cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cerclage for prevention of preterm birth in women with a short cervix found on transvaginal ultrasound examination: a randomized trial.

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of cerclage and bed rest versus bed rest–only for the prevention of preterm birth in women with a short cervix found on transvaginal ultrasound examination. Study design Women with ≥1 of high-risk factors for preterm birth (≥1 preterm birth at 25%) and nonscreened women who were at low risk and who were identified incidentally. The women who gave written consent were assigned randomly to receive either McDonald cerclage or bed rest–only. Both groups received similar counseling and treatment. Primary outcome was preterm birth at Results Sixty-one women were assigned randomly. Forty-seven pregnancies (77%) were high-risk singleton gestations. Thirty-one women (51%) were allocated to cerclage, and 30 women (49%) were allocated to bed rest. There were no differences between the groups in demographic characteristics, risk factors, and cervical variables. Preterm birth at Conclusion Cerclage did not prevent preterm birth in women with a short cervix. These results should be confirmed by larger trials.
Same players, different game: AMPA receptor regulation in oligodendrocyte progenitors.

Neurons form synapses with oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) that may control their maturation and myelination. Key signaling molecules regulating glutamate receptors at neuronal synapses also act in OPCs, but to opposite effect.
Composite metamaterial waveguides for THz sheet beam devices

Novel RF waveguides comprised of composite metamaterials with photonic crystal (PC) slabs have been investigated for terahertz (THz) sheet beam device applications such as high gradient accelerators and coherent radiation power sources. Field and dispersion-relation analyses based on numerical EM simulations showed that the designed dielectric PC slabs filter highly overmoded fundamental passband of a sheet beam plasmonic wave structure (staggered grating pair) within a narrow dynamic frequency range of beam-wave synchronism, capable of avoiding various instabilities such as cutoff- and spurious oscillations. Further investigation on the photonic-band-gap (PBG) effect was also extended to the negative index metamaterial (NIM) of split-ring-resonator (SRR) and wire arrays (wire-SRR). It appears that in the composite waveguide a backward plasmonic wave is superimposed with a forward propagating wave, enhancing field intensity at electric and magnetic resonant frequencies. Currently, a beam-wave interaction is being considered with full 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and RF-test system construction for proof-of-principle (POP) is under way.
Sarah Bernhardt on Stage and Screen: Nineteenth-Century Theater Music and Early Silent Film

Silent film accompaniment owes much to the musical practices of nineteenth-century theater. Yet if we are to fully acknowledge these debts, we must first embrace theater music as a complex entity in its own right. Analyzing the eclectic sixty-year career of legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) is one way to approach these connections between theater and film. Bernhardt employed a great deal of music in her theatrical performances, and by the early twentieth century embraced the new medium of film as well, appearing in a number of motion pictures. Drawing on scores, newspaper accounts, production materials, and advertisements, I examine how music for Bernhardt stage dramas such as Theodora, Cleopâtre, Phedre, and La belle au bois dormant compares and contrasts with accompaniments for her silent films such as Camille, Queen Elizabeth, Jeanne Dore, and Les meres francaises. Through this case study, I hope to provide a more nuanced perspective of the historical lineage between nineteenth-century stage music and early cinema practice.
Bandwidth selection for kernel estimate with correlated noise

Abstract The problem of selecting the bandwidth for the kernel estimate is considered. It is shown that Mallows' criterion does not select a proper bandwidth when the noise are correlated. A simple modification of Mallows' criterion is suggested, which significantly improves the performance of the kernel estimate. Since the modified criterion needs an estimate for the noise spectrum at frequency zero, an estimation procedure for the parameter of the noise spectrum is proposed. Under some regularity conditions, it is shown that the procedure gives strongly consistent estimates. The asymptotic distribution of the estimate is also given.
Diffuse Reflectance And Photoacoustic Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometry Of Adsorbed Molecules On Catalyst Surfaces

The vast majority of infrared spectrometry of surface species is currently performed using the same type of sampling technique described by Eischens et al. in 1956, in which the transmittance of a very thin disk of the adsorbent is measured. Although a wealth of data on surface species has been obtained in this way, the transmittance of the samples is quite low across the spectrum, especially at very high wavenumber (where scattering is greatest) and at low wavenumber (where most adsorbents exhibit strong absorption bands). Other techniques which have been studied include reflection-absorption (R-A) spectrometry, for which only very weak bands due to adsorbed species at monolayer or partial monolayer coverage can be observed, and emission spectrometry, which is plagued by severe emission from the adsorbent and the effect of temperature gradients.
The parasites of Anolis lizards the northern Lesser Antilles : II. The structure of the parasite community

