cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mouse females devoid of exposure to males during fetal development exhibit increased maternal behavior.

Summary Many sex differences can be found in the expression of aggression and parental nurturing behaviors. It is important to determine if these are modulated by prenatal conditions. Here, using assisted reproduction technologies, we generated females that were (mixed-sex) or were not (same-sex) exposed to males during fetal development, raised them by cross fostering among fosters’ own female only pups to control for effects of postnatal environment, and compared their reproductive abilities and behavior. There were no differences between females from the two prenatal conditions in estrus cycle length and length of time spent at individual estrus cycle stages. Both types of females had similar ovulation efficiency and bred equally well yielding comparable litter size and progeny sex ratio. Females from the two prenatal conditions were also indistinguishable in social behavior and exhibited normal social responses towards unfamiliar females in the three-chamber social approach and social proximity tests. When urine was collected from both types of females and used as a point source in a scent-marking paradigm, exposed males showed a similar distribution and extent of urinary scent marking in response to urine from each type of female but tended to engage in higher durations of sniffing the urine from same-sex females. When females were tested in a resident-intruder paradigm 3 days after giving birth, same-sex females exhibited enhancement of pup grooming and an overall decrease of non-pup activity prior to male intruder introduction, and after introduction were more defensive as evidenced by higher rates of burying, open-mouth threat/lunges, and attacks towards the male, and decreased latencies to display these defensive behaviors. Our results suggest that females devoid of male exposure during fetal development have reproductive abilities similar to those of females from mixed-sex pregnancies, and have normal social interactions with other females. However, they exhibit hyper-maternal behavior both in terms of the care and defense of pups in front of a male intruder, and potentially produce a pheromonal milieu that renders them more attractive to males during olfactory investigations.
Online news on Twitter: Newspapers’ social media adoption and their online readership

Abstract Many news organizations have recognized the potential of social media as a journalistic tool and have used social media marketing to attract online audiences. The aim of this study is to understand the implications of news organizations’ adoption of social media sites through (1) an examination of the relationship between news organizations’ adoption of social media and their online readership and (2) a comparison of online traffic generated by social media sites with that generated by other online media institutions. Evidence suggests that newspapers’ adoption of social media is positively associated with an increase in their online readership, and this association increases in the size of the newspapers’ social media networks (e.g., number of Twitter followers). Evidence also suggests that the association between newspapers’ social media adoption and their online traffic may differ compared to the association between other online media institutions and the online traffic they generated. A descriptive analysis shows that the online traffic generated by social media sites is less concentrated than that generated by search engines or news aggregators; this can be explained by the fact that social media sites might be less susceptible to information cascades, compared to search engines or news aggregators.
Determination of plate temperature in case of combined conduction, convection and radiation heat exchange

Abstract The singular, integro-differential equation for the temperature of a flat plate with internal energy generation and a fluid flowing over one of its faces, is solved numerically using the method of iteration. The present results compare well with those of Sparrow and Lin, except for the leading portions of the plate. It is also seen that the relations given by Cess for similar problems may not give converged solutions for all cases. The importance of conduction in a plate of high thermal conductivity and of radiation in cases of laminar flow has also been demonstrated.
An In-Frame Trinucleotide Repeat in the Coding Region of the Human Cellular Glutathione Peroxidase (GPX1) Gene: In Vivo Polymorphism and in Vitro Instability

We report the variation in vivo and instability in vitro of an in-frame GCG trinucleotide repeat in the human cellular glutathione peroxidase (GPX1) gene. In a population study of 110 alleles from 55 unrelated individuals, the allele frequencies for 4, 5, and 6 GCG repeats were 0.40, 0.35, and 0.25, respectively. No allele was associated with diminished enzyme activity. Current stocks of HL-60 cells, a human myeloid leukemia cell line, are homozygous for the 6-repeat allele. Early passage HL-60 cells frozen in 1976 show a 4/6 genotype and "intermediate" passage cells frozen in 1985 contain both 4/6 and 5/6 genotypes. Thus, the expansion of the repeat appears to have developed in the course of multiple passages of the rapidly proliferating cell line.
The Effect of Public Transfers on Physical and Human Capital Accumulation

Using a model with heterogeneous agents, this article demonstrates how public transfers affect physical as well as human capital accumulation. An increase in public income transfer from the rich agent to the poor agent will decrease (or increase) both physical and human capital accumulation if the poor agent has a higher (or lower) rate of time preference than the rich agent. An income transfer has no effect on physical and human capital accumulation if the poor agent and the rich agent have the same rate of time preference. A transfer from the rich agent to the poor agent through public education expenditure will decrease the physical capital but may either increase or decrease total human capital depending on the productivity of government education expenditure and other conditions.
Growth and properties of fluorinated plasma oxide for Si MOSFET devices

