cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An examination of seasonal deformation at the Portuguese Bend landslide, southern California, using radar interferometry

[1] The Portuguese Bend landslide, located on the Palos Verdes peninsula in southern California, is a slow-moving landslide whose activity is closely tied to infiltration from rainfall. We use radar interferometry to constrain the seasonal kinematics of the landslide from 1995 to 2000. Traditional interferometric synthetic aperture radar methods estimate an average downslope displacement rate of 1.00 m/yr with an uncertainty range of 0.39–2.57 m/yr during the summer months. Interferograms show a consistent loss in phase coherence over the landslide for epochs greater than 6 months, especially in the winter. Interferograms become incoherent as a result of large displacement, and decorrelation is used to map the spatial extent of slide movement through time. The displacement rate increases sharply several weeks after the beginning of the rainy season as rainwater percolating into the slide elevates pore pressures. Phase coherence is lost when the slide velocity surpasses ∼2.6 m/yr for interferograms with durations of a few months. A physically based model based on rainfall-driven landslide movement incorporates these observations to constrain hydraulic diffusivity to between 0.9 and 3.5 × 10−6 m2/yr.
The chemical potential of a stressed solid

The distribution of the chemical potential in a non-hydro statically stressed solid has been investigated. It is shown that in strained elastic bodies the potential must have the same value at all points in the solid; and a simple expression relating the chemical potential to the components of stress is derived. The effect of pure shear on the chemical equilibrium of elastic bodies appears to be small. For non-elastic bodies which have not reached a stable configuration under stress there is an additional term in the chemical potential which is a continuous function of position in the body. The numerical value of this term cannot be computed without making additional assumptions concerning the mechanism of deformation or flow; but it appears to be small, at least for nearly elastic bodies. Elastic anisotropy is probably not an important factor in the development of an oriented fabric in rocks. Such recrystallization as may be caused by non-hydrostatic (shear) stress is believed to result mostly from an initially uneven distribution of the stresses in the grains of the rock, or from the effect of shear on the rates of certain reactions.
Mass spectrometric analysis of the structure of γII bovine lens crystallin

Abstract The amino acid sequence of bovine γII-crystallin has been verified by a combination of electrospray and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The molecular weight of γII, isolated by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography, was determined to be 20967 ± 3 by electrospray mass spectrometry. Another aliquot of γII was completely digested by trypsin in a medium of 20% CH3CN and 0·1 m Tris, pH 8·2. The tryptic peptides were separated by reversed phase HPLC and identified by their molecular weights, as determined by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FABMS). The identification of each peptide was confirmed by digesting the peptide further to give new peptides whose molecular weights were also determined by FABMS and related to the proposed amino acid sequences. The data from both types of mass spectrometric analyses were consistent with the sequence previously proposed by Hay et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 1987, 146, 332–338), including threonine at position 119. The FAB mass spectrum of one HPLC fraction suggested that disulfide bonding between Cys 18 and Cys 22 was present in at least half the protein preparation. Whether the Cys 18 Cys 22 disulfide bond was present in native γII or was produced during isolation or enzymic digestion could not be determined from these studies. Samples that had been stored for several weeks showed that several of the cysteines had become disulfide bonded. These studies illustrate the power of mass spectrometric techniques to accurately confirm the primary structure of proteins and to identify post-translational modifications.
Capital Gains Taxes and Equity Trading: Empirical Evidence

Individual investors have an incentive to defer selling appreciated stock until it qualifies for tax-favored, long-term capital gains treatment. Shackelford and Verrecchia [2002] show that these incentives can affect equity trading around public disclosures. This article provides some empirical support for their theory with evidence of price increases and equity constrictions around announcements of quarterly earnings and additions to the S&P 500 index. We find share returns rise and trading volume falls with the incremental taxes saved by deferring the sale of appreciated property. The price increases, however, are temporary, reversing in subsequent trading days. The results are consistent with buyers believing the compensation to sell before long-term qualification (through higher prices) is less costly than holding an inappropriately weighted portfolio. This finding—that personal capital gains taxes affect equity trading—adds to a growing literature that challenges longstanding assumptions that firm value is independent of shareholders and their taxes.
Properties of a Primer RNA-DNA Hybrid at the Mouse Mitochondrial DNA Leading-strand Origin of Replication

