cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The pattern of testosterone replacement influences the recovery of the stimulatory effect of clonidine on growth hormone (GH) secretion in orchidectomized rats

Abstract It has previously been described that the growth hormone (GH) releasing effect of clonidine (CLO), an agonist of α 2 -adrenoreceptors, disappears after orchidectomy and is restored by testosterone replacement when started immediately after orchidectomy. In the present experiments, the effects of CLO on GH release was analysed in long-term (LTO; 12 weeks) and short-term (STO; 2 weeks) orchidectomized rats. In the first experiment, LTO males were implanted with silastic capsules containing testosterone 10 weeks after orchidectomy and killed 2 weeks later, 15 min after injection of CLO (150 μg/kg) or vehicle. In the second experiment, adult males were implanted with testosterone at the moment of orchidectomy and decapitated 2 or 12 weeks later, 15 min after vehicle or CLO administration. In addition, in order to evaluate the effects of orchidectomy and androgen replacement on α 2 agonists GH release further, prepubertal males (21-days-old) implanted with testosterone or 5-α-androstane-3-α, 17β diol (α-diol) at the moment of orchidectomy were killed 2 weeks later, 15 min after ketamine-xylazine (an α 2 agonist) administration. Finally, 10-day-old males (orchidectomized 72 h before) were decapitated 15 min after CLO or vehicle administration. Our results show that: (a) LTO and STO abolished the stimulatory effect of clonidine on GH secretion; (b) orchidectomy also abolished the stimulatory effect of clonidine in neonatal rats and that of xylazine in prepubertal males; (c) testosterone implanted at the moment of orchidectomy prevented the loss of the CLO effect in LTO and STO, but testosterone-delayed administration in LTO was unable to restore the effectiveness of CLO inducing GH release. We conclude that orchidectomy at all ages tested abolishes GH secretion induced by α 2 agonists, which suggests that the functionality of α-adrenergic receptors involved in the control of GH secretion is critically dependent on a permanent exposure to testosterone in males.
Laminated anisotropic thin plate with an elliptic inhomogeneity

This work is concerned with a through-thickness elliptic elastic inhomogeneity in a laminated anisotropic elastic thin plate within the context of the Kirchhoff theory. By means of the octet formalism recently established by the authors, an exact closed-form solution is obtained, for the first time, for coupled stretching and bending deformations of the plate subjected to remote uniform membrane stress resultants and bending moments. The stress resultants inside the elastic elliptic inhomogeneity are uniform, which is consistent with the uniformity property of the Eshelby inclusion solution in three-dimensional elasticity. In two special limit cases where the elliptic inhomogeneity becomes an elliptic rigid inclusion or hole, the corresponding solutions are also obtained. A relation between the rotational moment and the rotation is given for the elliptic rigid inclusion problem. The concentration factors of hoop membrane stress resultants and hoop bending moments are given for the elliptic hole problem. The intensity factors of membrane stress resultants and moments are obtained for a Griffith crack. Displacements, slopes, membrane stress resultants and bending moments along the elliptic boundary for the elliptic inhomogeneity, rigid inclusion and hole problems are all presented in a real form.
A Genomewide RNA Interference Screen for Modifiers of Aggregates Formation by Mutant Huntingtin in Drosophila

Protein aggregates are a common pathological feature of most neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). Understanding their formation and regulation will help clarify their controversial roles in disease pathogenesis. To date, there have been few systematic studies of aggregates formation in Drosophila, a model organism that has been applied extensively in modeling NDs and screening for toxicity modifiers. We generated transgenic fly lines that express enhanced-GFP-tagged mutant Huntingtin (Htt) fragments with different lengths of polyglutamine (polyQ) tract and showed that these Htt mutants develop protein aggregates in a polyQ-length- and age-dependent manner in Drosophila. To identify central regulators of protein aggregation, we further generated stable Drosophila cell lines expressing these Htt mutants and also established a cell-based quantitative assay that allows automated measurement of aggregates within cells. We then performed a genomewide RNA interference screen for regulators of mutant Htt aggregation and isolated 126 genes involved in diverse cellular processes. Interestingly, although our screen focused only on mutant Htt aggregation, several of the identified candidates were known previously as toxicity modifiers of NDs. Moreover, modulating the in vivo activity of hsp110 ( CG6603 ) or tra1 , two hits from the screen, affects neurodegeneration in a dose-dependent manner in a Drosophila model of Huntington9s disease. Thus, other aggregates regulators isolated in our screen may identify additional genes involved in the protein-folding pathway and neurotoxicity.
Party Support in the House of Representatives Generational Replacement, Seniority, or Member Conversion?

