cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trail morphology and impacts to soil induced by a small mountain bike race series

Abstract Trails are discussed as geomorphic entities and the geomorphic nature of mountain bike impacts is evaluated. This project documented landscape changes from inception of trail design until after three mountain bike races were completed. The research location was a short-track trail that was purpose-built for a small race series in Austin, TX. The geomorphic alterations that occurred are generally in line with and supported by the published literature. This project sought to monitor the forcing mechanisms (mountain bikers) which would cause the change in trail morphology. A novel aspect of this research is the utilization of accelerometers to understand the forces placed by the rider on the trail surface. Additionally, this paper documents soil impacts on trails at relatively low use rates, as such, it begins to bridge the gap between experimental trampling studies and soil impact studies on established trails. This project presents a protocol to monitor change on trails, presents a novel method for documenting rider forcing, and supports the idea that mountain bikers are geomorphic agents. Understanding and documenting these forces are key to building and maintaining more sustainable trail systems, as such trail builders and land managers would benefit from this and further research. Management implications This research has several management implications. This paper discusses the impact of a small race series and has implication for trail layout for similar races. Race promoters should be aware of soil compact and impacts to vegetation. Cyclocross races often occupy a park or other area where a trail is not desired in the long term, therefore those types of events should be particularly concerned with compaction and erosion. It presents a novel method, with accelerometers, which may be used to map and analyze how mountain bikers distribute forces on the landscape. Additionally, this paper presents a sampling plan that can be reproduced at various scales to document morphological change on trails over time.
Study of Amorphophallus paeonifolius and Manihot esculenta as Bioplastics using Glycerol and Agar-Agar as Plasticizers: An Experimental Assay

Bio-plastics are biodegradable materials that can be obtained from renewable sources such as corn starch, straw, vegetable fats and oils, wood chips, recycled food waste, sawdust, etc. They can be used as an alternative to the commercial plastics in the market which contaminates our environment. Nowadays bio-plastics are worldwide popular due to their concern towards the environment, limited fossil fuel resources, and climatic change. The purpose of this study is to assess the properties of the starch-based bio-plastics prepared from Amorphophallus paeonifolius and Manihot esculenta using glycerol and agar-agar as the plasticizers. The synthesized bio-plastic was characterized with the help of UV-Visible spectrophotometer, FT-IR spectroscopy, and SEM Analysis. Finally, it is concluded that the bioplastic based on Manihot esculenta and Amorphophallus paeonifolius could be established as a favorable ecological alternative to be used as a developed medical material and the bio-plastic can also be used in packaging, cosmetics, food additives and clothing due to its good properties of resistance and favorable biodegradation.
Brain Aging in African-Americans: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Experience

Reported rates of dementia differ by race, although most studies have not focused on carefully measured outcomes, confounding by education or other demographic factors, nor have they studied other outcomes other than dementia. In this review we will discuss the experience in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study evaluating racial disparities relating to stroke, subclinical brain infarction, leukoaraiosis, as well as cognitive change and dementia. ARIC is a biracial cohort of 15,792 participants from four U.S. communities, initially recruited in 1987-1989, and seen at a total of 5 in-person visits (most recently seen in 2011-2013) with annual follow-up phone calls. We will provide evidence from ARIC studies that disproportionate rates of vascular risk factors explain at least some of these observed disparities by race, but particular risk factors, including diabetes, may differentially affect the brain in African-American versus white participants. In addition, we will review some of the disparities by race in studies focusing on the genetics of stroke, small vessel disease, and dementia.
External inhibition in a goldfish (Carassius auratus) classical conditioning situation.

Goldfish were classically conditioned with a light as the CS and shock as the US. The UR was a decrease in respiration. After 15 or 60 conditioning trials the fish were tested with novel stimuli (clicks) during the CS-US interval. High and moderate intensity novel stimuli produced a significant decrease in CRs (external inhibition) for fish with 60 conditioning trials (5.5 or 10.5 sec CS-US interval), but not fish with 15 conditioning trials. Low intensity novel stimuli produced no evidence for disinhibition (an increase in CRs). Control groups (e.g., groups with random presentations of the CS and US) showed that the external inhibition for fish with 60 conditioning trials was inhibition of a true CR.
Basic Biology of Hemopoiesis

The formation of blood cells (hemopoiesis) is determined by the interaction of multiple genes and involves cytokines and other protein factors. The relative ease with which hematopoietic cells can be studied and the development of new techniques in cell biology have enabled us to understand many of the factors determining cell renewal and differentiation. Based on this knowledge, major progress has been made in the last 15 yr in the treatment and diagnosis of many hematological disorders. In this chapter, we describe the cell types involved in normal hematopoiesis and their interactions with one another. Furthermore, the basic techniques necessary for the study of hematopoietic cells in the normal and pathological state are outlined.
Effect of salinity on phosphate accumulation and injury in soybean

