cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spillover Effects of State Regulated Corporate Disclosures on the Mortgage Market

I investigate the spillover effects of disclosure requirements imposed by state governments on oil and gas companies operating in the state. Recently, several state governments have begun requiring companies to publicly disclose information about chemicals used in their fracking operations. The chemicals can result in land and water contamination, thereby creating uncertainty about property values near fracking operations. I hypothesize and find that the disclosure mandate reduces uncertainty about property values and subsequently increases mortgage lending activity, i.e., probability of obtaining a mortgage and loan-to-value by 2.6 and 2.2 percentage points, respectively. My analyses exploit the staggered adoption of disclosure regulations across states as well as variation in the location of properties relative to fracking wells. I conduct cross-sectional tests based on property characteristics (e.g., drinking water source, lender type) and the content of the information disclosed to further substantiate my inference that disclosures related to fracking chemicals facilitate mortgage lending activity. Finally, I find that fracking chemical disclosures decrease the variance in property prices, suggesting that a reduction in uncertainty about collateral value is the mechanism through which these disclosures affect mortgage lending. My results highlight the value of information disclosed by one sector of the economy for economic activity in different sector of the economy.
Navigating Role Ambiguity & Conflict: Exploring the Role of the Referee Within the Olympic Sporting Structure

This phenomenological study seeks to better understand the role of the referee in the Olympic sporting structure and to deconstruct the apparent dichotomies that exist within this role. Eleven rugby sevens referees each completed a pre and post interview for a total of twenty-two interviews. From the data, four sources of role ambiguity or conflict emerged; (1) remaining unnoticed vs. media exposure; (2) the team vs. individualistic nature of officiating; (3) being a judge vs. being an athlete, and (4) amateurism vs. professionalism. This study discusses how these dichotomies highlight the major sources of role ambiguity and role conflict for rugby sevens officials within the larger Olympic context. Implications regarding increased role clarity, reduced role strain, and referee management are discussed.
Ethics Under Capital: MacIntyre, Communication, and the Culture Wars: by Jason Hannan, New York, Bloomsbury Press, 2019, xvi+226 pp., $115.00 (hardcover)

For many progressive scholars in the humanities, the state of the world today looks particularly bleak. Embroiled in a neoliberal trajectory that began around 1980 and that has only picked up steam...
The ‘tamed’ mountains: from terrifying and uninhabited environments to places of the soul and religious spaces

The survey, by using the methods of historical research, focuses on the transformation of mountains, which, from terrifying and uninhabited environments, gradually became among the most significant places of the soul and religious spaces. Resorting to historical, literary and archival sources, the study, of an interdisciplinary nature, aims to reconstruct a little-known aspect of Italian history, in particular of history of culture and ideas. Mountains, which constitute a significant portion of Italy, were considered by the Ancients antithetical to human civilization. With Christianity a new image of mountains made its way, where, according to the Scriptures, some decisive episodes of the history of salvation had taken place. The hermits who wanted to dedicate themselves only to God began to take refuge in the mountains, but the ideological prejudice transmitted by classical authors remained fixed in the collective imagination and upland areas continued for centuries to be misunderstood and rarely visited. An important turning point came with two religious orders, the Camaldolese and the Franciscans, who gave a fundamental contribution to the ‘taming’ of mountains. Thanks to Saint Romuald, in Camaldoli, on the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines, an experience was born that combined evangelization, forest management and interventions on the mountain territory. In their settlements the Camaldolese, while cultivating the fields, regulating the waters and taking care of the woods, at the same time promoted education, culture and work for the people who lived nearby. From Assisi and the mountains of Umbria began the revolution of Saint Francis, which involved men and women, animals, fields, fruits, flowers, forests, rocks: all like God’s creatures. Thus the Apennine mountains, the true backbone of the Italian peninsula, became increasingly popular open spaces, places of meeting and of spiritual and material life, based on a balanced and exemplary relationship between man and nature.
The role of radiation and chemotherapy in adult patients with high-grade brainstem gliomas: results from the National Cancer Database

