cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of Axle Load Spectrum Characteristics on Flexible Pavement Performance

The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) uses performance models to predict cracking and rutting in flexible pavements. A unique mechanism controls the initiation and accumulation of each distress, but each mechanism can have several causes. Axle repetitions and loads are the main causes of all load-related distress types. MEPDG incorporates axle load spectra to characterize axle loading for a site and uses them to calculate pavement response and damage accumulation. These load distributions have a bimodal shape, and a mixture of two continuous distributions can be used to model them. In this paper, closed-form solutions are developed to estimate the characteristics of a mixture of bimodal axle load distributions. The observed axle load spectra from 14 sites in different states were used to relate load distribution characteristics to predicted flexible pavement performance. The overall mean and other characteristics of a bimodal axle load distribution explained the variations in expected fl...
Teacher Use of Evidence to Customize Inquiry Science Instruction.

This study investigated how professional development featuring evidence-based customization of technology-enhanced curriculum projects can improve inquiry science teaching and student knowledge integration in earth science. Participants included three middle school sixth-grade teachers and their classes of students (N = 787) for three consecutive years. Teachers used evidence from their student work to revise the curriculum projects and rethink their teaching strategies. Data were collected through teacher interviews, written reflections, classroom observations, curriculum artifacts, and student assessments. Results suggest that the detailed information about the learning activities of students provided by the assessments embedded in the online curriculum motivated curricular and pedagogical customizations that resulted in both teacher and student learning. Customizations initiated by teachers included revisions of embedded questions, additions of hands-on investigations, and modifications of teaching strategies. Student performance improved across the three cohorts of students with each year of instructional customization. Coupling evidence from student work with revisions of curriculum and instruction has promise for strengthening professional development and improving science learning. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1037–1063, 2010
Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides gene encoding form II ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and comparison with other deduced form I and II sequences

Abstract The nucleotide sequence for the Rhodobacter sphaeroides form II ribulose 1, 5-bisphosphate car☐ylase/oxygenase was determined. The deduced product is highly homologous with the form II-like enzyme of Rhodospirillum rubrum , but appears to be more distantly related to the large subunit of the L 8 S 8 enzyme found in autotrophic bacteria, cyanobacteria and higher plants. Several regions highly conserved among L 8 S 8 and L X enzymes correspond with regions previously implicated in catalytic activity and subunit interactions. An imperfect palindrome and a stem loop structure were identified in the 5′ and 3′ flanking sequences, respectively, of R. sphaeroides rbpL .
Multi-wavelength laser scattering at the air-sea interface

This paper describes a shore-based multi-wavelength lidar for air-sea interface studies. The lidar systems used lasers operated in near IR and visible wavelengths to collect waveform and imaging spectrograph data at both sides of the air-sea interface. This paper describes the lidars, the waveform sampling system and the imaging spectrograph system. This paper also describes the measurement results.
Target-, limb-, and context-dependent neural activity in the cingulate and supplementary motor areas of the monkey.

Very little is known about the role of the cingulate motor area (CMA) in visually guided reaching compared to other cortical motor areas. To investigate the hierarchical role of the caudal CMA (CMAc) during reaching we recorded the activity of neurons in CMAc in comparison to the supplementary motor area proper (SMA) while a monkey performed an instructed delay task that required it to position a cursor over visual targets on a computer screen using two-dimensional (2D) joystick movements. The direction of the monkey’s arm movement was dissociated from the direction of the visual target by periodically reversing the relationship between the direction of movement of the joystick and that of the cursor. Neurons that responded maximally with a particular limb movement direction regardless of target location were classified as limb-dependent, whereas neurons that responded maximally to a particular target direction regardless of the direction of limb movement were classified as target-dependent. Neurons whose activity was directional in one of the two visuomotor mapping conditions and non-directional or inactive in the other were categorized as context-dependent. Limb-dependent activity was observed more frequently than target-dependent activity in both CMAc and SMA proper during both the delay period (preparatory activity; CMAc, 17%; SMA, 31%) and during movement execution (CMAc, 49%, SMA, 48%). A modest percentage of neurons with preparatory activity were target-dependent in both CMAc (11%) and SMA proper (8%) and a similar percentage of neurons in both areas demonstrated target-dependent, movement activity (CMAc, 8%; SMA, 10%). The surprising finding was that a very large percentage of neurons in both areas displayed context-dependent activity either during the preparatory (CMAc, 72%; SMA, 61%) or movement (CMAc, 43%, SMA 42%) epochs of the task. These results show that neural activity in both CMAc and SMA can directly represent movement direction in either limb-centered or target-centered coordinates. The presence of target-dependent activity in CMAc, as well as SMA, suggests that both are involved in the transformation of visual target information into appropriate motor commands. Target-dependent activity has been found in the putamen, SMA, CMAc, dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, as well as primary motor cortex. This indicates that the visuomotor transformations required for visually guided reaching are carried out by a distributed network of interconnected motor areas. The large proportion of neurons with context-dependent activity suggests, however, that while both CMAc and SMA may play a role in the visuomotor transformation of target information into movement parameters, their activity is not solely coding parameters of movement, since their involvement in this process is highly condition-dependent.
Exactly Sparse Delayed-State Filters for View-Based SLAM

