cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The stochastic elastica and excluded-volume perturbations of DNA conformational ensembles

Abstract A coordinate-free Lie-group formulation for generating ensembles of DNA conformations in solution is presented. In this formulation, stochastic differential equations define sample paths on the Euclidean motion group. The ensemble of these paths exhibits the same behavior as solutions of the Fokker–Planck equation for the stochastically forced elastica. Longer chains for which the effects of excluded volume become important are handled by piecing together shorter chains and modeling their interactions. It is assumed that the final chain lengths of interest are long enough for excluded-volume effects to become important, but not so long that the semi-flexible nature of the chain is lost. The effect of excluded volume is then taken into account by grouping short self-avoiding conformations into “bundles” with common end constraints and computing average interaction effects between bundles. The accuracy of this approximation is shown to be good when using a numerically generated ensemble of self-avoiding sample paths as the baseline for comparison.
Dynamics of the electroweak phase transition.

We apply recent advances in equilibrium and nonequilibrium finite-temperature field theory to the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition in the early Universe. The equation of state and the parameters that enter the nucleation rate, including the preexponential factor, are calculated in the one-loop plus ring-diagram approximation in the standard model. The velocity of bubble growth is taken from a recent relativistic kinetic theory calculation. We compute the temperature, average bubble size, bubble density, and fraction of space which has been converted from the high-temperature symmetric phase to the low-temperature asymmetric phase as functions of time. Compared to the idealized adiabatic Maxwell construction of phase equilibrium, the start of the phase transition is significantly delayed, but then completes in a much shorter time interval.
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

In a time of declining resources and restricted faculty mobility, faculty mobility, faculty development has become increasingly important. This study addressed faculty development activities, their evaluation, and their perceived impact on the improvement of instruction in the community colleges of Illinois. Data gathered through the use of a questionnaire mailed to the chief academic officer of each of the state's community colleges were analyzed and interpreted. It was found that a wide variety of activities — orientation, inservice, professional, individual, and group — are available to faculty members. Orientation activities were viewed as being moderately useful for the improvement of instruction. Respondents saw professional activities as somewhat more useful than inservice activities. With some qualifications, group activities were perceived as being more useful than individual activities. Evaluation efforts, for the most part, are as yet sporadic and unsophisticated. The results of this study sugg...
The Positive Feedback Bias as a Response to Out‐Group Unfriendliness1

This study tests whether Whites provide especially positive feedback to minorities who respond to feedback in an unfriendly manner. White female undergraduates (N = 66) gave verbal feedback to either a Black or a White confederate who posed as the author of a poorly written essay. Confederates responded to participants’ feedback in either a friendly or unfriendly manner. As predicted, participants who gave feedback to an unfriendly Black confederate supplied a selectively higher ratio of positive to negative comments and a selectively higher proportion of positive comments. Participants paired with an unfriendly Black confederate also provided the most positive post-interaction ratings, despite minimal impression-management pressures. Collectively, these findings indicate that Whites’ self-image motives underlie the positive feedback bias.
Heart Rate Recovery Predicts Memory Performance in Older Adults

The current study examined cardiovascular reactivity and recovery during memory testing in a sample of 28 younger and 28 older adults. Heart rate (HR) levels were measured before, during, and after a memory test (word list recall). Contrary to prediction, older adults did not have a blunted cardiovascular response to memory tasks compared to younger adults. Word list recall performance was predicted by both Age and an Age × HR recovery interaction. As expected, younger adults performed better on the word list task than older adults. In addition, older adults with better posttest HR recovery performed significantly better than older adults with poor posttest HR recovery, whereas HR recovery differences in younger adults were inconsequential. These relationships were not affected by subjective appraisals of anxiety and task difficulty. Overall, cardiac dysregulation, seen here as low HR recovery, represents an important, potentially modifiable, factor in memory performance in older adults. In addition to being beneficial to overall health, interventions designed to help older adults regulate their HR responses may help offset certain memory declines.
Breast Cancer-Specific Intrusions are Associated with Increased Cortisol Responses to Daily Life Stressors in Healthy Women Without Personal or Family Histories of Breast Cancer

Studies indicate that women fear breast cancer more than any other disease and that women’s levels of breast cancer-specific intrusions are related to their perceived risk of breast cancer. Here, we explore possible biological consequences of higher breast cancer risk perceptions and intrusions in healthy women without personal or family histories of the disease. We hypothesized that women with higher perceived risk would have more intrusions about breast cancer, which would constitute a background stressor sufficient to increase hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) responsivity to daily stress. HPA responses to an ordinary life stressor (work) were assessed in 141 employed women (age=37.2±9.2) without personal or family histories of breast cancer. Urinary cortisol excretion rates were assessed with timed sample collections at work, home, and during sleep. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant Group by Time interaction with higher work cortisol levels in women with breast cancer-specific intrusions compared to women without intrusions (p < 0.02). Regression analyses revealed a significant association between risk perceptions and intrusions (p < 0.001). Regression analysis with intrusions and risk perceptions predicting work cortisol indicated a significant contribution of intrusions (p < 0.04), but not risk perceptions (p=0.53). Overestimation of breast cancer risk is associated with higher levels of breast cancer-specific intrusions that can result in increased cortisol responsivity to daily stressors. This heightened responsivity could have long-term negative health implications.
Turning ecology and evolution against cancer