Surgical resection of high-grade brainstem gliomas is challenging and treatment mostly involves radiation and chemotherapy. In this study, we utilized registry data to determine prognostic features and impact of chemotherapy and radiation on overall survival. The National Cancer Database was queried from 2006 to 2015 for adult cases with histologically confirmed high-grade brainstem glioma. Covariates including patient demographics, comorbidities, tumor characteristics and treatment parameters were captured. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to identify predictors of survival. A total of 422 patients were analyzed. Most patients (66.6%) underwent postoperative radiation with chemotherapy, 9.2% underwent radiation alone, while the remaining had no postoperative treatment (24.2%). Overall median survival was 9.8 months (95% CI 8.8–12). Survival was longer (p < 0.001) in the radiation + chemotherapy group (median: 14.2 months, 95% CI 11.7–17.1) compared to radiation alone (median: 5.7 months, 95% CI 3.7–12) and no postoperative treatment (median: 1.8 months, 95% CI 1.4–4) groups. In multivariable analysis, increasing age was associated with worse survival (HR: 1.87, 95% CI 1.47–2.37, p < 0.001), whereas radiation + chemotherapy was associated with lower mortality compared to radiation alone (HR: 0.67, 95% CI 0.46–0.98, p = 0.038). In subgroup analysis, postoperative chemotherapy with radiation was associated with significant survival benefit compared to radiation alone for grade IV (HR: 0.46, 95% CI 0.28–0.76, p = 0.003), but not for grade III tumors (HR: 0.87, 95% CI 0.48–1.58, p = 0.65). Analysis from a national registry illustrated the effectiveness of radiation with chemotherapy for adult patients with high-grade brainstem gliomas, particularly grade IV. Further research should identify specific patient profiles and molecular subgroups that are more likely to benefit from multimodality therapy.
Simply Not a Simple Group

Proving a finite group of some given finite order is not simple is a standard homework problem in abstract algebra courses. This note contains a theorem that simplifies proving groups of many order...
The Role of Therapeutic Alliance in Therapy for Adults with Problematic Aggression and Associated Disorders

The nature and quality of the relationship between therapist and client in psychotherapy, known as therapeutic alliance, have been proposed as one of the most important factors for successful treatment outcome, which has been has robustly supported across many types of treatment, populations, raters of alliance (i.e., client, therapist, or observer), and alliance measures. However, most research on alliance and treatment outcome has been conducted in children and adults with internalizing problems (e.g., mood and anxiety disorders) or children with externalizing problems (e.g., conduct disorder), despite the fact that alliance may be particularly important for adults with externalizing problems such as problematic aggression, who may have high levels of resistance, blaming, and interpersonal problems. Very limited research has examined the role of alliance in individuals who present to treatment due to high levels of aggressive behaviour specifically (e.g., those convicted of a violent offence). The current systematic review examined the extant research on the relationship between alliance and outcome in treatment of highly aggressive individuals, as well as those who are diagnosed with a disorder for which aggression is a primary symptom (i.e., post-traumatic stress disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder). Overall, it was shown that alliance has a positive impact on treatment outcome among those engaging in or at risk for problematic aggression. Additionally, the alliance-outcome relationship may be affected by therapy modality, alliance rater perspective, and potential mechanisms of alliance. Implications for future research, including utilizing more primarily aggressive samples, are discussed.
Postoperative antibiotic use in patients with unilateral purulent chronic rhinosinusitis.

Objectives To describe our experience with the use of postoperative antibiotics in the management of unilateral chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients with active infection at the time of surgery, and to evaluate the need for routine postoperative antibiotic administration in this population. Methods This retrospective chart review analyzed the medical records of all patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery for unilateral purulent CRS between November 2013 and September 2019 at a tertiary care center and who were not prescribed routine postoperative antibiotics. Duration of time until normalization of sinus cavities and whether antibiotics were ultimately prescribed for persistent infectious signs and symptoms were recorded. Patient characteristics and findings were analyzed to determine if any of the evaluated parameters were associated with the need for postoperative antibiotics. Results Sixty-nine patients were included in the study. Thirty-three (47.8%) did not require antibiotics during the postoperative period. The average time to sinus normalization was 8.1 weeks (range 1-24 weeks) for patients who received antibiotics and 5.7 weeks (range 1-16 weeks) for those who did not receive antibiotics (P = .066). No evaluated variables were associated with antibiotic use on univariate or multivariate analysis. Conclusion Postoperative antibiotics were not necessary to normalize infected sinus cavities for nearly half of patients with unilateral purulent CRS in this series. Further studies are needed to better delineate which patients would derive benefit from postoperative antibiotics. Level of evidence Level IV.
Approximation Properties of the Singular Set

In this chapter u continues to denote an energy minimizing map of Ω into N, with Ω an open subset of ℝn.
Female spontaneously diabetic Torii fatty rats develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-like hepatic lesions.

Female spontaneously diabetic Torii fatty rats develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-like hepatic lesions
Do Pine Voles (Microtus pinetorum) Use Numerous Types of Olfactory Cues to Discriminate Gender

Olfactory cues can contain information for discrimination of gender that can affect subsequent social interactions. Social rodents are hypothesized to use more olfactory cues than nonsocial rodents to distinguish males from females. The generality of this hypothesis was tested using the pine vole (Microtus pinetorum), a social vole. We examined nine possible sources of odors. A slide containing an odor from a male and a female was presented to each test subject for 3 min. We recorded the amount of time each test subject spent investigating each odor. Females spent significantly more time investigating male urine and male anogenital odors; however, they did not use any other odor sources to discriminate gender. In contrast, males did not use any odor sources to discriminate gender. Our results do not support the hypothesis that all social rodents use numerous odor sources to discriminate gender. Instead, our results are consistent with the alternative hypothesis that use of odor sources to convey information about gender may differ in rodents that live in different microhabitats.
Successful Social Work Educators Engaged in Practice