Many soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] genotypes that are grown in solution cultures are highly sensitive to the combination of both salinity and inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the substrate. This effect has been observed on numerous occasions on plants grown in a saline medium that contained a substantial amount of Ca (i.e., CaCl2/NaCl=0.5 on a molar basis). Because Ca is important in regulating ion transport and membrane permeability, solution culture experiments were designed to examine the effects of various concentrations of Pi and ratios of CaCl2/NaCl (0 to 0.5 on a molar basis) at a constant osmotic potential (−0.34 MPa) on this adverse interaction. Four soybean cultivars (‘Lee’, ‘Lee 74’ ‘Clark’ and ‘Clark 63’) were tested.
Making Sense of Autoimmune and Rheumatic Disorders at the Reference Desk

Abstract This paper discusses concepts and terminology of some aspects of the autoimmune and rheumatic disorders as related to medical reference work. Details of anatomic, biochemical, and pathologic processes are not discussed. Knowledge of the specific terminology involved in this area may help to ensure a good approach to developing prudent strategies for database searching of the medical literature and, therefore, is reviewed. MeSH thesaurus terms are shown and textword synonyms are presented that provide tools for thorough searching techniques. Commonly used medical jargon as well as older terminology for this area is also explained. Examples of specific search strategies are illustrated.
Norbert Wiener’s Brain Waves

In the late 1950’s Norbert Wiener became interested in the spectrum of human brain waves (Wiener 1958, 1961). Along with his medical collaborators, he made high-resolution electroencephalographic recordings from subjects who were awake but resting with their eyes closed. Under these conditions, the electroencephalogram shows conspicuous activity at frequencies around 10 Hz — the so-called alpha rhythm.
Structural inpainting of road patches for anomaly detection

Obstacle detection on the road is a key function for self-driving vehicles. A lot of research has focused on detecting large obstacles such as cars and pedestrians. Small obstacles can also be the source of serious accidents, especially at high speed. We present an approach for detecting anomalies on the road using a higher-order Boltzmann machine. As opposed to conventional anomaly detectors the proposed system learns to inpaint the road patches with commonly occurring road features such as lane markings and expansion dividers, depending on the context. The system does not consider these frequent road artifacts as anomalies and significantly reduces the number of obstacle candidates. We show initial empirical results for anomaly detection with this new approach.
The Past and Future Relationship of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights: A Functional Analysis

European human rights law, with its source both in the Treaties of the European Union and the Council of Europe’s European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), may appear to be plagued by an unnecessary duplication of institutional and legal provisions. Namely, the EU’s European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Council of Europe’s European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have jurisdiction over different human rights instruments even though their territorial jurisdiction overlaps. In this light, the Lisbon Treaty took action to unify the two regimes by initiating proceedings for the EU to accede to the ECHR. This paper argues that the legal order pre-Lisbon treaty was actually an extremely functional institutional and legal system that provided for the uniform development of European human rights law. It was characterized by a functional division of labor between the ECJ and the ECtHR that also provided private litigants with an opportunity to forum shop. Further, the two Courts developed customary practices to ensure both inter-court comity and interpretational convergence, creating a uniform body of human rights law. Therefore, I conclude that the EU’s accession to the ECHR is mostly a symbolic and political reform rather than a substantive legal one.
Why gender matters in CMC? supporting remote trust and performance in diverse gender composition groups via IM

An important yet largely unexplored area in HCI is how gender affects trust development and performance in virtual settings. This proposed study aims to investigate whether providing social chat activities to collaborators in a social dilemma game before they collaborate via remote text chat can support trust development and performance among remote team members. This study will provide an understanding of how communication media as well as initial social activities affect male, female and mixed gender pairs' trust development and performance in a virtual environment from a simulated longitudinal perspective. Ultimately, the results of this study may provide insights into ways of improving performance of teams made up of diverse individuals in real world virtual collaborations.
African Americans as Placemakers in the Tamarack Triangle Community of Silver Spring, Maryland

The Tamarack Triangle community of Silver Spring, Maryland, was formed largely during the 1960s. Although this was a time of much legislative progress toward integrated housing, many African Americans still struggled against blatant discrimination in the housing market. Furthermore, the damaging effects of blockbusting betrayed the hopes of many who were able to purchase a home. This research reveals how African American families seeking to purchase new homes in Montgomery County, Maryland, utilized agency and various forms of social capital to purchase homes in the Tamarack Triangle community. These families, along with white neighbors, protected their homes from the threat of displacement (in the form of blockbusting) and went on to forge a stable, integrated community
Distributed Recovery for Enterprise Services