The communities of parasitic helminths from ten species of lizards on seven islands in the Caribbean were examined to ascertain the relative importance of predictable deterministic factors and unpredicatable colonization or extinction events in determining the structure of the parasite community. A simple graphical model of community structure is used as a "null model" to describe the features of a community that are dependent only upon the size of the host population and features of the life histories of the constituent parasite species. This model predicts that parasite species will exhibit a nested pattern of local and global relative abundance. The observed data correspond fairly well to this pattern. The absences of individual parasite species from communities where they might be expected to be present emphasizes the role of stochastic colonization and extinction events in delineating the constituent members of the community on any island.Statistical analysis of the distribution of parasite species per host illustrates that this pattern is random in habitats where parasite species diversity is low, but decreasingly variable in habitats where more diverse parasite communities occur. Increased parasite diversity also leads to an increase in the proportion of hosts that contain mixed species infections. Comparisons of worm burdens from single and mixed species infections within individual hosts suggest that interactions between parasite species only rarely leads to reduced worm burdens.
Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Cross-Linked Photopolymers Based on Multifunctional Thiol−Urethane Ene Monomers

Urethane-based multiene monomers were synthesized and photopolymerized with a trifunctional thiol monomer to form highly cross-linked thiol−ene networks. Real-time FTIR was used to monitor the conversion of thiol and urethane ene monomers as a function of irradiation time. For stoichiometric thiol−urethane ene photopolymerizations, monomers reacted in a 1:1 molar functional group ratio, reaching ∼90% monomer conversion within several seconds. The effects of the ene chemical structure and concentration on thermal and mechanical properties were characterized by DMA, DSC, TGA, tensile, and energy absorption upon nondestructive impact. The temperature at tan δmax of the thiol−urethane ene networks was around 39 °C and decreased to lower temperatures with the addition of a reactive diluent diallyl ether ene monomer. Tensile and impact results were combined with fracture toughness measurements to elucidate the effect of the urethane and bisphenol A chemical structures. The energy absorption was dependent on the...
ODMR studies of the triplet state of the oxalate anion in neat oxalate salts

Abstract The triplet state of the oxalate anion, C 2 O 4 2− , has been studied by optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) at zero field in its neat salts Na 2 C 2 O 4 and K 2 C 2 O 4 ·H 2 O. The fine structure constants, orientation of the spin axes, and kinetic parameters of the individual spin levels in the triplet state have been determined.
Ultrastructural changes in sunflower chloroplasts following inoculation with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tagetis

Severe chlorosis and ultrastructural modifications of chloroplasts occur in sunflower in response to infection by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tagetis. Chlorosis became apparent within 2 days after the cotyledons of 10-day-old sunflower seedlings were inoculated with the bacteria. The first symptoms generally appeared in the center of leaves at the second node above the cotyledons. Leaves above the second node lost essentially all of their pigmentation but remained turgid and continued to expand. Grana thylakoids became dilated and separated from the granal stacks. These thylakoid membranes did not chemically breakdown as in the case in chromoplast formation or normal chloroplast senescence. Both grana and stroma thylakoid membranes coalesced to form a large membrane sheet within the plastid. The ultrastructural changes are unlike those reported to be caused by other chlorosis-inducing bacteria or chlorosis associated with normal senescence.
Time-dependent density functional calculations of optical rotatory dispersion including resonance wavelengths as a potentially useful tool for determining absolute configurations of chiral molecules.

The optical rotations for six organic molecules (verbenone, fenchone, camphor, nopinone, Troger's base, dimethyl-cyclopropane) and the transition metal complex [Co(en)3]3+ were calculated as a function of wavelength using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). In the calculations, a realistic behavior of the optical rotation in the vicinity of an electronic transition was obtained by using a phenomenological damping parameter of the order of 0.2 eV (0.007 au). In comparison with experiment, for the molecules studied here the sign and order of magnitude of the optical rotation as well as the excitation energies were reasonably well reproduced in most computations. These findings apply to the investigated wavelength ranges typically between about 200 and 650 nm even when using comparatively small basis sets. Such calculations might therefore routinely be applied to help assigning the absolute configurations of chiral molecules. Supplementary calculations of the circular dichroism (CD) and compari...
Studies on amino acid incorporation in isolated toad bladder epithelial cells. Seasonal changes in protein synthesis.

Abstract Amino acid incorporation in isolated toad bladder epithelial cells was investigated by examining the rate of radiolabel incorporation into trichloroacetic acid-insoluble material. The results demonstrated that during the summer months, a large fraction of the radiolabel incorporated was not inhibited by cycloheximide and did not seem to correspond to incorporation of the radioactive amino acid into elongating peptides. A similar effect was not observed in other organs of the toad (e.g. liver, spleen). During the winter months, however, virtually all the acid-insoluble radiolabel appears to correspond to incorporation of the amino acid into elongating peptides. Ouabain, an inhibitor of sodium transport, inhibited amino acid incorporation into acid-insoluble material by affecting the acid-soluble pool and this effect appeared to be independent of the effect of ouabain on sodium transport. The isolated epithelial cells appeared to derive the energy for protein synthesis almost entirely from glycolysis and in this regard they resemble certain tissue culture cells.
Induction of oxidative stress by homocyst(e)ine impairs endothelial function.