Abstract Engaging in practice can be costly to social work educators facing university tenure and promotion reviews, in which practice is neither expected nor valued highly. Yet, maintaining a practice contributes to the relevance of an educator's efforts to prepare students to practice. Handling the resulting dilemmas can be difficult. Data from 104 educators evaluated as effective researchers, teachers, and practitioners show that all three areas must be related closely, that beginning educators must accept the need to do research but not omit practice, and that personal costs are to be expected. Outcomes of professional recognition and personal satisfaction are deemed ample.
Chromosome architecture is a key element of bacterial cellular organization

The bacterial chromosome encodes information at multiple levels. Beyond direct protein coding, genomes encode regulatory information required to orchestrate the proper timing and levels of gene expression and protein synthesis, and contain binding sites and regulatory sequences to co-ordinate the activities of proteins involved in chromosome repair and maintenance. In addition, it is becoming increasingly clear that yet another level of information is encoded by the bacterial chromosome - the three-dimensional packaging of the chromosomal DNA molecule itself and its positioning relative to the cell. This vast structural blueprint of specific positional information is manifested in various ways, directing chromosome compaction, accessibility, attachment to the cell envelope, supercoiling, and general architecture and arrangement of the chromosome relative to the cell body. Recent studies have begun to identify and characterize novel systems that utilize the three-dimensional spatial information encoded by chromosomal architecture to co-ordinate and direct fundamental cellular processes within the cytoplasm, providing large-scale order within the complex clutter of the cytoplasmic compartment.
Strategy-proof voting rules over multi-issue domains with restricted preferences

In this paper, we characterize strategy-proof voting rules when the set of alternatives has a multi-issue structure, and the voters' preferences are represented by acyclic CP-nets that follow a common order over issues. Our main result is a simple full characterization of strategy-proof voting rules satisfying non-imposition for a very natural restriction on preferences in multi-issue domains: we show that if the preference domain is lexicographic, then a voting rule satisfying non-imposition is strategy-proof if and only if it can be decomposed into multiple strategy-proof local rules, one for each issue and each setting of the issues preceding it.We also obtain the following variant of Gibbard-Satterthwaite: when there are at least two issues and each of the issues can take at least two values, then there is no non-dictatorial strategy-proof voting rule that satisfies nonimposition, even when the domain of voters' preferences is restricted to linear orders that are consistent with acyclic CP-nets following a common order over issues. This impossibility result follows from either one of two more general new impossibility results we obtained, which are not included in this paper due to the space constraint.
What We Do Not Know About Cometary Ices: A Review of the Incomplete Evidence

Only two features seem rather well established about the cometary nucleus: it is an icy conglomerate that contains a large amount of volatile ices, and its major constituent seems to be water ice. The evidence on all the minor constituents is incomplete and fragmentary and there are still major difficulties in establishing a complete list of the parent molecules from the numerous radicals, ions and atoms observed in the coma. In particular, the case of the forbidden lines of oxygen is discussed here in detail; new arguments are shown to contradict the need for CO2 as a major source of 0(1D). The physical nature of the nucleus is likely to be very complex, geometrically as well as kinetically; some progress may have been recently achieved on the crystal structure of the ices by circumstantial consideration, but their crystallography as well as their mineralogy will remain in doubt until the first cometary rendezvous by a spacecraft.
Black-Box Medicine

Personalized medicine, where Big Data meets Big Health, has been hailed as the next leap forward in health care, but that leap raises tremendous challenges for our current policy landscape. This Article is the first to label the phenomenon of black-box medicine, a version of personalized medicine in which researchers use sophisticated algorithms to examine huge troves of health data, finding complex, implicit relationships and making individualized assessments for patients. This new form of medicine offers potentially immense benefits but faces major hurdles both in development and in application. Development requires high investment; firms must develop new datasets, models, and validations, which are all nonrivalrous information goods that require incentives for welfare-optimizing levels of development. However, current innovation policy lacks the necessary incentives and instead pushes firms in socially suboptimal directions. Black-box medicine also raises significant challenges with respect to privacy, regulation, and commercialization. This Article describes black-box medicine, explains its differences-in-kind from current forms of medicine, and briefly explores the landscape of policy challenges ahead.
Regulated Processing ofdec-1Eggshell Proteins inDrosophila

