cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sequential Experimental Design Procedures

Abstract A new sequential design decision rule is proposed for a statistical multiple decision problem with finite state space and with a finite set of available experiments. Conditions are established under which the proposed rule is asymptotically optimal as c, the cost of a single experiment, tends to zero. The rule is compared to those of Chernoff [6] and Box and Hill [5]. In numerical simulations of a type of drug screening experiment, the proposed procedure yielded estimated risks no larger than, often significantly smaller than, those of procedures [6] and [5].
Unwanted but consensual sexting among young adults: Relations with attachment and sexual motivations

A wide body of research has examined unwanted but consensual sex in a face-to-face context, focusing on intercourse, petting, kissing, and other sexual activity that people consent to even though they do not want to. Recent research has shown many people engage in sexual interactions via computer-mediated mediums; yet, to date, there are no studies that have investigated whether unwanted but consensual sexual activity exists in these contexts. In this study, we examined the extent to which 93 women and 62 men had consented to unwanted sexting within committed relationships and the attachment characteristics and motivations that are associated with this behavior. Approximately one half of the sample (52.3%) had engaged in unwanted but consensual sexting with a committed partner, and most did so for flirtation, foreplay, to fulfill a partner's needs, or for intimacy. Among men, neither of the attachment dimensions was related to unwanted but consensual sexting. However, among women, anxious attachment was significantly related to frequency of consenting to unwanted sexting, and consenting to avoid an argument was a mediator in the relationship between anxious attachment and consenting to unwanted sexting. These results are compared to previous work on unwanted but consensual sex, and future directions are discussed.
Implications of hierarchical N-body methods for multiprocessor architectures

To design effective large-scale multiprocessors, designers need to understand the characteristics of the applications that will use the machines. Application characteristics of particular interest include the amount of communication relative to computation, the structure of the communication, and the local cache and memory requirements, as well as how these characteristics scale with larger problems and machines. One important class of applications is based on hierarchical N-body methods, which are used to solve a wide range of scientific and engineering problems efficiently. Important characteristics of these methods include the nonuniform and dynamically changing nature of the domains to which they are applied, and their use of long-range, irregular communication. This article examines the key architectural implications of representative applications that use the two dominant hierarchical N-body methods: the Barnes-Hut Method and the Fast Multipole Method.We first show that exploiting temporal locality on accesses to communicated data is critical to obtaining good performance on these applications and then argue that coherent caches on shared-address-space machines exploit this locality both automatically and very effectively. Next, we examine the implications of scaling the applications to run on larger machines. We use scaling methods that reflect the concerns of the application scientist and find that this leads to different conclusions about how communication traffic and local cache and memory usage scale than scaling based only on data set size. In particular, we show that under the most realistic form of scaling, both the communication-to-computation ratio as well as the working-set size (and hence the ideal cache size per processor) grow slowly as larger problems are run on larger machines. Finally, we examine the effects of using the two dominant abstractions for interprocessor communication: a shared address space and explicit message passing between private address spaces. We show that the lack of an efficiently supported shared address space will substantially increase the programming complexity and performance overheads for these applications.
Meshless Scheme Based on Alignment Constraints

proposed weighting scheme significantly reduces storage and computational requirements compared to other meshless schemes. The scheme is shown to be analogous to finite volume schemes in many ways, but it still lacks a discrete telescoping property and is not discretely conservative. The method is applied to the Euler equations in two dimensions. Results are presented that agree well with established methods.
New approaches to solar energy conversion using Si/liquid junctions

Abstract New data are presented on efficient Si/liquid junction photoelectrochemical energy conversion devices. Additional information on the interfacial energetics, charge transfer kinetics, and stabilization factors of these interfaces has been obtained using a variety of chemical and electrical methods. Transconductance and Mott-Schottky measurements of the barrier height of n-Si/CH3OH-Me2Fc+/0 contacts have demonstrated that the Si is in strong inversion, with a barrier height of 1.0 eV. Qualitative evidence for the validity of Marcus-Gerischer theory was obtained in measurements of the stabilization ratio as a function of the reorganization energy of the stabilizing redox agent. In addition, a new type of photoelectrochemical cell, in which charge carriers are collected primarily using diffusion gradients as opposed to drift, has shown high efficiency and unpinned electrical junction behavior in contact with various redox couples.
A LOW-COST AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR MACHINING PHOTOELASTIC SPECIMENS