Primers for vertebrate mitochondrial leading-strand DNA replication are products of transcription synthesized by mitochondrial RNA polymerase. The precursor primer RNA exists as a persistent RNA-DNA hybrid, known as an R-loop, formed during transcription through the replication origin (Xu, B., and Clayton, D. A. (1996) EMBO J. 15, 3135-3143). In an effort to examine the precise structure of this primer RNA intermediate, we have used two methods to reconstitute model R-loops containing the mouse mitochondrial DNA origin sequence. First, we demonstrate that bacteriophage SP6 RNA polymerase can efficiently catalyze the formation of an R-loop at the mouse mtDNA origin sequence. Second, the R-loop can be assembled by annealing presynthesized RNA and supercoiled DNA template in the presence of formamide. R-loop formation by either method is dependent on specific template sequences. The reconstituted R-loop is exceptionally stable and exhibits an unexpected structure. Structural studies indicate that the RNA strand is organized within the RNA-DNA base-paired region, suggesting that the heteroduplex interaction occurs through a specific conformation. We propose that the organized structure of the R-loop is critical for primer RNA function in vivo with important implications for the RNA processing and DNA replication machinery.
Some effects of injected cytochrome C in myocardialand cerebral anoxia in man

Summary 1. The effects of anoxia on the electrocardiogram can be prevented by theinjection of cytochrome C. 2. Subjects seem to tolerate anoxia more easily when they have been previously injected with cytochrome C. 3. The effects of anoxia in impairing visual discrimination can be overcomeby the intravenous injection of cytochrome C. 4. The effects of anoxia in slowing the cerebral functions required for code transliteration can be overcome by the injection of cytochrome C.
Looking at four UK “hybrid” libraries

As part of my on‐going investigation into the ways library planners are integrating learning technologies into their buildings’ architecture and facilities, I visited the libraries of four professional/technical universities in the UK. All of these institutions have only become fully fledged universities within the past ten years and all of them have opened libraries within the past four. In each instance, the buildings modify the traditional understanding of a “library” as an information resource by integrating technology training labs, multimedia resources, and other support services. The British consider these to be “hybrid” libraries, although these buildings are also indicative of the future of information resource accessibility for academic institutions across the board. This article will analyze the features of each of the four libraries and seek to demonstrate how their “hybrid” qualities are fitting into developing trends of library design and technology design already identified by this author in previous articles.
Semiotics and evaluative bibliometrics

The reciprocal relationship between bibliographic references and citations in the context of the scholarly communication system is examined. Semiotic analysis of referencing behaviours and citation counting reveals the complexity of prevailing sign systems and associated symbolic practices.
Corrigendum to “Abnormalities of cingulate gyrus neuroanatomy in schizophrenia” [Schizophrenia Research 93 (1–3) (2007) 66–78]

a Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Box 8134, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, United States b Department of Psychology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States c Division of Biostatistics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States d Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States e Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States f Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins, University, Baltimore, MD, United States g Institute for Computational Medicine, The Johns Hopkins, University, Baltimore, MD, United States
Penetrating Microelectrode Sensor for In Situ Dissolved Oxygen Measurements

This paper describes a new penetrating micro-electrode array (MEA) sensor for in situ measurements of dissolved oxygen (DO) in bioapplications. The sensor was fabricated using an HF-based etching technique, with a polymerized polypyrrole layer as an insulator. The sensor area was formed by a gold layer inside a 1.7 mum recess at the tip of each microelectrode. Electrochemical performance of these DO MEAs was fully characterized by measuring DO of saline solutions with a Ag/AgCl reference electrode. The DO MEAs exhibited a rapid and linear response in the 0-9 mg/L (0-21% O2) range. These new sensors are able to penetrate samples in order to perform measurements, and are ideally suited for in situ operations due to their small size.
In vitro response of strawberry cultivars and regenerants to Colletotrichum acutatum

Diseases affecting strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) have been of major concern in recent years because of their widespread occurrence and potential for yield loss. Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum acutatum, is one of the most serious diseases of strawberry worldwide. Tissue-culture induced (somaclonal) variation provides one strategy for generating disease-resistant genotypes. As part of a program to generate strawberry germplasm resistant to anthracnose, an in vitro screening system was used to evaluate several commercial cultivars, Chandler, Delmarvel, Honeoye, Latestar, Pelican and Sweet Charlie propagated in vitro, and shoots regenerated from leaf explants of these cultivars for resistance to C.␣acutatum isolate Goff (highly virulent). Regenerants with increased levels of resistance were identified from all of the cultivars. The greatest increases in disease resistance were observed for regenerants from leaf explants of cultivars Pelican and Chandler that exhibited 17.5- and 6.2-fold increases in resistance, respectively. The highest levels of anthracnose resistance (2 to 6% leaf necrosis) were exhibited by regenerants from explants of cultivars Pelican and Sweet Charlie. These studies suggest that generating somaclonal variation may be a viable approach to obtaining strawberry plants with increased levels of anthracnose resistance.
Evolution of genomic sequence inhomogeneity at mid-range scales.