The fight against cancer has drawn researchers from a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from molecular biology to physics, but the perspective of an ecological theorist has been mostly overlooked. By thinking about the cells that make up a tumour as an endangered species, cancer vulnerabilities become more apparent. Studies in conservation biology and microbial experiments indicate that extinction is a complex phenomenon, which is often driven by the interaction of ecological and evolutionary processes. Recent advances in cancer research have shown that tumours, like species striving for survival, harbour intricate population dynamics, which suggests the possibility to exploit the ecology of tumours for treatment.
Picosecond Transient Reflectivity Of Photowashed Gallium Arsenide Surfaces

Picosecond transient reflectivity was applied to measure surface recombination processes in intrinsic and n-doped GaAs. Photowashed surfaces were characterized by slow recombination and the results imply flat band conditions were achieved. Unwashed samples are characterized by rapid, complex surface charge carrier kinetics.
The Feasibility of Undergraduate Field Experiences in Child Psychology: Program Factors and Suggestions

This paper is an elucidation of the attitudinal, experiential, and training problems inherent in field placement.
Assessing Environmental Consequences of Ticcing in Youth With Chronic Tic Disorders: The Tic Accommodation and Reactions Scale

Tics associated with Tourette syndrome and other chronic tic disorders (CTDs) often draw social reactions and disrupt ongoing behavior. In some cases, such tic-related consequences may function to alter moment-to-moment and future tic severity. These observations have been incorporated into contemporary biopsychosocial models of CTD phenomenology, but systematic research detailing the nature of the relationship between environmental consequences and ticcing remains scarce. This study describes the development of the Tic Accommodation and Reactions Scale (TARS), a measure of the number and frequency of immediate consequences for ticcing experienced by youth with CTDs. Thirty eight youth with CTDs and their parents completed the TARS as part of a broader assessment of CTD symptoms and psychosocial functioning. The TARS demonstrated good psychometric properties (i.e., internal consistency, parent-child agreement, convergent validity, discriminant validity). Differences between parent-reported and child-reported data indicated that children may provide more valid reports of tic-contingent consequences than parents. Although preliminary, results of this study suggest that the TARS is a psychometrically sound measure of tic-related consequences suited for future research in youth with CTDs.
Controls on sediment export from the Waipaoa River basin, New Zealand

A stability model of drainage basin mass balance is used to interpret historic and prehistoric patterns of sediment production, storage and output from the Waipaoa River basin, New Zealand and assess the sensitivity of basin sediment yield to land use change in the historic period. Climate and vegetation cover changed during the late Holocene, but the drainage basin mass balance system was stable before the basin was deforested by European colonists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this meso - scale dispersal system sediment sources and sinks are closely linked, and before that time there was also little variability in the rate of terrigenous mass accumulation on the adjacent continental shelf. However, despite strong ¢rst- order geologic controls on erosion and extensive alluvial storage, sediment delivery to the continental shelf is sensitive and highly responsive to historic hillslope destabilization driven by land use change. Alluvial buiering can mask the eiects of variations in sediment production within a basin on sediment yield at the outlet, but this is most likely to occur in basins where alluvial storage is large relative to yield and where the residence time of alluvial sediment is long relative to the time scale of environmental change. At present, neither situation applies to the Waipaoa River basin.Thus, the strength of the contemporary depositional signal may not only be due to the intensity of the erosion processes involved, but also to the fact that land use change in the historic period destabilized the drainage basin mass balance system.
Working strenuously in heat, cold, polluted air and at altitude

Engineers and managers need to know how environmental conditions affect human capabilities to perform physical work. Heat reduces the ability to work intensively over extended time, but does not affect short bursts of activity. Cold, in contrast, does not affect intensive work of long duration, but reduces short bursts of energy exertions. Dehydration is a problem in both heat and cold. The effects of air pollution on work capabilities are not well researched though carbon monoxide is known to reduce them. Altitude hardly affects short burst of efforts, but the capabilities for enduring and maximal work are much reduced with increasing heights and stay diminished until one returns to sea level.
The GenTechnique project: developing an open environment for learning molecular genetics