Abstract The Drosophila dec-1 gene encodes multiple products that are necessary for proper eggshell assembly. During stages 9–12 of oogenesis the ovarian follicle cells synthesize three alternatively spliced dec-1 RNAs that encode proteins of 106, 125, and 177 kDa. All three of these primary translation products undergo developmentally regulated posttranslational cleavages. Antibodies to trpE fusion proteins containing different regions of the dec-1 proteins have been used to identify processing intermediates as well as stable derivatives of fc106, fc125, and fc177. fc106, the most abundant product of the locus, is cleaved at its N-terminus, producing an N-terminal 25-kDa derivative and s80, a stage 10 eggshell protein. During late oogenesis N-terminal cleavage of s80 yields a 20-kDa N-terminal derivative and a 60-kDa eggshell protein. fc125, which differs from fc106 by a C-terminal extension, is processed at its N-terminus through a series of transient intermediates to a stable 95-kDa C-terminal derivative in late stage 10 egg chambers. Unlike its s80 counterpart, the 95-kDa derivative is not subjected to later cleavage events. fc177, synthesized during stages 11–12, is cleaved to a stable C-terminal derivative of approximately 85 kDa. Although all of the cleavage sites fall within regions that are common to fc106, fc125, and fc177, each protein follows a different maturation pathway which results in a variety of proteins with distinctive N- and C-termini. Our data suggest that inter- or intramolecular interactions dictated by the C-terminal ends of the molecules determine the pathway followed by each dec-1 protein.
Liver vitamin A levels in rats are predicted by a modified isotope dilution technique.

We tested the hypothesis that the fraction of an injected dose (FDp) of [3H]retinol remaining in plasma could be used to predict liver vitamin A mass. Rats (n = 36) with liver vitamin A ranging from 1.4 to 23,000 nmol received an intravenous dose of [3H]retinol-labeled plasma. Plasma samples obtained at 4, 4.4, 5, 5.4, 6, 7 and 8 d were analyzed for radioactivity; liver vitamin A levels were determined at 8 d. Using a regression equation developed previously [liver vitamin A (nmol) = 7493.exp(-148.FDp)], there was a log linear relationship between FDp and liver vitamin A mass from 1.4 to 5200 nmol retinol; the equation did not predict levels > or = 7500 nmol. By expanding the regression equation [liver vitamin A (nmol) = 88,928.exp(-1347.FDp) + 5606.exp(-120.FDp)] and using the FDp at 4.4 d, liver vitamin A levels ranging from < 4 to 23,000 nmol were well predicted. Satisfactory equations were also developed for data obtained at 4, 5 and 5.4 d. We conclude that this modified isotope dilution technique is a sensitive and reliable method for assessing vitamin A status in rats over a wide range of vitamin A nutriture. It is likely that this method could be modified for use in humans.
Radial electronic density functions for selected low-lying excited 2S states of the Li I isoelectronic series.

The radial electronic density function ${\mathit{D}}_{0}$(r), has been evaluated in closed form for some low-lying excited $^{2}$S states of the Li i isoelectronic series that are described by Hylleraas-type wave functions. The radial density for each state considered is determined by a set of expansion coefficients, exponent values, and a set of summation limits. Numerical values for each of these are reported for the species Li i, Be ii (3 $^{2}$S and 4 $^{2}$S states) and B iii, C iv, N v, O vi, F vii, and Ne viii for the 3 $^{2}$S states. The nuclear-magnetic shielding constant, the diamagnetic susceptibility and the expectation values 〈${\mathit{r}}_{\mathit{i}}^{\mathit{n}}$〉 (for n=-2 to 8) and 〈\ensuremath{\delta}(${\mathbf{r}}_{\mathbf{i}}$)〉 are evaluated using ${\mathit{D}}_{0}$(r). The electron-nuclear cusp condition is also examined for each state investigated.
Swan Modules and Realisable Classes for Kummer Extensions of Prime Degree

Abstract Letl > 2 be a prime number. Let O Fdenote a ring of algebraic integers of a number fieldFand letGbe the cyclic group of orderl. Consider the ring of integers O Las a locally free O K[G]-module whereL/Kis a tamely ramified Galois extension of number fields with Galois group isomorphic toG. The classes of rings of integers obtained in such a way for a fixed number fieldKcontaining thelth roots of unity form the subgroup of realisable classesRin the locally free class groupCl( O K[G]). On the other hand, one may also look at the Swan subgroupTofCl( O K[G]), formed by the classes of locally free O K[G]-ideals (s, Σ) wheresin O Kis relatively prime toland Σ denotes the sum of the elements ofG. We show thatT(l − 1)/2 ⊂ R ∩ D, whereDis the kernel group ofCl( O K[G]). We also determine necessary and sufficient conditions for when a realisable class is a Swan class. Last, we show thatR ∩ Dis nontrivial forK = Q(ζl) whenl > 3 by providing a nontrivial lower bound for the size of the Swan subgroupT.
Traffic and network modeling for next generation applications

In this paper, we examine potential traffic loading on next-generation broadband networks due to various types of advanced applications. A baseline traffic profile is developed versus measured benchmarks, and this serves as a starting point for various "what if' scenarios. To examine the impact of group multimedia applications on networks, a network analysis framework is developed, allowing various deployment topologies (e.g., distributed, centralized) to be analyzed. Finally, there is a brief discussion on how network overlay technology incorporating back- to-back user agents (B2BUA) can be an enabler for various application deployments scenarios.
Visual influences on the internal structure of phonetic categories.