This paper reports the novel insight that the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) information matrix is exactly sparse in a delayed-state framework. Such a framework is used in view-based representations of the environment that rely upon scan-matching raw sensor data to obtain virtual observations of robot motion with respect to a place it has previously been. The exact sparseness of the delayed-state information matrix is in contrast to other recent feature-based SLAM information algorithms, such as sparse extended information filter or thin junction-tree filter, since these methods have to make approximations in order to force the feature-based SLAM information matrix to be sparse. The benefit of the exact sparsity of the delayed-state framework is that it allows one to take advantage of the information space parameterization without incurring any sparse approximation error. Therefore, it can produce equivalent results to the full-covariance solution. The approach is validated experimentally using monocular imagery for two datasets: a test-tank experiment with ground truth, and a remotely operated vehicle survey of the RMS Titanic
Substance P and neutral endopeptidase in development of acute respiratory distress syndrome following fire smoke inhalation

To characterize the tachykininergic effects in fire smoke (FS)-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), we designed a series of studies in rats. Initially, 20 min of FS inhalation induced a significant increase of substance P (SP) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) at 1 h and persisted for 24 h after insult. Conversely, FS disrupted 51.4, 55.6, 46.3, and 43.0% enzymatic activity of neutral endopeptidase (NEP, a primary hydrolyzing enzyme for SP) 1, 6, 12, and 24 h after insult, respectively. Immunolabeling density of NEP in the airway epithelium largely disappeared 1 h after insult due to acute cell damage and shedding. These changes were also accompanied by extensive influx of albumin and granulocytes/lymphocytes in BALF. Furthermore, levels of BALF SP and tissue NEP activity dose dependently increased and decreased, respectively, following 0, low (10 min), and high (20 min) levels of FS inhalation. However, neither the time-course nor the dose-response study observed a significant change in the highest affinity neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) for SP. Finally, treatment (10 mg/kg im) with SR-140333B, an NK-1R antagonist, significantly prevented 20-min FS-induced hypoxemia and pulmonary edema 24 h after insult. Further examination indicated that SR-140333B (1.0 or 10.0 mg/kg im) fully abolished early (1 h) plasma extravasation following FS. Collectively, these findings suggest that a combination of sustained SP and NEP inactivity induces an exaggerated neurogenic inflammation mediated by NK-1R, which may lead to an uncontrolled influx of protein-rich edema fluid and cells into the alveoli as a consequence of increased vascular permeability.
A Rigid-Field Hydrodynamics approach to modelling the magnetospheres of massive stars

We introduce a new Rigid-Field Hydrodynamics approach to modelling the magnetospheres of massive stars in the limit of very strong magnetic fields. Treating the field lines as effectively rigid, we develop hydrodynamical equations describing the one-dimensional flow along each, subject to pressure, radiative, gravitational and centrifugal forces. We solve these equations numerically for a large ensemble of field lines to build up a three-dimensional time-dependent simulation of a model star with parameters similar to the archetypal Bp star σ Ori E. Since the flow along each field line can be solved independently of other field lines, the computational cost of this approach is a fraction of an equivalent magnetohydrodynamical treatment. The simulations confirm many of the predictions of previous analytical and numerical studies. Collisions between wind streams from opposing magnetic hemispheres lead to strong shock heating. The post-shock plasma cools initially via X-ray emission, and eventually accumulates into a warped, rigidly rotating disc defined by the locus of minima of the effective (gravitational plus centrifugal) potential. However, a number of novel results also emerge. For field lines extending far from the star, the rapid area divergence enhances the radiative acceleration of the wind, resulting in high shock velocities (up to ∼3000 km s−1) and hard X-rays. Moreover, the release of centrifugal potential energy continues to heat the wind plasma after the shocks, up to temperatures around twice those achieved at the shocks themselves. Finally, in some circumstances the cool plasma in the accumulating disc can oscillate about its equilibrium position, possibly due to radiative cooling instabilities in the adjacent post-shock regions.
Malformations Attributed to Multifactorial Inheritance