Mid-range inhomogeneity or MRI is the significant enrichment of particular nucleotides in genomic sequences extending from 30 up to several thousands of nucleotides. The best-known manifestation of MRI is CpG islands representing CG-rich regions. Recently it was demonstrated that MRI could be observed not only for G+C content but also for all other nucleotide pairings (e.g. A+G and G+T) as well as for individual bases. Various types of MRI regions are 4-20 times enriched in mammalian genomes compared to their occurrences in random models. This paper explores how different types of mutations change MRI regions. Human, chimpanzee and Macaca mulatta genomes were aligned to study the projected effects of substitutions and indels on human sequence evolution within both MRI regions and control regions of average nucleotide composition. Over 18.8 million fixed point substitutions, 3.9 million SNPs, and indels spanning 6.9 Mb were procured and evaluated in human. They include 1.8 Mb substitutions and 1.9 Mb indels within MRI regions. Ancestral and mutant (derived) alleles for substitutions have been determined. Substitutions were grouped according to their fixation within human populations: fixed substitutions (from the human-chimp-macaca alignment), major SNPs (> 80% mutant allele frequency within humans), medium SNPs (20% - 80% mutant allele frequency), minor SNPs (3% - 20%), and rare SNPs (<3%). Data on short (< 3 bp) and medium-length (3 - 50 bp) insertions and deletions within MRI regions and appropriate control regions were analyzed for the effect of indels on the expansion or diminution of such regions as well as on changing nucleotide composition. MRI regions have comparable levels of de novo mutations to the control genomic sequences with average base composition. De novo substitutions rapidly erode MRI regions, bringing their nucleotide composition toward genome-average levels. However, those substitutions that favor the maintenance of MRI properties have a higher chance to spread through the entire population. Indels have a clear tendency to maintain MRI features yet they have a smaller impact than substitutions. All in all, the observed fixation bias for mutations helps to preserve MRI regions during evolution.
Augmenting a window system with speech input

Some necessary background in speech recognition and window systems is given, with an analysis of how they might be combined. Xspeak, a navigation application, and its operation and a field study of its use are described. With Xspeak, window navigation tasks usually performed with a mouse can be controlled by voice. An improved version, Xspeak II, which incorporates a language for translating spoken commands, is introduced. >
Formation of inclusion complexes of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)s with cyclodextrins. 1. Immobilization of Atactic poly(R, S-3-hydroxybutyrate) and miscibility enhancement between poly(R, S-3-hydroxybutyrate) and poly(∈-caprolactone)

Atactic poly(R,S-3-hydroxybutyrate) (a-PHB) was synthesized by anionic polymerization of β-butyrolactone with potassium methoxide as an initiator. This completely amorphous polyester is capable of ...
Relative stopping powers for atomic and molecular ions in carbon

Abstract Electronic stopping powers of carbon for atomic and molecular nitrogen ions have been calculated using semi-classical free electron scattering from Herman-Skillman potentials, parametrized to include an adjustable exponential screening factor F(tv, Z), representing atomic ions. For molecular ions, aligned along the beam direction and having velocity 1.2 a.u., the stopping powers for individual atomic components were calculated as a function of internuclear separation. Screening factors for the two centers of force were assumed to decrease linearly from the value at zero internuclear separation, equivalent to that of a silicon ion, to that for nitrogen ions at large separations. Results are consistent with the diminishment of average stopping power per atomic ion which has been observed for beam-aligned nitrogen molecular ions. Similar calculations for molecular hydrogen in carbon agree with the enhancement of stopping power which has been observed. Evidence of nonlinear effects is indicated.
Monochromatic sequences whose gaps belong to {d, 2d, …, md}

For m and k positive integers, define a k-term hm-progression to be a sequence of positive integers {x1,…,xk} such that for some positive integer d, xi + 1 − xi ∈ {d, 2d,…, md} for i = 1,…, k - 1. Let hm(k) denote the least positive integer n such that for every 2-colouring of {1, 2, …, n} there is a monochromatic hm-progression of length k. Thus, h1(k) = w(k), the classical van der Waerden number. We show that, for 1 ≤ r ≤ m, hm(m + r) ≤ 2c(m + r − 1) + 1, where c = ⌈m/(m − r)⌉. We also give a lower bound for hm(k) that has order of magnitude 2k2/m. A precise formula for hm(k) is obtained for all m and k such that k ≤ 3m/2.
Cannabinoid neuroimmune modulation of SIV disease

Marijuana is one of the most commonly used and abused drugs. Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-9-THC), the primary psychoactive component in marijuana, is FDA-approved to ameliorate AIDS-associated wasting. Because cannabinoid receptors are expressed on cells of the immune system, it is possible that chronic Δ-9-THC use may impact HIV disease progression. Until recently, longitudinal, controlled, systems-approach studies on the effects of cannabinoids on disease progression were lacking. Data from our controlled studies in non-human primates show chronic Δ-9-THC administration prior to and during simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection ameliorates disease progression, attenuates viral load and tissue inflammation, significantly reducing morbidity and mortality of SIV-infected macaques. Identification of possible mechanisms responsible for this modulation of disease progression is complicated due to the multiplicity of cannabinoid-mediated effects, tissue-specific responses to the viral infection, multiple cellular mechanisms involved in inflammatory responses, coordinated neuroendocrine and localized responses to infection, and kinetics of viral replication. Emerging results from our studies reveal that the overall mechanisms mediating the protective effects of cannabinoids involve novel epigenomic regulatory mechanisms in need of systematic investigation. Here, we review the evidence supporting an immunomodulatory role for cannabinoids and its impact on disease progression with focus on HIV/SIV infection.
Adjuvant activity of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides

Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) containing unmethylated CpG motifs directly stimulate human B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), thereby promoting the production of Th1 and proinflammatory cytokines and the maturation/activation of professional antigen-presenting cells. These activities enable CpG ODNs to act as immune adjuvants, accelerating and boosting antigen-specific immune responses by 5- to 500-fold. The CpG motifs present in bacterial DNA plasmids may contribute to the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines. Ongoing clinical studies indicate that CpG ODNs are safe and well tolerated when administered as adjuvants to humans and can improve vaccine-induced immune responses.
A Study of Small Business Failure: Smith & Griggs of Waterbury

Historians have recorded some of the more spectacular failures in American business, but the subject of business failure in itself has not been intensively studied. To lay the groundwork for such a study, the experience of individual firms should be examined in detail and attention should be directed to small as well as large business units. The history of Smith & Griggs provides an example of “discontinuance” which came about not as a result of a single catastrophic event but by a process of long-time attrition involving every phase of the company's operations.
The use of solid 13C nuclear magnetic resonance for the characterization of cholesterol and bilirubin pigment composition of human gallstones.

Abstract The new magic-angle spinning and cross polarization techniques for obtaining a 13 C solid NMR spectrum are applied to the characterization of human cholesterol, mixed cholesterol-pigment, calcium bilirubinate and bilirubin pigment gallstones. The stones divide into two general classes: the cholesterol stones and the bilirubin pigment stones. The cholesterol stones are very similar to each other whereas the bilirubin pigment stones exhibit considerably more variation in spectral features. The importance of other material and polymerization in the bilirubin pigment stones is discussed.
Algorithms for accurate relativistic particle injection

In particle-in-cell plasma codes, the second-order leap-frog method is used to push the velocity and position of each particle in the main loop. Once a velocity distribution has been inverted for injection, time-centering of the position and velocity is necessary to maintain second-order accuracy. We have set up non-relativistic time-centering algorithms for particle injection in our PIC code. We further developed relativistic time-centering methods for injection and we added methods to calculate higher order accurate position. Also, the algorithms are expanded to find the position and velocity at any specific time from those at the initial discrete time, which can be used not only in the leap-frog method but also any other algorithms.
Fuzzy clustering with multiple kernels in feature space

While classical kernel-based clustering algorithms are based on a single kernel, in practice it is often desirable to base clustering on combination of multiple kernels. In [1], we considered a fuzzy c-means with multiple kernels in observation space (FCMK-OS) algorithm which constructs the kernel from a number of Gaussian kernels and learns a resolution specific weight for each kernel function in each cluster. The FCMK-OS did not have a closed form expression to update the kernel weights. Moreover, it derives the fuzzy c-means in input space with kernelization of the metric. Thus, it can not handle nonlinear partitioning of the data. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy c-means with multiple kernels in feature space (FCMK-FS) algorithm which extends the fuzzy c-means algorithm with an adaptive multiple kernel learning setting. The incorporation of multiple kernels and unsupervised adjusting of the kernel weights in each cluster makes the choice of the kernels less crucial and allows better characterization and adaptability to each individual cluster. Experiments on both toy and real data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed FCMK-FS algorithm.
Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is unaltered by creatine depletion induced by dietary ß-guanidino propionic acid

It has been suggested that a specific phosphagen pool might serve a sensor function, allowing direct detection of alveolar hypoxia by the pulmonary vascular smooth muscle. The possibility that phosphocreatine (PCr) levels could serve as such a sensor was assessed in isolated rat lungs. Pulmonary vascular reactivity to angiotensin II and alveolar hypoxia was assessed in lungs from control and PCr-depleted rats. PCr depletion was accomplished by feeding rats a diet containing 2% s-guanidino propionic acid (s-GPA), an competitive inhibitor of creatine uptake. Total creatine was depleted in s-GPA lungs, compared to control lungs (p < 0.05). Lung PCr levels were undetectable by the available 31 P NMR spectroscopy system. PCr and creatine were depleted in hearts from s-GPA rats relative to control hearts (p < 0.001). Normoxic pulmonary artery pressure and the pressor responses to angiotensin II and hypoxia were not qualitatively or quantitatively altered by the diet indicating either that PCr is not a critical participant in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction or that the degree of PCr depletion achieved was inadequate to expose its role in the hypoxic pressor response.
Alaska's North Slope Borough revisited