Abstract Plasma oxidation is a potentially attractive technique for growth of silicon dioxide at low temperatures for Si MOSFET devices and for thin film transistor (TFT) devices. It avoids the use of H containing materials as precursors and therefore, can be more stable. In this paper, we report on the growth, electronic properties and stability of plasma oxidized SiO2 films grown in an electron cyclotron (ECR) plasma reactor. The films were grown using either oxygen or oxygen with small amount of fluorine. We show that negative ions play a major role in the growth of oxide films. MOSFET devices that use films grown using plasma oxidation with oxygen alone show higher interface defect densities and much poorer stability than films grown using dry thermal oxides. When fluorine is added to oxygen, the plasma oxidized films grow at a higher rate and the interface density is reduced to the range typical of dry thermal oxides. The MOSFET devices made using the fluorinated oxide films grown at low temperatures perform as well and are almost as stable against hot electron degradation as devices grown using dry thermal oxide at much higher temperatures.
Studies of CW lasing action in CO/sub 2/-CO, N/sub 2/O-CO, CO/sub 2/-H/sub 2/O, and N/sub 2/O-H/sub 2/O mixtures pumped by blackbody radiation

A proof of principle experiment to evaluate the efficacy of CO and H/sub 2/O in increasing the power output for N/sub 2/O and CO/sub 2/ lasing mixtures has been conducted and theoretically analyzed for a blackbody radiation-pumped laser. The results for N/sub 2/O-CO, CO/sub 2/-CO, N/sub 2/O-H/sub 2/O and CO/sub 2/-H/sub 2/O mixtures are presented. Additions of CO to the N/sub 2/O lasant increased power up to 28% for N/sub 2/O laser mixtures, whereas additions of CO to the CO/sub 2/ lasant, and the addition of H/sub 2/O to both the CO/sub 2/ and N/sub 2/O lasants, resulted in decreased output power. >
Converging voice and data over mission-critical networks

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Deep Space Network ?? DSN - is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. This paper describes the ground communications network of the DSN and ways network infrastructure costs are being reduced by the introduction of new technology. Fundamentally, the DSN ground network architecture is a star network, and the hub is at JPL in Pasadena, California. Communications to customer sites are designed to minimize NASA costs and may be either shared IP backbone networks or dedicated circuits. One of the primary features of the network is its ability to support real-time data, voice, and video communications among antenna stations, an automated multi-mission operations systems facility at JPL (AMMOS), and mission operations centers (MOCs) at NASA and non-NASA facilities. Funding for advanced engineering to reduce ground network infrastructure costs was provided by the NASA Office of Space Science.
Efficient Content-Based Multimedia Retrieval Using Novel Indexing Structure in PostgreSQL

This demo paper presents a system based on PostgreSQL and the AH-Tree that supports Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) through similarity queries. The AH-Tree is a balanced, tree-based index structure that utilizes high-level semantic information to address the well-known problems of semantic gap and user perception subjectivity. The proposed system implements the AH-Tree inside PostgreSQL's kernel by internally modifying PostgreSQL's GiST access mechanism and thus provides a DBMS with a viable and efficient content-based multimedia retrieval functionality.
Complement inhibitor C4-binding protein in amyloid deposits containing serum amyloid P in Alzheimer's disease.

Summary Complement C4-binding protein (C4BP) is a plasma protein that complexes with serum amyloid P and is involved in inhibition of the complement cascade. We used immunochemical methods to demonstrate C4BP in brains of subjects with Alzheimer's disease and normal controls. C4BP antibodies stained cerebral amyloid deposits that were indistinguishable from those recognized by antibodies to serum amyloid P or by thioflavin S. Immunoblots of solubilized proteins from cerebral cortex, cerebral microvessels and cerebrospinal fluid showed specific antibody reactivity to 70–90 kDa bands. Our results suggest the involvement of complement regulatory proteins in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
Systemic tumor necrosis factor alpha mediates an increase in peripheral CD11bhigh osteoclast precursors in tumor necrosis factor alpha-transgenic mice.

Objective To investigate the mechanisms whereby tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) increases osteoclastogenesis in vivo. Methods TNFalpha-transgenic (TNF-Tg) and wild-type mice injected with TNFalpha were studied. In vitro osteoclastogenesis assays, monocyte colony-forming assays, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting were performed using splenocytes, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and bone marrow cells to quantify and characterize osteoclast precursors (OCPs). Etanercept, a TNFalpha antagonist, was used to block TNFalpha activity in vivo. The effects of TNFalpha on proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation of OCPs were assessed using 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine labeling, annexin V staining, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Results OCP numbers were increased 4-7-fold in PBMCs and spleen, but not in bone marrow of TNF-Tg mice. The OCPs in spleen were in the CD11b(high) population and contained both c-Fms- and c-Fms+ cells. The increased number of OCPs correlated with the initiation of detectable TNFalpha in serum and the onset of inflammatory arthritis in TNF-Tg mice. Etanercept eliminated the increase in peripheral OCPs. TNFalpha did not affect proliferation, survival, or differentiation of CD11b(high) splenocytes in vivo or in vitro, but caused a rapid increase in CD11b+ cells in blood within 4 hours of a single injection and an accumulation of CD11b(high) OCPs in spleen after 3 days of multiple injections. Conclusion Systemic TNFalpha induces a marked increase in circulating OCPs that is reversible by anti-TNF therapy and may result from their mobilization from bone marrow. Our findings provide a new mechanism whereby TNFalpha stimulates osteoclastogenesis in patients with inflammatory arthritis, suggesting that CD11b+ PBMCs could be used to evaluate a patient's potential for erosive disease and the efficacy of anti-TNF therapy.
Squalene-2,3-epoxidase activity in rat brain during growth and maturation