Malformations can be caused by many factors, both genetic and environmental. Conceptually, it has been easier to imagine a dominant or recessive gene or an extra chromosome or a drug taken by the mother as a cause of a malformation than it has been to conceptualize the process known as multifactorial inheritance. In this process of multifactorial inheritance both genetic and environmental factors combine to cause a structural malformation. Although the process may not be as easy to conceptualize, malformations due to multifactorial inheritance are much more common than those attributed to other recognized etiologies. In the process of multifactorial inheritance both mutant genes (one or several) and environmental factors (virtually all of which are unknown) combine to produce an abnormality. This term, however cumbersome, is preferred to polygenic inheritance, a term that suggests correctly that several genes may be involved, but ignores the role of nongenetic factors in the pathogenesis of these malformations. There is no evidence that multiple environmental factors can simulate multifactorial inheritance. Among newborn infants, the prevalence of major malformations is about 2.5%, with the apparent etiologies as shown in Table 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF MULTIFACTORIAL INHERITANCE The high frequency of malformations attributed to these complex etiologies makes it crucial that pediatricians be familiar with the patterns of occurrence and recurrence and be prepared to discuss these with parents.
SEASONAL CHANGES IN CIRCULATING PROGESTERONE AND ESTROGEN CONCENTRATIONS IN THE CALIFORNIA SEA LION (ZALOPHUS CALIFORNIANUS)

Abstract The measurement of circulating reproductive hormone levels provides a relatively noninvasive method for assessing reproductive status. We assessed seasonal changes in concentrations of progesterone and total estrogens from serum samples collected from live stranded (n = 199) and captive (n = 5) California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). Progesterone concentrations increased in the fall (September–November) in both pregnant and nonpregnant animals, with no significant difference associated with pregnancy. Progesterone concentrations were greater in pregnant animals in the spring (February–April) than in nonpregnant animals. Circulating estrogen concentrations in captive, nonpregnant sea lions increased in July and November, correlating with periods of estrus and implantation. These data provide a baseline for studying reproduction in California sea lions.
Effect of wave directional spread on the radiation stress: comparing theory and observations

Nearshore circulation and shoreline setup are forced through the wave radiation stress, which is a function of the frequency-directional wave spectrum. The radiation stress components often are approximated by assuming a spectrum that is narrow-band in frequency and direction. These narrow-band approximations overestimate the true radiation stress components in 8-m water depth on the Outer Banks, NC where locally generated (broad in frequency and direction) sea conditions are prevalent. Using the empirical Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum, frequency-spread is shown not to be the cause of this overestimation. Analytic expressions derived by Battjes [J. Mar. Res. 30 (1972) 56], for the ratio of true to narrow-band approximated radiation stress, which depend only on the directional spread, are compared to field data. The observed ratio of true to narrow-band approximated radiation stress is a strong function of the observed bulk (energy-weighted) directional spread, and closely follows the analytic expressions. Thus the narrow-band radiation stresses approximation can be augmented with a directional-spread dependence. These results are expected to apply to other geographic areas where waves are often locally generated.
Effects of Purine Nucleosides on Differentiation in Lymphohematopoietic Stem Cell Leukemia

It is generally assumed that the antineoplastic effects of nucleoside analogues result from cytotoxicity that these agents or their metabolites exert through interference with various steps in nucleotide or nucleic acid metabolism. Nucleosides may also alter cellular differentiation, though the basis for this type of action remains to be established, Other papers will address the in vitro effects of purine nucleoside analogues on the maturation of myeloid leukemia cell lines and suggest some mechanisms that may be involved. I will review in vivo and in vitro evidence that abnormal concentrations of naturally occuring purine nucleosides, as well as their analogues, may affect the differentiation of leukemic stem cells.
Relationships between Cycling Hypoxia, HIF-1, Angiogenesis and Oxidative Stress

This Failla Lecture focused on the inter-relationships between tumor angiogenesis, HIF-1 expression and radiotherapy responses. A common thread that bonds all of these factors together is microenvironmental stress caused by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species formed during tumor growth and angiogenesis or in response to cytotoxic treatment. In this review we focus on one aspect of the crossroad between oxidative stress and angiogenesis, namely cycling hypoxia. Understanding of the relative importance of this feature of the tumor microenvironment has recently expanded; it influences tumor biology in ways that are separate from chronic hypoxia. Cycling hypoxia can influence angiogenesis, treatment responses and metastatic behavior. It represents an important and relatively less well understood feature of tumor biology that requires additional research.
Glides, vowels, and features

Abstract Generative phonologists usually take high vowels like [i,u] and glides like [j,w] to be identical (respectively) in terms of distinctive features. The main argument for this assumption comes from theoretical economy: since syllable theory independently provides us with a means of distinguishing between vowels and glides – as syllable nuclei and margins respectively – there is no need for a featural distinction. This paper shows that in fact vowels must be featurally distinct from glides. Evidence for this comes from phonological processes that distinguish between the segment types, in a way that specifically diagnoses a difference of constriction degree. I further show that the vowel vs. glide distinction is part of a larger hierarchy of segmental distinctions based on constriction degree, as indicated by cross-linguistic generalizations. The implications of these conclusions for cases of high vowel vs. glide contrast are explored.
The impact of incomplete knowledge on the evaluation of protein function prediction: a structured-output learning perspective.