This automatic milling system, specially designed and built for machining small plane photoelastic specimens of complex geometry, using a budget of less than 1% of the cost of the cheapest CNC milling machine was indeed able to produce specimens with errors under the photoelastic method resolution threshold. As a final recommendation, the use of a 12 bit A/D for reading the clip-gages, or else of digital encoders with at least 80 divisions/turn for position measurement, is probably the best investment to improve the performance of a machine similar to this one. In this way the feedback transducer resolution would be a value closer to the step motor increment, maximizing the performance of the system, and lowering its hunting threshold.
Colloquium : Illuminating the Kapitza-Dirac effect with electron matter optics

The observation of the Kapitza-Dirac effect raises conceptual, theoretical, and experimental questions. The Kapitza-Dirac effect is often described as diffraction of free electrons from a standing wave of light or stimulated Compton scattering. However, for the two-color Kapitza-Dirac effect these two interpretations appear to lead to paradoxical conclusions. The discussion of this paradox deepens our understanding of both of these versions of the Kapitza-Dirac effect.
The Affordable Care Act and Long-Term Care: Marginal Advancement on the Status Quo

The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the sufficiency of the Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) provisions contained within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Beyond the ambitious but fatally flawed Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, the ACA's LTSS changes represent only marginal advances over the status quo. Moreover, the impact of the ACA's strategies varies with the extent to which the federal and state governments opt to invest in them, through funding, implementing, and enforcing the modest changes enacted. The ACA's LTSS provisions, while welcome, are unlikely to result in the major changes necessary to meet both current and future demand for care.
U-Type Inactivation of Kv3.1 and Shaker Potassium Channels

We previously concluded that the Kv2.1 K(+) channel inactivates preferentially from partially activated closed states. We report here that the Kv3.1 channel also exhibits two key features of this inactivation mechanism: a U-shaped voltage dependence measured at 10 s and stronger inactivation with repetitive pulses than with a single long depolarization. More surprisingly, slow inactivation of the Kv1 Shaker K(+) channel (Shaker B Delta 6--46) also has a U-shaped voltage dependence for 10-s depolarizations. The time and voltage dependence of recovery from inactivation reveals two distinct components for Shaker. Strong depolarizations favor inactivation that is reduced by K(o)(+) or by partial block by TEA(o), as previously reported for slow inactivation of Shaker. However, depolarizations near 0 mV favor inactivation that recovers rapidly, with strong voltage dependence (as for Kv2.1 and 3.1). The fraction of channels that recover rapidly is increased in TEA(o) or high K(o)(+). We introduce the term U-type inactivation for the mechanism that is dominant in Kv2.1 and Kv3.1. U-type inactivation also makes a major but previously unrecognized contribution to slow inactivation of Shaker.
Choice between shock -free times in concurrent avoidance schedules

Following a shaping procedure, pigeons’ pecks were maintained on concurrent, independent variable-interval schedules in which pecks on either of two keys produced different durations of shock-free time. Shock-free times scheduled as a consequence of pecking the two keys were at different times, 3 min, 1 min, or 10 sec. The relative rates of pecking a key increased as the relative duration of shock-free time for that key increased. Results are consistent with the view that the effects of negative reinforcement are parallel, but opposite in sign, to positive reinforcement and that shock-free time is analogous to food duration in positive reinforcement experiments.
Positron-Emitting Myocardial Blood Flow Tracers and Clinical Potential

Positron-emitting myocardial flow radiotracers such as (15)O-water, (13)N-ammonia and (82)Rubidium in conjunction with positron-emission-tomography (PET) are increasingly applied in clinical routine for coronary artery disease (CAD) detection, yielding high diagnostic accuracy, while providing valuable information on cardiovascular (CV) outcome. Owing to a cyclotron dependency of (15)O-water and (13)N-ammonia, their clinical use for PET myocardial perfusion imaging is limited to a few centers. This limitation could be overcome by the increasing use of (82)Rubidium as it can be eluted from a commercially available (82)Strontium generator and, thus, is independent of a nearby cyclotron. Another novel F-18-labeled myocardial flow radiotracer is flurpiridaz which has attracted increasing interest due to its excellent radiotracer characteristics for perfusion and flow imaging with PET. In particular, the relatively long half-life of 109 minutes of flurpiridaz may afford a general application of this radiotracer for PET perfusion imaging comparable to technetium-99m-labeled single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The ability of PET in conjunction with several radiotracers to assess myocardial blood flow (MBF) in ml/g/min at rest and during vasomotor stress has contributed to unravel pathophysiological mechanisms underlying coronary artery disease (CAD), to improve the detection and characterization of CAD burden in multivessel disease, and to provide incremental prognostic information in individuals with subclinical and clinically-manifest CAD. The concurrent evaluation of myocardial perfusion and MBF may lead to a new era of a personalized, image-guided therapy approach that may offer potential to further improve clinical outcome in CV disease patients but needing validation in large-scale clinical trials.
Effect of Pandora Moth (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) Defoliation on Growth of Ponderosa Pine in Arizona