Small-to medium-scale enterprise systems are typically complex and highly specialized, but lack the management resources that can be devoted to large-scale (e.g., Cloud) systems, making them extremely challenging to manage. Here we present an adaptive algorithm for addressing a common management problem in enterprise service networks: safely and rapidly recovering from the failure of one or more services. Due to poorly documented and shifting dependencies, a typical industry practice for this situation is to bring the entire system down, then to restart services one at a time in a predefined order. We improve on this practice with the Dependency-Directed Recovery (DDR) algorithm, which senses dependencies by observing network interactions and recovers near-optimally from failures following a distributed graph algorithm. Our Java-based implementation of this system is suitable for deployment with a wide variety of networked enterprise services, and we validate its correct operation and advantage over fixed-order restart with emulation experiments on networks of up to 20 services.
French immigration policy since May 1981.

Examining the immigration policy changes undertaken by Socialist President Francois Mitterand between May 1981 and September 1982 this discussion provides backgroung information for the study of immigration policy reform in France discusses the institutional and historical contexts within which recent policy changes have occurred and examines the initial measures taken the new immigration legislation adopted in October 1981 the "Exceptional Regularization" carried out in 1981-82 and various other immigration measures announced during the period under study. The discussion also identifies some of the problems which arose and are likely to arise as a result of the new policies. The French government has historically taken great pains to track the movement of both foreigners and natives within its territory. All citizens are issued a national identity card and all foreigners residing in the country for longer than 3 months must obtain a residence permit from their local prefecture of police. The entry of some 347 million people annually into France must contribute to the problem of exercising strict control at entry. French measures to enforce immigration laws within its borders have not prevented the development of clandestine immigration nor the employment of undocumented foreigners. French law requires that all employers and employees contribute to the system of the Securite Sociale and to a variety of other government programs providing social and economic assistance to workers and their families. The year 1932 marks the date of the first French laws limiting immigration. On July 5 1974 the French government closed the countrys borders to immigration and have not reopened them since. Following that date a more severe attitude towards clandestine immigration became evident. Despite the anti-immigration policies of the 1974-81 period the number of foreigners residing in France did not diminish. 3 basic goals guided the new government in the development of its policies: to limit the entry of new foreigners; to end the precariousness which has characterized the existence of many immigrant families in France; and to examine immigration problems through bilateral negotiation with various sending countries. The immigration policy developed and carried out by the Mitterand administration during its first 15 months in office expressed an attitude of generosity towards established immigrants and external rigor vis-a-vis new immigration. The generosity of the new government is evident in the limitations placed on expulsion and detention the guarantee of due process of law and all job-related rights for undocumented foreigners the reaffirmation of family reunification easier access to "privileged" immigrant status the extension of the right of employment to foreign students and to Polish and Lebanese refugees and new legislation guaranteeing the right of association to immigrants. The governments desire to control immigration more effectively is evident in the tightening of control at Frances borders and in the substantial increases in sanctions against employers of clandestine workers.
Measuring Libraries' Use of YouTube as a Promotional Tool: An Exploratory Study and Proposed Best Practices.

With the emergence of social networking and Web 2.0 applications, libraries have the means to reach users through interactive Web-based tools patrons already use in their personal lives, such as Facebook and YouTube. In this study the authors aim to understand the ways that libraries are using YouTube for outreach purposes. Using a methodology adapted from studies in medical literature, the authors identified and analyzed library promotional videos on YouTube, both in relation to other works depicting libraries and librarians and as a unique category of content. In order to analyze the viewership of library promotional videos and its growth over time, view counts were compared at three points in time over a period of sixteen months. Using data made available by YouTube, the authors analyzed the top five referring Web sites to each video, thus allowing a basic understanding of the viewership of library promotional videos and their abilities to reach intended audiences. The authors also analyzed the many in...
Fifty years of pseudopotentials

A description is given of the development of pseudopotentials since their introduction 50 years ago. Applications are emphasized, and some examples of results are discussed.
Simulation of one-dimensional dam-break flows

Two new finite-difference schemes - Gabutti, and Beam and Warming - are introduced and compared for the analysis of unsteady free-surface flows resulting from the breaking of a dam. These schemes split the fluxvector into positive and negative parts, each of which corresponds to the direction of a characteristic, thereby allowing use of proper finite differences for the space derivatives. Central finite differences are used for subcritical flow and upwind differences are used for supercritical flow. The details of these schemes are presented and the computed results are compared with the analytical solution to demonstrate their validity. Because of their simplicity, these schemes are attractive for solving the dam-break problem, especially when supercritical flow is present.
Emergency visits for sports-related injuries