Alaska's North Slope Borough, established in 1972, is a unique institution of Native-controlled local government in the north. Providing a case study of Native self-determination under favourable conditions of indigenous, local control of resource wealth and political power, it has been the instrument by which local Inupiat capturedand used oil wealth, with clear economic and political benefits. They have gained high levels of local public services, jobs, and incomes; and effective representation in negotiations with external corporate and government authorities; the borough has also preserved and adapted critical elements of traditional culture. Costs of development and changeunder borough leadership have included waste and inefficiency, crime and corruption. Centralized power in borough headquarters has reduced the independence of borough villages and encouraged borough citizens to act like clients and consumers. Borough economy remains dependent on uncertain tax revenues from oil, with uncertain future employment opportunities for a rapidly growing Native population. North Slope Borough government has provided the Inupiat with means to greater political self-sufficiency, and the borough has responded effectively, under great pressure, to the opportunities and problems that petroleum development has brought to the region.
BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATION SCALES AND THE EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL EFFECTIVENESS

An earlier article by the present authors (Bernardin and Kane, 1980) pointed out a serious flaw in the conceptual basis of Behavioral Observation Scales (BOS). The present article explains this flaw in more detail and shows that its solution would make BOS indistinguishable from other methods already in existence. The focus then shifts from the conception of appraisal methods to their evaluation with the presentation of a discussion of the special problems of error capitalization that arise in the use of item analysis in the development of multi-item rating scales. This discussion proceeds to describe the correct approach to removing the effects of error capitalization in the evaluation of the psychometric properties of such rating scales.
Paleoindian and Archaic Activities at Dust Cave, Alabama: The Secular and the Sacred

Located in the Tennessee River valley of northwestern Alabama, the site of Dust Cave was occupied from the Late Pleistocene through the Mid-Holocene. Over four meters of deposits in the cave vestibule have preserved a record of a transforming climate, local geomorphology and the human responses to these changes through time. A synthesis of the floral, faunal, lithic, and feature data in combination with the information from a bone cache, and dog and human burials allow for an overview of life during the occupation of the cave.
PREDICTION OF LOCUS OF CONTROL FROM PERFORMANCE ON A PERCEPTUAL RECOGNITION TASK

Summasy.-lo a smdy by Lawlor (1970) an attempt was made to reduce the perceptual defense or vigilance effect of process, non-paranoid schizophrenics through alterations in the pace at which the stimuli were presented. The present study predicted that those Ss who did show a decrease in effect as a result of optimal pacing and self-pacing without awareness would more likely be those more "external" in locus of control. It was found that "external" Ss were more likely to have shown an initial defense effect and that this was indeed reduced in the two experimental conditions. Also, "internal" Ss were more likely to have shown an initial vigilance effect which was not then reduced by the same experimental procedures. Lawlor ( 1970) attempted to reduce the perceptual defense or vigilance effect found in a word-recognition task. The task consisted of tachistoscopic presentations of random series of words that had been determined to be either "emotional" or "neutral" for each particular S. For each presentation, Ss were given a card with two words on it, one emotional, one neutral; their task was to say which one of the two matched words was shown tachistoscopicalIy. If Ss showed a lowered recognition threshold for emotional than neutral words, they were considered as having demonstrated a vigilance effect, whereas if they showed a higher recognition threshold for emotional than neutral words, they were considered to show a defense effect. Characteristically, schizophrenics show performance deficits when compared with performance of normals. In accordance with Shakow's (1962, 1963) theorizing about the nature of schizophrenic deficit, Lawlor tried various procedures which he predicted would improve schizophrenics' performance more than that of normals. An alteration in procedure which would lead to maintenance of the "major set" or readiness to respond to a task, should prevent intrusion of "minor sets" and should improve performance. Specifically, Lawlor expected chat an optimal pacing interval would be more advantageous to schizophrenics (see Tizard & Venables, 1956; Zahn, Rosenthal, & Shakow, 1961, 1963; Zahn, Shakow, 8: Rosenthal, 1961) and that schizophrenics would be more helped by the opportunity for self-pacing if they were relatively unaware of their control (see Shakow & Huston, 1936; Cromwell, Rosenthal, Shakow, & Zahn, 1961 ). On Day 1 of Lawlor's study, all Ss were administered the recognition task
Phase Transitions out of Equilibrium: domain formation and growth