Motivation: The automated functional annotation of biological macromolecules is a problem of computational assignment of biological concepts or ontological terms to genes and gene products. A number of methods have been developed to computationally annotate genes using standardized nomenclature such as Gene Ontology (GO). However, questions remain about the possibility for development of accurate methods that can integrate disparate molecular data as well as about an unbiased evaluation of these methods. One important concern is that experimental annotations of proteins are incomplete. This raises questions as to whether and to what degree currently available data can be reliably used to train computational models and estimate their performance accuracy. Results: We study the effect of incomplete experimental annotations on the reliability of performance evaluation in protein function prediction. Using the structured-output learning framework, we provide theoretical analyses and carry out simulations to characterize the effect of growing experimental annotations on the correctness and stability of performance estimates corresponding to different types of methods. We then analyze real biological data by simulating the prediction, evaluation and subsequent re-evaluation (after additional experimental annotations become available) of GO term predictions. Our results agree with previous observations that incomplete and accumulating experimental annotations have the potential to significantly impact accuracy assessments. We find that their influence reflects a complex interplay between the prediction algorithm, performance metric and underlying ontology. However, using the available experimental data and under realistic assumptions, our results also suggest that current large-scale evaluations are meaningful and almost surprisingly reliable. Contact: predrag@indiana.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Optoelectronic time-of-flight design and the demonstration of an all-optical, stored program, digital computer

The recent demonstration of an all-optical, stored-program, digital computer by our group focused on high-speed optoelectronic design. It was made possible by a new digital design method known as time-of-flight design. A rudimentary, but general-purpose, proof of principle computer was built, which is all-optical in the sense that all signals connecting logic gates and all memory are optical in nature. LiNbO/sub 3/ directional couplers, electrooptic switches, are used to perform logic operations. In addition to demonstrating stored program operation in an optoelectronic digital computer, the system demonstrated the feasibility of the new design method, which does nor use any flip-flops or other bistable devices for synchronization or memory. This potentially allows system clock rates of the same order as device bandwidth. This paper describes how the time-of-flight design method was motivated by the special properties of optoelectronic digital design. The basic principles of the method we employed will be discussed along with some of its potential advantages. The experimental work with digital optical circuits leading up to and including the stored program computer experiment will then be discussed. Finally, the future potential of time-of-flight design in high-bandwidth optoelectronic systems will be discussed. >
The birth of a public sphere in Latin America during the Age of Revolution

Contrairement au point de vue qui situe l'origine de la sphere publique en Amerique latine seulement a partir des annees 1820, l'A. met en evidence un processus important d'emergence et d'expansion de la sphere publique parmi la societe civile des l'epoque coloniale tardive et durant l'Age de la Revolution (1760-1850). Il conteste l'interpretation qui situe les debats intellectuels et critiques de l'epoque uniquement a l'interieur de l'espace prive, ainsi que l'analyse qui considere l'absence d'une presse ecrite et d'une population alphabetisee comme la cause du non-developpement du debat public. Il examine les developpements de l'espace public dans les centres urbains importants de quatre vice-royautes a l'epoque coloniale tardive (Nouvelle-Espagne, Nouvelle-Grenade, Perou, et Rio de la Plata), et commente quelques evenements dans des regions peripheriques et au Bresil. Examinant plus specifiquement le role joue par certains groupes sociaux et professionnels, tels les magistrats et les intellectuels (letrados), il montre comment les nouveaux moyens d'expression, bien que limites, ont prepare la voie pour la mobilisation revolutionnaire de la periode suivante.
Managing child abuse: general principles

1. Andrea G. Asnes, MD, MSW* 2. John M. Leventhal, MD† 1. *Associate Medical Director. 2. †Medical Director, Child Abuse Programs, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Identify their roles as mandated reporters of child abuse. 2. Discuss the approach to evaluating cases of suspected child maltreatment. 3. Know when to become concerned about possible child maltreatment and when and how to seek help in evaluating cases. 4. Recognize the role of the pediatric practitioner in ongoing care of and advocacy on the behalf of maltreated children. Child abuse is common. In 2007, the year for which the most recent child protective services (CPS) data are available, 3.2 million reports were filed concerning approximately 5.8 million children younger than 18 years of age who were suspected victims of abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse. Also in 2007, 1,760 child deaths were attributed to abuse or neglect. Neglect constituted 59% of all cases of child maltreatment, more than all other forms of substantiated child maltreatment combined. Most maltreatment occurs in children's homes. In 2007, nearly 80% of the perpetrators of child maltreatment were parents. State laws mandate that pediatric practitioners report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to local CPS. The process that begins when the clinician first feels concern about a child's welfare and ends when he or she makes a report to CPS is one of the most challenging and disturbing that practitioners must undertake. Because child maltreatment is common, it is likely that all pediatric clinicians will care for abused or neglected children and, therefore, will be obliged to report such children to CPS. For this reason, pediatric practitioners should know and employ a careful, systematic, and thoughtful approach to evaluating all suspected cases of child maltreatment to …
Time-domain analysis of sensor-to-sensor transmissibility operators

