cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Children's binary prediction of partially learnable sequences followed by an all-correct procedure☆

Abstract Six groups of 20 subjects each were run individually in a binary prediction situation with each alternative occurring equally often. Two age groups were employed; subjects were either in second or sixth grades. For one-third of the subjects at each age level, the events occurred in runs of either two or six; another third observed events which occurred in runs of either five or six; the other subjects received a random sequence of events. All subjects then received an additional 50 trials in which every prediction was correct. The results indicated some sensitivity to run length characteristics. Fewer errors of all types were made in the prediction of 5–6 sequences. The verbal reports and all-correct trial protocols revealed that at least the sixth graders employed some simple run length structure rules, although many instances of runs other than those presented in training occurred, showing much processing error. The results were discussed in terms of a general limited-capacity model of information-processing.
Separation of volatile and nonvolatile deposits on real-time SAW NVR detectors

Real-time instruments based on surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators are now seeing greater application for measuring the accumulation of nonvolatile residues (NVRs) on contamination sensitive surfaces. In this paper, we study the use of a desiccant, or dry GN+-2) to remove volatile films from the SAW sensing surfaces, with the intent of leaving the NVR behind. Using water as moderately volatile model material, the SAW device was capable of indicating monolayer growth in agreement with the expected frequency change. The drying agent was successful in removing all water from the SAW device. Additionally, the SAW device was capable of detecting different regimes of desorption kinetics. In trials of several candidates, only one example of NVR could be deposited, most likely a phthalate from flexible tubing heated beyond its working temperature. The deposit was so large that it overwhelmed subsequent observations of water desorption.
SU-GG-T-478: A Comparison of Proton Beam Monitor Units Predicted by the Treatment Planning System and Obtained from Physical Calibration

Purpose: To compare the proton monitor units predicted by the treatment planning system and obtained from physical calibration.Method and Materials: Monitor units for proton beam calibration are product of the machine calibration factor (CF), mod factor (MF), Spread out Bragg Peak depth dose (SOBPPdd), field size factor (FSF), inverse square factor (ISF), off center ratio (OCR), and bolus gap factor (BGF). The CF is defined as 1cGy/MU at the center of modulation for the mod wheel 60. The SOBPPdd, MF, FSF, BGF and OCR were measured during the commissioning of proton machines for each beam energy. The proton beam monitor units in treatment planning system are calculated based on the OCR, MF, SOBPdd, ISF from virtual SAD and proton scatter parameters. The differences in the monitor unit calculation between the treatment planning system and from the physical calibration arise from the BGF, FSF and patient scatter. The BGF and FSF are handled correctly in the physical calibration. The patient scattering and heterogeneity are handled by the proton pencil beam dose kernel in the treatment planning system. The proton monitor units from the treatment planning system and physical calibration were compared for prostate, lung and brain patients. Results: The differences in monitor units between the treatment planning system and physical calibration were within 1% for breast cases, and 3%for most of the other cases in the study. The differences increased at higher energy and for thicker compensators. There were also larger differences for some of the cases where the field sizes were smaller than 3 cm. The treatment planning algorithm does not always accommodate special treatment situations adequately. Conclusion:Treatment planning algorithms cannot always accommodate special treatment situations. For such cases, in addition to routine MU calculation, it is important to carry out a physical calibration of treatment fields.
Molecular detection of rhinoviruses.

Evaluation of: Do DH, Laus S, Leber A et al. A one-step, real-time PCR assay for rapid detection of rhinovirus. J. Mol. Diagn. 12, 102–108 (2010).Rhinoviruses are a frequent cause of the common cold and more serious illnesses, such as otitis media, sinusitis and asthma exacerbations and, more infrequently, have been implicated in lower airway infections, including pneumonia and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. Diagnosis of rhinovirus infections is best achieved using sensitive and specific reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR assays. The article by Do et al. describes the development and validation of a new one-step, TaqMan® RT-PCR assay targeting the rhinovirus noncoding region for the detection of rhinovirus RNA in respiratory specimens from children with upper respiratory symptoms. The assay was rapid and specific and sensitive compared with cell culture. The recent use of RT-PCR assays for the detection of rhinoviruses in clinical specimens has provided more accura...
Leaf-level responses to light and temperature in two co-occurring Quercus (Fagaceae) species: implications for tree distribution patterns