Previous studies have demonstrated a relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and endothelial dysfunction, reduced bioavailability of nitric oxide, elastinolysis and, vascular muscle cell proliferation. In vivo decreased nitric oxide production is associated with increased matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and formation of nitrotyrosine. To test the hypothesis that homocysteine neutralizes vascular endothelial nitric oxide, activates metalloproteinase, causes elastinolysis and vascular hypertrophy, we isolated aortas from normotensive Wistar rats and cultured them in medium containing homocysteine, and calf serum for 14 days. Homocysteine-mediated impairment of endothelial-dependent vasodilatation was reversed by co-incubation of homocysteine with nicotinamide (an inhibitor of peroxinitrite and nitrotyrosine), suggesting a role of homocysteine in redox-mediating endothelial dysfunction and nitrotyrosine formation. The Western blot analysis, using anti-nitrotyrosine antibody, on aortic tissue homogeneates demonstrated decreased nitrotyrosine in hyperhomocysteinemic vessels treated with nicotinamide. Zymographic analysis revealed increased elastinolytic gelatinase A and B (MMP-2, -9) in homocysteine treated vessels and the treatment with nicotinamide decreases the homocysteine-induced MMP activation. Morphometric analyses revealed significant medial hypertrophic thickening (1.4 +/- 0.2-fold of control, P = 0.03) and elastin disruption in homocysteine-treated vessels as compared to control. To determine whether homocysteine causes endothelial cell injury, cross-sections of aortas were analyzed for caspase activity by incubating with Ac-YVAD-AMC (substrate for apoptotic enzyme, caspase). The endothelium of homocysteine treated vessels, and endothelial cells treated with homocysteine, showed marked labeling for caspase. The length-tension relationship of homocysteine treated aortas was shifted to the left as compared to untreated aortas, indicating reduced vascular elastic compliance in homocysteine-treated vessels. Co-incubation of homocysteine and inhibitors of MMP, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP-4), and caspase, YVAD-CHO, improved vascular function. The results suggest that alteration in vascular elastin/collagen ratio and activation of MMP-2 are associated with decreased NO production in hyperhomocysteinemia.
Intrinsic deoxyguanosine quenching of fluorescein-labeled hybridization probes: a simple method for real-time PCR detection and genotyping.

Intrinsic Deoxyguanosine Quenching of Fluorescein-Labeled Hybridization Probes: A Simple Method for Real-Time PCR Detection and Genotyping
Far-infrared CO line emission from Orion-KL

Far-IR and submillimeter observations of the hot, dense, shocked region surrounding the Kleinmann-Low nebula indicate that, in addition to a 2000 K component known from 2-micron observations, the hot shocked gas includes a large component at 750 K that dominates the 12-micron H2 line and far-IR CO line emission. The CO/H2 abundance ratio inferred for the shocked gas corresponds to 20 percent of the cosmic abundance of C existing in the form of CO. All the postshock gas, possibly even the plateau source, exists in the form of thin sheets perpendicular to the line of sight or in the form of clumps.
Spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy of MoS2 platelets

Abstract Surface and edge excitations in submicron hexagonal MoS 2 platelets are examined with inelastic electron scattering. An ultra-high vacuum STEM equipped with both vacuum transfer and in situ sample treatment facilities provides the capacity to study the surface properties of important air-sensitive materials. Energy-filtered images obtained with various geometries of the incident beam with respect to the sample suggest the enhancement of surface plasmon modes at corners, edges and steps. Initial efforts to interpret grazing incidence spectra from materials with highly anisotropic dielectric functions are reported.
Multiple Exciton Dissociation in CdSe Quantum Dots by Ultrafast Electron Transfer to Adsorbed Methylene Blue

Multiexciton generation in quantum dots (QDs) may provide a new approach for improving the solar-to-electric power conversion efficiency in QD-based solar cells. However, it remains unclear how to extract these excitons before the ultrafast exciton−exciton annihilation process. In this study we investigate multiexciton dissociation dynamics in CdSe QDs adsorbed with methylene blue (MB+) molecules by transient absorption spectroscopy. We show that excitons in QDs dissociate by ultrafast electron transfer to MB+ with an average time constant of ∼2 ps. The charge separated state is long-lived (>1 ns), and the charge recombination rate increases with the number of dissociated excitons. Up to three MB+ molecules per QD can be reduced by exciton dissociation. Our result demonstrates that ultrafast interfacial charge separation can effectively compete with exciton−exciton annihilation, providing a viable approach for utilizing short-lived multiple excitons in QDs.
Durable products recycling : stakeholder perspectives and directions for public policy

Abstract A recent MIT conference on durable products recycling highlights different challenges facing suppliers, manufacturers, and recyclers. These challenges include uncertainty about the environmental benefits of recycling, unstable markets for recycled materials, variable quality, and lack of support from citizens and government. Conference discussions suggest directions for public and private policy in the US. Government should focus upon strengthening market opportunities for recycling, for example, by eliminating federal subsidies for virgin materials extraction. Industry should work to improve product recyclability. While European countries are developing policies to require producers to take responsibility for products after they become obsolete, it appears that such policy approaches fail to address challenges identified at the conference.
Evaluating the efficacy of EMLA in alleviating pain associated with lumbar puncture; comparison of open and double-blinded protocols in children.