Defoliation of ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex Lawson and Lawson, by the pandora moth, Coloradia Pandora Blake, results in a significant reduction in basal area growth compared with undefoliated trees. A high proportion (83%) of heavily defoliated trees produced no growth in the year following defoliation. Heavily defoliated trees produced more growth than moderately defoliated trees one year after the last defoliation. Overall, tree growth is not related linearly to defoliation intensity.
Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy #54. Application To The Study Of Heterogeneous Catalytic ReactionsHydrogen Peroxide Decomposition

A scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) approach for the analysis of heterogeneous catalytic reactions at solid−liquid interfaces is described and applied. In this scheme, reactant, generated at a tip, undergoes a reaction (e.g., disproportionation) at the substrate. The theoretical background for this study, performed by digital simulations using a finite difference method, considers a chemical reaction at the substrate with general stoichiometry. In this case, the fraction of regenerated mediator (νS) may differ with respect to a substrate reaction that is the reverse of the tip reaction, resulting in an asymmetric mediator loop. Simulated tip current transients and approach curves at different values of the kinetic rate constant for reactions where νS < 1 were used to analyze this new SECM situation. This approach was used to study the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (HO2- → 1/2O2 + OH-), where νS = 0.5, on supported catalysts. A gold−mercury amalgam tip was used to quantitatively red...
Thermoelectric chemical sensor based on single wall carbon nanotubes

Thermoelectric properties of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are quite sensitive to gases in contact with the tube walls. This effect makes possible a thermoelectric chemical sensor. Large, reversible swings in thermoelectric power (S), sometimes even involving sign changes in S, have been observed. Even contact of the SWNTs with He and N 2 and H 2 result in easily detectable and reversible changes in S. Smaller, polar alcohol molecules stimulate a large thermoelectric response, although H 2 O has no effect. For adsorption of six membered ring molecules C 6 H n in SWNTs, the large thermoelectric response observed for Benzene (n = 6) is seen to decrease as the π electrons in the molecule are removed, and the coupling between the molecules and the SWNT is thereby reduced. These effects are discussed in terms of the diffusion thermopower for a rope, and a new scattering channel associated with adsorbed molecules.
Income and Happiness: Towards a Unified Theory

Material aspirations are initially fairly similar among income groups; consequently more income brings greater happiness. Over the life cycle, however, aspirations grow along with income, and undercut the favourable effect of income growth on happiness, although the cross-sectional happiness-income difference persists. People think they were less happy in the past and will be happier in the future, because they project current aspirations to be the same throughout the life cycle, while income grows. But since aspirations actually grow along with income, experienced happiness is systematically different from projected happiness. Consequently, choices turn out to be based on false expectations.
Detection of petroleum oil diluents in coal tar creosote by thin-layer chromatography

Abstract A thin-layer chromatographic method is described for the detection of four types of petroleum oils used as diluents in creosote. These oils vary widely in aromatic and paraffinic content. The presence of these oils can be demonstrated down to a level of 0.25% in creosote. The indicator, α-cyclodextrin followed by iodine fumes, should be useful in other applications where differentiation between aromatic compounds and hydrocarbons is desired.
Insights into distinct modulation of α7 and α7β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by the volatile anesthetic isoflurane.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are targets of general anesthetics, but functional sensitivity to anesthetic inhibition varies dramatically among different subtypes of nAChRs. Potential causes underlying different functional responses to anesthetics remain elusive. Here we show that in contrast to the α7 nAChR, the α7β2 nAChR is highly susceptible to inhibition by the volatile anesthetic isoflurane in electrophysiology measurements. Isoflurane-binding sites in β2 and α7 were found at the extracellular and intracellular end of their respective transmembrane domains using NMR. Functional relevance of the identified β2 site was validated via point mutations and subsequent functional measurements. Consistent with their functional responses to isoflurane, β2 but not α7 showed pronounced dynamics changes, particularly for the channel gate residue Leu-249(9′). These results suggest that anesthetic binding alone is not sufficient to generate functional impact; only those sites that can modulate channel dynamics upon anesthetic binding will produce functional effects.
Absorption and emission spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility of sodium β-alumina doped with Mn, Co, and Ni

Abstract The absorption spectrum and magnetic susceptibility vs temperature have been measured for β-alumina doped with Mn, Co, and Ni. In addition, the emission spectra of Mn-doped samples have been measured. Mn and Co are shown to occupy tetrahedral sites and to be in the +2 oxidation state in β-alumina, in agreement with the results of previous investigators. Nickel is shown to occupy both octahedral and tetrahedral sites in β-alumina. Evidence indicates that nickel on octahedral sites is in the +3 oxidation state while that occupying tetrahedral symmetry sites is in the +2 oxidation state. The bands in the absorption spectrum for each metal are assigned and Dq , B , and C are calculated where possible.
Robust stereo matching with improved graph and surface models and occlusion handling