Abstract The study of molecular genetics and biotechnology demands that students understand key concepts of molecular biology, such as DNA and its replication, or the synthesis of proteins. Pedagogy based on lecture and individual learning from textbooks, as commonly practiced in the U.S.A., often yields less than satisfactory results. Based upon faculty assessments of student performance and upon student course evaluations, students’ conceptual understanding and recall are low and students are overwhelmed by large amounts of information. After completing courses in molecular genetics many students are left unaware of its importance and unprepared for further study or professional endeavors. At Washington State University, the agricultural and science colleges and the Center for Teaching and Learning have formed a team to address these problems. The GenTechnique project is creating a networked learning environment with the goal of enabling students to more readily understand the basic processes of molecular genetics. Designed for constructing knowledge from diverse media, the project is developing learning modules (or courseware) featuring animation, hyper-link controls, and interactive self-assessment exercises focusing on fundamental concepts. The first pilot course featured a web-based learning module on DNA replication with mentoring and evaluation of students via the data network using e-mail and discussion software, without supporting lecturers.
Betavoltaic Performance of Radiation-Hardened High-Efficiency Si Space Solar Cells

Long-lived and high-energy-density betavoltaics have a great potential as power supplies for remote and hostile environmental conditions, where volume power density and/or power lifetime are very important considerations. In this paper, we provide new results to aid in the design and optimization of betavoltaics made with Si space solar cells and beta sources. The new results were obtained by using a customized low-energy electron accelerator to characterize the radiation-hardened high-efficiency Si space solar cells while varying the electron beam energy and electron beam current density, i.e., electron beam flux. The betavoltaic conversion efficiency of Si space solar cells increases until 60 keV and then decreases with the increasing electron beam energy. The maximum efficiency (6%) obtained at the electron beam energy of 60 keV suggests that Pm-147 would be a good beta source to make high-efficiency nuclear batteries. The radiation ionization energy is ~ 3.90 eV per electron-hole pair for Si space solar cells. Some radiation damage-induced performance degradation was also observed when the Si space solar cells were exposed to the bombardment of 62-keV electrons with fluence up to 4.92 × 1018betas/cm2, which is equivalent to the radiation from a semi-infinite Pm-147 layer for ~ 2.26 years. The results in this paper suggest that beta-particle entrance window, betavoltaic cells' configuration structure, and device properties such as charge carriers' diffusion length are very important factors to be engineered to improve the conversion efficiency for practical betavoltaics.
Mouse prenylated Rab acceptor is a novel Golgi membrane protein.

We have cloned a mouse prenylated Rab acceptor (mPRA), which interacts with various Rab proteins in the yeast two-hybrid system. This study investigated its intracellular localization and characterized the localization signal. The mPRA was found to be an integral membrane protein that was localized to the Golgi complex at steady state as determined by confocal fluorescence microscopy. With green fluorescent protein attached to the N-terminus of mPRA, the fusion protein was expressed in BHK cells and was shown to exhibit the same Golgi localization as the native mPRA. Systematic truncations from the N- and C-termini of mPRA revealed that the entire N-terminal half (91 residues) of the protein was dispensable for the Golgi localization. In contrast, deletion of only 5 residues from the C-terminus diminished the Golgi localization of mPRA, leading to its accumulation in the ER. The data indicate that the C-terminal half (94 residues) of mPRA is necessary and sufficient for proper folding, ER export, and Golgi localization. The Golgi localization of mPRA suggests that it may play a role in the structural organization and function of the Golgi complex.
Role of telereceptive and interoceptive (Taste) cues in ingestional neophobia in chicks (Gallus domesticus)

Experiment 1 investigated the influence of telereceptive (visual) and interoceptive (taste) cues on neophobia by measuring the intakes of clear water and novel solutions of red-colored water, clear 4.0% vinegar, or red-colored 4.0% vinegar in chicks (Gallus domesticus) on 5 test days. Neophobia was reliably greater the more numerous the novel stimuli in testing (i.e., red-colored vinegar) but was similar in magnitude for novel visual and novel taste cues alone. In Experiment 2 chicks received zero, one, or five preexposures to red-colored water or to clear 4.0% vinegar and were tested for neophobia to red-colored 4.0% vinegar. Intake of red vinegar reliably increased with the number of preexposures. However, preexposure to red-colored water facilitated intake of red vinegar more than preexposure to clear 4.0% vinegar did. These results suggest that the familiarity of telereceptive (visual) stimuli attenuates the demonstration of taste neophobia.
Extracting E Versus K Effective Band Structure from Supercell Calculations on Alloys and Impurities