Abstract Potential benefit of the topical anesthetic EMLA prior to lumbar puncture was studied in children with cancer. Comparison was made between 2 types of study: the first one involved 10 children who were enrolled in a double-blind placebo-controlled study and in the second, 18 children in an open crossover study. Although both studies suggested the favourable effects of EMLA in alleviating pain associated with LP, they illustrated the need to perform such studies in a controlled blinded fashion; the effect in the double-blind study was not apparent in some cases, whereas it was clear cut in all open cases.
The first dorsal interosseous muscle: An anatomic study

The anatomy of the first dorsal interosseous muscle, with particular reference to its vascular and nerve supply, was studied in ten fresh cadaveric hands. A constant dorsal and palmar blood supply is identified from four major branches of the radial artery and deep palmar arch. The ulnar nerve innervates the muscle in a pattern that parallels the palmar blood supply. This information provides a basis for the use of the muscle as a local transposition flap.
Energetics of running: a new perspective

The amount of energy used to run a mile is nearly the same whether it is run at top speed or at a leisurely pace (although it is used more rapidly at the higher speed). This puzzling independence of energy cost and speed is found generally among running animals, although, on a per gram basis, cost is much higher for smaller animals. Running involves little work against the environment; work is done by muscles and tendons to lift and accelerate the body and limbs. Some of the work is recovered from muscle-tendon springs without metabolic cost and work rate does not parallel metabolic rate with either speed or size. Regardless of the amount of work muscles do, they must be activated and develop force to support the weight of the body. Load-carrying experiments have shown that the cost of supporting an extra newton of load is the same as the weight-specific cost of running. Size differences in cost are proportional to stride frequency at equivalent speeds, suggesting that the time available for developing force is important in determining cost. We report a simple inverse relationship between the rate of energy used for running and the time the foot applies force to the ground during each stride. These results support the hypothesis that it is primarily the cost of supporting the animal's weight and the time course of generating this force that determines the cost of running.
High-Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy of RX J0806.3+1527 with Chandra

RX J0806.3+1527 is a candidate double-degenerate binary with possibly the shortest known orbital period. The source shows an ≈100% X-ray intensity modulation at the putative orbital period of 321.5 s, but there still is no direct detection of orbital motion at this period. Here we report the results of high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of the source, obtained with the Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG) spectrometer. We obtained a total of ≈80 ks of exposure in two pointings separated by about 5 months. We detect the source in both the zeroth-order image and the dispersed spectrum. Detection of the 321.5 s pulsations in the zeroth-order image allows us to extract dispersed spectra as a function of the pulse phase of the X-ray modulation. The bulk of the source flux appears in the 20-60 A band. We find evidence for emission features in the 25-50 A range. The strongest feature (detected at better than 3 σ confidence) is an ≈0.6 A-wide (FWHM) emission line centered at 27 A. Weaker features at 31.6 and 46.4 A are also suggested, but they require confirmation with deeper exposures. The continuum is adequately described by an absorbed blackbody model with a temperature of 65 ± 5 eV and column depth of (2 ± 0.5) × 1020 cm−2. Interestingly, the spectrum does not show strong emission lines of typically abundant elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and neon. We briefly discuss possible identifications for the emission features.
Water loss in the desert lizard Uta stansburiana

Abstract 1. 1. Water loss of Uta stansburiana was relatively independent of weight over the small size range considered (2–5 g) and followed the equation: mg H2O/hr = 0·032T+0·037 SD+0·014 T (male)−0·347, where T is temperature (°C), SD is saturation deficit in mm Hg, and male is a variable, coded one if the animal is male, zero if it is female. 2. 2. RQs of fasting animals averaged 0·71. 3. 3. It is estimated that metabolic water production equals one-third or more of the total water loss at high humidities, less at lower humidities.
Side branch-based acoustic metamaterials with a broad-band negative bulk modulus

We present theoretical investigations and numerical simulations of one-dimensional (1-D) acoustic metamaterials that exhibit wide negative bulk modulus bands down to zero. The metamaterials consist of double or quadruple branch openings in a 1-D waveguide. A lumped model is developed for theoretical analysis and the bandwidths of negative bulk modulus for different structures are calculated and compared. As much as 100 % increase over the traditional single branch opening structure in bandwidth can be achieved. The proposed metamaterials can be utilized to further achieve double negativity, which could facilitate applications such as acoustic cloaking and superlensing.
Effect of Stray Light in Prism and Grating Spectrographs on Emulsion Calibration Curves and Its Significance in Spectrographic Analysis