Abstract Study Objective: We sought to estimate the effect and magnitude of patients with sports-related injuries presenting to hospital emergency departments in the United States and to examine differences in patient and visit characteristics between sports- and nonsports-related injuries. Methods: Data from the 1997 and 1998 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a national probabilistic sample of 496 US hospital EDs, were combined to examine emergency visits for sports-related injuries. Data from 16,997 sample ED encounter records for injuries that included narrative cause of injury text were analyzed. Narrative text entries were coded to 1 of 84 sport and recreational activity codes. Sample weights were applied to provide annual national estimates. Estimates of sports-related injury visits were based on 1,775 records with an assigned sports-related activity code. Results: There were an average annual estimated 2.6 million emergency visits for sports-related injuries by persons between the ages of 5 and 24 years. They accounted for over 68% of the total 3.7 million sport injuries presented to the ED by persons of all ages. As a proportion of all kinds of injuries presenting to the ED, sports-related injuries accounted for more than one fifth of the visits by persons 5 to 24 years old. The use rate was 33.9 ED visits per 1,000 persons in this age group (95% confidence interval 30.3 to 37.5). The sports-related injury visit rate for male patients was more than double the rate for female patients (48.2 versus 19.2 per 1,000 persons between 5 and 24 years of age). Visits from sports-related activities for this age group were more frequent for basketball and cycling compared with other categories (eg, baseball, skateboarding, gymnastics). Compared with nonsports-related injuries for this age group, sports-related injuries were more likely to be to the brain or skull and upper and lower extremities. Patients with sports-related injuries were more likely to have a diagnosis of fracture and sprain or strain and less likely to have an open wound. They were also more likely to have diagnostic and therapeutic services provided, especially orthopedic care. Conclusion: Sports-related activities by school-age children and young adults produce a significant amount of emergency medical use in the United States. The ED is an appropriate venue to target injury prevention counseling. [Burt CW, Overpeck MD. Emergency visits for sports-related injuries. Ann Emerg Med. March 2001;37:301-308.]
On the efficiency of best-match cluster searches

Abstract The efficiency of various cluster-based retrieval (CBR) strategies is analyzed. The possibility of combining CBR and inverted index search (IIS) is investigated. A method for combining the two approaches is proposed and shown to be cost effective in terms of paging and CPU time. In the new method, the selection of documents from the best-matching clusters is done using the inverted index for all documents. Although this is counterintuitive to the concept of best-match CBR, the observations prove that it is much more efficient than conventional approaches. In the experiments, the effects of the number of selected clusters, page size, centroid length, and matching function are considered. The experiments show that the storage overhead of the new method would be moderately higher than that of IIS.
Food deprivation effects on carbohydrate levels and their relation to feeding responses of western cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis indifferens to spinosad bait

The nutritional state of tephritid fruit flies affects various behaviours. The present study aims to determine food deprivation effects on carbohydrate levels and their relation to feeding responses to spinosad bait (GF-120® Naturalyte® Fruit Fly Bait; Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, Indiana), as measured indirectly by mortality, in western cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae). Sugar levels in 1–2-day-old flies exposed to sugar for 1 h and then deprived of sugar for 10–24 h decrease but, in flies with access to continuous sugar and no sugar, they increase and do not change, respectively. Sugar levels in 14–15-day-old flies that have had free access to yeast extract and sugar and are then deprived of it for 0 and 10 h do not differ but they are lower at 24 and 30 h. Mortalities of 1–2-day-old flies exposed to sugar for 1 h and then deprived of it for 0–24 h progressively increase but they do not increase in flies given no sugar because the mortalities in this treatment are equally high at all times. By contrast, mortalities of 14–15-day-old flies deprived of food increase from 0 to 10–30 h but there are no differences from 10 to 30 h. Mortalities of 14–15-day-old flies deprived of food for 3 and 6 h also do not differ. Food deprivation effects on glycogen are similar, although glycogen occurs at lower levels than sugar. The results obtained suggest that R. indifferens flies need to feed multiple times on carbohydrate foods during the day to maintain their carbohydrate levels, that their responses to spinosad bait will increase if they do not, and that there may be age-related effects on carbohydrate levels and responses to spinosad bait.
Adsorption/Oxidation of Hydrogen Sulfide on Nitrogen-Containing Activated Carbons

Wood-based activated carbon was modified by impregnation with urea and heat treatment at 450 and 950 °C. The chemical and physical properties of materials were determined using acid/base titration, FTIR, thermal analysis, IGC, and sorption of nitrogen. The surface features were compared to those of a commercial urea-modified carbon. Then, the H2S breakthrough capacity tests were carried out, and the sorption capacity was evaluated. The results showed that urea-modified sorbents have a capacity similar to that of the received material; however, the conversion of hydrogen sulfide to a water-soluble species is significantly higher. It happens due to a high dispersion of basic nitrogen compounds in the small pores of carbons, where oxidation of hydrogen sulfide ions to sulfur radicals followed by the creation of sulfur oxides and sulfuric acid occurs. It is proposed that the process proceeds gradually, from small pores to larger, and that the degree of microporosity is an important factor.
Temperature regulation and metabolic rhythms in populations of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus.