The supercell approach to defects and alloys has circumvented the limitations of those methods that insist on using artificially high symmetry, yet this step usually comes at the cost of abandoning the language of $E$ versus $\stackrel{P\vec}{k}$ band dispersion. Here we describe a computational method that maps the energy eigenvalues obtained from large supercell calculations into an effective band structure (EBS) and recovers an approximate $E(\stackrel{P\vec}{k})$ for alloys. Making use of supercells allows one to model a random alloy A${}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$B${}_{x}$C by occupying the sites A and B via a coin-toss procedure, affording many different local environments (polymorphic description) to occur. We present the formalism and implementation details of the method and apply it to study the evolution of the impurity band appearing in the dilute GaN:P alloy. We go beyond the perfectly random case, realizing that many alloys may have nonrandom microstructures, and investigate how their formation is reflected in the EBS. It turns out that the EBS is extremely sensitive in determining the critical disorder level for which delocalized states start to appear in the intermediate band. In addition, the EBS allows us to identify the role played by atomic relaxation in the positioning of the impurity levels.
Anatomical Considerations of the Suprascapular Nerve in Rotator Cuff Repairs

Introduction. When using the double interval slide technique for arthroscopic repair of chronic large or massive rotator cuff tears, the posterior interval release is directed toward the scapular spine until the fat pad that protects the suprascapular nerve is reached. Injury to the suprascapular nerve can occur due to the nerve’s proximity to the operative field. This study aimed to identify safe margins for avoiding injury to the suprascapular nerve. Materials and Methods. For 20 shoulders in ten cadavers, the distance was measured from the suprascapular notch to the glenoid rim, the articular margin of the rotator cuff footprint, and the lateral border of the acromion. Results. From the suprascapular notch, the suprascapular nerve coursed an average of 3.42 cm to the glenoid rim, 5.34 cm to the articular margin of the rotator cuff footprint, and 6.09 cm to the lateral border of the acromion. Conclusions. The results of this study define a safe zone, using anatomic landmarks, to help surgeons avoid iatrogenic injury to the suprascapular nerve when employing the double interval slide technique in arthroscopic repair of the rotator cuff.
The Additive Risk Model for Epidemiologic Interaction and the Analogy with Factorial Experiments

The present paper may be divided into two parts. The first is concerned with DAYAL'S (1980) discussion drawing a parallel between the concept of interaction in factorial experiments and the concept of epidemiologic interaction (synergism). The analogy works well with two risk factors. It is shown that generalizing this analogy to three or more factors does not give the Hogan et al. measure, also called the Interaction Contrast of Disease Rates (I.C.D.R.). As a consequence, Dayal's measure will not vanish when the factors act independently, unless some further condition is imposed, as he does. The problem discussed in the second part is to relate the Interaction Contrast of Disease Rates (I.C.D.R.) corresponding to m binary risk factors with the I.C.D.R.'s corresponding to fewer than m risk factors. There are 2m — m — 1 subsets containing two or more risk factors and interaction has been considered between factors in each subset. The term ‘marginal I.C.D.R.’ has been introduced for the I.C.D.R. involving the factors in a subset in the absence of all the rest of the factors. The special cases of m = 3 and m = 4 are discussed in detail with the mathematics being manageable. When m = 3, there is one three-factor I.C.D.R DXYZ and three two-factor marginal I.C.D.R's DXY, DYZ, and DZX. This paper connects DXYZ with the average two-factor marginal I.C.D.R. Similarly when m = 4, the four-factor I.C.D.R. is connected with the average two- and three-factor I.C.D.R.'s. The application of this result lies in showing, for example, that if all pairs of factors interact, then the three-factor I.C.D.R is not only positive but has a positive lower bound, which is the average pairwise marginal I.C.D.R. Similarly if all the triplets of factors interact, the four-factor I.C.D.R. has a positive lower bound. A numerical example illustrates the results obtained.
The dexamethasone suppression test as a predictor of response to desipramine

Thirty-four endogenously depressed outpatients were treated with desipramine following dexamethasone suppression tests (DSTs). When mean change scores on the Hamilton scale were compared between DST-suppressors and non-suppressors there was a clear trend toward more favourable response in the non-suppressors. However, this finding fell just short of reaching statistical significance. Ten out of 13 DST-non-suppressors (77 per cent) responded to desipramine, while 10 out of 21 suppressors (48 per cent) responded. This difference was not significant.
Determinants of reperfusion cardiac electrical activity after cold cardioplegic arrest during coronary bypass surgery

Abstract In a prospective study of 99 patients with coronary artery disease, reperfusion of the heart after a period of ischemia (protected by contemporary techniques of myocardial preservation) resulted in spontaneous resumption of cardiac electrical activity in 53%, spontaneous defibrillation in 10%, reperfusion ventricular fibrillation (VF) in 32% and indeterminate rhythm in 5%. In hearts spontaneously developing rhythms excluding VF (as opposed to hearts requiring direct-current shock), factors significantly associated were a higher plasma potassium concentration (5.2 vs 4.8 mEq/liter), shorter reperfusion time (1 vs 4 minutes), higher plasma magnesium concentration (1.36 vs 1.25 mg/dl) and a lower myocardial temperature (27 vs 32°C). The duration of ischemia, arterial blood gas levels, plasma catecholamine levels, plasma ionized calcium levels, volume of cardioplegia and mean arterial pressure did not relate to occurrence of spontaneous episodes. However, VF developed in 39 of 52 patients (75%) with spontaneous resumption of electrical activity. This event was associated with lower myocardial temperature. Thus, direct-current shocks were ultimately required in 77 of the 99 patients (78%). Although certain thermal, biochemical and hemodynamic variables facilitate spontaneous resumption of cardiac rhythm, the development of VF may negate the potential benefit of this event in the prevention of myocardial damage from directcurrent defibrillation.
Don't Lose the Lungs for the Brain: Pulmonary Complications After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

pontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) from a ruptured aneurysm is a catastrophic event. Even if the S patient survives the initial hemorrhage and the aneurysm is safely secured, a whole host of systemic sequelae exist that contribute substantially to morbidity after SAH. Pulmonary complications play a major role in this arena. The principal pulmonary complications are acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The North American-European Consensus Conference formally defined these 2 entities more than 20 years ago to aid in trial design (1). A diagnosis of ALI required 3 criteria: acute arterial hypoxemia (ratio of partial arterial oxygen pressure to fraction of inspired oxygen <300), bilateral infiltrates on chest x-ray, and no clinical evidence of left atrial hypertension. ARDS is ALI but with more severe arterial hypoxemia (ratio of partial arterial oxygen pressure to fraction of inspired oxygen <200).
Ventricular Septal Defect of Atrioventricular Canal Type with Straddling Right Atrioventricular Valve and Mitral Valve Deformity

At the Mayo Clinic, four patients were seen in whom a ventricular septal defect (VSD) of the atrioventricular (A-V) canal type was associated with an angle of nearly 90° between the intact atrial septum and the ventricular septum. The right atrium overrode the ventricular septum and communicated with both ventricles. A complex, straddling right A-V valve had some attachments in the left ventricle and resembled the common A-V valve of persistent common A-V canal. In three of the patients, a congenital mitral valve deformity also existed. Mild cyanosis probably is not a contraindication to surgical repair in such patients because right atrial blood may enter the left ventricle directly.
Clinical significance of cytogenetic findings in untreated patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The chromosome constitutions of stimulated lymphocytes in 21 untreated cases with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) were examined. So-called polyclonal B-cell activators, i.e., pokeweed mitogen, Epstein-Barr virus, and lipopolysaccharide W from E. coli 055:B5, were used. Four out of 21 cases showed abnormal clones with trisomy 12 and were started on therapy shortly after the diagnosis and cytogenetic examination. On the other hand, most cases without abnormal clones had not received treatment for relatively long periods before and after cytogenetic examination. These findings may indicate that cytogenetic results can be utilized as a parameter for treatment and prognosis in B-CLL.
Regulation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors in rat basophilic leukemia cells. II. Modulation of the receptor in permeabilized cells by the cytosolic compartment.

Abstract Engagement of the IP3 receptor by its ligand releases Ca2+ from intracellular stores of the rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cell. The IP3 receptor in washed permeabilized cells has high affinity (Kd = 1.2±0.3 nM) for [3H]IP3 and is not sensitive to physiological concentrations of Ca2+. Moreover, washed permeabilized cells only release small amounts of Ca2+ when stimulated with IP3. When [3H]IP3 binding to permeabilized cells is performed in the presence of cytosolic constituents (unwashed cells), the IP3 receptor has a lower affinity for [3H]IP3 (Kd from 20 to 100 nM) and has enhanced Ca2+ release. Cytosolic supernatant, prepared by centrifugation of permeabilized cells and added back to washed permeabilized cells, decreases [3H]IP3 binding in a dose-dependent manner and increases the amount of Ca2+ released by IP3. Depletion of either MgATP or IP3 in the cytosolic supernatant does not affect the supernatant's ability to decrease [3H]IP3 binding. Though MgATP competitively inhibits [3H]IP3 binding, it cannot fully account for the shift in Kd or the modulation of IP3-stimulated Ca2+ release in the presence of cytosol. These findings suggest that components present in the cytosolic supernatant modulate the function of the IP3 receptor by maintaining it in a low affinity state capable of promoting Ca2+ release.
Synthesis and characterization of a solvatochromic, lipophilic fluorescent oxazone: 1-Pentyl-7-dimethylamino-3H-phenoxazine-3-one.