Abstract Leaf-level responses to light environment (sun vs. shade) and high temperature were compared in two gallery forest oaks, bur oak ( Quercus macrocarpa ) and chinquapin oak ( Quercus muehlenbergii ). Our goal was to determine if species-specific differences in response to light or temperature could explain the distribution of these oaks in tallgrass prairie gallery forests. On the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in NE Kansas (USA), bur oak is more abundant than chinquapin oak along lower reaches of streams where the forests are most productive and canopy closure is greatest. We hypothesized that bur oak is better able to acclimate physiologically to reduced light availability than chinquapin oak. Leaf level acclimation to low light in both oaks occurred through reduced photosynthetic light compensation points (PLC) (bur oak, 60.77 ± 3.02 μ mol photons m −2 s −1 in sun leaves vs. 29.25 ± 0.29 photons m −2 s −1 in shade leaves; chinquapin oak, 49.47 ± 2.82 photons m −2 s −1 in sun leaves vs. 26.48 ± 1.74 photons m −2 s −1 in shade leaves), resulting from nearly 50% reductions in dark respiration and specific leaf mass in both species. Apparent quantum requirement ( Q req ; mol photons mol −1 O 2 ) did not differ between sun and shade leaves in either species, and only bur oak showed differences in sun and shade leaf shape. We also hypothesized that chinquapin oak, which is more abundant in exposed, upper stream reaches, has greater photosynthetic tolerance to the high temperatures characteristics of this region. The maximum temperature tolerances ( T max ) of these oaks were compared by measuring increases in chlorophyll fluorescence. For most of the growing season, T max in chinquapin oak was 2.0°C higher than in bur oak. Field measurements of leaf vs. air temperatures in seedlings and adult trees indicated that T max was more likely to be exceeded in bur than in chinquapin oak, particularly in seedlings exposed to high solar radiation loads. We concluded that differences in thermal tolerance, in addition to previously documented differences in water relations are important determinants of distributional patterns of these oaks within gallery forests.
Polymer NSR spectroscopy. I. The motion and configuration of polymer chains in solution

Many polymers in solution exhibit well-resolved NSR spectra, in contrast to the broad peaks observed for the solid state. The peaks for polystyrene dissolved in carbon tetrachloride are not very much broader than those of cumene and other small organic molecules. When segmental motion is restricted or prevented, polymer peaks may become very broad even in solution. This is observed for poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate in trichloroethylene, in which it probably exists as large aggregates of α-helices. It is shown that the α-helical conformation itself is not responsible for this broadening. Many proteins also show poorly resolved spectra in the native state, but well-resolved peaks in the unfolded state. Large “anomalous” shifts observed in the positions of the proton peaks in the NSR spectra of polystyrene and substituted polystyrenes are interpreted in terms of a π-current model of the benzene ring. It is concluded that where sequences of 10 or more phenyl groups are present on a polymer chain, they tend to cluster together in a quasi-crystalline arrangement.
Materializing a buddhist symbol of rarity: recent appearance of the udumbara flower

ABSTRACTThis article examines the “social career” of the udumbara flower, which was initially a Buddhist literary symbol of rarity and felicity, but materialized and was reported to appear frequently in Korea, China, and Chinese diaspora communities around the world, beginning in 1997. Drawing from a number of case studies of udumbara flower sightings in Korea, the paper examines the cultural circumstances under which this “materialization” occurred, and argues that meanings cannot be extracted and studied removed from their particular earthly situatedness. The author also explores the role of media in the multiplication, authorization, and contestation of new meanings, as well as the annexation of traditional scriptural authority. In addition, the article examines the significance of sensory experience for Buddhist pilgrims. The case study of the udumbara flower sighting on a Buddhist nun's hand reveals a novel way of experiencing the object—through the sense of touch—which unexpectedly generated the mir...
The power of flexibility for mitigating supply chain risks

Despite the fact that many firms are instituting risk assessment programs to systematically uncover and estimate supply chain risks, very few firms are making concomitant investments to reduce risk. While the exact reasons for this are not known, Rice and Caniato (2004), Zsidisin et al. (2001, 2004) suspected that the lack of precise cost/benefit or return on investment (ROI) analyses can be one of the key reasons. To garner support for implementing certain risk reduction programs without exact analyses of certain risk reduction programs, Tang (2006) argued that risk reduction programs must provide strategic value to the firms regardless of the occurrence of major disruptions that rarely occur. Indeed, in addition to disruption risks, firms should be concerned about routine risks: frequently occurring problems that cause mismatches in supply and demand or higher than expected procurement costs. Specifically, Tang (2006) highlighted the strategic value of nine different supply chain risk reduction programs that would enable a firm to reduce these routine risks and those rare but severe supply disruption risks.
Separate or sequential exposure to nicotine prenatally and in adulthood: Persistent effects on acetylcholine systems in rat brain regions ☆

