deadly form of malaria, that may help to explain the mechanism of antigenic variation in virulence genes of this important pathogen.
Thermal Hardness Coefficient of Tablets

The hardness of 10 commercial compressed tablets was measured at —25, 0, 24, and 50°. The hardness is relatively insensitive to temperature change within normal storage and handling temperatures. Consequently, no temperature control is needed in measuring tablet hardness. Nonconventional (sustained-release) tablets behave differently.
Many-core design from a thermal perspective

Air cooling limits have been a major design challenge in recent years for integrated circuits. Multi-core exacerbates thermal challenges because power scales with the number of cores, but also creates new opportunities for temperature-aware design, because multi-core designs offer more design parameters than single-core designs. This paper investigates the relationship between core size and on-chip hot spot temperature and shows that with the same power density, smaller cores are cooler than larger cores due to a spatial low-pass filtering effect of temperature. This phenomenon suggests that designs exploiting low-pass filtering can dissipate more power within the same cooling budget than contemporary designs.
The Measurement of Bacterial Contamination on Egg Shells

Abstract Washing of eggs in sterile plastic bags is an efficient method for determining the bacterial contamination on egg shells. Eggs classified as clean, soiled or dirty by gross examination showed marked differences in average bacterial counts. Egg shell bacterial counts showed little or no change after storage at 4°C. for 1 day but only 10 percent of the bacteria were still viable after 7 days. Incubation at 38°C. resulted in a gradual decline in viable bacteria to a low of 2 percent after 21 days. Holding eggs on ice in a polystyrene chest for 24 hrs. resulted in only a slight reduction in the number of viable bacteria and would be a practical method to transport eggs for monitoring of field flocks.
Antler stiffness in moose (Alces alces): correlated evolution of bone function and material properties?

The material properties of bone can vary considerably among skeletal elements from different parts of the body that serve different functions. However, functional demands placed on a specific type of skeletal element also can vary at a variety of scales, such as between different parts of the element, among individuals of a species, and across species. Variation in bone material properties might be correlated with differing functional demands at any of these scales. In this study we performed three-point bending tests on bone specimens extracted from antlers of moose (Alces alces) to test for three types of variation in bone material stiffness (Young's modulus): within the antler structure, between populations of moose, and between moose and other deer species. Because superficial portions of the antler are exposed to greater bending stress and strain than deeper portions, and because the antler beam (the basal shaft that attaches to the skull) is subjected to greater bending moments than more distal parts of the antler, we predicted that superficial bone and bone from the beam would be stiffer than bone from other parts of the antler. Instead, we identified no significant differences in these comparisons. There were also no significant differences in antler stiffness between moose from Michigan and the Yukon, even though the rapid growth required of antlers from northern latitudes like the Yukon has the potential to compromise bone material properties. However, moose have significantly stiffer antlers (11.6 ± 0.45 GPa, mean ± SE) than any other deer in the odocoileine lineage. Moreover, phylogenetic reconstructions of the evolution of antler stiffness in deer indicate a strong potential that high antler stiffness is a derived feature of moose. The unusual palmate shape of moose antlers likely subjects their antler beams to higher bending moments than found in other odocoileines, a factor that may have contributed to the evolutionary divergence of moose antler stiffness from that of other members of this clade. Although similarities in the mineral composition of bone across species likely limit the overall range of phylogenetic variation in bone material properties, our results demonstrate that evolutionary diversity in bone material properties can show correspondence with phylogenetic differences in mechanical or ecological demands on skeletal elements. J. Morphol. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Change in the Rheology of Starch Adhesive During Gelatinization

In this paper the viscosity increase of the starch paste during gelatinization is examined. Upon heating, raw starch granules gelatinize and the paste viscosity of the starch adhesive increases dramatically. Bonding develops further through the dehydration of the gelatinized starch by the board. Bond setting of carrier-type (mixture of dissolved and raw) starch on paperboard in the corrugated board operation is thought to result from a combination of thermal gelatinization and dehydration by the board. Veranderung der Rheologie von Starkeklebstoff wahrend der Verkleisterung. In dieser Arbeit wird die Erhohung der Viskositat der Starkepaste wahrend der Gelatinisierung untersucht. Durch Erhitzen gelatinieren die Rohstarkekorner, und die Pastenviskositat steigt drastisch an. Die Bindung entwickelt sich weiter durch die Dehydratation der gelatinierten Starke durch die Pappe. Man nimmt an, das die Hartung der Bindung vom Trager-Starketyp (Mischung aus gekoster und roher Starke) aus der Kombination von thermischer Gelatinisierung und Dehydratation durch die Pappe in der Wellpappe resultiert.
Ethical Problems in End-of-Life Decisions for Elderly Norwegians

Norwegian health professionals, elderly people and family members experience ethical problems involving end-of-life decision making for elders in the context of the values of Norwegian society. This study used ethical inquiry and qualitative methodology to conduct and analyze interviews carried out with 25 health professionals, six elderly people and five family members about the ethical problems they encountered in end-of-life decision making in Norway. All three participant groups experienced ethical problems involving the adequacy of health care for elderly Norwegians. Older people were concerned about being a burden to their families at the end of their life. However, health professionals wished to protect families from the burden of difficult decisions regarding health care for elderly parents at the end of life. Strategies are suggested for dialogue about end-of-life decisions and the integration of palliative care approaches into health care services for frail elderly people.
Wireless multi-channel sensor for neurodynamic studies

The paper presents the design of a bio-compatible, implantable neural recording device for Aplysia californica, a common sea slug. Low-voltage extracellular neural signals (<100 /spl mu/V) are recorded using a high-performance, low-power, low-noise preamplifier that is integrated with programmable data acquisition and control, and FSK telemetry that provides 5-kbps wireless neural data through 18 cm of saltwater. The telemetry utilizes an 8-cm electric dipole antenna matched to 50 /spl Omega/ by exposing the ends of the antenna to the saltwater. A 3-V lithium ion battery (160 mAh) allows 16 hours of recording. Neural data obtained using extracellular nerve electrodes and a wired interface to this device have 2.5-/spl mu/Vrms noise, comparable to commercial neural recording equipment.