cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Minimally invasive posterior lumbar surgery in the morbidly obese, obese and non-obese populations: A single institution retrospective review.

Abstract Background There is a paucity of information regarding outcomes in minimally invasive surgical (MIS) approaches to posterior lumbar surgery in morbidly obese patients. We seek to determine if there are differences in operative variables and early complication rates in morbidly obese patients undergoing MIS posterior lumbar surgery compared to obese and non-obese patients. Methods A single institution retrospective review of patients undergoing MIS posterior lumbar surgery (decompression and/or fusion) between 2013 and 2016 was performed. Morbidly obese patients (BMI ≥ 40) were compared to obese (BMI 30–39.9) and non-obese (BMI Results 47 morbidly obese, 135 obese and 224 non-obese patients underwent posterior MIS instrumented fusion. 59 morbidly obese, 182 obese and 314 non-obese patients underwent posterior MIS decompression. The morbidly obese group experienced a greater rate of deep vein thrombosis and had an increased hospital LOS (p Conclusion Morbidly obese patients undergoing posterior MIS fusion had a higher rate of complications and increased LOS. While weight loss should be encouraged, complication rates remains acceptably low in morbidly obese patients and MIS posterior lumbar surgery should still be offered.
Construction of Large Canal on Collapsing Soils

Soil subsidence may occur because of withdrawal of fluids (usually deep subsidence), the drainage of peat lands, or by the application of water to moisure-deficient, low-density soils (usually near-surface subsidence). Only near-surface subsidence is analyzed in connection with the investigations for, and construction of, the San Luis Canal where parts of the alinement passed through areas of low-density, moisture-deficient soils. Ponding of the critical subsidence areas delineated by studies was an effective methods of collapsing and densifying the soils prior to construction of the canal. The canal invert and the embankment were densified with a heavy pneumatic roller during the construction phase. The San Luis Canal was constructed during 1963 to 1968 and has functioned with only minor problems to date (1979).
Finsler Surfaces and a Generalized Gauss-Bonnet Theorem

So far, our treatment has emphasized the use of natural coordinates. At the beginning of Chapter 2, we stated our policy that in important computations, we only use objects which are invariant under positive rescaling in y. Consequently, our treatment using natural coordinates on TM \0 can be regarded as occurring on the (projective) sphere bundle SM, in the context of homogeneous coordinates.
Inghen, Marsilius von (ca. 1335/40–1396)

Marsilius von Inghen was a 14th-century nominalist active in western Europe's appropriation of Aristotelian logic. On key points, however, he diverged from the century's premier nominalist, William of Ockham. He served on the faculties of the Universities of Paris and Heidelberg.
Learning spoken words from multisensory input

Speech recognition and speech translation are traditionally addressed by processing acoustic signals while nonlinguistic information is typically not used. We present a new method which explores the spoken word learning from naturally co-occurring multisensory information in a dyadic (two-person) conversation. It has been noticed that the listener always has a strong tendency to look toward objects referred to by the speaker during the conversation. In light of this, we propose to use eye gaze to integrate acoustic and visual signals, and build the audio-visual lexicons of objects. With such data gathered from conversations in different languages, the spoken names of objects in different languages can be translated based on their visual semantics. We have developed a multimodal learning system and report the results of experiments using speech, video in concert with eye movement records as training data.
On the Information Content of Different Measures of Q

Tobin's q is widely accepted as proxy for an underlying "true" q, which is assumed to characterize a firm's incentive to invest. Researchers have developed numerous methods for computing q. This paper assesses the measurement quality of different proxies for q. We adapt the measurement-error consistent estimators in Erickson and Whited (2002) to estimate the extent to which variation in true unobservable q explains variation in different proxies for q. We find most proxies for q are poor: careful algorithms for calculating q do little to improve measurement quality. However, using elaborate algorithms depletes the number of usable observations and possibly introduces sample selection bias.
Succinyl coenzyme A synthetase from Escherichia coli. I. Purification and properties.