Nicotine is a developmental neurotoxicant but the proposed "sensitization-homeostasis" model postulates that even in adulthood nicotine permanently reprograms synaptic function. We administered nicotine to rats throughout gestation or in adulthood (postnatal days PN90-107), simulating plasma levels in smokers, with evaluations on PN105, PN110, PN120, PN130 and PN180. We assessed nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) binding, choline acetyltransferase activity, a marker for acetylcholine (ACh) terminals, and hemicholinium-3 (HC3) binding to the choline transporter, an index of ACh presynaptic activity. Prenatal nicotine exposure elicited persistent deficits in HC3 binding in male cerebral cortex and female striatum, but little change in other parameters. Nicotine given in adulthood produced profound nAChR upregulation lasting 2 weeks after discontinuing treatment. Decrements in cerebrocortical and striatal HC3 binding emerged during withdrawal and persisted through PN180, indicative of reduced ACh synaptic activity. Prenatal nicotine did not evoke any major alterations in the response to nicotine given in adulthood. The effects seen here are substantially different from those found previously for nicotine given to adolescent rats, which showed more prolonged nAChR upregulation and profound, widespread and persistent deficits in markers of ACh synaptic function; for adolescents, prenatal nicotine exposure desensitized nAChR responses, exacerbated withdrawal-induced ACh functional deficits, and worsened the long-term outcome. Our results indicate that the effects of nicotine during prenatal or adolescent stages are indeed distinct from the effects in adults, but that even adults show persistent changes after nicotine exposure, commensurate with the sensitization-homeostasis model. These effects may contribute to lifelong vulnerability to readdiction.
Thermomechanical analysis in directional solidification of CdTe

Thermoelastic calculations for CdTe grown by the vertical Bridgman method are presented. Finite element calculations are verified by some experimental data. Solidification interface velocity, charge temperature and stress distributions are computed for prescribed ampoule withdrawal rates and several ampoule support systems. The support systems include various materials and seed-wafer transition zone geometries. Crystal stress in excess of the critical resolved shear stress is used as the figure of merit to judge the performance of a particular system. Emphasis is focused on the transition region between the seed and wafer. A processing strategy is proposed and desirable support system characteristics are presented.
Factors contributing toward acceptance of lethal control of black bears in central Georgia, USA

We surveyed homeowners in four counties of central Georgia to determine acceptance of management practices for black bears (Ursus americanus), including lethal control and trapping and relocating bears in urban settings. Most homeowners did not view bears as a perceived threat and valued their existence. Logistic regression was used to investigate the influence of age, gender, hunting participation, existence value orientation, and perceived threat from bears on lethal control and trapping/relocating management actions. Perceived threat and gender were significant in determining acceptance of lethal control of bears captured in urban areas and for bears that caused repeat problems; gender was negatively associated with acceptance of lethal control. Hunting participation had a negative contribution; hunters were less likely to perceive lethal control as acceptable. This study illustrates the complexity understanding public support for managing black bears.
A pulsed supersonic expansion with a source temperature below 100 K

We have produced a pulsed supersonic expansion of helium with an effective pre‐expansion temperature below 100 K. This low initial gas temperature is achieved by cooling a pulsed gas valve and gas channel with liquid nitrogen. The resulting supersonic helium beam has a translational velocity that is approximately 55% that of the room‐temperature source and an internal temperature of 270 mK. The increased Mach number for a cold supersonic expansion agrees with theoretical predictions and reflects the increased cross section of helium at low collision energies.
Mental and motor development for three groups of premature infants

The purpose of this experiment was to contrast three groups of premature infants on 4-and 8-month cognitive and motor development. Premature infants diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD; n = 21) and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS; n = 17) were recruited from a regional medical center along with a group of healthy prematures (well; n = 10). Well infants outperformed RDS infants, who, in turn, outperformed BPD infants on cognitive assessments at 4 and 8 months. Both well and RDS infants scored higher than BPD infants on motor development at 4 and 8 months. Suggestions for future research efforts are offered.
Understanding infants' and children's social learning about foods: previous research and new prospects

Developmental psychologists have devoted significant attention to investigating how children learn from others' actions, emotions, and testimony. Yet most of this research has examined children's socially guided learning about artifacts. The present article focuses on a domain that has received limited attention from those interested in the development of social cognition: food. We begin by reviewing the available literature on infants' and children's development in the food domain and identify situations in which children evidence both successes and failures in their interactions with foods. We focus specifically on the role that other people play in guiding what children eat and argue that understanding patterns of successes and failures in the food domain requires an appreciation of eating as a social phenomenon. We next propose a series of questions for future research and suggest that examining food selection as a social phenomenon can shed light on mechanisms underlying children's learning from others and provide ideas for promoting healthy social relationships and eating behaviors early in development.
An Alternative Teacher Preparation Program: Is the Promise Fulfilled?.