We study the dynamics of phase transitions out of equilibrium in weakly coupled scalar field theories. We consider the case in which there is a rapid supercooling from an initial symmetric phase in thermal equilibrium at temperature [ital T][sub [ital i]][gt][ital T][sub [ital c]] to a final state at low temperature [ital T][sub [ital f]][approx]0. In particular we study the formation and growth of correlated domains out of equilibrium. It is shown that the dynamics of the process of domain formation and growth (spinodal decomposition) cannot be studied in perturbation theory, and a nonperturbative self-consistent Hartree approximation is used to study the long time evolution. We find in weakly coupled theories that the size of domains grows at long times as [xi][sub [ital D]]([ital t])[approx] [radical][ital t][xi](0). The size of the domains and the amplitude of the fluctuations grow up to a maximum time [ital t][sub [ital s]] which in weakly coupled theories is estimated to be [ital t][sub [ital s]][approx][minus][xi](0)ln [(3[lambda]/4[pi][sup 3])[sup 1/2] ( ( [ital T][sub [ital i]] / 2[ital T][sub [ital c]] )[sup 3] / [[ital T][sub [ital i]][sup 2] / [ital T][sub [ital c]][sup 2] [minus]1] )] with [xi](0) the zero-temperature correlation length. For very weaklymore » coupled theories, their final size is several times the zero-temperature correlation length. For strongly coupled theories the final size of the domains is comparable to the zero-temperature correlation length and the transition proceeds faster.« less
Targeted Delivery of Nucleic Acid-Based Therapeutics to the Pulmonary Circulation

Targeted delivery of functional nucleic acids (genes and oligonucleotides) to pulmonary endothelium may become a novel therapy for the treatment of various types of lung diseases. It may also provide a new research tool to study the functions and regulation of novel genes in pulmonary endothelium. Its success is largely dependent on the development of a vehicle that is capable of efficient pulmonary delivery with minimal toxicity. This review summarizes the recent progress that has been made in our laboratory along these research directions. Factors that affect pulmonary nucleic acids delivery are also discussed.
Evidence in magnetic clouds for systematic open flux transport on the Sun

Most magnetic clouds encountered by spacecraft at 1 AU display a mix of unidirectional suprathermal electrons signaling open field lines and counterstreaming electrons signaling loops connected to the Sun at both ends. Assuming the open fields were originally loops that underwent interchange reconnection with open fields at the Sun, we determine the sense of connectedness of the open fields found in 72 of 97 magnetic clouds identified by the Wind spacecraft in order to obtain information on the location and sense of the reconnection and resulting flux transport at the Sun. The true polarity of the open fields in each magnetic cloud was determined from the direction of the suprathermal electron flow relative to the magnetic field direction. Results indicate that the polarity of all open fields within a given magnetic cloud is the same 89% of the time, implying that interchange reconnection at the Sun most often occurs in only one leg of a flux rope loop, thus transporting open flux in a single direction, from a coronal hole near that leg to the foot point of the opposite leg. This pattern is consistent with the view that interchange reconnection in coronal mass ejections systematically transports an amount of open flux sufficient to reverse the polarity of the heliospheric field through the course of the solar cycle. Using the same electron data, we also find that the fields encountered in magnetic clouds are only a third as likely to be locally inverted as not. While one might expect inversions to be equally as common as not in flux rope coils, consideration of the geometry of spacecraft trajectories relative to the modeled magnetic cloud axes leads us to conclude that the result is reasonable.
Personality Correlates of Verbal Conflict Resolution

Summary The scores on 11 Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey scales and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale of 80 male and female college students were related in four multiple regression analyses to verbal conflict resolution times for approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, double approach-avoidance, and average time for all conflicts. The multiple correlations were not significant; however, an analysis of 56 Ss who gave more than four question-mark responses on any one Guilford-Zimmerman factor produced three significant multiple correlations. A tentative personality profile of the slow conflict resolver emerged: low score on the Personal Relations and Socialibility scales. A subtle subject-experimenter interaction was proposed as an explanation of the results.
Cross-Media Environmental Impacts of Air Pollution Regulations for a Coal-Fired Power Plant

The types and rates of pollutant emissions from a coal-fired power plant depend upon plant design, coal characteristics, and environmental control policy. In the past, air pollution regulations were often promulgated without rigorous analysis of the resulting energy penalties and secondary environmental impacts that occur in other environmental media (air, land, or water), which are counterproductive to overall environmental quality. This paper describes a Comparative Assessment Model that has been developed to consider systematically such tradeoffs for conventional and advanced coal-to-electric technologies. The model is applied to quantify the secondary (“cross-media”) environmental and resource impacts resulting from alternative air pollution control policies that reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from a 1000 MW power plant. Multimedia pollutant burdens are presented, together with the increased requirements for coal, limestone, and water that are incurred in generating a fixed net quantity of electricit...
Recent advances in pneumococcal peptidoglycan biosynthesis suggest new vaccine and antimicrobial targets

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a serious human respiratory pathogen that has the capacity to evade capsule-based vaccines and to develop multidrug antibiotic resistance. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the mechanisms and regulation of peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis that result in ellipsoid-shaped, ovococcus Streptococcus cells. New results support a two-state model for septal and peripheral PG synthesis at mid-cell, involvement of essential cell division proteins in PG remodeling, and mid-cell localization of proteins that organize PG biosynthesis and that form the protein translocation apparatus. PG biosynthesis proteins have already turned up as promising vaccine candidates and targets of antibiotics. Properties of several recently characterized proteins that mediate or regulate PG biosynthesis suggest a source of additional targets for therapies against pneumococcus.
Comparing local shape descriptors