A reproducible method for the purification of succinyl coenzyme A synthetase from Escherichia coli on a large scale is described. A yield of 20% of the starting activity is obtained, and the product appears homogeneous on ultracentrifugation and electrophoresis at pH 7.2. The E. coli enzyme is specific for adenosine triphosphate and succinate, and dependent on divalent metal ions, of which Mg2+ and Mn2+ are the most effective. Inhibitors and uncouplers of electron transport phosphorylation do not affect succinyl-CoA synthetase.
Developments in SCC Mitigation by Electrocatalysis

SCC is strongly influenced by water chemistry parameters, especially when crack chemistry can be concentrated from differential aeration or thermal gradients or boiling. Mitigation of the effects of the high corrosion potential associated with oxidants is markedly and efficiently accomplished by electrocatalysis, which requires that there be a stoichiometric excess of reductants over oxidants. Mechanisms and criteria for effective SCC mitigation are summarized, with particular focus on the critical location for the catalyst in a crack and experimental support for these concepts. Optimization of electrocatalysis by OnLine NobleChem- is described, for example where Pt is injected at levels of 0.002 to 0.05 ppb in the reactor water.
In the Supreme Court of the United States: Anthony Douglas Elonis, Petitioner, v. United States, Respondent: On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

This is an amicus brief on rap music for an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case (submitted via the University of Florida’s Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project).The history and conventions of rap music, the heavily stigmatized artistic and often political genre of musical expression through which Petitioner Anthony Douglas Elonis conveyed much of the speech at issue in this case, illustrate why the Court should: a) require proof of the defendant-speaker’s subjective intent to threaten under both the First Amendment-based true threats doctrine and 18 U.S.C. § 875(c); and b) reverse the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in United States v. Elonis, 730 F.3d 321 (3d Cir. 2013).
EM-ANN models for design of CPW patch antennas

EM-ANN models have been developed for design of a CPW patch antenna fed at the radiating edge. A wide-band sample design has been carried out at 5.5 GHz. Experimental results reported validate the procedure developed.
Conditional Mutants of Staphylococcus aureus Defective in Cell Wall Precursor Synthesis

Temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of Staphylococcus aureus with defective cell wall biosynthesis have been differentiated from other ts mutants by their ability to grow at the restrictive temperature (43 C) in the presence of 1 m NaCl. Under all conditions they possess normal colonial and cellular morphology at the level of resolution of the light microscope and are, therefore, not protoplasts. However, differences between mutant and wild-type cells can be seen by scanning electron microscopy. Many of the mutants contained concentrations of nucleotide precursors of peptidoglycan synthesis in excess of those present in wild-type cells, at both 30 and 43 C. The types of peptidoglycan precursors accumulated by six of the mutants have been determined, and specific enzymatic defects in three of these have been identified.
EVALUATION OF THE COLLECTION, ARCHIVING AND PUBLICATION OF DAILY SNOW DATA IN THE UNITED STATES

Snow is an important component of the earth's environment, and can significantly impact the everyday life of those living in a large portion of the United States. However, accurate and complete inf...
Benign Anarchy: Alcoholics Anonymous in Ireland, by Shane Butler

In Benign Anarchy: Alcoholics Anonymous in Ireland, Shane Butler makes a thoughtful contribution to the growing literature that attempts to explain the status of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as one of...
Model-Based Engineering Design for Trade Space Exploration throughout the Design Cycle

This paper presents ongoing work to standardize model-based system engineering as a complement to point design development in the conceptual design phase of deep space missions. It summarizes two first steps towards practical application of this capability within the framework of concurrent engineering design teams and their customers. The first step is standard generation of system sensitivities models as the output of concurrent engineering design sessions, representing the local trade space around a point design. A review of the chosen model development process, and the results of three case study examples, demonstrate that a simple update to the concurrent engineering design process can easily capture sensitivities to key requirements. It can serve as a valuable tool to analyze design drivers and uncover breakpoints in the design. The second step is development of rough-order- of-magnitude, broad-range-of-validity design models for rapid exploration of the trade space, before selection of a point design. At least one case study demonstrated the feasibility to generate such models in a concurrent engineering session. The experiment indicated that such a capability could yield valid system-level conclusions for a trade space composed of understood elements. Ongoing efforts are assessing the practicality of developing end-to-end system-level design models for use before even convening the first concurrent engineering session, starting with modeling an end-to-end Mars architecture.
Phase Distortion to Amplitude Conversion-Based Low-Cost Measurement of AM-AM and AM-PM Effects in RF Power Amplifiers