Research exploring variation in party support in Congress often focuses solely on the impact of generational replacement. Generational replacement suggests that new generations of congressmen account for varying levels of party support. Recent work by Rohde (1992) and Hibbing (1992) points to the need to explore life cycle effects and period effects. The life cycle hypothesis suggests that members may become less supportive of party as their tenure increases. Period effects focus on the extent to which variation in party voting is explained by changes in support by continuing members. Cohort analysis allows investigation of each type of effect through measurement of cross-sectional, longitudinal, and time-lag differences. Results do not support a life cycle trend in party support. Findings indicate only limited support for the generational replacement hypothesis with support for the impact of period effects occurring in over 70% of the Congresses analyzed.
Engineering multicellular traits in synthetic microbial populations

Without cell-to-cell communication, the organization and regulation of specialized cell types that underpin the development and physiology of multicellular organisms would be impossible. In nature, unicellular microbes have also been shown to display multicellular-like traits, such as intercellular communication, division of labor, and cooperative coordination of cellular activities. Likewise, the incorporation of artificial cell-to-cell communication into genetic circuit designs is enabling synthetic biologists to move from programming single cells towards the engineering of population-level behaviors and functions, such as diversification, spatial organization, synchronization, and coordinated information processing. The disciplined engineering goal of routinely building complex genetic circuits from well-characterized modules still poses challenges, owing to reusability and input–output matching problems resulting from information transfer being mediated through diffusible molecules. Optogenetic interfaces between circuits are considered as a possible solution.
Pulsed Laser Deposition of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Ferroelectric thin Films

Single phase, (100) oriented Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 (BST) thin films have been deposited onto (100) LaAlO3, SrTiO3, and MgO substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Interdigitated capacitors patterned on top of the ferroelectric film have been used to measure the dielectric constant and dissipation factor of these films as a function of DC bias and temperature at 1 MHz and as a function of DC bias and frequency (1 to 20 GHz) at room temperature. At room temperature, the capacitance can be reduced by as much as a factor of 4 using an electric field of ≤ 80 kV/cm. The dielectric properties (% tuning and dielectric loss) of the ferroelectric film is sensitive to both the deposition and post processing conditions. Optical imaging of the ferroelectric films using confocal scanning optical microscopy (CSOM) shows reproducible polarization fluctuations over sub-micrometer length scales. Dielectric loss in the ferroelectric film is reduced through a combination of post deposition processing and donor/acceptor doping of the films. A zero field tan5 = 0.01 - 0.005 has been measured for BST films which show significant tuning at microwave frequencies.
Spatiotemporal Brassinosteroid Signaling and Antagonism with Auxin Pattern Stem Cell Dynamics in Arabidopsis Roots

The spatiotemporal balance between stem cell maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation determines the rate of root growth and is controlled by hormones, including auxin and brassinosteroid (BR). However, the spatial actions of BR and its interactions with auxin remain unclear in roots. Here, we show that oppositely patterned and antagonistic actions of BR and auxin maintain the stem cell balance and optimal root growth. We discover a pattern of low levels of nuclear-localized BR-activated transcription factor BZR1 in the stem cell niche and high BZR1 levels in the transition-elongation zone. This BZR1 pattern requires local BR catabolism and auxin synthesis, as well as BR signaling. Cell-type-specific expression of a constitutively active form of BZR1 confirms that the high and low levels of BZR1 are required for the normal cell behaviors in the elongation zone and quiescent center (QC), respectively. Comparison between BR-responsive, BZR1-targeted, auxin-responsive, and developmental zone-specific transcriptomes indicates that BZR1 mostly activates its target genes expressed in the transition-elongation zone, but represses genes in the QC and surrounding stem cells, and that BR and auxin have overall opposite effects on gene expression. Genetic and physiological interactions support that a balance between the antagonistic actions of BR and auxin is required for optimal root growth. These results demonstrate that the level and output specificity of BR signaling are spatially patterned and that, in contrast to their synergism in shoots, BR and auxin interact antagonistically in roots to control the spatiotemporal balance of stem cell dynamics required for optimal root growth.
Does a Dog's Presence Make a Person Appear More Likable?: Two Studies

AbstractRecent findings have led researchers to believe that our pets may do more for us than we think. A dog's presence may even make a person appear more likable. Two studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. In the first study, 34 subjects viewed photographs of people pictured alone, pictured with a dog, and pictured with flowers. The subjects were asked to rate the person in the photos with regard to four dimensions: approachability, happy looking, relaxed looking, and best photo. The central finding revealed that photos of individuals pictured with a dog were rated higher than photos of individuals pictured without a dog. In the second study 45 subjects were asked to view three types of slides. The three slides consisted of outdoor scenery, a person walking through the outdoor scene, and a person walking a dog through the outdoor scene. Subjects were asked to rate the slides against each other with regard to several aesthetic dimensions, which included easiest to gaze at and best photo. In addi...
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Activated Cannabinoid Receptor Subtype 2/Gi Protein Complex