In some applications, multiple measurements are available, but the driving input that gives rise to those outputs may be unknown. This raises the question as to whether it is possible to model the response of a subset of sensors based on the response of the remaining sensors without knowledge of the driving input. To address this issue, we develop time-domain sensor-to-sensor models that account for nonzero initial conditions. The sensor-to-sensor model is in the form of a transmissibility operator that is a rational function of the differentiation operator. The development is carried out for both SISO and MIMO transmissibility operators. These time-domain sensor-to-sensor models can be used for diagnostics and output prediction.
Airport Traffic and Metropolitan Economies: Determinants of Passenger and Cargo Traffic

While controlling for the unique and unobserved characteristics of cities, this paper assesses the impact of urban size, employment, and income on air traffic. Previous studies have established links between the socioeconomic characteristics of cities and the volume of passenger and cargo traffic enplaned at their airports. Using the variations of population, employment, and income across urban areas, researchers have found that passenger enplanements have been proportional to city size and that they have increased with income and service sector employment. However, most earlier work relied on cross-section methods that ignored city-specific differences that may have influenced the drivers of air traffic. This paper is based on a 10-year quarterly panel of city-level economic and traffic measures, from which a city fixed-effects model is estimated. Thus, the results presented here shed light on the within-city effects that population, employment composition, and the average wage have on traffic and provid...
Intestinal absorption of iodine 131-labeled triolein and oleic acid in normal subjects and in steatorrhea.

Summary 1.The absorption of triolein and oleic acid may be adequately quantitated in the normal using I 131 -labeled preparations. 2.The absorption of triolein and oleic acid in digestive and absorptive defects with steatorrhea would appear characteristic enough to differentiate these defects from the normal and from each other.
Concurrent metamorphosis of hexagonal robot chains into simple connected configurations

The problem addressed is the distributed reconfiguration of a metamorphic robotic system composed of an arbitrary number of two-dimensional hexagonal robots (modules) from specific initial to specific goal configurations. The initial configuration considered is a straight chain of robotic modules, while the goal configurations considered satisfy a more general "admissibility" condition. A centralized algorithm is described for determining whether an arbitrary goal configuration is admissible. We prove this algorithm correctly identifies admissible goal configurations and finds a "substrate path" within the goal configuration, along which the modules can move to reach their positions in the goal. A second result of the paper is a distributed algorithm for reconfiguring a straight chain into an admissible goal configuration. Different heuristics are proposed to improve the performance of the reconfiguration algorithm and simulation results demonstrate the use of these heuristics.
Addressing the challenges educating system engineers for the Armed Forces

In 2000 just 17% of bachelor's degrees in the United States were in science and engineering while other countries boasted far more graduates. Additionally, by 2010, the U.S. share of world science and engineering PhDs will decrease by approximately 15%. The Department of Defense has issued a call for additional systems engineers. However, attaining advanced degrees is difficult as military students face a wide variety of issues contributing to a large incompletion rate. A need for a better educational structure exists in order to address the needs of military community. In response to this recognized need, several potential solutions emerged from a workshop called to address these issues. This paper outlines many of these solutions and advocates for their implementation.
Family Feuds: Severe Aggression among Cooperatively Breeding Cotton-Top Tamarins

A survey of severe aggression occurring over the 20 year history of a cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) colony indicated that most aggression was between same-sex individuals, with fights among siblings more common than parent-offspring conflict. Males engaged in severe aggression more often than females did, paralleling the dimorphic aggressive response to same-sex intruders in this species. Female-female aggression occurred at larger group sizes than male-male aggression, suggesting a higher threshold for female aggression. Much sibling aggression was directed by postpubertal subadults toward prepubertal siblings. Only 17% of aggression occurred in association with infant births, and these cases rarely involved parents and offspring suggesting that aggression was not used by reproductive animals to defend their breeding position. Severe aggression was often associated with attempts to introduce stepparents or movement of individuals in and out of the group. The mean group sizes when aggression is observed in captivity are close to the maximum group sizes observed in wild tamarins, which suggests that severe aggression in captive groups may reflect processes related to dispersal in wild tamarins.
Immunological Detection of Hymenopteran Parasitism inHelicoverpa zeaandHeliothis virescens

Abstract We have developed a monoclonal antibody that recognizes the larval and adult stages of Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), two principal endoparasitoids of the polyphagous pests Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The antibody has been incorporated into an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that can be used to distinguish parasitized from unparasitized pests. The antibody cross-reacts with several different hymenopteran parasitoids, but not with any of the noctuid pests we have assayed. An immunoassay based on a broadly reactive antibody such as this one enables comprehensive detection of hymenopteran parasitism with a single antibody reagent.
Individual differences in involvement of the visual object recognition system during visual word recognition.