We decompose the stereo matching problem into three sub-problems in this work: (1) disparity estimation for non-occlusion regions and occlusion detection, (2) disparity estimation for occlusion regions, and (3) surface model for the disparity map. A three-step procedure is proposed to solve them sequentially. At the first step, we perform an initial matching and develop a new graph model using the ordering and segmentation constraints to improve disparity values in non-occlusion regions and detect occlusion regions. At the second step, we determine disparity values in occlusion regions based on global optimization. Since the conventional segmentation-based stereo matching is not efficient in highly slanted or curved objects, we propose a post-processing technique for disparity map enhancement using a three-dimensional (3D) geometric structure. The proposed three-step stereo matching procedure yields excellent quantitative and qualitative results with Middlebury data sets.
Protection of stored maize from insect pests using a two-component biological control method consisting of a hymenopteran parasitoid, Theocolax elegans, and transgenic avidin maize powder ☆

Abstract The hymenopteran parasitoid, Theocolax elegans (Westwood), and transgenic avidin maize powder were tested to determine if their individual or combined use would protect stored grain from infestation by both internal and external insect pests. Small-scale tests were conducted in plastic jars containing 3 kg of non-transgenic maize. We tested treatments of 0.3% powdered avidin maize, the parasitoid wasp, and the combination of the parasitoid plus 0.3% powdered avidin maize. One pair each of Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), and Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) was added to each jar. After 8 weeks, the entire contents of each jar were examined for adult insects. Control and avidin maize powders had no detrimental effects on the beneficial insect parasitoid T. elegans . The parasitoid suppressed populations of the internal feeder S. zeamais . The avidin maize powder treatment had no effect on S. zeamais because these larvae developed inside the maize kernels where no avidin maize powder was present. For S. zeamais , the combination treatment was not significantly different from the parasitoid treatment. In contrast, populations of the external feeder T. castaneum were not suppressed by the parasitoid but were suppressed by the avidin maize powder treatment. The parasitoid-avidin combination treatment produced the greatest percentage reduction for all three insect species and resulted in 78%, 94%, and 70% reductions in populations of S. zeamais , T. castaneum , and C. ferrugineus , respectively, when compared to the control treatment. The percentage reductions for the parasitoid treatment were 70%, 8%, and 20% for S. zeamais , T. castaneum , and C. ferrugineus , respectively. For the avidin maize powder treatment, populations of S. zeamais , T. castaneum , and C. ferrugineus were reduced by 10%, 85%, and 40%, respectively. The combination treatment of avidin maize powder plus the release of parasitoid wasps was superior to either treatment alone when applied to mixed populations of internal and external feeders.
Role of PKG II in osteoblast mechanotransduction

Implications Meeting abstracts - A single PDF containing all abstracts in this Supplement is available here . http://www .biomedcentral.c om/content/pdf/1 471-2210-9-S1-i nfo.pdf
The politics of counseling

The career of the counselor is influenced by the bureaucratic structure of his institution, whether secondary school, university, or public agency. Important elements in the client-counselor interaction are found in the limitations imposed upon the counselor by the values and modus operandi of the institution and its preconceptions of the client's problem. To cope effectively with such matters, counselors should be trained as social critics and develop a greater awareness of how their professional roles are shaped by institutional power structures.
Action of antilymphocytic sera on reactions caused by immune-complex formation.

Abstract The effect of two different types of antilymphocytic serum—anti-whole-guinea-pig serum and anti-γ-globulin serum—have been studied on the Arthus reaction, in guineapigs, as an example of tissue damage due to the formation of immune complexes induced by humoral antibodies. These results were compared with the effect of these sera on non-specific inflammatory processes. It is suggested that suppression of the Arthus reaction by antithymocyte serum is related to the marked fall in serum complement which is produced by injecting this serum in vivo. Antiserum against a membrane-free extract of lymph-node cells has a similar effect in suppressing the Arthus reaction but does not suppress non-immunological inflammation. This serum does not produce a considerable drop in the amount of circulating complement as does the antithymocyte serum, but contains detectable antibodies against serum-proteins. Antisera prepared specifically against serum-proteins will reproduce the action of this type of antilymphocytic serum on the Arthus reaction and will similarly fail to have an effect on a non-specific inflammatory reaction to the intradermal injection of turpentine.
FlexPRET: A processor platform for mixed-criticality systems

Mixed-criticality systems, in which multiple tasks of varying criticality execute on a single hardware platform, are an emerging research area in real-time embedded systems. High-criticality tasks require spatial and temporal isolation guarantees for independent verification, and the task set should efficiently utilize hardware resources. Hardware-based isolation is desirable but often underutilizes hardware resources, which can consist of multiple single-core, multicore, or multithreaded processors. We present FlexPRET, a processor designed specifically for mixed-criticality systems by allowing each task to make a trade-off between hardware-based isolation and efficient processor utilization. FlexPRET uses fine-grained multithreading with flexible scheduling and timing instructions to provide this functionality.
Expression of the human renin gene in transgenic mice throughout ontogeny.