Abstract 1. 1. The house sparrow, Passer domesticus , has a circadian rhthym of metabolism and body temperature. 2. 2. Evolutionary adaptation to a hot and humid climate is reflected in the lower metabolism and greater insulation of the Houston population than observed in populations from Ann Arbor, Michigan; Boulder, Colorado and Syracuse, New York. 3. 3. There are no significant differences in either body temperature or evaporative water loss of all four populations. 4. 4. The Houston population is able to survive higher ambient temperatures than is found in the Ann Arbor, Michigan or Boulder, Colorado population.
Modulation of apoptosis and enhancement of chemosensitivity by decreasing cellular thiols in a mouse B-cell lymphoma cell line that overexpresses bcl-2

Purpose: To determine whether the difference in the apoptosis and clonogenic survival responses to radiation observed between the murine lymphoma cell lines LY-ar, which expresses bcl-2, and LY-as, which does not, was also evident after treatment with chemotherapy agents; and to determine whether clonogenic survival after chemotherapy agent exposure could be diminished by enhancing apoptosis through a decrease in cellular thiols. Methods: Cells were treated with cisplatin, VP-16, or Adriamycin, and apoptosis was determined using a DNA fragmentation assay. Cellular survival was quantified by limiting dilution assay. Intracellular thiols were decreased by maintaining LY-ar cells in cystine/methionine-free medium (CMF medium) for 7 h after drug treatment. Results: LY-as cells were approximately four times more likely to undergo apoptosis than LY-ar cells, having differences in apoptosis of 80% and 20%, respectively, for the agents used. LY-as cells were also more sensitive as measured by cellular survival, with a dose-modifying factor of about 1.8 measured at a 10% survival level. Incubation of LY-ar cells in CMF medium after drug treatment increased apoptosis and reduced clonogenic survival to the levels seen in LY-as cells, except after treatment with VP-16, where the reduction in cell survival was more modest. Conclusions: Decreasing intracellular thiols enhances apoptosis and cell killing in lymphoma cells after exposure to a variety of chemotherapy agents. This may be especially true for tumor cells that overexpress bcl-2, a gene that modifies cellular thiol status and conveys resistance to apoptosis. In this case, decreasing cellular thiols allows killing independent of the expression of bcl-2.
Cyber Security for Smart Grid, Cryptography, and Privacy

The invention of “smart grid” promises to improve the efficiency and reliability of the power system. As smart grid is turning out to be one of the most promising technologies, its security concerns are becoming more crucial. The grid is susceptible to different types of attacks. This paper will focus on these threats and risks especially relating to cyber security. Cyber security is a vital topic, since the smart grid uses high level of computation like the IT. We will also see cryptography and key management techniques that are required to overcome these attacks. Privacy of consumers is another important security concern that this paper will deal with.
Possible mechanisms and significance of the neonatal surge in glucagon secretion: studies in newborn lambs.

Summary: Studies were conducted in newborn lambs to gain insight into the significance and mcchanism(s) responsible for the rapid rise in plasma immunoreactive glucagon (IRC) which occurs in human and other newborn species immediately after delivery. Three sets of experiments were conducted: group A, control studies (n = 5) in which delivery into room air was followed 1 hr later by cutting of the umbilical cord and periodic blood sampling for a further hour; group B, studies (n = 5) in which somatostatin (SRIF), a known inhibitor of IRG and insulin (IRI) secretion, was infused into the fetus for 10 min before, and for 1 hr after delivery and immediate cord cutting; group C, studies (n = 5) in which an identical dose regimen of SRIF was infused into fasting newborn lambs aged 24–72 hr. The doses of SRIF used were several fold higher than those proven to suppress pancreatic hormone secretion in other species. In the control studies, plasma IRG levels remained stable until the cord was cut, after which event levels rose 5–6-fold (59 ± 15 pg/ml to 305 ± 98 pg/ml, P < 0.05). Simultaneously, plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations rose significantly (280 ± 80 to 780 ± 100 μEq/liter, P < 0.05) and IRI remained unchanged. Plasma glucose concentrations, however, in contrast to observations in other species, did not fall, and therefore, hypoglycemia was not the stimulus for the glucagon surge. SRIF infusion at birth (group B) did not prevent the rise in IRG. Again blood glucose values did not fall, but in contrast to the control studies plasma IRI levels rose and the rise in FFA did not occur. Later SRIF infusion (group C) resulted in a prompt and sustained suppression of IRG and IRI and a significant fall in blood glucose. These results suggest that an adrenergic mechanism rather than curtailment of nutrients is the major stimulus to the neonatal surge in IRG. Speculation: The surge in IRG following delivery is a widespread and possibly universal phenomenon in mammalian species. The surge appears to be activated by adrenergic stimuli rather than interruption of nutrient supply after separation from the placenta. In addition to the IRG rise, these adrenergic stimuli inhibit IRI secretion, thereby favoring lipolysis, glycogenolysis, and ketogenesis. These (and possibly other) hormonal changes may be key adaptive events for energy homeostasis in the transition to extrauterine life.
Colchicine-sensitive and Colchicine-insensitive intermediate filament systems distinguished by a new intermediate filament-associated protein, IFAP-70/280kD