The cannabinoid receptor subtype 2 (CB2) is a class A (rhodopsin-like) G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that is highly expressed in the immune system (Galiegue et al., 1995) and signals via Gi proteins (Glass and Northup, 1999). The GPCR signaling cascade begins with agonist binding to an inactive receptor, causing conformational changes that activate the receptor. In previous work, we used molecular dynamics simulations to study the activation of the CB2 receptor, by the endogenous ligand, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) via the lipid bilayer (Hurst et al., 2010). In work described here, we used our 2-AG activated CB2 model to produce an initial 2-AG/CB2/Gαi1β1γ2 assembly based on the crystal structure of β2 adrenoreceptor in complex with Gαsβ1γ2 (Rasmussen et al., 2011). Here, the G protein was located underneath CB2, but not inserted into CB2. The 2-AG/CB2/Gαi1β1γ2 assembly was then immersed in a fully hydrated 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) bilayer and NPT NAMD (Phillips et al., 2005) molecular dynamics simulations were initiated for four different makes of this system. Initial dynamics (50ns - 150ns) suggests that the C-terminus of Gαi (last 11 residues on α5 helix I344 to F354) inserts itself into the intracellular opening of the CB2 activated receptor at an altered angle compared to the β2 adrenoreceptor/Gαsβ1γ2 complex. The distance between intracellular ends of CB2 TMH3 and TMH6 increases relative to the 2-AG/CB2 complex, suggesting the first step in the formation of the 2-AG/CB2/Gαi1β1γ2 complex. [Support: RO1 DA003934 and KO5 DA021358 (PHR)]
Photophysical and Photochemical Investigation of a Dodecafluorosubphthalocyanine Derivative

The photochemical and photophysical behavior of (dodecafluorosubphthalocyanaoto)boron(III) chloride was examined in room-temperature solutions. The lowest energy absorption maximum of the complex is 570 nm, and the luminescence mirrors the absorption with a maximum at 586 nm (Stokes shift = 480 cm-1). The emission is strong, with a quantum yield in deaerated acetonitrile of 0.66 and a lifetime of 2.6 ns. The complex exhibits a reversible one-electron reduction in cyclic voltammetry (E° = −0.53 V vs SCE), and this, combined with the relatively high singlet energy, indicates the emissive excited state is a strong oxidant. Evaluation of the free energy dependence of the emission quenching with a series of substituted benzene donors yields a value of 1.7 V vs SCE for the excited-state reduction potential, E(*/−). The excited complex also reacts with tertiary amines. Photolysis in the presence of triphenylamine results in photoinduced electron transfer and back reaction. Triethylamine, however, reacts efficien...
Political Expertise, Social Worldviews, and Ideology: Translating “Competitive Jungles” and “Dangerous Worlds” into Ideological Reality

The psychological bases of ideology have received renewed attention amid growing political polarization. Nevertheless, little research has examined how one’s understanding of political ideas might moderate the relationship between “pre-political” psychological variables and ideology. In this paper, we fill this gap by exploring how expertise influences citizens’ ability to select ideological orientations that match their psychologically rooted worldviews. We find that expertise strengthens the relationship between two basic social worldviews—competitive-jungle beliefs and dangerous-world beliefs and left–right self-placement. Moreover, expertise strengthens these relationships by boosting the impact of the worldviews on two intervening ideological attitude systems—social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism. These results go beyond previous work on expertise and ideology, suggesting that expertise strengthens not only relationships between explicitly political attitudes but also the relationship between political attitudes and their psychological antecedents.
Diet and Exercise Orthogonally Alter the Gut Microbiome and Reveal Independent Associations With Anxiety and Cognition

Background: The ingestion of a high-fat diet (HFD) and the resulting obese state can exert a multitude of stressors on the individual including anxiety and cognitive dysfunction. Though many studies have shown that exercise can alleviate the negative consequences of a HFD using metabolic readouts such as insulin and glucose, a paucity of well-controlled rodent studies have been published on HFD and exercise interactions with regard to behavioral outcomes. This is a critical issue since some individuals assume that HFD-induced behavioral problems such as anxiety and cognitive dysfunction can simply be exercised away. To investigate this, we analyzed mice fed a normal diet (ND), ND with exercise, HFD diet, or HFD with exercise. Results: We found that mice on a HFD had robust anxiety phenotypes but this was not rescued by exercise. Conversely, exercise increased cognitive abilities but this was not impacted by the HFD. Given the importance of the gut microbiome in shaping the host state, we used 16S rRNA hypervariable tag sequencing to profile our cohorts and found that HFD massively reshaped the gut microbial community in agreement with numerous published studies. However, exercise alone also caused massive shifts in the gut microbiome at nearly the same magnitude as diet but these changes were surprisingly orthogonal. Additionally, specific bacterial abundances were directly proportional to measures of anxiety or cognition. Conclusions: Thus, behavioral domains and the gut microbiome are both impacted by diet and exercise but in unrelated ways. These data have important implications for obesity research aimed at modifications of the gut microbiome and suggest that specific gut microbes could be used as a biomarker for anxiety or cognition or perhaps even targeted for therapy.
Visualization of power system data