Previous work has demonstrated that the graded internal structure of phonetic categories is sensitive to a variety of contextual factors. One such factor is place of articulation: The best exemplars of voiceless stop consonants along auditory bilabial and velar voice onset time (VOT) continua occur over different ranges of VOTs (Volaitis & Miller, 1992). In the present study, we exploited theMcGurk effect to examine whether visual information for place of articulation also shifts the best-exemplar range for voiceless consonants, following Green and Kuhl’s (1989) demonstration of effects of visual place of articulation on the location of voicing boundaries. In Experiment 1, we established that /p/ and /t/ have different best-exemplar ranges along auditory bilabial and alveolar VOT continua. We then found, in Experiment 2, a similar shift in the best-exemplar range for /t/ relative to that for /p/ when there was a change in visual place of articulation, with auditory place of articulation held constant. These findings indicate that the perceptual mechanisms that determine internal phonetic category structure are sensitive to visual, as well as to auditory, information.
Influence of double-strand-break repair pathways on radiosensitivity throughout the cell cycle in CHO cells.

Abstract Unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) produced by ionizing radiation (IR) are a major determinant of cell killing. To determine the contribution of DNA repair pathways to the well-established cell cycle variation in IR sensitivity, we compared the radiosensitivity of wild-type CHO cells to mutant lines defective in nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), homologous recombination repair (HRR), and the Fanconi anemia pathway. Cells were irradiated with IR doses that killed ∼90% of each asynchronous population, separated into synchronous fractions by centrifugal elutriation, and assayed for survival (colony formation). Wild-type cells had lowest resistance in early G1 and highest resistance in S phase, followed by declining resistance as cells move into G2/M. In contrast, HR-defective cells (xrcc3 mutation) were most resistant in early G1 and became progressively less resistant in S and G2/M, indicating that the S-phase resistance in wild-type cells requires HRR. Cells defective in NHEJ (dna-pkcs mutation) were exquisitely sensitive in early G1, most resistant in S phase, and then somewhat less resistant in G2/M. Fancg mutant cells had almost normal IR sensitivity and normal cell cycle dependence, suggesting that Fancg contributes modestly to survival and in a manner that is independent of cell cycle position.
Corrigendum to “An infinite family of bounds on zeros of analytic functions and relationship to Smale’s bound”

(1) > rm 7m(~) In (1) rm is some constant and -y,(() is a certain function of the normalized derivatives of f at ( (see (3.1) in [1]). While Theorem 3.2 is valid, the present proof in [1] is not. The quantity u in the proof should actually be 1 ('l'ym ('). But this implies that the present proof in [1] actually establishes the inequality (2) -rm ^Y ( 1 If we assume that (' is also a simple root, then clearly a symmetry argument also proves the inequality (1) and, hence, the present proof remains valid. But this added assumption is unnecessary. To correct the proof of Theorem 3.2 essentially all that is needed is to switch ( and ?'; i.e., assume that (' is a simple root while relaxing the simplicity assumption on ?. Except possibly for a finite set of values of z, the following expansion formula, given as equation (2.7) in [1], is valid even when ( is not a simple root of f(z):
Social inclusion in the information economy: the context of university-industry collaborations for regional innovation

Land grant universities in the 21st century must broaden their scope by facilitating economic growth through innovation in the new information economy. Doing so also broadens the social inclusion goal beyond labor force diversity to include legacy industrial era firms that are vulnerable to exclusion in the new economy that is based on knowledge and innovation. An exploration of barriers to leveraging research universities for revitalizing legacy industrial regions is in process at a midwestern land grant university. It is focused on understanding challenges associated with knowledge exchange between university researchers and legacy industrial era businesses in order to increase the innovation capacity in the region. Preliminary results indicate that communication and culture are two key factors that hold potential barriers to successful industry-academic relationships.
Feedback and task predictability as determinants of performance in multiple cue probability learning tasks

Abstract Several studies conducted within the last decade have suggested that outcome feedback is less than optimal feedback in a multiple cue probability learning situation. Some of these studies have neglected one or more of the following: a no feedback control group, analysis of the several different types of feedback, assessment of feedback over time, and the effect of feedback on tasks of different difficulty levels. Two 2(outcome feedback) × 2(cue utilization feedback) × 2(task information) × 3(trial blocks) experiments were conducted. It was found that outcome feedback resulted in significantly less consistency, and task information resulted in significantly better matching. Cue utilization feedback enhanced achievement and matching only in combination with task information and only in high predictability tasks. Further research on feedback should focus on feedback and task difficulty interactions as well as the effects of delay of feedback.
The “CalPERS effect” revisited