Summary The in vitro block in cholesterol biosynthesis which causes squalene accumulation in brain preparations has been investigated using 3H-squalene and assaying for labeled squalene-2,3-oxide formation. It has been determined that: 1) squalene epoxidase activities in brain and liver are comparable; 2) there is no change in brain epoxidase activity corresponding to the peak in brain cholesterol synthesis during myelination; 3) the epoxidase is inhibited 3.5-fold by a squalene-2,3-oxide trap. These facts indicate that brain epoxidase activity is not a control point for brain cholesterol biosynthesis during development, in spite of the marked squalene accumulation observed in vitro .
Flexural strength of polyamide 6 intercalated/exfoliated cements

Abstract Polyamide 6 intercalated/exfoliated (PIE) cements are fabricated and characterized. With the reinforcing nanointerphase, the flexure strength of a PIE cement is higher than that of ordinary cements by an order of magnitude. The optimum nanointerphase content is around 10 wt.%. This technique has great potential in developing advanced precast and repair technologies.
Extension of the Pierce Model to Multiple Transmission Lines Interacting With an Electron Beam

A possible route toward achieving high-power microwave (HPM) devices is through the use of novel slow-wave structures, represented by multiple coupled transmission lines (MTLs), and whose behavior when coupled to electron beams has not been sufficiently explored. We present the extension of the 1-D linearized Pierce theory to MTLs coupled to a single electron beam. We develop multiple formalisms to calculate the k-ω dispersion relation of the system and find that the existence of a growing wave solution is always guaranteed if the electron propagation constant is larger than or equal to the largest propagation constant of the MTL system. We verify our findings with illustrative examples that bring to light unique properties of the system in which growing waves were found to exist within finite bands of the electron propagation constant and also present possible means to improve the gain. By treating the beam-MTL interaction as distributed dependent current generators in the MTL, we derive relations characterizing the power flux and energy exchange between the beam and the MTLs. For the growing wave, we show that the beam always behaves as an energy source causing power flux along the transmission lines. The theory developed in this paper is the basis for the possible use of degenerate band edges in periodic MTL systems for HPM amplifiers.
Sociological Theory and the Relativistic Paradigm

Sociological theory is compared to the relativist paradigm which is found in a variety of contemporary intellectual movements: microphysics, drama, theology, art, music and psychology. The principal elements in the relativist paradigm are: (1) complementarity; (2) indeterminacy: (3) relativity. In contrast to this thought pattern, the apparent pluralism represented in the strict, hermeneutical, and critical schools of sociological theory is shown to be questionable. Extant sociological theory is relatively unified at the epistemic level.
Oaks, acorns, and the geographical ecology of acorn woodpeckers

Summary We investigated the geographical ecology of acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) using 30 years of Audubon Christmas Bird Counts and data on the diversity and abundance of oaks. Spatial autocorrelation in acorn woodpecker population densities is not significantly greater than zero both in either the southwestern United States, where populations are often locally isolated, or along the Pacific Coast, where they are more evenly distributed. In both regions, the effective distributional limit of acorn woodpeckers is set not by the limits of oaks but by sites where oak diversity drops to a single species. This result is consistent with acorn production patterns in central coastal California demonstrating that variability in overall acorn production and the probability of acorn crop failure decline with increasing oak species number but drop most markedly when two, compared to one, species of oaks are present together. Along the Pacific Coast, acorn woodpecker densities increase and population variability decreases with increasing abundance and diversity of oaks; however, analyses indicate that overall population size in this region is primarily determined by resource abundance while population stability is determined by resource diversity. Comparable patterns are not obvious in the Southwest, where acorn woodpecker densities are much lower than along the Pacific Coast. This may be due to a combination of greater competition for resources and oak communities that differ both qualitatively and quantitatively in their productivity compared to those along the Pacific Coast.
A network-specific approach to percolation in complex networks with bidirectional links

Methods for determining the percolation threshold usually study the behavior of network ensembles and are often restricted to a particular type of probabilistic node/link removal strategy. We propose a network-specific method to determine the connectivity of nodes below the percolation threshold and offer an estimate to the percolation threshold in networks with bidirectional links. Our analysis does not require the assumption that a network belongs to a specific ensemble and can at the same time easily handle arbitrary removal strategies (previously an open problem for undirected networks). In validating our analysis, we find that it predicts the effects of many known complex structures (e.g., degree correlations) and may be used to study both probabilistic and deterministic attacks. Copyright c EPLA, 2012
Dodging a Malthusian bullet in the 21st century.