Several investigators have observed that emulsion calibration curves obtained from spectrograms exposed in Littrow mounting prism spectrographs exhibit a smaller slope than the corresponding curves obtained from spectrograms exposed in Wadsworth mounting grating spectrographs. A study of the nature of this difference has shown that stray light originating from direct reflection and lens flare at the collimating-camera lens in the Littrow prism spectrograph is responsible. Since the magnitude of the integrated stray light radiation falling on any area of the emulsion is dependent on the number and proximity of exposures, the slope of the emulsion calibration curves obtained from Littrow spectrograph exposures may change with placement on the plate, unless focal-plane diaphragming is employed. The significance of this stray light factor in spectrographic analysis and in relative intensity measurements is discussed.
Mid-Pleistocene cosmogenic minimum-age limits for pre-Wisconsinan glacial surfaces in southwestern Minnesota and southern Baffin Island: a multiple nuclide approach

Abstract Paired 10 Be and 26 Al analyses (n=14) indicate that pre-Wisconsinan, glaciated bedrock surfaces near the northern (Baffin Island) and southern (Minnesota) paleo-margins of the Laurentide Ice Sheet have long and complex histories of cosmic-ray exposure, including significant periods of partial or complete shielding from cosmic rays. Using the ratio, 26 Al / 10 Be , we calculate that striated outcrops of Sioux Quartzite in southwestern Minnesota (southern margin) were last overrun by ice at least 500,000 years ago. Weathered bedrock tors on the once-glaciated uplands of Baffin Island (northern margin) are eroding no faster than 1.1 m Myr−1, the equivalent of at least 450,000 years of surface and near-surface exposure. Our data demonstrate that exposure ages and erosion rates calculated from single nuclides can underestimate surface stability dramatically because any intermittent burial, and the resultant lowering of nuclide production rates and nuclide abundances, will remain undetected.
A study of the reaction π+p → Y1∗+(1385)K+ at 1.7 GeV/c

Data on the quasi-two-body reaction π+p → Y1∗+(1385)K+ (Y1∗+(1385) → Λoπ+) at 1.7 GeV/c are presented. Within the Λoπ+ mass-square range 1.81 to 2.01 GeV2 (1.346 to 1.419 GeV) we have approximately 600 events with about 10% background. Our cross section for this channel is 110 ± 20 μb. The results have been compared to various vector-dominance models. and indicate deviations from the Stodolsky-Sakurai model.
Cloning and sequence analysis of the heat-stable acrylamidase from a newly isolated thermophilic bacterium, Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius AUT-01.

A thermophilic bacterium capable of degrading acrylamide, AUT-01, was isolated from soil collected from a hot spring area in Montana, USA. The thermophilic strain grew with 0.2 % glucose as the sole carbon source and 1.4 mM acrylamide as the sole nitrogen source. The isolate AUT-01 was identified as Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius based on 16S rDNA sequence. An enzyme from the strain capable of transforming acrylamide to acrylic acid was purified by a series of chromatographic columns. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 38 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme activity had pH and temperature optima of 6.2 and 70 oC, respectively. The influence of different metals and amino acids on the ability of the purified protein to transform acrylamide to acrylic acid was evaluated. The gene from G. thermoglucosidasius encoding the acrylamidase was cloned, sequenced, and compared to aliphatic amidases from other bacterial strains. The G. thermoglucosidasius gene, amiE, encoded a 38 kDa, monomeric, heat-stable amidase that catalysed the cleavage of carbon–nitrogen bonds in acrylamide. Comparison of the amino acid sequence to other bacterial amidases revealed 99 and 82 % similarity to the amino acid sequences of Bacillus stearothermophilus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively.
The cuspless centralized occlusal pattern

Summary While the case in favor of the cuspless centralized occlusal pattern has not yet been proved by the eye witness of research, circumstantial evidence strongly points to both the ineffectiveness and destructiveness of the anatomic type of occlusion. Many dentists are following the lead of such thinkers as Sears, Hardy, DeVan, French, Jones, Kurth, Moses, and Pleasure in the procession away from the imitators of the cusp-studded anatomic curve of Spee. The feasibility of the cuspless centralized occlusal pattern should be more carefully explored and evaluated.
Self-avoiding Lévy flights at upper marginal dimensions