Olivetol and 4-nitroso-N,N-dimethylaniline were combined under reflux in acetic acid to produce 1-pentyl-7-dimethylamino-3H-phenoxazine-3-one (1-PDMPO). The fluorescent behavior of the purified compound in a variety of solutions and samples was investigated. Excitation and emission spectra in pure solvents and mixtures of solvents demonstrate solvatochromism, indicating that the fluorescence response of this compound is affected by its environment. Nonpolar, aprotic solvents as well as protic, polar solvents diminish fluorescent emission in the spectral regions examined, and trends in the fluorescence decary lifetimes measured in five pure solvents are consistent with these intensity changes. The anisotropy excitation spectrum taken in glycerol for 1-PDMPO at −15°C appears to be consistent with the presence of a single electronic state upon excitation, with anisotropy values approaching 0.35 over 400–600 nm. Fluorescence emission is also diminished at low acid concentrations in methanol, with smaller decreases observed in more highly concentrated basic solutions. Emission peaks in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions, extruded egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles, and fatty acid free bovine serum albumin suspensions all lie above 600 nm, with emission in the albumin suspension displaying a broad shoulder extending to 800 nm. The fluorescent properties of this compound suggest that it or structural homologues may have utility as fluorescent biological probes.
Atomic orbital basis sets for use with effective core potentials

Basis sets developed for use with effective core potentials describe pseudo-orbitals rather than orbitals. The primitive Gaussian functions and the contraction coefficients in the basis set must therefore both describe the valence region effectively and allow the pseudo-orbital to be small in the core region. The latter is particularly difficult using 1s primitive functions, which have their maxima at the nucleus. Several methods of choosing contraction coefficients are tried, and it is found that natural orbitals give the best results. The number and optimization of primitive functions are done following Dunning's correlation-consistent procedure. Optimization of orbital exponents for larger atoms frequently results in coalescence of adjacent exponents; use of orbitals with higher principal quantum number is one alternative. Actinide atoms or ions provide the most difficult cases in that basis sets must be optimized for valence shells of different radial size simultaneously considering correlation energy and spin-orbit energy. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 77: 516–520, 2000
Marital status, feeling depressed and self‐rated health in rural female primary care patients

Objective To determine whether marital status and self-assessed mental health are independent risk factors for poor self-rated overall health among female primary care patients. Design We conducted a cross-sectional survey of family medicine patients treated in a clinic in rural Minnesota. Complete responses were obtained from 723 women. Self-ratings of mental health, demographics and symptoms were used to predict self-rated overall health. Results Women who were single, divorced or otherwise not married, or widowed had lower odds of good self-rated overall health (OR = 0.39, P = 0.004) compared with married women. Women who were 65 years of age and over (OR = 0.31, P = 0.017), women who rated themselves as depressed (OR = 0.54, P = 0.029), and women who reported more physical symptoms (OR = 0.78, P = 0.000) also were less likely to have good health, compared with younger women, women who did not feel depressed, and women with fewer physical symptoms, respectively. Education was not independently related to health in this sample. Worry was related to health in the univariate analysis but not after controlling for self-assessed depression. Conclusions In order to improve overall health among rural women seen in primary care settings, special attention may need to be directed at women who are single, are older, report more physical symptoms, and feel depressed. Programmes should include self-help materials, support groups and counselling services addressing social isolation, employment and financial hardship.
Structural characterization of the mouse Girk genes.

Cardiac and neuronal G protein-gated potassium (KG) channels are activated by neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, opioids, and dopamine. KG channel activation leads to an inhibition of synaptic transmission. KG channels are tetrameric complexes formed by assembly of G protein-gated, inwardly-rectifying potassium (K+) channel (GIRK) subunits. Four mammalian GIRK subunits (GIRK1–4) have been identified. In this study, we identify key features of the four mouse Girk genes including sequence, intron/exon structures, alternative splicing events, and candidate transcriptional start points. The mouse Girk genes are organized similarly, each containing four to seven exons. While the mouse Girk1 and Girk2 genes are relatively large (>100 kb), mouse Girk3 and Girk4 genes are compact (<20 kb). Multiple mRNA variants of Girk1, Girk3, and Girk4 were identified, existing by virtue of alternative splicing and/or usage of distinct transcription initiation sites. These findings should facilitate future studies aimed at understanding the transcriptional regulation of KG channels and their potential involvement in disease.
The effectiveness and cost of retrofit for reducing automobile emissions.

EPA has recently evaluated several automobile retrofit devices that are potentially applicable to pre-1975 vehicles. The results of this evaluation are described and used to estimate the effectiveness and cost of retrofit for reducing total automobile emissions in the period 1975-1985. It is estimated that retrofit combined with inspection/maintenance can potentially achieve reductions in automobile emissions of 33% to 60% in 1975, depending on pollutant, and 10% to 20% in 1985. The estimated present value discounted to 1972 of the average cost per retrofit vehicle is $30 to $152 over the period 1975-1985 depending on the retrofit system used. The corresponding annualized cost is $6 to $28 per vehicle.
The ASM-220 medium current implanter

Abstract An overview description is given of the principal design features of the ASM-220 ion implanter.
Routing Military Aircraft with a Constrained Shortest-Path Algorithm