(1988). An alternative teacher preparation program: Is the promise fulfilled? Peabody Journal of Education: Vol. 65, Programmatic Response Toward Contemporary Teacher Education Reform, pp. 130-142.
Melt Compounding of PVC with Ethylene Copolymer Resins

Ethylene Copolymer Resin (ECR) modifiers*, designed to be soluble in all proportions in PVC, form a wide variety of plasticized PVC blends. These solid, high molecular weight (Mw >250,000) resin modifiers, unlike conventional liquid plasticizers, do not migrate in PVC.
A comparison of computer-based and personal interviews for the gynecologic history update

Objective To determine if patients would answer a computerbased interview in the same way as they would answer a personal interview. Methods Two hundred consecutive patients in a private practice setting were asked a set of eleven questions relating to their general and gynecologic health. The question set included issues appropriate to a routine, periodic gynecologic history update. Each subject was asked the same question set twice, once by a personal interview and once by a computer. This was done in a crossover fashion. One-half of the subjects were interviewed by a person first; the other half used the computer first. Results Statistical evaluation demonstrated that patient responses are equivalent. The two methods agreed overall in 96% of the responses. Analysis of the discordant responses showed that in some cases, the computer may be more effective than the personal interview in identifying risk factors. Conclusions A computer-based questionnaire can generate responses that are equivalent to the responses to a traditional personal interview. In some cases, a computer may be more successful in eliciting risk factors. Further studies of the application of this technology for patient education and physician efficiency can now be carried out, knowing that subjects respond reproducibly to a computer interview format.
Transplant conditions determine the contribution of homeostatically expanded donor CD8 memory cells to host lymphoid reconstitution following syngeneic HCT.

Objective To investigate the ability of donor CD8 memory (CD8 TM) cells to expand in recipients following syngeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HCT). The influence of clinically important transplant parameters—conditioning level, delayed infusion and dose—on the homeostatic expansion and overall contribution of donor CD8 TM to host CD8 reconstitution was determined. Materials and Methods Lymphopenia-induced CD8 TM homeostatic expansion was examined in a syngeneic murine HCT model. Antigen specific CD8 TM included both T-cell receptor transgenic and nontransgenic populations. An ex vivo technique using antigen, interleukin (IL)-2, and IL-15 was used to generate homogenous transgenic CD8 TM (i.e., central memory) and was adapted to enrich the heterogeneous nontransgenic CD8 population specific for a nonameric epitope. Results Both transgenic and naturally occurring CD8 memory populations, derived in vivo or generated ex vivo, underwent a similar kinetic pattern of homeostatic expansion following transplantation into ablatively conditioned syngeneic recipients. Transplant parameters, i.e., lower conditioning, delayed infusion, and lower donor CD8 cell numbers shortened the period of expansion and lowered the steady-state numbers. Conclusions The pattern of CD8 TM expansion was dependent on conditioning levels, time of infusion, and dose. Transplantation of varying donor CD8 TM numbers demonstrated there was a maximal donor cell contribution to host CD8 reconstitution. The application of multiple well-defined memory CD8 populations supports the notion that these findings are characteristic of memory CD8 cells in general.
Energy policy interactions in the United States

Abstract The formulation of a US energy policy which is consistent with other national policies in the economic, environmental, R&D, and national security areas is a difficult, but necessary, process. Heavily-funded development of the plutonium breeder reactor exemplifies the type of policy inconsistencies pervading the present embryonic energy policy. In this article Dr Smernoff presents a reasonably consistent long-run energy policy in which nuclear fission plays a minor role, clean-burning fossil fuels are decreasing in importance, and geothermal/solar energy sources are becoming dominant in an increasingly post-industrial society.
Amyopathic dermatomyositis: definitions, diagnosis, and management.

Amyopathic dermatomyositis can be a challenging diagnosis because patients lack traditional muscle findings. “Clinically amyopathic” dermatomyositis (CADM) accounts for the presence of subclinical muscle disease in some of these patients. These patients represent a substantial minority of dermatomyositis cases and have similar co-morbidities to “classic” dermatomyositis patients, including interstitial lung disease and malignancy. Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis patients should not be considered as a distinct clinical entity from “classic” dermatomyositis, as they share antibody sub-types and associated co-morbidities, likely representing clinical spectrum of a common disease. It is essential for the clinician to be familiar with the clinical presentation of clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis, in order to facilitate early, accurate diagnosis and appropriate clinical management.
Microbial radio-resistance of Salmonella Typhimurium in egg increases due to repetitive irradiation with electron beam

Abstract Ionizing radiation improves food safety. However, foodborne pathogens develop increased resistance in response to sub-lethal stresses such as heat, pH, antibiotics, etc. Therefore, it is hypothesized that foodborne pathogens may develop increased radio-resistance to electron beam (e-beam) radiation. The objective was to determine if D10-value for Salmonella Typhimurium in de-shelled raw egg (egg white and yolk mixed together) increases due to repetitive processing with e-beam at sub-lethal doses. Survivors were enumerated on non-selective (TSA) and selective (XLD) media. Survivors from the highest dose were isolated and used in subsequent e-beam cycle. This process was repeated four times for a total of five e-beam cycles. D10-values for S. Typhimurium enumerated on TSA and XLD following each e-beam cycle were calculated as inverse reciprocal of the slope of survivor curves. D10-values for the ATCC strain were 0.59±0.031 and 0.46±0.022 kGy on TSA and XLD, respectively. However, following the fifth e-beam cycle, the respective D10-values increased (P 0.05) to develop radio-resistance faster on selective media, likely due to facilitated selection of radio-resistant cells within microbial population following each e-beam cycle. For all five e-beam cycles, S. Typhimurium had higher (P
Current summary of international extreme load design requirements for nuclear power plant facilities