This work develops a simple, practical yet easily realizable method for low cost measurement of phase and amplitude distortions in radio frequency power amplifiers (RF PA). Amplitude-to-amplitude (AM-AM) and amplitude-to-phase (AM-PM) distortions are two significant distortion effects in PAs at high output power levels, causing out of band interference in the transmitted signal and bit errors in the received signal. Traditional measurements of amplitude and phase distortion in RF PAs require the use of expensive vector network analyzers. In this work, we propose the use of phase-to-amplitude conversion to develop a low cost and accurate test methodology for AM-AM and AM-PM measurement using simple load board test circuitry along with software based difference generation and peak detection mechanisms. Using either simple sine wave stimulus with power sweep or a single amplitude modulated RF stimulus, both distortion effects can be measured with high accuracy for nominal devices as well as over process and voltage variations, while allowing significant reduction in test cost.
Pleural Plaques: Diagnostic Problems and Significance

Hyaline plaques of the parietal pleura are diagnosed by inspection. They are detectable at autopsy, thoracotomy or thoracoscopy, or on computed tomogra phy (CT) or plain radiographic studies (liste...
Convergence theorems for weakly almost periodic Markov operators

Convergence theorems of both pointwise and uniform type are obtained on certain subsets for weakly almost perodic Markov operators onC(X). Several examples are considered to examine the sharpness of these results. Finally these results are used to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for Blum-Hanson convergence of point transformations and sufficient conditions for Blum-Hanson convergence of Markov operators.
Applications of chemometric methods to spectroscopic studies of aggregate formation and twisted intramolecular charge transfer in the gas phase and in non-polar solvents

Abstract Principal component analysis—self-modelling and non-linear least-squares spectral resolution methods were applied to quantitative fluorescence studies of the aggregate formation and the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state emission of p-(N,N-diethylamino)ethylbenzoate (DEAEB) in the gas phase and in low-density supercritical ethane. A broad Gaussian-like fluorescence band at approximately 400 nm was obtained and assigned to the emission of DEAEB microcrystals or microsolids. It is shown that the red-shifted band can essentially be eliminated by keeping the sample undisturbed for a period of time and by selecting appropriate excitation wavelengths. The results support the conclusion that even in the gas phase the contribution of DEAEB TICT state emission is still significant. It is also demonstrated that a quantitative characterization of the excited state equilibium between the locality excited and TICT states of DEAEB in non-polar solvents can be accomplished by application of a spectral resolution method.
Structural and elastic properties of zirconium nitride-aluminum nitride multilayers

We have synthesized a series of zirconium nitride--aluminum nitride multilayers with a reactive sputtering technique. Structure and elastic response of these multilayers are characterized by x-ray-diffraction and transient piezoreflectance measurements. We observe a systematic decrease of the longitudinal elastic response in the direction of film growth as the composition modulation wavelength decreases. This contradicts a recent model of elastic response which predicts the absence of elastic anomaly in metal-insulator multilayers.
Improving anticoagulant use for prevention of venous thromboembolism. Introduction.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common and costly cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Each year an estimated 600,000 Americans experience symptomatic VTE.[1][1] Nearly a third of these patients will experience recurrent VTE events over the next 10 years, and as many as 100,000
Howat Receives 2007 Cryosphere Young Investigator Award

I have had the great pleasure of knowing Ian M. Howat over the past seven and a half years and to benefit from his great intellect, rock-solid work ethics, and collegiality. I have been always impressed by his ability to stay focused on science while collecting field data in Antarctica and Iceland, or during long periods of computational work at UCSC. It is terrific to now see Ian receive the 2007 AGU Cryosphere Young Investigator Award for his major contribution to understanding recent, rapid changes in ice discharge from Greenland outlet glaciers. In 2005, Ian, then still a graduate student, was the first scientist to document that major outlet glaciers in SE Greenland experienced dramatic acceleration and thinning in the first half of this decade. His findings represent a timely addition to the scientific effort aimed at evaluating the stability of the Greenland ice sheet and its potential contribution to near-future sea level rise. Ian's research results drew the attention of national and international media. They also helped motivate a number of subsequent scientific studies of Greenland outlet glaciers. In the process of doing his groundbreaking work, Ian made a significant technological improvement in the feature- tracking software used to calculate glacier flow velocities from satellite images.
University-Based Educational Programs in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropic Studies: A 10-Year Review and Projections of Future Trends