The linear historic global crop yield trends found in this study, when extended, trace future rates of yield gain that are well below the recent growth in food demand. Fortunately for consumers, the population growth rates have also fallen after exponential growth, on average, for at least 2 centuries. Global food demand growth may exceed yield growth for several decades, bringing higher commodity prices that are necessary to draw land and other conventional resources into food production © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Regret in pursuit of change and maintenance goals

Three experiments were conducted investigating feelings of regret following poor decisions involving behaviors that were either typical for the decision-maker or atypical. Using a retrospection paradigm, the present research found that typical behaviors were more regrettable when decisions were in the context of goals to change whereas atypical behaviors were more regrettable in the context of maintenance goals. We ruled out explanations of these effects based on the temporal distance of the decision, behavioral typicality per se, the severity of the decision-outcomes and the ease of recalling the events. Results were discussed from a consistency-fit analysis of regret and decision-making.
Microbial Transformation of Sclareol

The microbial transformation of sclareol, a tobacco constituent, by a soil bacterium JTS-162 was studied. Manool, manoyl oxide and a new compound; 14,15-dinorlabd-8(17)-en-13-one were isolated from the culture broth as transformation products. In the presence of metabolic inhibitors such as α,α′-dipyridyl, a compound; labda-8(17),14-dien-13β,18-diol and two new compounds; 13β-hydroxylabda-8(17),14-dien-18-al and 13β-hydroxylabda-8(17),14-dien-18-oic acid were accumulated in the culture broth as transformation products. Based on the experiments with degradation sequence, the biotransformation pathway of sclareol by the bacterium was proposed.
Measurement of the natLu(p,x)175Hf excitation function

Abstract The natLu(p,x)175Hf excitation function was measured and a maximum cross section of 128 ± 14 mb was observed at a proton energy of 10.6 MeV. The experimentally determined cross sections were compared to theoretical values using the HIVAP and TALYS codes.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation of Atropa belladonna

Belladonna or deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna L.) is an important medicinal plant in the family Solanaceae. It is a model plant for studying plant alkaloid biosynthesis. In this study, a reliable protocol for efficient transformation of A. belladonna using Agrobacterium tumefaciens was developed. Hypocotyl and cotyledon explants were co-cultivated with three opine-type Agrobacterium strains (LBA4404: pBISN1, GV3101: pBISN1, and EHA105: pBISN1). Selection and regeneration of transformed cells were conducted on two regeneration media; RM1 (Murashige and Skoog in Physiol Plant 15:473–497, 1962) medium (MS) salts, Gamborg B5 vitamins (Gamborg et al. in Exp Cell Res 50:151–158, 1968), 4.56 μM zeatin, and 2.9 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)] and RM2 (MS salts, B5 vitamins, 4.65 μM kinetin, and 1.14 μM IAA), each containing 100 mg l−1 kanamycin and 250 mg l−1 timentin. Both regeneration media and type of explant had significant effects on frequencies of transformation. Using an optimal regeneration medium and regardless of the strain of Agrobacterium used, over 80 % of hypocotyl explants and 60 % of cotyledons developed at least one transformed shoot after 2–3 months of selection. Most transformants exhibited a normal phenotype while growing in the greenhouse. Southern blot analysis confirmed the stable integration of the nptII transgene in T1 plants.
Transmission of edge information in the human visual system.

SACCADIC (jumping) eye movements are the characteristic way of moving the eye from point to point. The eye rarely moves in any other way except during tracking. A crucial fact, established definitively by Riggs's1 and Ditch-burn's2 groups, is that the eye continues to make small saccadic movements of about 2–10 min of arc as it fixates a point. Fig. 1 shows how the horizontal component of these eye movements resembles the discontinuous step-function of an electronic square wave. When a saccade occurs, the retinal image abruptly shifts on the retina by an angle equal to the angle of the movement. This simple fact is used here as the basis for a model of the transmission in the human visual system of information about the edges of objects. This fact alone can logically sustain the model, although other evidence will also be presented.
A new species of small covalently closed f1 DNA in Escherichia coli infected with an amber mutant of bacteriophage f1.

Infection of nonpermissive cells with an amber mutant in gene 5 of fl leads to the accumulation of covalently closed circles of double-stranded DNA about one-fourth the size of f1 RF DNA. These circles appear to contain a unique fraction of the fl chromosome.
Morality beyond the lab

Morality may be of the highest importance to us, as Einstein put it. But how often do we actually experience morality in our day-to-day lives, and what forms does this experience take? The science of morality has flourished in recent years as methods from social psychology, behavioral economics, neuroscience, experimental philosophy, and cultural anthropology have been applied to the study of moral thought and behavior ( 1 ). So far, most of this work has used artificial stimuli, such as hypothetical dilemmas about runaway trolleys or sex with a dead chicken, in artificial environments such as laboratories or medical imaging scanners. On page 1340 of this issue, Hofmann et al. ( 2 ) move morality science out of the lab and to the street, office, kitchen, bar, or wherever people happen to be when their cell phone rings.
Influence of zeolite, apatite and Fe-oxide on Cd and Pb uptake by crops