Abstract The development of extreme load design criteria both as to rate and depth within any national jurisdiction as applied to nuclear power plant design is a function of several factors. The prime factor is the number of nuclear power plant facilities which are operating, under construction or planned in a given country. The second most important factor seems to be the degree of development of a domestic independent nuclear steam system supplier, NSSS vendor. Finally, countries whose domestic NSSS firms are active in the export market appear to have more active criteria development programs or at least they appear more visible to the foreign observer. For the purposes of this paper, extreme loads are defined as those loads having probability of occurrence less than 10 −1 /yr and whose occurrence could result in radiological consequences in excess of those permitted by national health standards. The specific loads considered include earthquake, extreme wind (tornado), airplane crash, detonation, and high energy system rupture. The paper identifies five national centers for extreme load criteria development; Canada, Great Britian, USA, USSR, and West Germany with both France and Japan also about to appear as independent centers of criteria development. Criteria under development by each national center are discussed in detail.
Valence-band electronic structure of Co 3 O 4 epitaxy on CoO(100)

Valence-band photoemission studies have been performed on a CoO(100) single crystal as it is slowly oxidized under 1{times}10{sup {minus}4}thinspTorr O{sub 2} at 623 K, eventually forming a Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} epitaxial film. The most significant changes occur in 3d-related features, with the peak located at the top of the valence band sharpening and shifting to lower binding energies as the spinel oxide forms. Constant initial-state measurements indicate that Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} contains admixture from neighboring O 2p in its 3d band, as observed for CoO and other monoxide charge-transfer insulators. Unlike the rocksalt monoxides, which have only a single type of cobalt (Co{sup 2+}) located in octahedral lattice sites, the spinel Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} has both octahedral Co{sup 3+} and tetrahedral Co{sup 2+} sublattices. The peak at the top of the Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} valence band results from the 3d{sup 6}L{underscore} final state of the octahedral Co{sup 3+} 3d band. Although some states derived from tetrahedral Co{sup 2+} may be present at the top of the valence band, the greatest contribution from the tetrahedral Co{sup 2+} sublattice appears at approximately {minus}3.8 eV, overlapping with O 2p derived features of the spectrum. The Co{sup 3+} 3d{sup n{minus}1} satellite is much lessmore » intense in Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} than in CoO, as is observed for the analogous structure in the cobalt 2p core spectra. An oxygen 2p-derived structure remains fairly constant throughout the oxidation process, with the exception of an intermediate species, which imparts a broad, humplike appearance centered at {minus}5.3 eV to the O 2p region and disappears as oxidation to Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} is completed. The origin of the feature is not clear; however it is most likely due either to an adsorbate or to a defectlike intermediate in the oxidation process. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}« less
Methaemoglobin reductase deficiency in dogs

Erythrocyte methaemoglobin reductase deficiency is described in a toy Alaskan Eskimo dog, a miniature poodle dog and a cocker/poodle cross dog. Blood methaemoglobin contents ranged from 19% to 36% of total haemoglobin, with methaemoglobin reductase values between 13% and 33% of normal. There appeared to be a negative linear correlation between erythrocyte methaemoglobin content and methaemoglobin reductase activity. A single intravenous injection of methylene blue (1 mg/kg body weight) resulted in a dramatic decrease in methaemoglobin content within 1 hour when given to two of the deficient dogs in the present study. Following the disappearance of methylene blue from blood, methaemoglobin content increased linearly at 3.2% and 2.5% per day in these dogs, suggesting that about 3.0% of erythrocyte haemoglobin is normally oxidised to methaemoglobin each day in dogs, as has been estimated in humans. Oral riboflavin therapy was not effective in reducing blood methaemoglobin content in deficient dogs.
Continuum modeling and simulation of multiphase diffusion through a porous solid

A theory is proposed for the continuum modeling of liquid and gas diffusion through a deformable porous solid. The solid and the voids are locally homogenized to yield a macroscopic solid phase. Liquid saturation of the voids and gas pressure are included as state variables to model diffusion. A model based on the proposed theory is implemented numerically using the finite element method, and tested with three simulations on sand and Nafion.
Structural Integrity Monitoring of Bonded Composite Patch Repairs of Aging Airframes Using Wavelet Transforms