Abstract Institutional investors have become more active in corporate governance with the relaxation of Depression Era securities laws. The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) is a leading institutional activist. In this paper, we examine the relationship between CalPERS' public targeting and both short- and long-term stock returns to address what has been dubbed the “CalPERS effect.” Our results indicate evidence of an announcement effect and that, while there is also evidence of some long-term improvement, it is limited to 6 months from the announcement of the target list in the Wall Street Journal when more consistent empirical methodologies are employed.
Factors Affecting Growth and Toxin Production by Clostridium Botulinum Type E on Irradiated (0.3 Mrad) Chicken Skins

A model system (chicken skins with chicken exudate) was used to determine if Clostridium botulinum type E (Beluga) spores, stressed by low dose irradiation, would develop and produce toxin at abuse temperatures of 10 and 30/sup 0/C in the absence of characteristic spoilage. Unstressed spores germinated, multiplied, and produced toxin on vacuum-packed chicken skins, stored at either 30 or 10/sup 0/C. Cell numbers increased faster and toxin was evident sooner at 30/sup 0/C than at 10/sup 0/C. At 30/sup 0/C, growth occurred and toxin was produced more slowly when samples were incubated aerobically than anaerobically. When samples were incubated aerobically at 10/sup 0/C, no toxin was detected within a test period of 14 days. An irradiation dose of 0.3 Mrad at 5/sup 0/C reduced a spore population on vacuum-sealed chicken skins by about 90%. The surviving population produced toxin at 30/sup 0/C under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions, at 10/sup 0/C no toxin was detected even on skins incubated anaerobically. Under the worst conditions (30/sup 0/C, vacuum packed) toxin was not detected prior to characteristic spoilage caused by the natural flora surviving 0.3 Mrad.
Table-driven image transformation engine algorithm

A high speed image transformation engine (ITE) was designed and a prototype built for use in a generic electronic light table and image perspective transformation application code. The ITE takes any linear transformation, breaks the transformation into two passes and resamples the image appropriately for each pass. The system performance is achieved by driving the engine with a set of look up tables computed at start up time for the calculation of pixel output contributions. Anti-aliasing is done automatically in the image resampling process. Operations such as multiplications and trigonometric functions are minimized. This algorithm can be used for texture mapping, image perspective transformation, electronic light table, and virtual reality.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Entrepreneurial team characteristics that influence the successful launch of a new venture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of an entrepreneurial team that influence the likelihood a new venture will successfully launch.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a sample of prospective start‐up banks that applied for a charter application in Florida between 1996 and 2005. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses.Findings – Analysis suggests that entrepreneurial teams where: the CEO is strongly embedded into the team; no team member holds 10 per cent or more of the firm's total equity; team members have less rather than more industry experience; and more team members have prior founding experience, all point to a successful new venture launch.Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on start‐up success in a single industry and thus may not be generalizable to other research contexts.Practical implications – Results suggest that bank regulators in charge approving new bank charters would be well advised to revisit their guidelines ...
Value of an organic arsenical in the ration of young dairy calves.

Summary This study reports the results of supplementing the daily ration of the young dairy calf with 60 and 120mg. of sodium arsanilate from the third day through the 8th wk. of age. Neither growth rate and efficiency of feed utilization, nor incidence of scouring, was significantly influenced by the presence of the supplement in the ration. No symptoms of arsenic toxicity were observed in any of the animals. These data indicate (1) that no beneficial effects can be expected from supplementing the ration of the young, healthy calf with sodium arsanilate and, (2) that the young calf is tolerant to high levels of this organic arsenical.
ON THE NUMBER OF MOLTS IN LARVAE OF THE FALL WEBWORM, HYPHANTRIA CUNEA DRURY. (LEP. ARCTIIDAE)

In the mass of literature, dealing with the fall webworm there are few references to the number of larval stadia. Bruner ( I ) states that there are four or five molts in eastern Nebraska. Dyar ( 2 ), who made measurements of the head capsules, found seven stadia. Snodgrass (3) found six larval stadia. He figures the first, second, fifth, and sixth instars.
Sensing and characterization of explosive vapors near 700 cm-1

One of the technological challenges associated with trace vapor detection of explosive materials are the relatively low vapor pressures exhibited by most energetic materials under ambient conditions. For example, the vapor pressure for TNT is ~10 ppbv at room temperature, a concentration near the Limit of Detection for many of the technologies currently being deployed. In the case of improvised explosive devices, the clandestine nature of the device further serves to exacerbate the vapor pressure issue. Interestingly, the gold standard in explosives detection remains the trained canine nose. While there is still some debate as to what the dog actually smells, recent studies have indicated the alert response is triggered, not by the vapor presence of a specific explosive compound but, by a characteristic bouquet of odors from chemical impurities used to manufacture and process the explosives. Here we present high resolution infrared data for several of these volatile organic compounds in the 700 cm-1 region required for real time optical sensing of energetic materials.
Tracer diffusion in the presence of segregating obstacles