We study the node-avoiding (NALF) and path-avoiding extensions of the L\'evy flights in terms of the critical exponents \ensuremath{\nu} and \ensuremath{\gamma} and the leading corrections to scaling, using Monte Carlo simulations with enrichment as the main technique. We focus on the upper marginal dimensions of NALF as predicted by the magnetic analogy where the renormalization-group results should be quantitatively exact for NALF if the method is valid at all. Similarly, we also focus on the boundary between the long-range and short-range behavior of NALF above four dimensions where the renormalization results should again be exact. Thus we investigate the self-avoiding L\'evy flights on hypercubic lattices from d=2 to 6 dimensions and obtain behavior consistent with logarithmic corrections to scaling in the moments of their end-to-end distance distributions. In addition, the effective L\'evy index ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ is determined from the logarithmic averages of individual step sizes and compared for the two self-avoiding extensions.
Fuzzy Model of Uncertainty in Federated Trust Management

In open network environment, federated trust management has become a cornerstone for information security and privacy. Although people have recognized the importance of privacy and security for their personal information, they remain uncertain when they have to define and enforce their own access control rules or have to handle information from indirect sources. Indirect information and subjective judgment are the major reasons of uncertainty in federated trust management too. This paper introduces fuzzy logic into the definition and evaluation of trust, and then provides a formal representation of fuzzy rules. It offers a set of derivation rules for analyzing and reasoning among fuzzy rules in order to enforce these rules with certain levels of uncertainty. This formal model provides a new method to handle uncertainty in federated trust management.
Human Capital, Cultural Capital and the Economic Attainment Patterns of Asian-Born Immigrants to the United States: Multi-Level Analyses

This article analyzed the economic attainment patterns of Asian-born male and female immigrants to the United States using hierarchical linear models (HLM). Specifically, it examined to what extent selected measures of human capital and cultural capital characteristics affect the levels of earnings of male and female Asian-born immigrants. The principal data source for this article came from the five percent file of individual census questionnaires from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1990 US Census of Population. In general, the results of the study conform to previous research, i.e., educational attainment at both the micro and macro levels was an important predictor of earnings achievement. As to cultural capital or country level variables, the analysis did not show evidence of statistically significant effects on earnings. The final section discusses the advantages of using the HLM approach as well as issues for further research.
Accurate displacement derivatives for structural optimization using approximate reanalysis

A unified approach for accurate approximations of displacements and displacement derivatives with respect to design variables is presented. The solution procedure is based on results of a single exact analysis at an initial design. Unlike common approximations of the structural response, the approach presented is not based on calculation of derivatives. Rather, approximations of displacements are used to evaluate displacement derivatives at various modified designs. It is shown that similar computational procedures are employed for evaluating displacements, first- and second-order derivatives of displacements. The procedure presented is suitable for different types of design variables and structures. Numerical results show that accurate approximations of derivatives can be achieved with a small computational effort for designs obtained by very large changes in the initial structure.
Actin cytoskeleton: Setting the pace of cell movement

Eukaryotic cells have many proteins that cap the barbed ends of actin filaments. Manipulation of their cellular concentration leads to changes in cell motility rates, actin dynamics and signal transduction reactions.
Inhibition of [3H]5-HT binding to rat brain membranes by psychotomimetic amphetamines.

A number of psychotomimetric amphetamines have been tested for their ability to inhibit specific [3H]5-HT binding to rat brain membranes. Although the compounds studied showed only weak affinities for the specific [3H]5-HT sites, their IC50 values correlated roughly with their rank order in human hallucinigenic potency.
Joseph Barcroft's studies of high-altitude physiology.

Joseph Barcroft (1872–1947) was an eminent British physiologist who made contributions to many areas. Some of his studies at high altitude and related topics are reviewed here. In a remarkable expe...
An unsteady single-phase level set method for viscous free surface flows

Abstract : The single-phase level set method for unsteady viscous free surface flows is presented. In contrast to the standard level set method for incompressible flows, the single-phase level set method is concerned with the solution of the flow field in the water (or the denser) phase only. Some of the advantages of such an approach are that the interface remains sharp, the computation is performed within a fluid with uniform properties and that only minor computations are needed in the air. The location of the interface is determined using a signed distance function, and appropriate interpolations at the fluid/fluid interface are used to enforce the jump conditions. A reinitialization procedure has been developed for non-orthogonal grids with large aspect ratios. A convective extension is used to obtain the velocities at previous time-steps for the grid points in air, which allows a good estimation of the total derivatives. In this report we discuss the details of such implementations. The method was applied to three unsteady tests: a plane progressive wave, sloshing in a two-dimensional tank, and the wave diffraction problem in a surface ship, and the results compared against analytical solutions or experimental data. The method can in principle be applied to any problem in which the standard level-set method works, as long as the stress on the second phase can be specified (or neglected) and no bubbles appear in the flow during the computation.
Molecular analysis of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli isolates in Japan and its application to epidemiological investigation