Abstract Individuals with dyslexia often evince reduced activation during reading in left hemisphere (LH) language regions. This can be observed along with increased activation in the right hemisphere (RH), especially in areas associated with object recognition – a pattern referred to as RH compensation. The mechanisms of RH compensation are relatively unclear. We hypothesize that RH compensation occurs when the RH object recognition system is called upon to supplement an underperforming LH visual word form recognition system. We tested this by collecting ERPs while participants with a range of reading abilities viewed words, objects, and word/object ambiguous items (e.g., “SMILE” shaped like a smile). Less experienced readers differentiate words, objects, and ambiguous items less strongly, especially over the RH. We suggest that this lack of differentiation may have negative consequences for dyslexic individuals demonstrating RH compensation.
Terahertz spectroscopy of brain tissue from a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

The terahertz (THz) absorption and index of refraction of brain tissues from a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and a control wild-type (normal) mouse were compared using THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Three dominating absorption peaks associated to torsional–vibrational modes were observed in AD tissue, at about 1.44, 1.8, and 2.114 THz, closer to the peaks of free tryptophan molecules than in normal tissue. A possible reason is that there is more free tryptophan in AD brain tissue, while in normal brain tissue more tryptophan is attached to other molecules. Our study suggests that THz-absorption modes may be used as an AD biomarker fingerprint in brain, and that THz-TDS is a promising technique for early diagnosis of AD.
Nutritional influences on lung development and protection against chronic lung disease.

W hereas traditional risk factors, namely, high oxygen exposure, mechanical ventilation, excess fluid administration, and the basic immaturity of the lung, have most frequently been the factors related to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, neonatologists have gradually begun to realize that a relationship may exist between early nutritional support in the very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infant and the development of chronic lung disease. A recommendation of a recent National Institutes of Health workshop on “Nutrition and the Lung,” which concluded that “sufficient evidence is available to recommend that greater clinical priority be given to nutrition as a vigorous part of total support in premature infants,“’ is only beginning to be reflected in current neonatal nutritional practices. Data from the time period of late 1987 to late 1988, reported from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Network of Neonatal Intensive Care Units, still demonstrate nutritional deficiencies experienced by VLBW infants from seven perinatal centers.’ Specifically, they reported the mean age to regain birth weight as high as 19 days for the ~750 g premature and that 68% of infants weighed less than the tenth percentile for postmenstrual age at the time of discharge, concluding that “despite gains in the technical aspects of neonatal care, very few advances have been made in maintaining adequate growth and nutrition.” They recommended as a future challenge “improved methods of nutrition to improve growth during the critical perinatal period.“’ It is the purpose of this report to relay the specifics of some of nutrition’s multiple benefits to the
Are the American People “Pretty Prudent”? Public Responses to U.S. Uses of Force, 1950–1988

A new consensus has emerged in recent years that the public responds to foreign affairs in reasonable ways. Bruce Jentleson (1992) has contributed to this optimistic revisionism, arguing that the public is “pretty prudent” in the “post post-Vietnam period.” The American people, he suggests, now discriminate between using the military to force foreign policy restraint on aggressive adversaries and using it to coerce internal political change. We test Jentleson's hypothesis, with several theoretically interesting controls, using regression analyses of all thirty-eight major uses of force that occurred during a U.S. foreign policy crisis, 1950–1988. We do not find support for Jentleson's periodization of the post—World War II era; but our analyses do indicate that the American people have, throughout the postwar years, been more supportive of using military force to resist aggression than to engineer internal change in other countries.
Effects of Disorder on Electronic Properties of Nanocrystal Assemblies

Structural disorder is one of the major obstacles for band-like transport in semiconductor nanocrystal (NC) solids. However, systematic study of the effect of structural disorder on electronic properties is lacking. Here, we use a tight-binding model that explicitly incorporates energetic and positional disorders to evaluate quantitatively the effects of disorder on electron transport in semiconductor NC assemblies. The density of states and wave function delocalization are analyzed to identify the mobility edges, if they exist. We summarize the results in phase diagrams of the localization–delocalization transition for different superlattice structures. We find that the critical disorder at the transition point mainly depends on short-range order, not the long-range order of the superlattice. We also use an effective-mass model to calculate the coupling energy between adjacent nanocrystals. The calculation reveals that a red-shift of the excitonic peak in the optical absorption spectrum is not directly r...
Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of maize mitochondrial gene expression.