Abstract Tracer diffusion in an alloy in which the trajectories of one of the species is biased is examined as a model of mass transport with attendant segregation to extended defects (e.g., dynamic strain ageing, grain-boundary segregation). More specifically, we employ Monte Carlo simulation to describe the nonequilibrium diffusive behavior of the components of a two-dimensional lattice gas comprising A and B atoms wherein one of the species ( B ) interacts with randomly distributed line defects to create equilibrium atmospheres at late times. Various kinetic assumptions and defect densities are explored to highlight the role of B -atom mobility and defect interaction strength on the transport behavior of the A atoms. From the calculated instantaneous diffusivity, several diffusive regimes are then identified and related to evolving segregation profiles and, in particular, to the free area available for diffusion.
Minimum weight design of elastic cables

This paper is concerned with the minimum weight design of an elastic cable of variable cross section with both ends positioned at the same level. The cable is under the action of a uniformly distributed load. With the deflection of the cable given and the stress in the cable restricted, our objective is to determine the optimum distribution of the cross section. Calculus of variations with equality and inequality constraints is employed to find the necessary conditions of optimality. Efficiency of the optimum design evaluated from the comparison of an optimum cable with an equivalent cable of uniform cross section is studied. The best sag-span ratio of the optimum cable is also determined.
The Sll0606 Protein Is Required for Photosystem II Assembly/Stability in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

An insertional transposon mutation in the sll0606 gene was found to lead to a loss of photoautotrophy but not photoheterotrophy in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Complementation analysis of this mutant (Tsll0606) indicated that an intact sll0606 gene could fully restore photoautotrophic growth. Gene organization in the vicinity of sll0606 indicates that it is not contained in an operon. No electron transport activity was detected in Tsll0606 using water as an electron donor and 2,6-dichlorobenzoquinone as an electron acceptor, indicating that Photosystem II (PS II) was defective. Electron transport activity using dichlorophenol indolephenol plus ascorbate as an electron donor to methyl viologen, however, was the same as observed in the control strain. This indicated that electron flow through Photosystem I was normal. Fluorescence induction and decay parameters verified that Photosystem II was highly compromised. The quantum yield for energy trapping by Photosystem II (FV/FM) in the mutant was less than 10% of that observed in the control strain. The small variable fluorescence yield observed after a single saturating flash exhibited aberrant QA− reoxidation kinetics that were insensitive to dichloromethylurea. Immunological analysis indicated that whereas the D2 and CP47 proteins were modestly affected, the D1 and CP43 components were dramatically reduced. Analysis of two-dimensional blue native/lithium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels indicated that no intact PS II monomer or dimers were observed in the mutant. The CP43-less PS II monomer did accumulate to detectable levels. Our results indicate that the Sll0606 protein is required for the assembly/stability of a functionally competent Photosystem II.
Three‐color immunofluorescence analysis of leu antigens on human peripheral blood using two lasers on a fluorescence‐activated cell sorter

A fluorescence-activated cell sorter was modified to quantify simultaneously three immunofluorescence stains on a population of cells. A dye laser containing rhodamine 6G was used to obtain 600 nm light to excite Texas Red coupled avidin. An argon ion laser operating at 488 nm excited both fluorescein and phycoerythrin directly conjugated antibodies. The emission from these fluorophores could be independently quantified as demonstrated by the histograms generated by samples labeled separately with each of the three stains. This three-color detection system was used to analyze human peripheral blood mononuclear cells for the expression of three antigens: Leu 2, Leu 7, and Leu 11. Upon reanalysis of the list mode data, several discrete subpopulations of lymphocytes could be identified based on the quantitative expression of these three antigens. Of particular interest in the normal sample studied was a population of dimly labeled Leu 2+ cells which were predominantly Leu 11+, a phenotype which is seen infrequently in normal individuals. This technique expands the combinations of antigens that can be studied at any one time and will facilitate the detection and functional analysis of cells in heterogeneous populations.
Specificity of the Effect of a Nicotinic Receptor Polymorphism on Individual Differences in Visuospatial Attention

Cortical neurotransmitter availability is known to exert domain-specific effects on cognitive performance. Hence, normal variation in genes with a role in neurotransmission may also have specific effects on cognition. We tested this hypothesis by examining associations between polymorphisms in genes affecting cholinergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission and individual differences in visuospatial attention. Healthy individuals were administered a cued visual search task which varied the size of precues to the location of a target letter embedded in a 15-letter array. Cues encompassed 1, 3, 9, or 15 letters. Search speed increased linearly with precue size, indicative of a spatial attentional scaling mechanism. The strength of attentional scaling increased progressively with the number of C alleles (0, 1, or 2) of the alpha-4 nicotinic receptor gene C1545T polymorphism (n = 104). No association was found for the dopamine beta hydroxylase gene G444A polymorphism (n = 135). These findings point to the specificity of genetic neuromodulation. Whereas variation in a gene linked to cholinergic transmission systematically modulated the ability to scale the focus of visuospatial attention, variation in a gene governing dopamine availability did not. The results show that normal variation in a gene controlling a nicotinic receptor makes a selective contribution to individual differences in visuospatial attention.
Some tools for the direct solution of optimal control problems