Expression of a human renin genomic DNA clone extending 900 base pairs upstream and 400 base pairs downstream of the gene has been previously examined in adult transgenic mice. In adults, expression of human renin was evident in kidney, reproductive tissues, adrenal gland and lung. Previous studies of mouse and rat renin have demonstrated that kidney renin becomes evident at approximately 15 days of gestation and that expression is localized first to smooth muscle cells of the developing renal arterial tree and becomes progressively restricted to juxtaglomerular cells. As a prelude to performing cell specificity studies to elucidate the pattern of human renin gene expression in the developing kidney, 15.5 and 17.5 days of gestation fetuses and newborns were obtained for expression analysis. Tissues were pooled and expression was examined in kidney, liver, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, lung, heart and brain. The number of transgenic fetuses in each pool was determined by human renin-specific polymerase chain reaction of DNA purified from placenta or tail biopsies. Renal human renin expression was abundant at all three time points. Expression was also evident in the GI tract at 15.5 and 17.5 days of gestation. Interestingly, although no human renin mRNA was evident in lung at 15.5 or 17.5 days of gestation, extremely high levels of human renin mRNA were detected in the newborn lung. Expression of the human renin gene in these tissues was further confirmed by differential primer extension analysis which is capable of differentiating the closely related human and mouse renin messages. These transgenic mice should provide an interesting model to examine the expression and regulation of the human renin gene during kidney development.
Partial purification and properties of putrescine oxidase from Candida guilliermondii.

Putrescine oxidase ([PO]; E.C. 1.4.3.4), which catalyzes the oxidative deamination of putrescine into γ-aminobutyraldehyde, has been partially purified from Candida guilliermondii. Among the substrates tested, putrescine has the highest reaction rate, followed by spermidine and cadaverine. The K IN values for putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine were 20, 200, and 1.1 mM, respectively. The optimum pH and the temperature for PO were 8.0 and 37°C, respectively. Growth of Candida species on putrescine as the solenitrogen source induced the synthesis of PO that converts putrescine into Δ1-pyrroline and γ-aminobutyric acid. These two products were detected and identified from the culture medium. The enzyme was not activated by divalent cations. Among the species of Candida tested, the highest enzyme activity was found in cell-free extracts of C. guilliermondii. The pathway of putrescine degradation was identified by substrate analysis to be along the nonacetylated pathway in C. guilliermondii.
The Impact of Elder Health, Caregiver Involvement, and Global Stress on Two Dimensions of Caregiver Burden

This study examined the simultaneous effects of an elder's health, caregiver involvement, and stress on caregiver burden, addressing the questions: (a) What are the direct and indirect effects of level of elder's impairment, caregiver involvement, and stress on personal and interpersonal burden? (b) How do these relationships differ between spouse and adult-child caregivers? Data were from the 1982 National Long Term Care Survey. Results using linear structural relations analysis showed the effect of a frail elder's health and functioning on personal and interpersonal burden is mediated by task involvement and perceived global stress. Contrary to expectation, there were few differences in the direct effect of each dimension of health, functional limitations, cognitive status, and global health rating on each dimension of burden. Although the results suggested mean differences between spouse and adult child caregivers on key variables, there were no differences by family relationship in the system of relationships that comprise the process linking health and burden.
Optimal multidimensional distinction between target and background

In the electro-optical target detection community, there is considerable interest in finding quantitative measures of detection performance, such as the (Delta) (Tau) metric of contrast between a target and background. As a measure of target detectability against a variety of backgrounds, this paper discusses a new, generalized signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR), which has many attractive features, such as detailed quantification of the role of target shape, clutter spatial statistics, and interchannel correlation (including color) on detectability. Using this measure of performance, it is easy to produce plots showing detection probability in terms of false alarm rate using a standard probability curve. To provide insight, some intuitive examples are presented of the role played by spatial/frequency matrix blocks in the generalized SCR. Finally, it is shown that when certain approximations or simplifications are made, the generalized signal-to-clutter metric discussed here does specialize to other, simpler and more familiar measures of detectability.
Contexts and Data Dependencies: A Synthesis