Local shape descriptors can be used for a variety of tasks, from registration to comparison to shape analysis and retrieval. There have been a variety of local shape descriptors developed for these tasks, which have been evaluated in isolation or in pairs, but not against each other. We provide a survey of existing descriptors and a framework for comparing them. We perform a detailed evaluation of the descriptors using real data sets from a variety of sources. We first evaluate how stable these metrics are under changes in mesh resolution, noise, and smoothing. We then analyze the discriminatory ability of the descriptors for the task of shape matching. Finally, we compare the descriptors on a shape classification task. Our conclusion is that sampling the normal distribution and the mean curvature, using 25 samples, and reducing this data to 5–10 samples via Principal Components Analysis, provides robustness to noise and the best shape discrimination results. For shape classification, mean curvature sampled at the vertex or averaged, and the more global Shape Diameter Function, performed the best.
Fighting for a Democratic Police: Politics, Experts and Bureaucrats in the Transformation of the Police in Post-Authoritarian Chile and Argentina

Abstract Through a comparative field analysis, I explain why, after being subjected to the same reform projects and rationalities in the democratic period, police bureaucracies changed in Chile but remained unchanged in Argentina. In doing so I advance a field theory account of police bureaucratic change that (a) overcomes the limitations of Late-modern, Post-modern and Governmentality theories of police change, and (b) emphasizes positionality, agency and a plurality of interests in processes of administrative change. I demonstrate that the proliferation of new experts and their reconversion strategies within the field led to the emergence of specific demands for reform while the historical structures and location of the policing field and the outcomes of struggles within them determined the differential evolution of police organizations in democratic times.
Thermodynamic constraints on optimal depletion of copper and aluminum in the United States: a dynamic model of substitution and technical change

Abstract The paper proposes a methodology to integrate concepts from thermodynamics into economic models of optimal natural resource use and to empirically determine relationships between changes in thermodynamic states of materials and the use of high-quality energy sources. The integration is aimed at an assessment of technologies, substitution and technical change based on economic concepts that do justice to fundamental physical constraints. A model of natural resource use and production has been developed that combines econometric time series analysis with dynamic modeling techniques. The model explicitly includes thermodynamic constraints on (i) the process of separating minerals from crude ore, (ii) smelting processes, (iii) substitution among inputs, and (iv) endogenous technical change in mining, smelting and refining. Based on empirical information, the model has been simulated to assess outer limits of feasible resource savings in copper and bauxite mining, smelting and refining in the United States. Conclusions are drawn for the evaluation of products and effluents from mining, smelting and refining operations with regard to changes in the physical resource base and environmental quality.
Opportunities for cancer epidemiology in developing countries

Most cancer epidemiology studies involve people living in North America and Europe, which represent only a fraction of the global population. The wide variety of dietary, lifestyle and environmental exposures, as well as the genetic variation among people in developing countries can provide valuable new information on factors that contribute to cancer or that protect against it. What are the challenges and advantages to performing large epidemiological studies in developing nations?
Differential impacts of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis, on Pinus palustris and Pinus taeda

Patterns of host use by herbivore pests can have serious consequences for natural and managed ecosystems but are often poorly understood. Here, we provide the first quantification of large differential impacts of the southern pine bee- tle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, on loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., and longleaf pine, Pinus palustris P. Mill., and evaluate putative mechanisms for the disparity. Spatially extensive survey data from recent epidemics indicate that, per square kilometre, stands of loblolly versus longleaf pine in four forests (380-1273 km 2 ) sustained 3-18 times more local infestations and 3-116 times more tree mortality. Differences were not attributable to size or age structure of pine stands. Using pheromone-baited traps, we found no differences in the abundance of dispersing D. frontalis or its predator Thanasi- mus dubius Fabricius between loblolly and longleaf stands. Trapping triggered numerous attacks on trees, but the pine spe- cies did not differ in the probability of attack initiation or in the surface area of bark attacked by growing aggregations. We found no evidence for postaggregation mechanisms of discrimination or differential success on the two hosts, suggest- ing that early colonizers discriminate between host species before a pheromone plume is present. Resume´ : Le patron d'utilisation des hotes par les ravageurs herbivores peut avoir de serieuses consequences pour les eco- systemes naturels et amenages mais elles sont souvent mal connues. Dans cet article, nous quantifions pour la premiere fois les impacts du dendroctone meridional du pin, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, qui sont tres differents sur le pin aen- cens, Pinus taeda L., et le pin des marais, Pinus palustris P. Mill., et nous evaluons les mecanismes qui pourraient expliquer cette disparite ´. Les donnees d'un inventaire couvrant un vaste territoire et portant sur des epidemies recentes indiquent que les peuplements de pin aencens ont subi 3-18 fois plus d'infestations locales et 3-116 fois plus de mortalitepar kilometre carreque les peuplements de pin des marais dans quatre forets (380-1273 km 2 ). Ces differences n'etaient pas attribuables a la structure d'age ou de dimension des peuplements de pin. Al'aide de trappes appatees avec des pheromones, nous n'avons observeaucune difference dans l'abondance de D. frontalis alors qu'il se dispersait ni de son predateur, Thanasimus dubius Fabricius, entre les peuplements de pin aencens et de pin des marais. Le piegeage a provoqueplusieurs attaques sur les ar- bres mais il n'y avait pas de difference entre les especes de pin quant ala probabilitedu declenchement d'une attaque ni quant a la superficie d'ecorce attaquee par le regroupement d'un nombre croissant d'insectes. Nous n'avons trouveaucun in- dice de discrimination ou de difference de succes dues ades mecanismes de regroupement a posteriori sur les deux hotes, ce qui indique que les insectes pionniers distinguent l'espece hote avant qu'une traoˆnee de pheromone soit presente. (Traduit par la Redaction)
655. Development of a Human Carboxylesterase That Can Efficiently Metabolize CPT-11