Abstract Lysed maize mitochondria synthesize RNA in the presence of radioactive nucleoside triphosphates, and this assay was utilized to compare the rates of transcription of seven genes. The rates of incorporation varied over a 14-fold range, with the following rank order: 18S rRNA greater than 26S rRNA greater than atp1 greater than atp6 greater than atp9 greater than cob greater than cox3. The products of run-on transcription hybridized specifically to known transcribed regions and selectively to the antisense DNA strand; thus, the isolated run-on transcription system appears to be an accurate representation of endogenous transcription. Although there were small differences in gene copy abundance, these differences cannot account for the differences in apparent transcription rates; we conclude that promoter strength is the main determinant. Among the protein coding genes, incorporation was greatest for atp1. The most active transcription initiation site of this gene was characterized by hybridization with in vitro-capped RNA and by primer extension analyses. The DNA sequences at this and other transcription initiation sites that we have previously mapped were analyzed with respect to the apparent promoter strengths. We propose that two short sequence elements just upstream of initiation sites form at least a portion of the sequence requirements for a maize mitochondrial promoter. In addition to modulation at the level of transcription, steady-state abundance of protein-coding mRNAs varied over a 20-fold range and did not correlate with transcriptional activity. These observations suggest that posttranscriptional processes are important in the modulation of mRNA abundance.
Flow-mediated cell stress induction in adherent leukocytes is accompanied by modulation of morphology and phagocytic function

Leukocytes adherent to the surfaces of both vascular biomaterials and normal blood vessels experience blood flow induced shear stress. The goal of the reported studies was to investigate the effect of fluid flow on the morphology, phagocytic function and stress response induction in adherent immune cells. Shear approximating arterial, venous and intermediate levels were applied onto glass-adherent IC21 macrophages in a temperature-controlled parallel plate flow system. The results indicate that fluid flow induces a shear-dependent physiological stress response in adherent macrophages and that significant morphological changes accompany macrophage responses to shear stress. In addition, arterial flow conditions induce not only significant cell polarisation, but also enhanced phagocytic ingestion in glass-adherent IC21 macrophages. These findings suggest that blood flow induced shear stress may not only be consequent to adherent leukocyte activation, but may also be integral to the regulation of adherent leukocyte behaviour in vivo.
Demographic Statistics for the Pea Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Wisconsin and a Comparison with Other Populations

The relationship between temperature and nymphal developmental rate for Wisconsin populations of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), was studied in the laboratory and the field. Laboratory studies provided estimates of both lower (2.73°C) and upper (26.02°C) thresholds for development. Age-specific life table parameters were also estimated for two apterous cohorts and one alate cohort exposed to field temperatures. Population growth statistics varied with rearing temperature but, for apterous cohorts, converged when a physiological time scale (“instar periods”) was used. Although stable stage (instar) distributions for the apterous cohorts varied on a physiological time scale, ca. 50% of the individuals in each cohort were first instars, whereas adults accounted for only 7.6 to 13.1% of the total population. Developmental thresholds and population statistics for A. pisum in Wisconsin were similar to an Ontario (Canada) population established in a climate similar to Wisconsin's, but were dissimilar to a British Columbia population established in a warm, arid region. The relevance of these results to the study of A. pisum population dynamics in the field is discussed.
Surface modification of Al30 Keggin-type polyaluminum molecular clusters.

Keggin-type molecular clusters formed from the partial hydrolysis of aluminum in aqueous solutions have the capacity to adsorb a variety of inorganic and organic contaminants. The adsorptive capability of Keggin-type polyaluminum species, such as Al13 and Al30, lead to their wide usage as precursors for heterogeneous catalysts and clarifying agents for water purification applications, but a molecular-level understanding of adsorption process is lacking. Two model Al30 clusters, whose surface has been modified with chelated metals (Al(3+) and Zn(2+)) have been synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Al32IDA [(Al(IDA)H2O)2(Al30O8(OH)60(H2O)22)](2,6-NDS)4(SO4)2Cl4(H2O)40, IDA = iminodiacetic acid, 2,6-NDS = 2,6 napthalene disulfonate) crystallize in the triclinic space group, P1 with a = 13.952(2) A, b = 16.319(3) A, c = 23.056(4) A, α = 93.31(1)°, β = 105.27(1)°, and γ = 105.52(1)°. Zn2Al32 [(Zn(NTA)H2O)2(Al(NTA)(OH)2)2(Al30(OH)60(O)8(H2O)20](2,6-NDS)5(H2O)64, (NTA = nitrilotriacetic acid), also crystallizes in P1 with unit cell parameter refined as a = 16.733(7) A, b = 18.034(10) A, c = 21.925(11) A, α = 82.82(2)°, β = 70.96(2)°, and γ = 65.36(2)°. The chelated metal centers adsorb to the surface of the Al30 clusters through hydroxyl bridges located at the central belt region of the molecule. The observed binding sites for the metal centers mirror the reactivity predicted by previously reported molecular dynamic simulations and can be identified by the acidity and hydration factor of the water group that participates in the adsorption process.
A simple Bayesian approach to quantifying confidence level of adverse event incidence proportion in small samples