A monoclonal antibody was produced, using as antigen a BHK-21 cytoskeletal preparation enriched in intermediate filaments (IF) and their associated proteins. This antibody reacted exclusively with a reproducible set of 70-280kD polypeptides present in minor quantities in this preparation, as detected by immunoblot analysis. Based upon several criteria, this immunologically related group of polypeptides was designated as IFAP-70/280kD (IF-Associated Protein): (1) it coisolated with IF in vitro, (2) it co-localized (by both immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy) with IF in situ in all stages of cell spreading, and (3) it segregated in vitro with the 54/55kD (desmin/vimentin) structural IF subunit proteins of BHK cells through two cycles of in vitro disassembly/assembly. Immunogold labeling further localized IFAP-70/280kD to regions of parallel or loosely bundled IF in situ, suggesting a role in regulating the supramolecular organization of IF. When this monoclonal antibody was used for double-label immunofluorescence observations of colchicine-treated BHK cells, it demonstrated the presence of colchicine-sensitive and colchicine-insensitive IF. Anti-IFAP-70/280kD localized entirely to the drug-induced juxtanuclear IF cap, while a polyclonal antibody directed against the desmin/vimentin structural IF subunits and the previously characterized monoclonal anti-IFAP-300kD [Yang et al., 1985; J. Cell Biol. 100:620] localized to both the juxtanuclear IF cap and a colchicine-insensitive IF network peripheral to the cap in the same cells. The colchicine-insensitive IF pattern often exhibited similarities to that observed for the actin-based stress fiber system, suggesting that stress fiber association may be an additional factor in IF organization. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Tracer diffusion at the percolation threshold.

A self-consistent treatment of a labeled particle diffusing through a background of hopping atoms and vacancies with arbitrary hopping rate and concentration has recently been given [Phys. Rev. B 28, 3049 (1983)]. In an extension of this work, two features of the tracer diffusion at the percolation threshold are investigated. These are (i) the nonanalytic expansion of the diffusivity for small frequencies and (ii) the critical approach to extinction of the tracer diffusion with the vanishing of the hopping rate J of the background particles. While the results for the former are found to be identical to those recently obtained from dynamical mean-field approximations (DMFA's), the results for the latter are new in the sense that other DMFA's do not apply to this case. Moreover, the results for both (i) and (ii) are in reasonable agreement with an extended-scaling-theory analysis.
Observation of the Circular Components in the “Faraday Effect”

AFTER repeated attempts to determine the nature of the “Faraday effect,” I have succeeded in observing that ordinary light, when passing from a surface into a medium in such a way as to be under the influence of a magnetic field, is broken up into two circular components oppositely polarised.
The Turbulent Cascade and Proton Heating in the Solar Wind at 1 AU