Effective power system operation requires power system engineers and operators to analyze vast amounts of information. In systems containing thousands of buses, a key challenge is to present this data in a form such that the user can assess the state of the system in an intuitive and quick manner. This is particularly true when trying to analyze relationships between actual network power flows, the scheduled power flows, and the capacity of the transmission system. With restructuring and the move towards having a single entity, such as an independent system operator or pool, operate a much larger system, this need has become more acute. This paper presents several power system visualization techniques to help in this task. These techniques include animation of power system flow values, contouring of bus and transmission line flow values, data aggregation techniques and virtual reality data visualization.
CONC: A program for analyzing concurrent robot programs without loops

CONC is a language and simulator for multi-arm cartesian robot systems performing assembly of flat aircraft parts. CONC provides constructs for concurrency which permit the user to command simultaneous motion of multiple arms. Robot programs are represented internally as trees, and functions are provided to traverse these trees computing new properties such as the origins and timings of motion statements. Users learn properties of programs and statements by means of a question/answer interface. LISP appears to be an appropriate language in which to embed the language and simulator.
Isolated P-selectin Glycoprotein Ligand-1 Dynamic Adhesion to P- and E-selectin

Leukocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium under flow involves an adhesion cascade consisting of multiple receptor pairs that may function in an overlapping fashion. P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) and L-selectin have been implicated in neutrophil adhesion to P- and E-selectin under flow conditions. To study, in isolation, the interaction of PSGL-1 with P-and E-selectin under flow, we developed an in vitro model in which various recombinant regions of extracellular PSGL-1 were coupled to 10-μm-diameter microspheres. In a parallel plate chamber with well defined flow conditions, live time video microscopy analyses revealed that microspheres coated with PSGL-1 attached and rolled on 4-h tumor necrosis factor-α–activated endothelial cell monolayers, which express high levels of E-selectin, and CHO monolayers stably expressing E-or P-selectin. Further studies using CHO-E and -P monolayers demonstrate that the first 19 amino acids of PSGL-1 are sufficient for attachment and rolling on both E- and P-selectin and suggest that a sialyl Lewis x–containing glycan at Threonine-16 is critical for this sequence of amino acids to mediate attachment to E- and P-selectin. The data also demonstrate that a sulfated, anionic polypeptide segment within the amino terminus of PSGL-1 is necessary for PSGL-1–mediated attachment to P- but not to E-selectin. In addition, the results suggest that PSGL-1 has more than one binding site for E-selectin: one site located within the first 19 amino acids of PSGL-1 and one or more sites located between amino acids 19 through 148.
Job scheduling in a group technology environment for a single facility

Abstract A dynamic programming-based formulation has been developed to schedule jobs effectively in the group technology environment. The jobs may form several distinct groups to be scheduled for processing on a single facility. Switching from group to group requires a major change in the setup of the facility while jobs within a group can be accommodated with minor adjustments which take only small setup times. The group technology concept becomes a simplifying factor in the DP formulation of this scheduling problem facilitating the exact solution faster with more jobs than it was possible ever before. Computational experience with a set of example problems is also provided.
Using electron balances and molecular techniques to assess trichoroethene‐induced shifts to a dechlorinating microbial community

This study demonstrated the utility in correlating performance and community structure of a trichloroethene (TCE)-dechlorinating microbial consortium; specifically dechlorinators, fermenters, homoacetogens, and methanogens. Two complementary approaches were applied: predicting trends in the microbial community structure based on an electron balance analysis and experimentally assessing the community structure via pyrosequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Fill-and-draw reactors inoculated with the DehaloR^2 consortium were operated at five TCE-pulsing rates between 14 and 168 µmol/10-day-SRT, amended with TCE every 2 days to give peak concentrations between 0.047 and 0.56 mM (6-74 ppm) and supplied lactate and methanol as sources of e(-) donor and carbon. The complementary approaches demonstrated the same trends: increasing abundance of Dehalococcoides and Geobacter and decreasing abundance of Firmicutes with increasing TCE pulsing rate, except for the highest pulsing rate. Based on qPCR, the abundance of Geobacter and Dehalococcoides decreased for the highest TCE pulsing rate, and pyrosequencing showed this same trend for the latter. This deviation suggested decoupling of Dehalococcoides growth from dechlorination. At pseudo steady-state, methanogenesis was minimal for all TCE pulsing rates. Pyrosequencing and qPCR showed suppression of the homoacetogenic genera Acetobacterium at the two highest pulsing rates, and it was corroborated by a decreased production of acetate from lactate fermentation and increased propionate production. Suppression of Acetobacterium, which can provide growth factors to Dehalococcoides, may have contributed to the decoupling for the highest TCE-pulsing rate.
Common coupling and pointer variables, with application to a Linux case study