Abstract : We formulate and solve aircraft-routing problems that arise when planning missions for military aircraft that are subject to ground-based threats such as surface-to-air missiles. We use a constrained-shortest path (CSP) model that discretizes the relevant airspace into a grid of vertices representing potential waypoints, and connects vertices with directed edges to represent potential flight segments. The model is flexible: It can route any type of manned or unmanned aircraft; it can incorporate any number of threats; and it can incorporate, in the objective function or as side constraints, numerous mission-specific metrics such as risk, fuel consumption, and flight time. We apply a new algorithm for solving the CSP problem and present computational results for the routing of a high-altitude F/A-18 strike group, and the routing of a medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle. The objectives minimize risk from ground-based threats while constraints limit fuel consumption and/or flight time. Run times to achieve a near-optimal solution range from fractions of a second to 80 seconds on a personal computer. We also demonstrate that our methods easily extend to handle turn-radius constraints and round-trip routing.
Telopeptides of type II collagen upregulate proteinases and damage cartilage but are less effective than highly active fibronectin fragments

Objective and Design: We hypothesize that N-telopeptide (NT) and C-telopeptides (CT) of type II collagen can enhance proteinases and cause cartilage damage and have compared damaging activities to an extensively characterized potent fibronectin fragment (Fn-f).
The Economic Impacts of Natural Disaster, edited by Debarati Guha-Sapir, Indhira Santos, and Alexandre Borde. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013. Hardcover: ISBN 978-0199841936, $41.95. 344 pages.

Economic losses from natural disasters have increased dramatically, hindering economic and human development. Since 1980, losses attributed to extreme weather surpassed US $2,800 billion and accoun...
Supersymmetry among free fermions and superstrings

A complete classification is given of all supersymmetric theories of free massless two-dimensional fermions. This, in particular, implies a classification of all free-fermion representations of super Kac-Moody algebras. It is shown that these cannot be used to construct new string theories with unbroken supersymmetry in Minkowski space-time, other than the torus-compactifications of the known ten-dimensional superstrings. Assuming anti-de-Sitter space-time could restore conformal invariance, it is shown how one could construct a string theory whose low-lying excitations form a multiplet of gauged N = 8 supergravity.
Automating Inspection of Highway Pavement Surfaces

Reliable, complete, and uptodate information concerning the state of pavement surface is necessary for any costeffective highway pavement management program. An automatic imaging system based on st...
Effects of wetland management on carrying capacity of diving ducks and shorebirds in a coastal estuary

Abstract With global loss of natural wetlands, managed wetlands increasingly support energy requirements for wintering shorebirds and waterfowl. Despite numerous studies of avian bioenergetics in freshwater systems, less is known of the energetic capacity of estuarine systems. In San Francisco Bay, managed saline ponds converted from former commercial salt evaporation ponds form part of the largest wetland restoration project on the Pacific coast of North America. A daily-ration model was applied to assess carrying capacity for diving ducks and shorebirds during four winter seasons (2007–2010) in seasonal and circulation ponds, each in two salinity classes. Diving ducks comprised an estimated 35,450 ± 1,559 ( ± SE) in average years and 45,458 ± 1,653 in peak years with > 95% in circulation ponds. Shorebirds comprised 64,253 ± 14,838 ( ± SE) in average years and 108,171 ± 4,854 in peak years with > 64% in seasonal ponds. Macroinvertebrate energy density was highest in mesohaline (5–30 ppt) circulation pond...
Some Ethical Implications of Individual Competitiveness

This study examined some ethical implications of two different individual competitive orientations. Winning is crucially important in hypercompetitiveness, whereas a personal development (PD) perspective considers competition as a means to self-discovery and self-improvement. In a sample of 263 senior-level undergraduate business students, survey results suggested that hypercompetitiveness was generally associated with “poor ethics” and PD competitiveness was linked with “high ethics”. For example, hypercompetitive individuals generally saw nothing wrong with self-interested gain at the expense of others, but PD competitors viewed such activities as largely inappropriate. Hypercompetitive people also tended to be highly Machiavellian but not ethically idealistic. In contrast, PD competitors tended to be ethically idealistic but not Machiavellian. Managers that are interested in both high ethics and high functioning work groups may wish to consider the potential importance of attempting to channel hypercompetitive tendencies into PD directions.
Neurally-inspired stochastic algorithm for determining multi-stage multi-attribute sampling inspection plans

In manufacturing industries, sampling inspection is a common practice for quality assurance and cost reduction. The basic decisions in sampling inspection are how many manufactured items to be sampled from each lot and how many identified defective items in the sample to accept or reject each lot. Because of the combinatorial nature of alternative solutions on the sample sizes and acceptance criteria, the problem of determining an optimal sampling plan is NP-complete. In this paper, a neurally-inspired approach to generating acceptance sampling inspection plans is proposed. A Bayesian cost model of multi-stage-multi-attribute sampling inspections for quality assurance in serial production systems is formulated. This model can accommodate various dispositions of rejected lott such as scraping and screening. The model also can reflect the relationships between stages and among attributes. To determine the sampling plans based on the formulated model, a neurally-inspired stochastic algorithm is developed. This algorithm simulates the state transition of a primal-dual stochastic neural network to generate the sampling plans. The simulated primal network is responsible for generation of new states whereas the dual network is for recording the generated solutions. Starting with an arbitrary feasible solution, this algorithm is able to converge to a near optimal or an optimal sampling plan with a sequence of monotonically improved solutions. The operating characteristics and performance of the algorithm are demonstratedvia numerical examples.
Development of narrowband modified uni-travelling-carrier photodiodes with high power efficiency