Two data-organization devices that have come out of AI re-search are data pools (``contexts'') and data dependencies. The latter are more flexible than the former, and have supplanted them. Data pools offer certain advantages of efficiency, however, so it is worth trying to make the two mechanisms compatible. Doing this requires generalizing the mark-and-sweep algorithms that maintain consistency in a data-dependency network, so that the labels passed around do not simply say whether a datum is IN or OUT, but say which data pools it is present in. The revised algorithm is essentially an algorithm for solving simultaneous Boolean equations. Other mechanisms are needed for per-forming useful chores like maintaining well-founded support links and orchestrating demon calls.
Studies on early leaf development

Abstract Recent papers have investigated several aspects of leaf development and morphology. The subdivision of the meristem by homeobox gene expression analysis has facilitated elucidation of meristem functions. The findings that phytomer founder cells are recruited as a unit and that veins act as the origins of position-dependnet information are also significant.
Self regulation of growth by human diploid fibroblasts via prostaglandin production.

The prostaglandins comprise a family of related compounds which are capable of modulating a number of cellular functions including cell division [l-3] . These fatty acid-derived molecules are either extremely unstable in aqueous solution or are quickly metabolized, in vivo, to biologically less active or inactive substances [ 1 ] . The hormone-like action of these substances, therefore, it short range, generally on cells located in the vicinity of the site of their production. In this communication we report that prostaglandin (PG) production by human diploid fibroblasts in culture serves to enhance or inhibit their growth. We show that indomethacin and aspirin, when added to these cultures, initially inhibit and later stimulate cell growth while inhibiting prostaglandin production. We further note that PGEz added to these cells, at concentrations endogenous to these cultures, inhibits cell division while PGFm stimulates cell growth. Surprisingly, the effect on cell growth of hydrocortisone resembles that of indomethacin and aspirin. We find hydrocortisone also inhibits prostaglandin production in human diploid fibroblasts.
Magnetization transfer imaging of the brain: A quantitative comparison of results obtained at 1.5 and 4.0 T.

The preliminary results of magnetization transfer (MT) imaging on a whole body 4.0 T system are presented. Cooked egg phantoms and several volunteers were imaged on 1.5 and 4.0 T magnets interfaced to GE Signa scanners. The MT ratio (MTR), signal difference to noise ratio (SDNR), and contrast parameters were measured at both fields and compared. Furthermore, single-shot Z-spectroscopy was used to characterize the frequency dependence of the MT phenomenon. The results show that MT imaging can be safely performed at 4.0 T without exceeding limitations of radio frequency power. The MT effect is more pronounced at the higher field, leading to better quality images with higher contrast and SDNR. The Z-spectra are not markedly different at the higher field although the MTR is greater. The potential applications of this technique to study neurodegenerative diseases, as well as, perfusion imaging and angiography are discussed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;10:527–532. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Is Heavy Drinking Really Associated With Attrition From College? The Alcohol–Attrition Paradox

Student attrition at colleges across the United States poses a significant problem for students and families, higher educational institutions, and the nation's workforce competing in the global economy. Heavy drinking is a highly plausible contributor to the problem. However, there is little evidence that it is a reliable predictor of attrition. Notably, few studies take into account indicators of collegiate engagement that are associated with both heavy drinking and persistence in college. Event-history analysis was used to estimate the effect of heavy drinking on attrition among 3,290 undergraduates at a large midwestern university during a 4-year period, and student attendance at a number of college events was included as covariates. Results showed that heavy drinking did not predict attrition bivariately or after controlling for precollege predictors of academic success. However, after controlling for event attendance (an important indicator of collegiate engagement), heavy drinking was found to predict attrition. These findings underscore the importance of the college context in showing that heavy drinking does in fact predict attrition and in considering future intervention efforts to decrease attrition and also heavy drinking.
The development of sperm packets of the M5 strain of Volvox aureus.

An electron microscopic study of the ultrastructure and development of sperm packets of the M5 strain of Volvox aureus shows that the sperm packet develops very much like a vegetative colony. Male initials cleave incompletely and leave cytoplasmic bridges between sperm. Sperm packets are surrounded by outer limiting material possibly derived from the male initial wall and a packet boundary similar to the boundary of vegetative colonies.
Get Physical, Get Smart!