Natural zeolite (clinoptilolite), hydroxyapatite and an iron-oxide waste by-product (Fe-rich, a trademark name of E.I. du Pont de Nemours) were added to an artificially contaminated Appling soil to immobilize and limit the uptake of metals by crops. A greenhouse pot study employed spiking the soil with Cd and Pb from metal flue dust. Maize (Zea mays) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) were planted in 7-kg potted soil to determine the effects of Cd and Pb on plant growth and uptake. Sequential extraction of soil indicates the substantial influence of soil pH and type of ameliorant on the chemical form and bioavailability of the metals. Data indicates that a dose of 50 g/kg of soil of iron-oxide appears to be very effective, based on the yields, metal contents of plant tissues and available forms of Cd and Pb in the soil. Lower doses of zeolite and apatite (15 g/kg and 4 g/kg soil, respectively) in most cases also reduced significantly the uptake of Cd and Pb by crops.
INTROGRESSION IN TRICHOMANES

A B S T R A C T Anderson's graphic method of population analysis applied to a number of specimens of Trichomanes sect. Selenodesmium points to introgressive hybridization between T. polystromaticum and T. dentatum. The two species, one of which grows in a xeric habitat and the other in a very protected mesic one, tend to maintain their specific integrities in their extreme habitats. Intermediate forms which tend to grow in intermediate habitats give indication of genetic imbalance in the form of diad spore production. Peculiarities of the fern and in particular of the hymenophyllaceous life cycle are discussed in the context of hybridization. THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION of Trichomanes polystromaticum Bierhorst (1974) was accompanied by references to five specimens as hybrids with T. dentatum v. d. Bosch. Morphological and anatomical evidence as well as results of spore analyses strongly supported the interpretation of hybridity. Variation among the presumptive hybrids indicated that they were not all F1 progeny, but were mostly the results of either F1 segregation or Fn backcrossing. The author speculated that backcrossing did occur, and furthermore, that complete introgression was occurring. The following account describes the results of an analysis of a number of specimens designed to test those earlier suggestions.
Thermal Decomposition of Energetic Materials 57. Products of some self-igniting fuel-HNO3 Systems

Exothermic reactions of some self igniting fuel-HNO3 systems have been examined by the rapid-scan FIR/thermal profiling technique. A sudden rise in temperature is observed when the liquid oxidizer is dropped onto the solid fuel. Simultaneous monitoring of the gas products of the reaction occurring between p-phenylenediamine and HNO3 reveals the formation of Co2, NO2 and HONO. Immediate evolution of NO2 is observed in the synergistically igniting systems comprised of substituted anilines, Mg and HNO3. Thiocarbohydrazide and its acetone and benzaldehyde monoderivatives on reacting with HNO3 produce SO2, NO2 and, possibly, OCS. The results are explained in terms of the oxidation and nitration reactions occurring in these systems.
Video analysis of endothelial cell genealogy, migration, and division

The migration and division behavior of endothelial cells in culture can be studied by time-lapse video microscopy. A comprehensive program for analysis of the resulting data has been written to run on a personal computer. The program has the potential to be adapted for a wide range of cellular growth patterns and activities.
Interference in letter identification: a test of feature-specific inhibition.

The role of perceptual interference in letter identification was investigated in three experiments designed to test the feature-specific inhibition model proposed by Bjork and Murray (1977). According to their extension of Estes’ (1972, 1974) interactive channels model, input channels leading to the same feature detector inhibit one another more than do channels leading to different detectors. The model therefore predicts perceptual interference between two letters to be a function of the degree of their feature overlap. Experiment 1 confirmed the feature-specific inhibition model and Bjork and Murray’s finding that the accuracy of report is lower when a briefly presented target letter is flanked by an identical letter than when flanked by another target letter or by a nontarget letter. Results from Experiment 2 indicated that single-target performance is a function of the degree of feature similarity between the target letter and background characters in a stimulus display. Experiment 3 ruled out a spatial-uncertainty explanation of feature-specific inhibition in a new paradigm that does not require subjects to process a poststimulus cue. The results of these experiments are discussed in relation to recent studies exhibiting strong effects of noise letters at the response stage of processing. It is suggested that discrepancies between feature-specific interference and response-interference studies may be a function of the particular mode of stimulus presentation and of the dependent measures that are used.
Beam Element Structural Dynamics Modification Using Experimental Modal Rotational Data

Structural dynamic modification (SDM) of a fixed-free (cantilever) beam to convert it into a fixed-fixed beam with experimental modal data is presented. The SDM focuses on incorporating experimental rotational degrees-of-freedom (DOF) measured with a novel laser measurement technique. A cantilever beam is tested to develop the experimental modal database including rotational degrees of freedom. A modal database from a finite-element model also is developed for comparison. A structural dynamic modification, with both databases, is performed using a Bernoulli-Euler beam to ground the free end of the cantilever beam. The hardware is then modified and a second experimental modal analysis of the resulting fixed-fixed beam performed. A finite-element model of the fixed-fixed beam also was created. Comparison of results from these four tests are used to assess the effectiveness of SDM using experimental modal rotational data. The evaluation shows that provided high quality experimental rotational modal data can be acquired, SDM work with beam elements can be effective in yielding accurate results.
Applied relaxation training in the treatment of genital herpes