We examine the convergence of third-order structure function expressions derived to measure the rate of turbulent energy cascade within the solar wind using Advanced Composition Explorer observations from 1 AU over the years 1998 through 2007. We find that a minimum of a year of data is normally required to get good convergence and statistically significant results. We then apply these findings to 10 years of observations spanning both solar minimum and solar maximum conditions. We compare the computed energy cascade rates with previously determined rates of proton heating at 1 AU as determined from the radial gradient of the proton temperature to be proportional to the product of wind speed and proton temperature. We find good agreement with a moderate excess of energy within the cascade that is consistent with previous estimates for thermal electron heating in the solar wind. In keeping with earlier analyses of the dissipation spectrum, we postulate that electron heating by the turbulent cascade is less than and at most equal to the rate of proton heating.
Initial energy density of quark-gluon plasma in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Recently, there has been considerable interest in the central rapidity region of highly relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Such an interest stems from the possibility of creating hadron matter of high energy density which may exceed the critical energy density for a phase transition between ordinary confined matter and the unconfined quark-gluon plasma. The experimental searches and identification of the quark-gluon plasma may provide a new insight into the question of quark confinement. The estimate of the initial energy density is quite uncertain. The initial energy density is nonetheless an important physical quantity. It is one of the factors which determines whether the produced matter can undergo phase transition or not. The energy density has been estimated previously by using the color neutralization model of Brodsky et al. However, the color neutralization model gives a central rapidity multiplicity in heavy-ion collision too low by a factor of two. For this reason, we wish to obtain a better estimate of the energy density (in the central rapidity region). As is well known, a simple Glauber-type multiple collision model can reproduce the total multiplicity and multiplicity plateau near the central rapidity region to within 30%. The simple multiple collision model has an approximate validitymore » as a gross description of the reaction process. We shall adopt a semiempirical approach. Using the multiple collision model and the thickness function of Glauber, we obtain analytical functional form for all the quantities in question. A single parameter, r/sub rms/, is adjusted to fit the experimental central rapidity multiplicity data. The semi-empirical results provide a useful tool to extrapolate to the unknown central rapidity region of heavy-ion collisions.« less
230Th dating of volcanic rocks

Abstract Measurements of 238 U, 232 Th, and 230 Th have been made in separated phases from four of the Mono Craters volcanics and from one of the Inyo Craters. The results show that sufficiently large differences in U/Th ratio exist between the glass and horblende separates to allow dating of these eruptions. Suggested ages for the Mono Craters range between 2000 and 10,000 years, and show a general agreement with K-ar ages and geological evidence. The Inyo Crater sample has an apparent age of 35,000 years, ten times higher than the K-Ar age.
Goodness of fit and outliers in cross-country demand systems

Abstract For a 10-good consumer demand system, the fit for 30 countries in the sample is compared with that for five countries outside the sample.
New frontiers in reproductive immunology research: bringing bedside problems to the bench

The 31st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Immunology provided an excellent platform for basic and clinical scientists to brainstorm on current reproductive health issues such as repeated implantation and pregnancy failure, preterm birth, preeclampsia and genital tract infections such as HIV. The goal of the meeting was to foster cross-pollination of ideas as well as to encourage participation of young investigators in the field. The conference was preceded by the 4th Annual Post-Graduate Workshop with the theme of bringing bedside problems to the bench and facilitating collaboration between clinicians and basic scientists. Christopher Davies and Richard Bronson chaired the conference, which hosted approximately 180 delegates representing more than 26 countries across Asia, Australia, Latin America, Europe and North America.
Integrins regulate GTP-Rac localized effector interactions through dissociation of Rho-GDI

The proper function of Rho GTPases requires precise spatial and temporal regulation of effector interactions. Integrin-mediated cell adhesion modulates the interaction of GTP-Rac with its effectors by controlling GTP-Rac membrane targeting. Here, we show that the translocation of GTP-Rac to membranes is independent of effector interactions, but instead requires the polybasic sequence near the carboxyl terminus. Cdc42 also requires integrin-mediated adhesion for translocation to membranes. A recently developed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based assay yields the surprising result that, despite its uniform distribution, the interaction of activated V12-Rac with a soluble, cytoplasmic effector domain is enhanced at specific regions near cell edges and is induced locally by integrin stimulation. This enhancement requires Rac membrane targeting. We show that Rho-GDI, which associates with cytoplasmic GTP-Rac, blocks effector binding. Release of Rho-GDI after membrane translocation allows Rac to bind to effectors. Thus, Rho-GDI confers spatially restricted regulation of Rac-effector interactions.
Euler buckling of pultruted composite columns

Abstract Pultruted composite structural members with open or closed thin-walled sections are being used as columns for structural applications where buckling is the main consideration in the design. An analytical model for Euler buckling is developed herein. Failure envelopes for some commercially available structural shapes are presented. The analytical model presented can be used to predict the behavior of any new material.
Bisalbuminuria in an adult with bisalbuminemia and nephrotic syndrome.

Bisalbuminemia (or alloalbuminemia) is a relatively rare hereditary or acquired condition characterized by the presence of two distinct albumin bands, or, less commonly, a single widened albumin band, after agarose gel electrophoresis of serum. Bisalbumins are caused by point- or chain-mutations that occur with a population frequency of 1:10 000 to 1:1000. Although no adverse clinical effects have been attributed to bisalbumins, some albumin variants have altered affinity for steroid hormones, thyroxine, or drugs. We report a case of bisalbuminuria in a 25-year-old man with bisalbuminemia and nephrotic syndrome.
A new method for scanning electron microscopic visualization of dermal elastic fibres.