Abstract This paper describes two ANSI C subroutines for the direct solution of finite time optimal control problems. Here the control variable is parameterized using a piecewise linear approximation. The resultant nonlinear programming problem (NLP) is solved using the sequential unconstrained minimization technique (SUMT) and the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method. These methods are embedded in the computer codes dyn_sumt and dyn_sqp, respectively. Both subroutines are used to solve more than 26 optimal problems that have appeared in the literature. The paper compares the computational efficiency of both codes as well as techniques for computing the gradient of the cost function and constraints of the optimal control problem.
Enabling clinicians to rapidly animate robots

Robots show potential to help people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A great obstacle in using robots as part of therapy is customizing robot behavior. Clinicians need a low-cost way to rapidly animate robots. There is a tradeoff between quickly creating animations and creating quality animations, but both aspects are important. Based on clinician feedback, we designed and developed two user interfaces for rapidly animating robots: a mouse-based interface and a motion-tracking interface. We examine this tradeoff with a comparative user study for these interfaces. Novices and clinicians were able to successfully create animations with both interfaces with little training. We learned that neither interface alone excels in both quickness and quality, but that a thoughtful combination of both interfaces has potential to yield a good balance between rapid creation and quality.
An energy consumption framework for distributed java-based systems

In this paper we define and evaluate a framework for estimating the energy consumption of Java-based software systems. Our primary objective in devising the framework is to enable an engineer to make informed decisions when adapting a system's architecture, such that the energy consumption on hardware devices with a finite battery life is reduced, and the lifetime of the system's key software services increases. Our framework explicitly takes a component-based perspective, which renders it well suited for a large class of today's distributed, embedded, and pervasive applications. The framework allows the engineer to estimate the software system's energy consumption at system construction-time and refine it at runtime. In a large number of distributed application scenarios, the framework showed very good precision on the whole, giving results that were within 5% (and often less) of the actually measured power losses incurred by executing the software. Our work to date has also highlighted a number of possible enhancements
Nontronite dissolution rates and implications for Mars

Abstract The Fe-rich smectite nontronite M+1.05[Si6.98Al1.02][Al0.29Fe3.68Mg0.04]O20(OH)4 has been detected using orbital data at multiple locations in ancient terrains on Mars, including Mawrth Vallis, Nilli Fossae, north of the Syrtis Major volcanic plateau, Terra Meridiani, and the landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Gale Crater. Given the antiquity of these sites (>3.0 Ga), it is likely that nontronite has been exposed to the martian environment for long periods of time and therefore provides an integrated record of processes in near surface environments including pedogenesis and diagenesis. In particular, nontronite detected at Mawrth Vallis is overlain by montmorillonite and kaolinite, and it has been previously suggested that this mineralogical sequence may be the result of surface weathering. In order to better understand clay mineral weathering on Mars, we measured dissolution rates of nontronite in column reactors at solution pH values of 0.9, 1.7, and 3.0, and two flow rates (0.16 ml/h and 0.32 ml/h). Solution chemistry indicates stoichiometric dissolution at pH = 0.9 and non-stoichiometric dissolution at pH = 1.7 and 3.0. Mineral dissolution rates based on elemental release rates at pH = 1.7 and 3.0 of Ca, Si and Fe follow the order interlayer > tetrahedral > octahedral sites, respectively. The behavior of all experiments suggests far from equilibrium conditions, with the exception of the experiment performed at pH 3.0 and flow rate 0.16 ml/h. A pH-dependent dissolution rate law was calculated through Si release from experiments that showed no dependence on saturation (far from equilibrium conditions) under both flow rates and is r = 10−12.06 (±0.123) · 10−0.297 (±0.058)·pH where r has the units mol mineral m−2 s−1. When compared to dissolution rates from the literature, our results indicate that nontronite dissolution is significantly slower than dissolution of the primary phases present in basalt under acidic conditions, suggesting that once nontronite forms it could remain stable at or near the surface of Mars for extended periods of time. Nontronite dissolution rates are faster than dissolution rates of montmorillonite ( Rozalen et al., 2008 ) and kaolinite ( Huertas et al., 1999 ), suggesting that chemical weathering of a mixed clay deposit would enrich the proportions of montmorillonite and kaolinite through the preferential dissolution of nontronite. Vis–NIR analyses of our reacted products and thermodynamic modeling of our experimental conditions both indicate the precipitation of amorphous silica within columns, and amorphous silica has also been observed in association with phyllosilicates on the martian surface ( Mustard et al., 2008 , Ehlmann et al., 2009 , Murchie et al., 2009a ). Therefore, chemical weathering of strata containing mixtures of montmorillonite, nontronite and kaolinite provides a potential formation mechanism for the mineralogic stratigraphy observed at Mawrth Vallis and other locations on Mars.