In recent years there has been a considerable interest in the design and application of bonded composite repairs to restore cracked or corroded metallic airframes. The long-term durability in terms of disbond of composite patch, fracture at the bond-lines, delaminations in composite patches, and structural crack growth is to be thoroughly investigated before the aerospace industry adopts composite repair technology. Many researchers have investigated the use of structural modal response (natural frequencies and mode shapes) for assessing the integrity of structural systems. Although these methods have been successfully employed in some practical systems, there still exist some problems for applications in bonded repair systems such as the high sensitivity of these systems to model and measurement errors. In this paper wavelet maps and neural networks are used to detect and quantify damage in composite bonded repair systems. Two algorithms are presented, one for the location of damage in both single and mu...
Toxins in Cow's Milk and Human Milk

Milk may serve as a vector for the transmission of substances of extrinsic origin which can be potentially toxic to the consumer. These toxins may originate in cow's milk from the ingestion of plants known to contain toxic substances or feeds contaminated with mycotoxins, or residues of pesticides or herbicides. Harm to the consumer of cow's milk may also result from the use of antibiotics used for the treatment of disease in cows or for their growth enhancement. In the case of human breast milk, the routes of exposure can be quite diverse. These include milk derived from nursing mothers who have received medication in the form of drugs or antibiotics. Non-medical contaminants may originate from the mother's excessive use of alcohol, coffee, or tobacco. Other routes of contamination include the diagnostic use of radioisotopes, the transmission of allergens such as peanuts, mercury poisoning from dental fillings or fish, and contamination of the mother's diet with pesticide residues.
Re-Solving Stochastic Programming Models for Airline Revenue Management

We study some mathematical programming formulations for the origin-destination model in airline revenue management. In particular, we focus on the traditional probabilistic model proposed in the literature. The approach we study consists of solving a sequence of two-stage stochastic programs with simple recourse, which can be viewed as an approximation to a multi-stage stochastic programming formulation to the seat allocation problem. Our theoretical results show that the proposed approximation is robust, in the sense that solving more successive two-stage programs can never worsen the expected revenue obtained with the corresponding allocation policy. Although intuitive, such a property is known not to hold for the traditional deterministic linear programming model found in the literature. We also show that this property does not hold for some bid-price policies. In addition, we propose a heuristic method to choose the re-solving points, rather than re-solving at equally-spaced times as customary. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Communication Constraints for Decentralized Stabilizability With Time-Invariant Policies

In this note, we study communication requirements for decentralized control schemes when sensors and controllers are connected via noiseless digital channels and system noises are bounded. Under various information structures, and within the class of time-invariant encoding and control policies, we quantify achievable rates, and obtain fixed-rate and delayless encoders and decoders that achieve boundedness in the state estimation errors at the controllers. We use distributed coding theoretic approaches to show that when the sensors do not collaborate, it is sufficient for the controllers to share information amongst themselves but not with the sensors. Sensor collaboration, however, leads to improvement in rate performance.
Affine Geometry, Curve Flows, and Invariant Numerical Approximations

Abstract A new geometric approach to the affine geometry of curves in the plane and to affine-invariant curve shortening is presented. We describe methods of approximating the affine curvature with discrete finite difference approximations, based on a general theory of approximating differential invariants of Lie group actions by joint invariants. Applications to computer vision are indicated.
Vertical thin-film-edge field emitters: fabrication by chemical beam deposition, imaging of cathodoluminescence and characterization of emission

Abstract We report the first fabrication of ungated vertical thin-film-edge field emitters using chemical beam deposition techniques, and the first measurement of field electron emission from arrays of such emitters. The deposition method has been shown to result in optimal material and structural film properties which are required for low voltage operation of thin-film-edge field emitters. These characteristics include an extremely small grain size, low stress, high purity, uniform thickness and a vertical geometry. We have imaged well-resolved emission patterns by cathodoluminescence using the field-emitted electrons, and have measured well-behaved Fowler-Nordheim current-voltage characteristics. Other advantages, such as robustness and inexpensive manufacturing, are also discussed.
Weighting positive versus negative: the fundamental nature of valence asymmetry.

Objective The relation between weighting of valence information in attitude generalization and evaluation of novel/hypothetical situations was explored. Method Undergraduate participants played a computer game requiring them to learn which stimuli (beans) would increase/decrease their points. Later, participants classified the valence of game beans and novel ones varying in resemblance to game beans. The weighting bias in attitude generalization was estimated as the average response to novel beans, controlling for game bean learning. We examined whether this bias related to judgments of hypothetical situations concerning interpersonal relationships (Study 1), threat assessment (Study 2), risk propensities (Study 3), and risk behavior (Study 6). We also assessed whether valence weighting is specifically predictive of novel situations (Studies 4 and 5). Finally, we explored participants' ability to self-report their weighting bias (Study 7). Results Valence weighting in attitude generalization was related to judgments of novel situations and risk behavior. The performance-based measure did not correlate with responses to various questionnaires related to valence weighting. Conclusions There is a fundamental individual difference associated with valence weighting, resulting in the relation between two processes unrelated in content, but sharing the essential characteristic of valence weighting—attitude generalization and evaluation of novel situations.
Rebuilding an Enduring Trust in Medicine A Global Mandate: Presidential Address American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2004