SUMMARY Autoclaving sections of dermis for 8 h followed by fixation, dehydration and xylol-air drying yields a pure preparation of elastic fibres for scanning electron microscopy which retains the native architecture of this component. Elastic fibres were intertwined in a complex fashion with numerous branches. Fibres were predominantly cylindrical in the upper dermis and became larger and more elliptical in the deeper dermis. This method produces a means to study the organization of elastic fibres in a variety of disorders in which dermal changes are prominent.
INTESTINAL ATRESIA: FACTORS AFFECTING SURVIVAL

Eighty-four patients with congenital jejuno-ileal or colonic atresia treated at this hospital during the years 1961-86 were studied. There were 42 cases of jejunal atresia, seven cases of jejuno-ileal atresia, 33 cases of ileal atresia and two cases of colonic atresia. Multiple atresias occurred in 19 patients. During the first 15 years of the study the mortality rate was 56%. In the last 10 years it was 22%. Multivariate linear modelling techniques were used to determine the factors associated with a fatal outcome. In order of magnitude associations were found between death and year of treatment (P less than 0.01), the type of anastomosis performed to correct the atresis (P less than 0.05), the presence of other congenital abnormalities (P less than 0.01) and presence of a malrotation (P less than 0.02). The anastomoses associated with the highest mortality were those with a stoma. The mean length of bowel resected proximal to the anastomosis was 15 cm and the mean length resected distally 5 cm. Eleven patients had 60 cm or less of small bowel remaining after surgery and only three of these survived. The highest mortality rate can be expected in patients with other congenital abnormalities and those with a malrotation. A primary anastomosis without a stoma is recommended.
Purification and substrate specificity of a T4 phage intron-encoded endonuclease

Abstract The T4 phage td intron-encoded endonuclease (I-Tev I) cleaves the intron-deleted td gene (td delta I) 23 nucleotides upstream of the intron insertion site on the noncoding strand and 25 nucleotides upstream of this site on the coding strand, to generate a 2-base hydroxyl overhang in the 3' end of each DNA strand. I-Tev I-157, a truncated form in which slightly more than one third (88 residues) of the endonuclease is deleted, was purified to homogeneity and shown to possess endonuclease activity similar to that of I-TEV I, the full-length enzyme (245 residues). The minimal length of the td delta I gene that was cleaved by I-Tev I and I-Tev I-157 has been determined to be exactly 39 basepairs, from -27 (upstream in exon1) to +12 (downstream in exon2) relative to the intron insertion site. Similar to the full-length endonuclease, I-Tev I-157 cuts the intronless thymidylate synthase genes from such diverse organisms as Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus casei and the human. The position and nature of the in vitro endonucleolytic cut in these genes are homologous to those in td delta I. Point mutational analysis of the td delta I substrate based on the deduced consensus nucleotide sequence has revealed a very low degree of specificity on either side of the cleavage site, for both the full-length and truncated I-TEV I.
Thyroid cancer in suppressed contralateral lobe of patients with hot thyroid nodule

We studied 60 patients with thyrotoxicosis due to single toxic nodule. At surgery in 3 patients (5%) a papillary carcinoma has been detected in the contralateral suppressed lobe. Thyroid function tests and thyroid scan confirmed thyrotoxicosis. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was undetectable in all patients. It is common opinion that differentiated thyroid tumour growth is TSH dependent. On the basis of our study two hypotheses are possible: (1) the development of thyroid carcinoma precedes the adenoma and suppressed TSH levels inhibit tumour growth; (2) suppressed TSH levels do not protect patients from the occurrence of cancer. In the evaluation of hot thyroid nodule we suggest careful ultrasonographic control in order to look for nodules outside the adenoma. A complete surgical examination of the whole thyroid gland is required and intraoperative biopsies are advocated in abnormal areas.
Trends in design and construction of steel highway bridges in the United States

After a less than exciting close to the twentieth century, US steel bridge design and construction is entering the new century rejuvenated. An effort spearheaded by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) during the 1990s, educated practicing bridge designers in the most up-to-date and cost-effective steel bridge design and construction practices and details. Recent significant trends in the design and construction of steel highway bridges in the United States which are having an impact on the culture of bridge design and construction are the result of research into three aspects of bridge engineering: design methodologies, high-performance materials and innovative design concepts. Herein, the development and adoption of the new reliability-based bridge design specifications, the research effort sponsored jointly by the AISI, FHWA and the US Navy introducing high-performance steel (HPS), and two studies of innovative steel bridge design concepts conceived to take advantage of the higher strength, increased toughness and simpler fabrication of the newly developed high-performance steels are reviewed.