Four individuals with frequent recurrences of genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) were trained in Applied Relaxation (AR). Participants included in the research had been diagnosed with herpes at least 1 year prior to the study, experienced six or more outbreaks annually, and were not taking antiviral medications. The experiment employed a multiple baseline across subjects design. Participants maintained daily diaries of the frequency, duration and severity of herpes activity from baseline until a minimum of 3 months posttreatment. Treatment consisted of 10 individual AR sessions. Pretraining and posttraining frontalis electromyographic activity measures of subjects' ability to relax during rest and to apply the relaxation skill during stressful role plays were obtained. All subjects reported pretreatment to posttreatment reductions in herpes frequency. These changes were statistically significant across all subjects as a group and individually for three of the four subjects. These results suggest that AR is an effective technique for reducing recurrent HSV infection.
Effectiveness of nurse triage in the emergency department of an urban county hospital.

The effectiveness of patient triage by a specially trained registered nurse in the emergency department of an urban county hospital, San Francisco General Hospital, was evaluated over a three-month period. Ambulatory patients thought to have nonemergent illnesses were directed to the Walk-In Service for physician evaluation and treatment; the remainder were seen in the Emergency Service. In three months, 11,329 patients registered for care, and 4,150 (37%) were referred to the Walk-In Service. Only 77 (1.9%) of these were admitted to the hospital after physician evaluation, compared with 31% of patients seen in the Emergency Service. Of the 77 admitted patients, six were thought to require treatment within a few hours, 67 within hours to days, and four were considered elective admissions. There were no deaths. Error in triage was about equally divided between mistaken diagnosis and underestimated severity of illness. The overall accuracy of triage was 98%.
Effects of horn fly (Diptera: Muscidae) control on cows and gastrointestinal worm (Nematode: Trichostrongylidae) treatment for calves on cow and calf weight gains.

Horn flies, Haematobia irritans (L.), at an average population level of 197 per cow, did not significantly affect cow, calf, or cow/calf seasonal weight gains during a 3-yr study in the central sandhills of Nebraska. Cattle aggregation was not influenced by horn fly population levels encountered in this study. Treatment of calves with a anhelmintic drug (thiabendazole) increased calf weight gains significantly despite a helminthic infection without clinical symptoms.
The N-terminal Pro-BNP investigation of dyspnea in the emergency department (PRIDE) study.

The utility of aminoterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) testing in the emergency department to rule out acute congestive heart failure (CHF) and the optimal cutpoints for this use are not established. We conducted a prospective study of 600 patients who presented in the emergency department with dyspnea. The clinical diagnosis of acute CHF was determined by study physicians who were blinded to NT-proBNP results. The primary end point was a comparison of NT-proBNP results with the clinical assessment of the managing physician for identifying acute CHF. The median NT-proBNP level among 209 patients (35%) who had acute CHF was 4,054 versus 131 pg/ml among 390 patients (65%) who did not (p 450 pg/ml for patients 900 pg/ml for patients ≥50 years of age were highly sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of acute CHF (p
Current-driven plasma instabilities in superconductors.

We examine here the possibility of current-driven plasma instabilities in superconductors in two temperature regimes. At low temperatures ($T\ensuremath{\approx}0$) an instability can be generated in a layered system. Near the critical temperature ($T\ensuremath{\approx}{T}_{c}$) an instability can occur in a single superconductor for sufficiently large drifts which might be achievable in the new high-${T}_{c}$ materials. These instabilities offer possibilities for new radiation-source device applications.
The ecology of the noosphere: where the ecological movement falls short

The ecological movement has fallen short in ignoring the earth’s noospheric layer (dealt with in the second section) and the fact that the life‐destroying interactions stemming from this layer are abnormal (section 3), and that man is a fallen mammal, Homo peccator (discussed in section 4). The symbiosis of Homo sapiens, faber, peccator (see section 5) and the persistent misappropriation of economic surplus value (dealt with in section 6) creates dilemmas for the ecologist (discussed in section 7). The major noospheric pollutants are the marketing sector of capitalism (in section 8), miseducation (section 9) and the promotion of idolatry by the judicial system (see section 10). Ecological action, not evasion, on the economic, educational, communications, aesthetic and political fronts is necessary (dealt with in sections 11 and 12).
Membrane guanylate cyclase is a beautiful signal transduction machine: overview