ABSTRACTIn both clinical development and post-marketing of a new therapy or a new treatment, incidence of an adverse event (AE) is always a concern. When sample sizes are small, large sample-based inferential approaches on an AE incidence proportion in a certain time period no longer apply. In this brief discussion, we introduce a simple Bayesian framework to quantify, in small sample studies and the rare AE case, (1) the confidence level that the incidence proportion of a particular AE p is over or below a threshold, (2) the lower or upper bounds on p with a certain level of confidence, and (3) the minimum required number of patients with an AE before we can be certain that p surpasses a specific threshold, or the maximum allowable number of patients with an AE after which we can no longer be certain that p is below a certain threshold, given a certain confidence level. The method is easy to understand and implement; the interpretation of the results is intuitive. This article also demonstrates the usefu...
The Role of Knowledge on Genetic Counseling and Testing in Black Cancer Survivors at Increased Risk of Carrying a BRCA1/2 Mutation

Genetic counseling and testing (GCT) for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers (HBOC) can inform treatment decisions in survivors. Black women at risk of HBOC have lower GCT engagement. There is limited data about Black survivors' experiences. The goals of this study were to: 1) examine the factors associated with HBOC knowledge and 2) assess the impact of knowledge on GCT engagement in a sample of Black survivors at risk of HBOC. Fifty Black at-risk breast/ovarian cancer survivors participated in a telephone-based survey. GCT use was measured across a continuum (awareness, referral, and use). The primary predictor variable was HBOC knowledge. Other clinical, socio-demographic, and psychosocial variables were included. Multiple linear and ordinal regression models (knowledge as the outcome and GCT as the outcome) assessed the predictors of knowledge and GCT engagement. Less than half (48 %) of survivors were referred to or used GCT services. Knowledge was moderate (M = 7.78, SD = 1.61). In the multivariable analysis, lower age (β = -.34, p = .01) and lower stage (β = -.318, p = .017) were associated with higher knowledge. Higher knowledge (β = .567, p = .006) and higher self-efficacy (β = .406, p = .001) were significantly associated with GCT engagement. Future interventions directed at increasing knowledge, self-efficacy, and improving the referral process are warranted.
In Situ Measurement of CO2 and H2O Adsorption by ZIF-8 Films

The adsorption of CO2 and H2O by ZIF-8 thin films was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) in situ under low-temperature, low-pressure conditions. Using these two techniques, we demonstrate the ability to clearly distinguish molecules that exhibit significant adsorption in the pore structure of ZIF-8, from molecules that adsorb predominantly at outer surface sites. In particular, CO2 was found to penetrate into the pore structure, while H2O resided predominantly at the surface. CO2 uptake was quantified, and mobility within the films was investigated. The ability to distinguish surface processes from those that primarily occur in the bulk is key to understanding the properties of nanoporous materials.
Embryology, Anatomy, and Radiology of Cervical Cysts and Cleft Lip/Palate: A Team-Based Learning Module for Medical Students.

Abstract Introduction Current medical education promotes enhanced integration of various disciplines and early exposure to clinically relevant topics. Against this background, we have developed a t...
The Development of Dynamical Models

The large-scale motions in the stratosphere-mesosphere are approximately governed by the primitive equations consisting of the horizontal momentum equations, the first law of thermodynamics, the continuity equation, and the hydrostatic approximation. In addition to hydrostatic balance the term primitive is generally assumed to imply that the variable distance to the center of the earth is replaced by a constant mean distance and the Coriolis force terms due to the horizontal component of the rotation vector are omitted (Phillips, 1966). These primitive equations form the basis of global general circulation models which have been used to simulate the stratospheric circulation by Manabe and Hunt (1968) and Kasahara et al. (1973). In their complete form the equations are highly nonlinear and can only be solved by initial value techniques using finite difference or spectral analogues to the governing equations. Such approaches are necessary if accurate quantitative modelling of the global stratosphere is required. However, to gain physical understanding of the qualitative nature of various dynamical phenomena which occur in the stratosphere it is useful to apply simplified mechanistic models in which the governing equations are modified so that one may focus on the essential features of a specific phenomenon without considering the complexities of interactions on a global scale.