Worldwide, there is a dramatic rise in obesity among school-age children, with only one-third of youth being considered sufficiently physically active. The physical health risks of inactivity are well known, but the detrimental effects of physical inactivity on cognitive function and academic achievement are less well understood. Previous research has suggested that physical activity and diet have the potential to induce changes in learning and memory, and that childhood motor activity may facilitate key developmental functions such as language acquisition and gross motor skills to set the stage for later academic achievement. To understand how these factors are related, Kantomaa et al. set out to examine whether childhood motor activity predicts later academic achievement. The authors leveraged data from a large prospective birth cohort of 8081 children from Northern Finland sampled between 1985 and 2002. This data set collected information about parent-reported motor function at 8 years of age and then self-reported physical activity, predicted cardiorespiratory fitness (cycle ergometer test), obesity (body weight and height), and academic achievement (grades) at 16 years of age. Structural equation models were used to test whether, and to what extent, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and obesity at age 16 mediated the association between childhood motor function and academic achievement in adolescence. Physical activity was associated with a higher grade-point average, and obesity was associated with a lower grade-point average in adolescence. In addition, compromised motor function in childhood had an indirect negative effect on academic achievement during adolescence, which was mediated by physical inactivity and obesity but not by cardiorespiratory fitness. These results suggest that physical activity and obesity may mediate the relation between childhood motor function and academic achievement during adolescence so that reduced motor function in childhood may be driving the effects of obesity and physical inactivity on academic underachievement. This study does not provide a causal explanation for academic underachievement among teens, and results may have been influenced by unmeasured confounds or biases associated with parent and self-reporting. Nevertheless, this study provides important new evidence about the mind-body connection early in childhood development. With escalating rates of childhood obesity in the United States and abroad, this research gives us yet another reason to engage our children in physical activity. M. T. Kantomaa et al ., Physical activity and obesity mediate the association between childhood motor function and adolescents’ academic achievement. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110 , 1917–1922 (2013). [[Abstract]][1] [1]: http://www.pnas.org/content/110/5/1917
Rapid advances in nucleic acid technologies for detection and diagnostics of pathogens

In this area of detection and diagnostics traditional culture based methods are simple to use relatively inexpensive but too time consuming for high throughput testing and too complex for analysis of samples with a mixture of organisms and provide little clinical information regarding the pathogen such as antibiotic resistance genes virulence factors or strain subtypes Nucleic Acid based technologies such as polymerase chain reaction DNA microarrays and high throughput automated sequencing methods have advantages over these culture based technologies which provides more molecular information as discussed above In the last years there is rapid advancement in these nucleic acid based technologies and in this review article I will describe the current state of the art in the nucleic acid technologies for detection and diagnostics and future trends and advances in the field
Characteristics of Adult Education Research Reported at the Adult Education Research Conference, 1971-1980.

The investigator analyzed the abstracts of all research papers and classified them according to predetermined criteria following the work of Long and Agyekum. Findings indicate that 355 papers were presented by 347 different individuals including faculty from 83 post-secondary education institutions in the U.S.A. and 13 Canadian Colleges and Universities. Some 65 individuals made two or more presentations during the period.Nine different types of research papers were presented; 55 percent of the papers were based on descriptive research procedures. Four different kinds of descriptive research data collection procedures were identified and analyzed.Ten kinds of content were reported; 28% of the papers reported on research that focused on program areas and 24% of the papers were concerned with program planning and administration. The categories of program areas, program planning and administration and adult education as a field of study accounted for 68% of the papers, by content.Representatives from seven ...
Nitric Oxide and Interleukin-1β Stimulate the Proteasome-Independent Degradation of the Retinoic Acid Hydroxylase CYP2C22 in Primary Rat Hepatocytes

CYP2C22 was recently described as a retinoic acid-metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzyme whose transcription is induced by all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) in hepatoma cells (Qian L, Zolfaghari R, and Ross AC (2010) J Lipid Res 51:1781-1792). We identified CYP2C22 as a putative nitric oxide (NO)-regulated protein in a proteomic screen and raised specific polyclonal antibodies to CYP2C22 to study its protein expression. We found that CYP2C22 is a liver-specific protein that was not significantly induced by activators of the pregnane X receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α, but was downregulated to <25% of control by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist β-naphthoflavone in cultured rat hepatocytes. CYP2C22 protein and its mRNA both were induced by atRA in hepatocytes, with EC50 of 100-300 nM, whereas the maximal extent of mRNA induction was twice that of the protein. CYP2C22 protein, but not its mRNA, was rapidly downregulated in hepatocytes by interleukin-1 (IL-1) or NO-donating compounds, and the downregulation by IL-1 was blocked by inhibition of NO synthases. The NO donor (Z)-1-[N-(3-aminopropyl)-N-(3-ammoniopropyl)amino]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate reduced the half-life of CYP2C22 from 8.7 to 3.4 hours in the presence of cycloheximide, demonstrating that NO-dependent downregulation is due to stimulated proteolysis. No intermediate degradation products were detected. However, this degradation was insensitive to inhibitors of calpains or the canonical proteasomal or lysosomal pathways, indicating that NO-dependent degradation of CYP2C22 proceeds via a novel pathway.
An empirical comparison of techniques for updating Delaunay triangulations