This article is a sequel to the four earlier comprehensive reviews which covered the field of membrane guanylate cyclase from its origin to the year 2002 (Sharma in Mol Cell Biochem 230:3–30, 2002) and then to the year 2004 (Duda et al. in Peptides 26:969–984, 2005); and of the Ca2+-modulated membrane guanylate cyclase to the year 1997 (Pugh et al. in Biosci Rep 17:429–473, 1997) and then to 2004 (Sharma et al. in Curr Top Biochem Res 6:111–144, 2004). This article contains three parts. The first part is “Historical”; it is brief, general, and freely borrowed from the earlier reviews, covering the field from its origin to the year 2004 (Sharma in Mol Cell Biochem, 230:3–30, 2002; Duda et al. in Peptides 26:969–984, 2005). The second part focuses on the “Ca2+-modulated ROS-GC membrane guanylate cyclase subfamily”. It is divided into two sections. Section “Historical” and covers the area from its inception to the year 2004. It is also freely borrowed from an earlier review (Sharma et al. in Curr Top Biochem Res 6:111–144, 2004). Section “Ca2+-modulated ROS-GC membrane guanylate cyclase subfamily” covers the area from the year 2004 to May 2009. The objective is to focus on the chronological development, recognize major contributions of the original investigators, correct misplaced facts, and project on the future trend of the field of mammalian membrane guanylate cyclase. The third portion covers the present status and concludes with future directions in the field.
Left Ventricular Diastolic Filling Pressures During Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography: Relationship to Symptoms and Ischemia

Background Limited information exists regarding the relationship of left ventricular diastolic filling parameters measured by Doppler echocardiography during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) and stress-induced symptoms or myocardial ischemia. Methods To determine if there is an association between Doppler parameters of left ventricular filling and symptoms and ischemic wall motion abnormalities during DSE, the authors prospectively studied 219 patients (mean age, 66 ± 11 years; 55% men) referred for clinically indicated DSE. Pulsed-wave Doppler measurements of mitral inflow and medial annular tissue velocities at baseline, 20 μg/kg/min, peak stress, and recovery were made. Patients were classified as having stress-induced ischemia (n = 70) or no ischemia (n = 149) on the basis of the development of new or worsening wall motion abnormalities. Results Patients who developed ischemia had lower baseline and peak stress diastolic annular tissue velocities (e′) (5.7 ± 1.9 vs 6.4 ± 1.9 cm/s at baseline, P = 0.02; 5.2 ± 1.6 vs 7.4 ± 2.4 cm/s at peak stress, P P = .003); these differences persisted into recovery. The increase in E/e′ from 20 μg/kg/min to peak stress was greater (0.9 ± 2.1 vs −0.8 ± 3.1, P = .0009) in patients who developed symptoms during DSE and in patients who presented with dyspnea (0.3 ± 2.6 vs −1.0 ± 3.2, P = .02). The change in e′ velocity from baseline to peak stress, the change in E/e′ from baseline to recovery, known coronary artery disease, and the development of symptoms during DSE were independently associated with ischemia. Conclusions The development of symptoms and myocardial ischemia during DSE are both associated with an increase in E/e′. The prognostic implications of elevated E/e′ during DSE have yet to be elucidated.
Forecasting volume and economic gains from intensive plantation management using different response curves

Proponents of intensive plantation management do not all use the same type of response curves when predicting future volume gains. As a result, some believe that continuously increasing the intensity of management will increase landowner profits and reduce the unit cost of wood production (i.e. all silvicultural costs per ha/merchantable cubic metres per ha at harvest). A few believe there is no upper limit to stand productivity while others use response curves that follow the law of diminishing returns. Using loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) data from Georgia as a point of reference, we developed four hypothetical production models (where yield is a function of silvicultural effort). The models that produced apparently unrealistic results were (1) an exponential curve and (2) a linear curve where the costs of growing a cubic metre of merchantable wood (at time of harvest) was inversely related to the discounted cost of intensive silviculture. Although increasing silvicultural effort will often result in more ...
Bridging the gap between science and practice in drug abuse prevention through needs assessment and strategic community planning

Despite advances in knowledge about factors that predict substance abuse and interventions that have been effective at preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among adolescents, the prevalence of drug use and abuse among American adolescents and young adults remains alarmingly high. The U.S. government spent $2.45 billion in 1999 on drug abuse prevention services and research, yet there is little evidence these expenditures are achieving meaningful reductions in the prevalence of drug abuse. It is estimated that drug abuse costs American society more than $250 billion per year, and these cost are increasing. Translating the expanding scientific knowledge base for effective preventive interventions into widespread practice that can achieve reductions in the prevalence of drug abuse in this country is a pressing policy issue. This article examines recent advances in prevention science and discusses how this knowledge base can be applied to the development of strategic, science-based community prevention systems. Methods for assessing the need for drug abuse prevention services among populations of children and adolescents are reviewed, and the utility of these methods for guiding strategic community prevention planning is examined. It is argued that strategic community prevention systems focusing science-based interventions on predictors of drug use and abuse that are prevalent among youth in the community hold promise for reducing the prevalence of drug abuse and related problems. Strategies for supporting strategic community prevention planning utilizing science-based preventive interventions are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cardiovascular manifestations of acute intracranial lesions: pathophysiology, manifestations, and treatment.