Each year we gather at these Sessions, the world’s largest meeting of scientists and healthcare professionals dedicated to the basic, clinical, and population science of cardiovascular disease and stroke. We gather to learn and to teach, to meet today’s experts and tomorrow’s leaders, to review the new scientific discoveries, and to exchange ideas with colleagues and friends. To be sure, we will learn about the emerging science and clinical practice of cardiovascular disease over the next four days. But there is an internal disease of the heart that confronts us as scientists, as physicians, and as healthcare professionals. It is a threat to us all—insidious and pervasive—and one that we unknowingly may spread. This threat is one of the most critical issues facing our profession today. How we address this problem will shape the future of medical care. This issue is the erosion of trust. Lack of trust is a barrier between our intellectual renewal and our ability to deliver this new knowledge to our research labs, to our offices, to the bedside of our patients, and to the public. Trust is a vital, unseen, and essential element in diagnosis, treatment, and healing. So it is fundamental that we understand what it is, why it’s important in medicine, its recent decline, and what we can all do to rebuild trust in our profession. Trust is intrinsic to the relationship between citizens around the world and the institutions that serve their needs: government, education, business, religion, and, most certainly, medicine. Albert Einstein recognized the importance of trust when he said, “Every kind of peaceful cooperation among men is primarily based on mutual trust.”1 In our time, trust has been broken, abused, misplaced, and violated. The media have been replete with commentaries, citing stories of negligence, corruption, and betrayal by individuals …
Satellite Retrievals of Arctic and Equatorial Rain and Snowfall Rates Using Millimeter Wavelengths

A new global precipitation retrieval algorithm for the millimeter-wave Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit is presented that also retrieves Arctic precipitation rates over surface snow and ice. This algorithm improves upon its predecessor by excluding some surface-sensitive channels and by reducing the number of principal components (PCs) used to represent those that remain. The training sets were also modified to better represent cold regions. The algorithm still incorporates conversion of brightness temperatures to nadir, spatial filtering to better detect pixels scattering near 54 GHz, PC filtering of surface effects, and use of separate neural networks trained with the fifth-generation National Center for Atmospheric Research/Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5) for land and sea, where warm and cold ocean are now treated differently. The validity of the snowfall detections is supported by nearly coincident CloudSat radar observations, and the physics of the model is largely validated by the reasonable agreement in annual precipitation obtained for 231 globally distributed rain gauges, including many at latitudes where snowfall dominates. Observed annual global precipitation statistics are also presented to permit comparisons with other algorithms and sensors.
Factors Affecting the Quality Loss in Egg Albumen During Storage

Abstract SOME of the processes which accompany the thinning of the thick albumen during egg storage are loss of CO2, loss of water, and water movement from the albumen to the yolk. Numerous experiments on storage of eggs at high CO2 concentrations as well as experiments on different methods of shell sealing have demonstrated that the CO2 concentration within the egg affects the rate of albumen and yolk quality breakdown. Funk (1944), Korslund et al. (1956) and Mueller (1958) reported that relative humidity during storage, which controls the rate of evaporation, has little or no effect on albumen and yolk deterioration. Less is known on the relationship between albumen quality breakdown and water movement from albumen to yolk. Heiman and Wilhelm (1937) found no significant correlation between yolk index (ratio of yolk height to yolk width) and percentage firm white or albumen index for eggs kept for the same length of …
Antagonism of cyanide intoxication with sodium pyruvate.

Cyanide intoxication in mice can be effectively antagonized by sodium pyruvate, particularly if it is administered in combination with the antidotes, sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate. Potency ratios derived from the LD50 data were compared in groups of mice treated with sodium nitrite, sodium thiosulfate, and sodium pyruvate either alone or in various combinations. These results indicate that the administration of sodium pyruvate alone does provide minimal, but statistically significant, protection against the lethal effects of cyanide. Sodium pyruvate does not enhance the effect of sodium nitrite; however, it does potentiate the antidotal effect of sodium thiosulfate. The sodium thiosulfate and sodium pyruvate combination is not as effective as the sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate combination, but the addition of sodium pyruvate to the sodium nitrite-sodium thiosulfate combination further enhances the antidotal effect. No further enhancement is observed when sodium nitrite, sodium thiosulfate, and sodium pyruvate are combined with oxygen.
Writes of Passage: Writing an Empirical Journal Article

This article provides advice about preparing research reports for submission to professional journals in general and Journal of Marriage and Family in particular. In addition to working through all the major parts of a research paper, I provide some general advice about writing, editing, and revising. The article is intended to help new professionals improve the quality of their journal submissions and the likelihood of successful publication.
Semantic-level Understanding of Human Actions and Interactions using Event Hierarchy