CPT-11 is a water-soluble camptothecin analogue that has shown remarkable antitumor activity against a variety of tumors in xenograft models and in clinical trials. It is currently approved for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancers, and is likely to be approved for use against a variety of other solid tumors. CPT-11 is a prodrug that is metabolized in vivo by carboxylesterases (CEs) to generate the potent topoisomeraseI inhibitor, SN-38. Among the highly homologous mammalian CEs, a rabbit liver carboxylesterase (rCE) is the most efficient at CPT-11 activation. The human intestinal CE (hiCE), and the human liver CE (hCE1), however, are 5-fold, and 1000-fold less efficient at drug conversion, respectively. As a result, in humans, less than 5% of the administered CPT-11 is converted to SN-38. Furthermore, CPT-11 dose escalation is limited by severe delayed diarrhea due in part to CPT-11 conversion in the small intestine. Thus, development of an enzyme-prodrug therapy approach that would allow selective drug activation at the tumor site, without the need for CPT-11 dose escalation, could increase the clinical efficacy of this drug. For such an approach, development of a human CE that can activate CPT-11 with high efficiency is required. This CE will likely be less immunogenic than rCE in humans, and may allow development of protocols for improved enzyme-prodrug therapy approaches with CPT-11.
Local Area Network Adoption: An Empirical Assessment

Local area networks LANs fill organizations' need to efficiently and quickly transfer information within their boundaries. There are a variety of factors firms consider when adopting LANs such as characteristics of the LAN e.g., operating speed and cost of operation, ease of installation, and vendor provided support during and after the LAN installation. Not all firms adopt LANs for the same reasons, thus the importance placed on these dimensions varies from firm to firm. This study examines the relationship between the importance placed on dimensions of the adoption process and organizational characteristics such as size, degree of centralization, complexity, and information systems maturity. Results indicate that the extent of information systems maturity in a firm has the most influence on the priority placed on various adoption dimensions. For example, more mature firms place a greater priority on tangible LAN characteristics than do less mature firms. Findings provide a framework in which to begin to understand the organizational nature of the LAN adoption decision.
Effects of BAY K-8644 on inotropic and arrhythmogenic actions of digoxin.

Abstract Myocardial intracellular ‘Ca2+ overload’ may be involved in the direct arrhythmogenic actions of cardiotonic steroids. This proposal was examined by determining if the sensitivity of guinea-pig atrial muscle to digoxin-induced arrhythmias was affected by BAY K-8644, a 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative which promotes Ca2+ influx via slow channels. BAY K-8644 significantly reduced both the time required for a given concentration of digoxin to produce arrhythmias and the amount of digoxin bound to atrial muscle at the onset of arrhythmias. In addition, BAY K-8644 increased the maximum developed tension observed in the presence of digoxin before the onset of arrhythmias. Similar results were obtained with increasing concentrations of buffer Ca2+. In contrast, A23187, a Ca2+ ionophore, enhanced the sensitivity to digoxin-induced arrhythmias without affecting maximum developed tension. These results suggest that increases in intracellular Ca2+ enhance cardiac sensitivity to digoxin-induced arrhythmias and that the arrhythmogenic action may involve Ca2+ overload at a pool other than that which activates contractile proteins.
Optimal Strategies for Marketing Calves and Yearlings from Rangeland

Many of the problems encountered in ranching stem from the uncertainty associated with forage availability and the relatively stable forage requirements of the traditional cow-calf operation. This results in underutilization of forage during forage surpluses and costly overutilization during shortages. Smaller cow herds combined with the possibility of carrying calves over to the following spring and/or fall allows forage requirements to be manipulated in response to forage availability. Dynamic programming results suggest that smaller cow-calf-yearling operations have potential to increase expected net returns over a larger cow-calf operation.