Many outbreaks of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157 infections occurred in Japan in 1996. Molecular epidemiological analyses of the isolates by methods such as XbaI-digested, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), revealed that a variety of PFGE type strains have spread all over Japan. They also showed that such molecular methods are very useful for confirming the epidemiologically related isolates and in assisting the epidemiological investigation. Recent characteristic features of the infection are that the incidence of patients experiencing symptoms such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea and hemorrhagic colitis is higher in children younger than 9 years old; however, that of asymptomatic carriers seems to be higher in adults; and that EHEC O157:H7-serotyped strains are still the main isolates, while the isolation frequency of other serotype strains, such as O26 and O111, is increasing.
Recovery of function after neonatal or adult hemispherectomy in cats: I. Time course, movement, posture and sensorimotor tests

Cats with removal of the left hemitelencephalon (hemispherectomy) as neonates (n = 12) or in adulthood (n = 14), were compared using a battery of 16 neurological and behavioral tests given when they were young adults (kittens) or at least 5 months after the lesion (adults). The neonatal-lesioned subjects grew normally and performed markedly and significantly better than adult-lesioned cats in 13 tests covering the wide range of movement, posture and sensory functions which were assessed. None of the animals recovered tactile placing of the right forelimb or a normal vision in the right visual field. However, the overall recovery was outstanding for all cats such that the neonatal-lesioned were hard to differentiate from intact controls in their spontaneous, daily activities. Because the lesions were similar in the two age-at-lesion groups, and since numerous functions were followed for prolonged, comparable postlesion time, we conclude that, after hemispherectomy in the cat, there definitely is greater functional recovery if the lesion is sustained early in life. We propose that the enhanced recovery of function in neonatal-lesioned cats is largely due to the extensive anatomical reorganization which we have demonstrated in ongoing studies, and which contrasts with a lesser remodeling in adult-lesioned cats.
Researching the history of software from the 1960s

The history of software from the 1960s has barely begun to be studied and literature on its past is limited. This article explores why such a situation exists, identifies study resources, and explains some of the issues concerning archival holdings. The article suggests an initial research agenda, arguing that the 1960s were seminal for the history of software as a whole.
Do implantable cardioverter defibrillators improve survival in patients with chronic kidney disease at high risk of sudden cardiac death? A meta-analysis of observational studies.

Aims Prospective randomized clinical trials show that implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) can reduce the risk of total mortality in select populations. However, data regarding patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are inconclusive. The aim of this study was to evaluate if ICDs affect total mortality in CKD patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death. Methods and results Two separate meta-analyses were performed to (i) assess the effect of ICD on all-cause mortality in CKD patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death and (ii) assess the effect of CKD on all-cause mortality in patients who already had an ICD for primary or secondary prevention purposes. Medline and EMBASE were searched from 1966 to 2013. A manual search by cross-referencing was performed. Five observational studies with 17 460 CKD patients considered at high risk of sudden cardiac death were included to evaluate the effect of ICDs on patients with severe CKD. Patients with ICD implants had a reduction in all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.47–0.91, P < 0.05) compared with a matched control group. Based on 15 observational studies with 5233 patients as part of our second comparison that evaluated the effect of CKD on patients who received an ICD, CKD was associated with higher mortality risk (HR = 2.86, 95% CI = 1.91–4.27, P < 0.05) despite an ICD. Conclusion The meta-analysis indicates that for patients undergoing ICD implant, CKD is associated with greater risk of dying. However, ICD placement reduces mortality in CKD patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death.
Redesigning Introduction to Communication Disorders

A class of 58 students in Introduction to Communication Disorders was divided into eight teams of approximately seven students each. The teams sat together all semester and participated in at least one team activity (team discussions, in-class written assignments, and team quizzes) in every class period. Teams also were used for taking roll and reviewing for examinations. There was no decline in student evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the course or in examination scores when compared to when this course was taught with half the number of students and no teams. Students evaluated the team experience highly and appeared to enjoy competition among teams. Using teams was successful in creating experiences that foster student learning as embodied in Chickering and Gameson’s principles of good practice.
Hamiltonian Cycles and Symmetric Chains in Boolean Lattices

Let B(n) be the subset lattice of $${\{1,2,\dots, n\}.}$$ { 1 , 2 , ? , n } . Sperner's theorem states that the width of B(n) is equal to the size of its biggest level. There have been several elegant proofs of this result, including an approach that shows that B(n) has a symmetric chain partition. Another famous result concerning B(n) is that its cover graph is hamiltonian. Motivated by these ideas and by the Middle Two Levels conjecture, we consider posets that have the Hamiltonian Cycle---Symmetric Chain Partition (HC-SCP) property. A poset of width w has this property if its cover graph has a hamiltonian cycle which parses into w symmetric chains. We show that the subset lattices have the HC-SCP property, and we obtain this result as a special case of a more general treatment.
Two Faces of Liberalism: Kant, Paine, and the Question of Intervention