Understanding human behavior in video data is essential in numerous applications including surveillance, video annotation/retrieval, and human-computer interfaces. This paper describes a framework for recognizing human actions and interactions in video by using three levels of abstraction. At low level, the poses of individual body parts including head, torso, arms and legs are recognized using individual Bayesian networks (BNs), which are then integrated to obtain an overall body pose. At mid level, the actions of a single person are modeled using a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) with temporal links between identical states of the Bayesian network at time t and t+1. At high level, the results of mid-level descriptions for each person are juxtaposed along a common time line to identify an interaction between two persons. The linguistic 'verb argument structure' is used to represent human action in terms of triplets. Spatial and temporal constraints are used for a decision tree to recognize specific interactions. A meaningful semantic description in terms of subject-verb-object is obtained. Our method provides a user-friendly natural-language description of several human interactions, and correctly describes positive, neutral, and negative interactions occurring between two persons. Example sequences of real persons are presented to illustrate the paradigm.
Viterbi decoder for high-speed ultra-wideband communication systems

Ultra-wideband (UWB) communication systems have attracted both academic research and commercial interests due to their potential high throughput and precise ranging capability. Convolutional codes are widely used in different proposals for high-speed UWB communication systems. In this paper, a novel Viterbi decoder architecture is studied for the multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) UWB system. In the Viterbi decoder, sliding block, 2-step lookahead and 2 parallel techniques are combined to achieve the highest desired data rate. For lower data rates, it is possible to disable some parts of the decoder for power saving by proper analysis of the effects of puncturing on word length and trace back length. At the same time, in the add-compare-select (ACS) unit, a pipelined most-significant bit (MSB) first ACS unit is also utilized to shorten the length of the critical path.
Progress and outlook of lithography for semiconductor IC

Progress of lithography from the lensless type to lens-based systems using different kinds of photon and electron beams is reported here. The stages of lithography development with their physical principles are linked to the corresponding impacts to IC designers to help them understand the reasons they are more and more restricted. From this vantage point, we look at the prospects of the lithography systems that will handle patterning for 32-nm half pitch and beyond in feasibility and cost.
Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Ring-Methylated Derivatives of 3,4-(Methylenedioxy)amphetamine (MDA)

The three isomeric ring-methylated derivatives of the well-known hallucinogen and entactogen MDA (1a) were synthesized and evaluated for pharmacological activity as monoamine-releasing agents and as serotonin agonists. The 2-methyl derivative 2a and the 5-methyl derivative 2b were found to be more potent and more selective than the parent compound in inhibiting [3H]serotonin accumulation in rat brain synaptosomal preparations. Their activity in vivo was confirmed in rats trained to discriminate serotonin-releasing agents and hallucinogens from saline. The results indicate that compounds 2a,b are among the most potent 5-HT-releasing compounds known and show promise as lead compounds in the search for antidepressant drugs that release serotonin rather than inhibit its uptake.
CITIZEN COPRODUCTION AS A MODE OF PARTICIPATION: CONJECTURES AND MODELS*

With cutbacks in local service delivery budgets, attention has focused on how best to maintain current levels of services without increases in taxation. One alternative focuses on the concept of co...
UDP-Xylose-Stimulated Glucuronyltransferase Activity in Wheat Microsomal Membranes: Characterization and Role in Glucurono(arabino)xylan Biosynthesis

Microsomal membranes from etiolated wheat (Triticum aestivum) seedlings cooperatively incorporated xylose (Xyl), arabinose, and glucuronic acid residues from their corresponding uridine 5′-diphosphosugars into an ethanol-insoluble glucurono(arabino)xylan (GAX)-like product. A glucuronyltransferase activity that is enhanced by the presence of UDP-Xyl was also identified in these microsomes. Wheat glucuronyltransferase activity was optimal at pH 7 and required manganese ions, and several lines of evidence suggest its involvement in GAX-like biosynthesis. The GAX characteristics of the 14C-product were confirmed by digestion with a purified endo-xylanase from Aspergillus awamori (endo-xylanase III) and by total acid hydrolysis, resulting in a Xyl:arabinose:glucuronic acid molar ratio of approximately 105:34:1. Endo-xylanase III released only three types of oligosaccharides in addition to free Xyl. No radiolabel was released as xylobiose, xylotriose, or xylotetraose, indicating the absence of long stretches of unbranched Xyl residues in the nascent GAX-like product. High-pH anion exchange chromatography analysis of the resulting oligosaccharides along with known arabinoxylan oligosaccharide standards suggests that a portion of the nascent GAX-like product has a relatively regular structure. The other portion of the [14C]GAX-like polymer was resistant to proteinase K, endo-polygalacturonase, and endo-xylanase III (GH11 family) but was degraded by Driselase, supporting the hypothesis that the xylan backbone in this portion of the product is most likely highly substituted. Size exclusion chromatography indicated that the nascent GAX-like polymer had an apparent molecular mass of approximately 10 to 15 kD; however, mature GAXs from wheat cell walls had larger apparent molecular masses (>66 kD).