Both common coupling and pointer variables can exert a deleterious effect on the quality of software. The situation is exacerbated when global variables are assigned to pointer variables, that is, when an alias to a global variable is created. When this occurs, the number of global variables increases, and it becomes considerably harder to compute quality metrics correctly. However, unless aliasing is taken into account, variables may incorrectly appear to be unreferenced (neither defined nor used), or to be used without being defined. These ideas are illustrated by means of a case study of common coupling in the Linux kernel.
ZnO-based transparent anodes for organic light-emitting devices

ZnO/Au/ZnO (ZAZ) electrodes grown on flexible PEN substrates were evaluated as transparent electrodes for organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). OLEDs fabricated with the ZAZ electrodes showed reduced leakage in contrast to control OLEDs on ITO and reduced ohmic losses at high current densities. At a luminance of 25000 cd/m2, the lum/W efficiency of the ZAZ electrode based device was 5% greater than for the device on ITO. The ZAZ electrodes also allow for a broader spectral output in the green wavelength region of peak photopic sensitivity compared to ITO. The results have implications for electrode choice in display technology.
Detecting and matching repeated patterns for automatic geo-tagging in urban environments

We present a novel method for automatically geo-tagging photographs of man-made environments via detection and matching of repeated patterns. Highly repetitive environments introduce numerous correspondence ambiguities and are problematic for traditional wide-baseline matching methods. Our method exploits the highly repetitive nature of urban environments, detecting multiple perspectively distorted periodic 2D patterns in an image and matching them to a 3D database of textured facades by reasoning about the underlying canonical forms of each pattern. Multiple 2D-to-3D pattern correspondences enable robust recovery of camera orientation and location. We demonstrate the success of this method in a large urban environment.
Contrasting extraction types

This paper grounds a novel typology yielding three major types of English (L(eft)-extraction, defined by their relation to resumptive pronouns (RPs): (1) B-extractions, which require RPs in their extraction sites, (2) A1-extractions, which allow RPs in their extraction sites, and (3) A2-extractions, which forbid RPs in their extraction sites. Type B is represented by topicalization; type A1 by most instances of question extraction. The A/B distinction is supported by correlations with restrictions on definite pronouns. A2-extractions, e.g. free relative extraction, are insensitive to such and unlike A1/B-extractions are incompatible with what I call selective islands, which is explained.
The Awakening of Faith in Anarchism: A Forgotten Chapter in the Chinese Buddhist Encounter with Modernity

AbstractThis article examines a hitherto lost and forgotten essay by Taixu (1890–1947), a central figure in the creation of Buddhist modernism in China. The essay, ‘The Three Great Evils of the World’, was written during his period of involvement with radicalism in the years surrounding the 1911 revolution. The article shows that this involvement was both longer lasting and more significant than has been previously recognized. ‘The Three Great Evils of the World’ represents the culmination of this period in Taixu's intellectual development. In it, we find a convergence of two narratives of liberation – one anarchist and one Buddhist – that extends Chinese Buddhist thought beyond what has been termed the ‘threshold of modernity’ and reveals surprising resonances between the two traditions.
Regulation of MHC class I transport in human dendritic cells and the dendritic-like cell line KG-1.

Dendritic cells (DCs) progress through distinct maturational phases; immature DCs capture Ag while mature DCs are optimized for Ag presentation. Proper control of immunity requires regulated compartmentalization of MHC class II molecules. We report that DCs also regulate MHC class I trafficking throughout maturation. Although mature human DCs express high levels of surface MHC class I, immature DCs exhibit lower surface levels while retaining MHC class I-peptide complexes in the Golgi. A cell line, KG-1, behaves similarly. We confirm the similarity of KG-1 to DCs by demonstrating its capacity to present exogenous Ags in an MHC class I-restricted fashion to CD8 + T cell hybridomas, a phenomenon called cross-presentation. Biochemical characterization of MHC class I trafficking throughout maturation showed that, in early KG-1 dendritic-like cells, surface arrival of MHC class I-peptide complexes is delayed by their retention in the Golgi. In mature dendritic-like cells, these complexes relocate to the surface and their stability increases, concomitant with up-regulation of costimulatory molecules. Maturation induces qualitative changes in the MHC class I-associated peptide repertoire demonstrated by increased thermostability. The differential processing of MHC class I throughout maturation may prevent premature immune activation while promoting T cell responses in lymph nodes to Ags acquired at sites of inflammation.
Heavy-quark potential at finite temperature using the holographic correspondence