The computation of Delaunay triangulations from static point sets has been extensively studied in computational geometry. When the points move with known trajectories, kinetic data structures can be used to maintain the triangulation. However, there has been little work so far on how to maintain the triangulation when the points move without explicit motion plans, as in the case of a physical simulation. In this paper we examine how to update Delaunay triangulations after small displacements of the defining points, as might be provided by a physics-based integrator. We have implemented a variety of update algorithms, many new, toward this purpose. We ran these algorithms on a corpus of data sets to provide running time comparisons and determined that updating Delaunay can be significantly faster than recomputing.
Scleroderma, Stress and CAM Utilization

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease influenced by interplay among genetic and environmental factors, of which one is stress. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is frequently used to treat stress and those diseases in which stress has been implicated. Results are presented from a survey of patients with scleroderma. Respondents were a convenient sample of those attending a national conference in Las Vegas in 2002. Findings implicate stress in the onset, continuation and exacerbation of scleroderma. The implication is that CAM providers may be filling an important patient need in their provision of services that identify and treat stress and its related disorders.
Children's storytelling and programming with robotic characters

We introduce mixed physical and digital authoring environments for children, which invite them to create stories with enriched drawings that are programmed to control robotic characters. These characters respond to the children's drawings as well as to their touch. Children create their stories by drawing props and programming how the robotic character should respond to those props and to physical touch. By drawing, programming the robotic character's behaviors, and organizing and negotiating the order and meanings of the props, children's story events unfold in creative ways. We present our iterative design process of developing and evaluating our prototypes with children. We discuss the role technology can play in supporting children's everyday creative storytelling.
Glycobiology of ocular angiogenesis

Ocular neovascularization can affect almost all the tissues of the eye: the cornea, the iris, the retina, and the choroid. Pathological neovascularization is the underlying cause of vision loss in common ocular conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and age-related macular neovascularization. Glycosylation is the most common covalent posttranslational modification of proteins in mammalian cells. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that glycosylation influences the process of angiogenesis and impacts activation, proliferation, and migration of endothelial cells as well as the interaction of angiogenic endothelial cells with other cell types necessary to form blood vessels. Recent studies have provided evidence that members of the galectin class of β-galactoside-binding proteins modulate angiogenesis by novel carbohydrate-based recognition systems involving interactions between glycans of angiogenic cell surface receptors and galectins. This review discusses the significance of glycosylation and the role of galectins in the pathogenesis of ocular neovascularization.
The effect of environmental regulations on postural control after stroke

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of environmental predictability on postural control after stroke. A reaching task for seated subjects was used as the postural perturbation. Trajectory stability (the pathway followed by the subject's body center for pressure with respect to time during the reaching task) was used as the index of postural control. It was hypothesized that trajectory stability would be greater under predictable conditions. METHOD: A specially designed electromechanical system was used to measure the trajectory stability ratios for 100 subjects, 50 with poststroke hemiplegia and 50 who had not had stroke. All subjects completed a task that required reaching to the left versus reaching to the right, under predictable versus unpredictable conditions. Postural control was measured via a trajectory instability ratio in both the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral planes. RESULTS: Although the effect of predictability on postural control was significant, it was not as hypothesized for both groups. There was greater trajectory stability under unpredictable conditions when reaching to the right as measured in both the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral planes and when reaching to the left as measured in the medial-lateral plane. CONCLUSION: These findings refute the assumption of the hierarchical, predictable-to-unpredictable-environment model for postural control evaluation and treatment. The relationship between information processing demands and postural skill is probably more complex than the simple linear association implied. Perhaps the two conditions, predictable and unpredictable, should be worked on concurrently, not sequentially. Language: en
Capital market equilibrium with moral hazard

Abstract This paper studies a general equilibrium model of an economy with production under uncertainty in which firms’ capital (ownership) structures creates a moral hazard problem for their managers. The concept of an equilibrium with rational, competitive price perceptions (RCPP) is introduced, in which investors correctly anticipate the optimal effort of entrepreneurs by observing their financial decisions, and entrepreneurs are aware that investors use their financial decisions as signals. The competitive element in the equilibrium valuation of firms comes from the fact that entrepreneurs cannot affect the market price of risks. It is shown that under appropriate spanning assumptions an RCPP is constrained Pareto optimal. Furthermore, if sufficiently many options are traded, then full optimality can be obtained despite the moral hazard problem: options serve both to increase the span of the market and to provide incentives for entrepreneurs.