Narrowband high-power photodiodes (PDs) are promising candidates for analog photonic systems including RF antenna transmitter applications and low phase noise photonic oscillators. Our previous work has demonstrated that wideband modified uni-travelling-carrier (MUTC) PDs with cliff layer [1] can achieve high power at high frequency and that their performance can be further enhanced by flip-chip bonding on high thermal conductivity AlN substrates[2,3]. Here we present our recent work on developing narrowband MUTC-PDs to improve power efficiency (ηρ) and AC Responsivity (RAC).
Two rat homologues of Drosophila achaete-scute specifically expressed in neuronal precursors

In vertebrates, the peripheral nervous system is embryologically derived from the neural crest. Although the earliest neural crest cells seem to be multipotent, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the restriction of these cells to different sublineages are not understood. We therefore searched for developmental control genes expressed in crest cells or their derivatives. One important class of regulatory molecules comprises proteins with common DNA-binding and dimerization domains, the basic helix–loop–helix (B-HLH) region. Members of this family include MyoD (ref. 6), a mammalian myogenic determination molecule, and proteins encoded by genes of the achaete-scute complex of Drosophila, which have an important role in neuronal determination. From a sympathetic neuronal precursor cell line derived from the neural crest we have now isolated two different mammalian genes that are homologous to genes of the achaete-scute complex. The sequence of the B-HLH-encoding region of these genes is more similar to that of the genes of the achaete-scute complex than it is to that of other, mammalian members of the B-HLH family. At least one of these genes is transiently expressed in the embryonic rat nervous system, is not detected in non-neuronal tissues or cell lines, and is induced by nerve growth factor in PC 12 cells.
The Calculation of Fourth-Rank Constitutive Parameters of Consistent Tangent Modulus and Plastic Modulus in Finite Element Analysis

Newton-Raphson method is used in global equilibrium for the numerical solution of elasto-plastic problems. It is necessary to determine the fourth-rank constitutive parameters of consistent tangent modulus in each integration point. Euler backward method and implicit stress integration is applied while constitutive model is implemented into ANSYS software. Take Chen, Jiao, and Kim model (2005) as an example, comparison of fourth-rank constitutive parameters and without fourth-rank constitutive parameters of consistent tangent modulus indicates that the convergence is obviously influenced by fourth-rank constitutive parameters of consistent tangent modulus for the larger load case, whereas the influence of plastic modulus is almost neglected.
¿“Nemo praecisi coegit ad factum”? Reinterpretación desde la tutela ejecutiva efectiva de las obligaciones no dinerarias

Resumen es: Desde los origenes del derecho occidental, ya en el derecho romano, existio una preocupacion por el incumplimiento de las obligaciones y la pretension ...
Integrative Structural Biomechanical Concepts of Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is not fully explained by inflammatory processes. Clinical, epidemiological, genetic, and course of disease features indicate additional host-related risk processes and predispositions. Collectively, the pattern of predisposition to onset in adolescent and young adult ages, male preponderance, and widely varied severity of AS is unique among rheumatic diseases. However, this pattern could reflect biomechanical and structural differences between the sexes, naturally occurring musculoskeletal changes over life cycles, and a population polymorphism. During juvenile development, the body is more flexible and weaker than during adolescent maturation and young adulthood, when strengthening and stiffening considerably increase. During middle and later ages, the musculoskeletal system again weakens. The novel concept of an innate axial myofascial hypertonicity reflects basic mechanobiological principles in human function, tissue reactivity, and pathology. However, these processes have been little studied and require critical testing. The proposed physical mechanisms likely interact with recognized immunobiological pathways. The structural biomechanical processes and tissue reactions might possibly precede initiation of other AS-related pathways. Research in the combined structural mechanobiology and immunobiology processes promises to improve understanding of the initiation and perpetuation of AS than prevailing concepts. The combined processes might better explain characteristic enthesopathic and inflammatory processes in AS.
Generalized Theory of Multitone Amplitude and Frequency Modulation

The frequency spectrum produced by single-tone, two-tone, and multitone modulating signals in the case of amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, and combined amplitude and frequency modulation are studied in turn. Amplitude, symmetry, and energy of sidebands for the different cases are considered. Extensive computations are made of frequency spectrums, and these are compared with actual frequency spectrums observed by means of a spectrum analyzer. The agreement between computed and measured frequency spectrums is very close.