We revisit the calculation of a heavy-quark potential in $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature using the AdS/CFT correspondence. As is widely known, the potential calculated in the pioneering works of Rey et al. [Nucl. Phys. B527, 171 (1998)] and Brandhuber et al. [Phys. Lett. B 434, 36 (1998)] is zero for separation distances $r$ between the quark and the antiquark above a certain critical separation, at which the potential has a kink. We point out that by analytically continuing the string configurations into the complex plane, and using a slightly different renormalization subtraction, one obtains a smooth nonzero (negative definite) potential without a kink. The obtained potential also has a nonzero imaginary (absorptive) part for separations $rg{r}_{c}=0.870/\ensuremath{\pi}T$. Most importantly, at large separations $r$ the real part of the potential does not exhibit the exponential Debye falloff expected from perturbation theory and instead falls off as a power law, proportional to $1/{r}^{4}$ for $rg{r}_{0}=2.702/\ensuremath{\pi}T$.
Organic Regionalism, Corporate Liberalism, and Federal Land Management: Creating Pacific Northwest Timber Towns

An underdeveloped area of planning history is the role of federal policy in community deveopment in the American West. Federal policy shaped the West not just in some vague overall sense; its actions provided the impetus for the creation of specific communities in specific places to take advantage of specific opportunties. This paper describes the attempt to create permanent, stable natural resource-based comunities in the west. I begin with a description of the problem situation in the early part of the century. Next, I discuss efforts at policy reform, focusing on the example of the Pacific Nortwest “timber belt.” I then use examples of community development drawn from experences in the “timber belt” to illustrate the emergence of the federal-corporate collabortion. Finally, I discuss the consequences for the region and its communities.
Immunotoxicity of environmentally relevant concentrations of butyltins on human natural killer cells in vitro.

The widespread environmental contamination, bio-accumulation, and toxic effects of butyltins (BTs) in wildlife is well documented, but the role of BTs in debilitating human immune function mediated through natural killer (NK) lymphocytes (a primary immune defense against tumor and virally infected cells) has not been described. In this study, we assessed the effects of in vitro exposure to a range of concentrations (encompassing environmentally relevant concentrations) of MBT, DBT, and TBT on human natural killer lymphocytes obtained from adult male and female donors. TBT inhibited the tumor-killing capacity of NK cells when the NK cells were pretreated in vitro at 200 nM for as little as 1 h. Inhibition of NK cytotoxic function ranged from 40 to greater than 90%. The toxic potential of butyltins followed the order of TBT > DBT > MBT. Conjugation assays revealed that after a 24-h exposure to TBT, there was about a 50% decrease in NK cell binding to tumor cells, indicating alteration of the NK cell receptors for tumor cells. Analysis of whole-blood samples for BTs revealed the presence of detectable concentrations of MBT, DBT, and TBT in all of the donors, indicating possible exposure of NK cells to BTs in the blood. The results of this study provide evidence that butyltin compounds significantly inhibit NK cell function and possible NK cell-mediated immunotoxic potential in humans.
Photographic art in exam rooms may reduce white coat hypertension

Introduction Blood pressure (BP) elevation in medical office settings in patients who are normotensive in nonmedical settings is an effect known as ‘white coat hypertension’. This phenomenon is thought to be due to situational anxiety caused by the experience of visiting a doctor and the anxiety-inducing nature of the medical office. Our study was designed to determine if carefully selected photographic art could counter the anxiety that causes white coat hypertension and lead to lower BP recordings in some patients. Methods 117 adults, non-pregnant patients from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Family Medicine Resident Clinic participated in this study. After the triage nurse measured the BP, the patients were randomly placed in either an exam room with standard medical posters (control room) or in an exam room with photographic art (photo room). The BP was measured in the exam room. After the medical visit, the patients switched rooms and the BP was measured a third time. The patients were asked to fill out a questionnaire to identify room preference. Results On average, the BP obtained in the control rooms was higher than that obtained in the photo rooms. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean arterial pressure, systolic BP and diastolic BP between the control room and the photo room. Conclusions Landscape photographic art may have the beneficial effect of reducing BP in medical office examination rooms.
A Spurious Relationship of Gender Equality With Female Homicide Victimization: A Cross-National Analysis

Based on “amelioration,” “backlash,” and routine activity/lifestyle theories, the present study tested the impacts of both absolute and relative gender equality on female homicide victimization. The present cross-national examination developed several regression models by employing female homicide victimization data from the World Health Organization for 124 countries. Women’s absolute educational status and relative social status indices displayed significant relationships with female homicide victimization rates. However, significant associations of these two variables with female homicide victimization disappeared when important control variables—such as the gross domestic product, income inequality, and ethnic heterogeneity—were introduced in the regression models. Thus, the findings suggest that the relationship between gender equality and female homicide victimization is, at best, spurious.
What's New for Culture in the New Economy?