Compared with the realist tradition, relatively few students of international relations explore variations within liberalism. This paper introduces a particular interpretation of Immanuel Kant’s evolutionary liberalism and then compares it with Thomas Paine’s revolutionary liberalism. Paine was an ebullient optimist while Kant was more guarded and cautious. These different assumptions lead to distinct liberal views on voting rights, how trade fosters peace, and defense policies. The most striking disagreement, and one that endures in contemporary liberal circles, revolves around the question of military interventions to spread democratic rule. Kant advocated nonintervention while Paine actively pursued military intervention to spread democratic rule. Differences between Kant and Paine represent some enduring tensions still residing within the liberal tradition in international relations. Variations within Two Theoretical Traditions Any broad research tradition encompasses some inconsistent and contradictory lines of thought. In the study of international relations, realism has long harbored conflicting schools of thought. These include neorealism, offensive and defensive realisms, neoclassical realism, and most recently, democratic realism, all with varying predictions concerning state behavior (Miller 1996; Monten 2005). Responding to these inconsistencies, Vasquez (1997) charged that realism has grown so broad that it has become a degenerative and nonfalsifiable research program. However, exploring different branches within realism need not be degenerative and might contribute to more nuanced understandings of the theoretical tradition. For instance, power transition as first conceived by Organski (1968) predicted that when the material capabilities of the two leading states approach equilibrium, the probability of war dramatically increases. Balance of power theory predicts the opposite: equal capabilities between the two leading states increase the probability of peace and stability (Waltz 1979). Critically exploring these variations may well enhance our understandings of how the distribution of power in the system shapes state behavior—a core concern of realism. Articulating differences, however inconsistent, can lead to richer understandings of realism’s breadth, contingencies, and traditions.
Empirically Enhanced Reflections on 20 Years of Rape Research

Using PsychInfo review of rape and sexual assault publications, the period of greatest fertility coincided with the establishment (1975) and demise (1987) of the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape. To document what has been learned and when, the era in which new rape concepts entered the literature is summarized and important developments highlighted. Then, new investigations that are urgently needed are elaborated. The author expresses concern that current federal investment is insufficient to sustain and expand a science workforce adequate to the tasks ahead. Since 1995, more than $1 billion have been awarded to prosecutors, law enforcement, and community agencies to assist victims of violence. In contrast, between 1996 and 2003, only 14 of 178 (7%) of investigator-initiated grants funded by the Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for violence against women had titles pairing the word sexual with assault, violence, abuse, or rape.
The Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara, California

Abstract Significant downslope wind and warming events periodically occur along a short segment of the southern California coast in the vicinity of Santa Barbara. This region is characterized by a unique mesoscale topography:over a length of about 100 km the coastline is oriented approximately west–east, with the adjoining narrow coastal plain bounded by a steeply rising (to elevations greater than 1200 m) and coast-parallel mountain range. Called Sundowner winds because they often begin in the late afternoon or early evening, their onset is typically associated with a rapid rise in temperature and decrease in relative humidity. In the most extreme Sundowner wind events, wind speeds can be of gale force or higher, and temperatures over the coastal plain, and even at the coast itself, can rise significantly above 37.8°C (100°F). In addition to causing a dramatic change from the more typical marine-influenced local weather conditions, Sundowner wind episodes have resulted in significant property and agricul...
Collecting IT scholarship: the IT-thesis project

In 2006 it was proposed that one significant factor defining an IT research agenda was the scholarly work published in theses and dissertations from universities with IT graduate programs. It was concluded that a repository of IT research was necessary both to facilitate access to this body of work and to make it possible to do a bottom-up analysis of existing work. This paper reports on the status of our efforts to implement the repository that was proposed. A repository for theses and dissertations has been implemented and about 100 thesis abstracts of interest to scholars in IT have been made available. Many provide links to the text of the electronic source documents. The current repository is small, but useful for students and other researchers as a window on current student research efforts.Here we discuss the design and implementation of the repository along with the issues we have encountered in early efforts to populate it. We also discuss the issues discovered while developing analysis techniques for the repository and proposed improvements. We solicit involvement of the IT community in locating and entering relevant documents into the repository located at http://it-thesis.appspot.com
Adaptive spaced education improves learning efficiency: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Spaced education is a novel form of online education that harnesses the 2 psychology research findings of spacing and testing effects. Spaced education is delivered by daily emails containing clinically relevant multiple choice questions. To take advantage of the spacing effect the questions are repeated at fixed intervals for a fixed number of repetitions. An adaptive spaced education system was developed to customize spacing intervals and the number of repetitions based on learner knowledge level. To determine whether this system improves learning efficiency I performed a randomized trial to compare the learning efficiency of adaptive vs nonadaptive spaced education systems among surgery students at 2 medical schools.Materials and Methods: A total of 62 year 3 students were randomized to identical course content in adaptive or nonadaptive spaced education formats. The course consisted of 40 validated, spaced education items on the 4 urology topics benign prostatic hyperplasia, erectile dysfunct...