The objective of this article was to review the effects of acute intracranial lesions on myocardial function. The authors reviewed scientific and clinical literature retrieved from a computerized M...
Lower Cretaceous Sligo Reef Trends in Central Louisiana: ABSTRACT

Reef limestones within the Lower Cretaceous Sligo Formation form a trend within the Gulf Coastal province and have been traced in the subsurface from Mexico to Mississippi. This trend probably continues beneath the Gulf of Mexico in the general vicinity of the West Florida shelf. The Sligo forms 2 reef trends in central Louisiana. The main biohermal trend extends roughly east-west through Vernon and Rapides Parishes, then southeast through Avoyelles, southern Catahoula, and southern Concordia Parishes. It has a maximum known width of about 40 mi and a maximum known thickness of about 500 ft. The few deep tests that have been drilled within this reef indicate a fossil assemblage consisting mostly of caprinids (sessile pelecypods) and algae plus miliolids and other small forms in a sparry or micrite matrix. Up to 50% of the Sligo in this trend is dolomite, and porosity is generally less than 9% in tests drilled to date. North of the main reef is another biohermal trend up to 250 ft thick which forms an arcuate pattern through eastern Natchitoches, Winn, southern Jackson, and western Caldwell Parishes. The term "patch reef" has been applied to some local thickenings within this End_Page 1694------------------------------ trend. It is possible that this reef extends southeastward into Franklin and Catahoula Parishes, but subsurface data is lacking to substantiate this. The lithology of the northern reef is similar to the main reef in that it contains about the same fossil assemblage in sparry, granular, or micrite matrix. Some zones within and on the north edge of the reef contain an abundance of oolites and algal pisolites. In part the limestone is slightly dolomitic, but there are no dolomite zones as in the main reef. In some localities within the northern reef, porosity and permeability are very high. Commercial oil and gas production has not been found in the main biohermal trend in central Louisiana, but the possibilities have by no means been exhausted. In contrast, the Black Lake field in Natchitoches Parish was discovered in the northern bioherm in 1964. This is a major gas-distillate-oil field within a stratigraphic-structural trap, containing ultimate reserves of approximately 150 million bbl of oil equivalent. This discovery set off an active wildcat play in search of additional traps of the Black Lake type, so far without success. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1695------------
Effects of biomass inorganics on rhodium catalysts: I. Steam methane reforming

Abstract Inorganic elements in biomass present a major challenge for large-scale application of catalytic processing. Rhodium-based catalysts have been shown to gasify lignocellulosic biomass to syngas with high selectivities by reactive flash volatilization. In this research, the effect of inorganics commonly found in biomass, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Si, P, and S, on rhodium catalysts was investigated using steam methane reforming (SMR) as a model system. SMR was carried out at 700 °C on a heated fixed bed of 2.5 wt% Rh/α-Al2O3 catalysts. The inorganics were uniformly deposited on the catalyst (1 inorganic atom/5 rhodium atoms), followed by performance testing and characterization through H2 chemisorption, SEM, XPS and XRD. Phosphorus, potassium and sulfur decreased the methane conversion the most (>15%) among the inorganics studied. No significant deactivation was observed upon doping with calcium, magnesium and silicon. Phosphorus and sulfur strongly reduced the dispersion of the rhodium catalyst. Addition of phosphorus and potassium caused formation of carbon-based structures, and phosphorus also increased the rhodium binding energies by 0.6 eV in the XPS spectrum, indicating rhodium oxidation.
The photolysis of flash‐frozen dilute hydrogen peroxide solutions

[1] Hydrogen peroxide (HOOH) in ice and snow is an important chemical tracer for the oxidative capacity of past atmospheres. A previous study on the photolysis of HOOH used ice samples made from solutions frozen over the course of minutes, conditions that should result in HOOH present in quasi-liquid layers (QLLs). However, since HOOH in natural snows and ices can also be present in the ice matrix, in this work we studied HOOH photolysis in ice samples prepared by flash freezing very dilute aqueous solutions, to keep HOOH in the ice matrix. In addition, rather than following HOOH photolysis by using an organic probe to scavenge photoformed OH, here we measured changes in HOOH concentrations. Based on initial rates of HOOH photolysis, our resulting quantum yields for OH formation, Φ(OH), in ice range from approximately 0.25 to 0.43 between 238 and 265 K, respectively. These values are up to 50% smaller than previously published values from the QLL HOOH experiments, indicating that HOOH in the ice matrix undergoes slower photolysis. Further, during our experiments the HOOH photolysis rate constant sometimes shows a biphasic behavior, with slower photolysis after several hours of illumination. Using these final rate constants of HOOH decay we derive a lower bound, temperature-independent value for Φ(OH) of 0.29(±0.10). Based on Φ(OH) values from our initial rate measurements, we calculate HOOH lifetimes in polar environments as large as 30 days at the summer solstice, which is too short to allow burial of HOOH beneath the photic zone in the snowpack.