(2002). What's New for Culture in the New Economy? The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society: Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 86-103.
Non-neutralizing antibodies and vaccine-induced protection against HIV

HIV-specific neutralizing antibodies are crucial for sterilizing immunity but have been difficult to elicit using current vaccine approaches. By contrast, non-neutralizing antibodies that mediate other effector functions are readily induced. Recent data suggest these antibodies may play a significant role in viral load reduction and/or clearance. The interval between viral entry across a mucosal barrier and development of systemic infection provides a timeframe during which these antibodies may impact the outcome of infection. Here we discuss various effector mechanisms mediated by non-neutralizing antibodies and summarize evidence of their contribution to protective efficacy. We suggest that non-neutralizing antibody components be incorporated into vaccine strategies, and predict that further exploration of this area of research will prove fruitful for HIV vaccine development.
Synthesis of amphiphilic triblock copolymers for the formation of magnesium fluoride (MgF2) nanoparticles

A series of amphiphilic poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-b-polydimethylsiloxane-b-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA-b-PDMS-b-pHEMA) (A-B-A) triblock copolymers were synthesized from three different carbinol-terminated polydimethylsiloxanes with varying molecular weight. A carbinol-terminated polydimethylsiloxane was modified with 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide to obtain a macroinitiator. The block copolymers were characterized by NMR, GPC, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Reverse micelles of a copolymer were formed in mixture of benzene/methanol solution which served as nanoreactors for the synthesis of magnesium fluoride (MgF2) nanoparticles. The MgF2 was prepared via chemical precipitation using magnesium chloride and potassium fluoride as reactants. The MgF2-triblock copolymer composites were synthesized as a function of MgF2–weight ratio (0.5, 5, and 10 wt%) in copolymer. The MgF2 colloids were dissolved in three organic solvents: methanol, isopropanol, and tetrahydrofuran. The polymer nanoparticles were characterized by DLS, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The formation of MgF2 crystals was observed by XRD. Particle size and particle size distribution showed significant changes in different solvents. The thermal stability of MgF2 colloids increased as the amount of nanoparticle increased in polymeric matrix. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
External Linkages and Contagion Risk in Irish Banks

Increasing financial integration makes the assessment of cross-country linkages crucial for effective financial surveillance. This paper estimates contagion risk between large Irish banks and European and U.S. banks during 1994–2005, using distance-to-default measures and the methodology of extreme value theory. Employing an ordered logit model, and controlling for Ireland-specific and global shocks, we find evidence of significant contagion risk coming from the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands toward Ireland. We also find that patterns of contagion to Irish banks have shifted over time, coming from the United Kingdom in the pre-euro period and from the United States in the post-2001 period.
Isolating Intrusions by Automatic Experiments

When dealing with malware infections, one of the first tasks is to find the processes that were involved in the attack. We introduce Malfor, a system that isolates those processes automatically. In contrast to other methods that help analyze attacks, Malfor works by experiments: first, we record the interaction of the system under attack; after the intrusion has been detected, we replay the recorded events in slightly different configurations to see which processes were relevant for the intrusion. This approach has three advantages over deductive approaches: first, the processes that are thus found have been experimentally shown to be relevant for the attack; second, the amount of evidence that must then be analyzed to find the attack vector is greatly reduced; and third, Malfor itself cannot make wrong deductions. In a first experiment, Malfor was able to extract the three processes responsible for an attack from 32 candidates in about six minutes.
Engine hydrocarbon concentration measurements: a comparison between a sampling probe and Raman spectroscopy

Mesure de la concentration d'hydrocarbures dans un moteur. Comparaison entre une sonde d'echantillonnage et la spectroscopie Raman
The finite-difference matrix for beam propagation: eigenvalues and eigenvectors

The partial differential equation for the three dimensional propagation of a light beam may be solved numerically by applying finite-difference techniques. We consider the matrix equation for the finite-difference, alternating direction implicit (ADI), numerical solution of the paraxial wave equation for the free-space propagation of light beams. The matrix is tridiagonal. It is also a Toeplitz matrix; Each diagonal descending from left to right is constant. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors are known for such matrices. The equation can be solved by making use of the orthogonality property of the eigenvectors.
Education and Prevention Relationships on Security Incidents for Home Computers

The home computer is quickly evolving from a productivity tool into a digital-lifestyle management hub that is connected globally. Home computer security should be on top of the list of online defenses. The purpose of this study was to show how increase in education and preventive behavior would lower security incidents for home computers. Findings showed the reverse. Increases in education and preventive behaviors increased security incidents. Possible reasons for these phenomena are better recognition of incidents better, more risk taking since more confident in prevention, and greater exposure due to greater interactions.
Electromigration in Thin Films of Au on GaAs

Evolution of the fractional change of electrical resistance ΔR/R in thin films of Au on (001) substrates of semi-insulating GaAs has been investigated as a function of time t, temperature T, and current density j. Initially, ΔR/R increases linearly with increasing t for constant T and j, and exponentially with increasing T for constant t and j, characterized by an activation energy of 0.73 eV. An analytical model is developed to evaluate ΔR/R for the early stages of electromigration. This model is based on flux divergence at grain boundary triple junctions resulting from variations of grain boundary inclination and/or diffusivity. Using a Monte Carlo method, conducting lines containing a prescribed number of random triple junctions are simulated, wherein distribution of mass flux divergence determines initial values of ΔR/R. Moreover, by selection of an appropriate failure criterion, the sequence of cumulative failures is characterized by a log-normal-like distribution, which defines mean time to failure and corresponding standard deviation. In general, the model is in good agreement with experimental observations.
Accelerating S3D: a GPGPU case study

The graphics processor (GPU) has evolved into an appealing choice for high performance computing due to its superior memory bandwidth, raw processing power, and flexible programmability. As such, GPUs represent an excellent platform for accelerating scientific applications. This paper explores a methodology for identifying applications which present significant potential for acceleration. In particular, this work focuses on experiences from accelerating S3D, a high-fidelity turbulent reacting flow solver. The acceleration process is examined from a holistic viewpoint, and includes details that arise from different phases of the conversion. This paper also addresses the issue of floating point accuracy and precision on the GPU, a topic of immense importance to scientific computing. Several performance experiments are conducted, and results are presented from the NVIDIA Tesla C1060 GPU. We generalize from our experiences to provide a roadmap for deploying existing scientific applications on heterogeneous GPU platforms.
Handicapped—Disabled what's the difference?

Both the creation and destruction of attitudinal barriers is influenced by the professional person. Persons in authority have a strong influence on the general public. Therefore, the authors feel that if the professional person becomes aware of his/her language and its power, negative attitudes can begin to be eradicated.
Apparel design for female rock climbers: satisfactions and preferences

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the needs and preferences women have with rock-climbing apparel to inform the design of female climbing clothing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the needs and preferences women have with rock-climbing apparel to inform the design of female climbing clothing. The results of this study can be beneficial for apparel designers when developing female climbing apparel. A total of 20 female rock climbers were interviewed using the purpose sampling method, and the results indicated that many of the subjects were not satisfied with their climbing clothing’s fit, colour, and durability. The majority of interviewees (90%) were dissatisfied with the fit of their climbing pants and 85% experienced rips, holes, and split seams in their climbing pants. Many participants (80%) preferred hip length shirts to prevent the shirt from rising above their harness and 85% of subjects had a preference for tighter fitting pants.
Cross-sectional nanoprobing fault isolation technique on submicron devices

Abstract With continuous scaling on CMOS device dimensions, it is becoming increasingly challenging for conventional failure analysis (FA) methods to identify the failure mechanism at the circuit level in an integrated chip. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) based nanoprobing is becoming an increasingly critical tool for identifying non-visual failures via electrical characterization in current electrical FA metrology for fault isolation since 2006 Toh et al. (2007), Shen et al. (2007), Ng et al. (2012) . Currently, most of the nanoprobing fault isolation is nanoprobe in top-down planar direction, such as nanoprobe on via, contact and metal line. This paper focused on fault isolation of sub-micron devices by nanoprobing on a cross-sectional plane. This is a new application area; it is very useful for sample that cannot perform fault isolation with conventional top-down planar nanoprobing, especially on non-volatile memory that with single transistor memory array that arrange in a vertical direction, such as Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM), Phase-Change Random Access Memory (PC-RAM), flash memory and etc.
Supplemental Instruction Online: As Effective as the Traditional Face-to-Face Model?

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a well-recognized model of academic assistance with a history of empirical evidence demonstrating increases in student grades and decreases in failure rates across many higher education institutions. However, as college students become more accustomed to learning in online venues, what is not known is whether an SI program offered online could benefit students similarly to SI sessions that occur in face-to-face settings. The in-person (traditional) SI program at California State University San Marcos has demonstrated increases in grades and lower fail rates for courses being supported in science and math. Students enrolled in four biology courses who participated in online SI received increases in academic performance similar to the students in the courses who attended traditional SI. Both the online and traditional SI participating students had higher course grades and lower fail rates as compared to students who did not participate in either form of SI. Self-selection, as measured by past cumulative college grade point average, did not differ between students who attended either form of SI or who did not attend. Student perceptions of online SI were generally positive and appeared to offer an alternative path to receive this valuable academic assistance for some students. Overall, results are promising that the highly effective traditional model can be translated to an online environment.
On Teaching Statistical Practice: From Novice to Expert

AbstractThis article introduces principles of learning based on research in cognitive science that help explain how learning works. We adapt these principles to the teaching of statistical practice and illustrate the application of these principles to the curricular design of a new master's degree program in applied statistics. We emphasize how these principles can be used not only to improve instruction at the course level but also at the program level.