From the mid-1990s to the present, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of colleges and universities in the United States involved in the education of nonprofit managers. Currently, 240 universities and colleges across the United States provide courses in nonprofit management education. This article reports on this growth through a compilation of the most recent data available from an electronic database accessible from the World Wide Web. The author maps the growth of the field during the past 10 years by type of program: graduate (including PhD), undergraduate, continuing education, and noncredit. Based on an analysis of developments and changes during the past 10 years, the author looks toward the future of nonprofit management education and philanthropy programs in the United States.
Cracking Through Hegemonic Ideology: The Logic of Formal Justice

In this analysis I argue for the independent effects on social change of the internal logic of formal justice. Institutionally, oppositional ideas that challenge the legitimacy of a hegemonic system emerge in “safe spaces” that subordinate groups create within a culture dominated by hegemonic ideas. The oppositional ideas derive in part from an existing informal culture of opposition, access to repertories of contention, and favorable openings in the political system. In addition, however, these ideas are often propelled independently by the logic of formal justice, in which, when the reasons for separate treatment have been discredited, equality is the default option. The analysis demonstrates the power of this logic and suggests that it spreads through the mechanism of “organized activist” variation and “everyday activist” selection.
Approximate controllability of semilinear control systems

The approximate controllability for a class of control systems governed by semilinear differential equations is discussed in this paper. Sufficient conditions for approximate controllability are obtained under some natural assumptions. An example is provided at the end of the paper to illustrate the application of the established approximate controllability result.
The Significance of Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Morphology in Testicular Tumours

The role of the regional lymph nodes in cancer is controversial. Non-neoplastic changes in lymph node histology can be correlated with prognosis for some tumour types and reactivity has been interpreted as evidence of an immune response to the tumour. Attempts to correlate the patterns of retroperitoneal lymph node activity with prognosis in patients with seminoma and non-seminoma germinal testicular tumours have not been successful. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Convergence of Fundamental Limitations in Information, Estimation, and Control

The emerging study of integrating information theory and control systems theory has attracted considerable attention by researchers, mainly motivated by problems involving communication channels in loops. The main goals of the present paper are to introduce a new perspective to this study, namely the perspective of integrating information, estimation, and control, and to unify fundamental limitations in information, estimation, and control. In particular, we establish, over a discrete-time Gaussian channel with memory, a general equivalence among feedback communication, estimation, and feedback stabilization. We then show that, the achievable information rate in the feedback communication problem can be alternatively given by the decay rate of the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) in the associated estimation problem, or by the Bode sensitivity integral in the associated control problem. Therefore, we conclude that the fundamental limitations in information transmission (i.e. achievable information rate), in information processing (i.e. CRB), and in information utilization (i.e. Bode integral), seemingly different and usually separately treated, are in fact three sides of the same entity. We also briefly discuss the possibility of extending the results to channels in continuous-time and channels not in feedback loops.
KINETIC FORMALDEHYDE ANALYSIS OF DNA ULTRAVIOLET IRRADIATED IN THE PRESENCE OF SILVER IONS

DNA from Escherichia coli was irradiated at 254 nm in the presence of silver in order to preferentially enhance the rate of formation of pyrimidine-dimer damage over nondimer damage. The irradiated DNA was treated with formaldehyde in order to measure the unwinding velocity of the defects associated with the pyrimidine dimers. This velocity was found to be 0.18 base pairs/min per pyrimidine dimer, which is nearly 8 times less than that found for a double-strand break (1.37 base pairs/min) obtained by use of sheared DNA whose size was determined by electron microscopy. The rate of reaction of the DNA with formaldehyde varied linearly with the pyrimidine dimer concentration and showed no inflection due to clustering. Treatment of irradiated DNA with UV endonuclease enhanced the formaldehyde reaction by approximately 7-fold, consistent with the conversion of a dimer into the faster-reacting defect associated with a single-strand break. These results indicate that the distribution of dimers in DNA is random and not clustered, and that previous interpretations of clustering were based on the false assumption that dimer and chain break defects unwind with similar velocities when treated with formaldehyde.
Characterization of Two Radiation-induced Lesions from DNA: Studies Using Nuclease P1

Exposure of DNA oligomers to ionizing radiation in oxygenated solution reveals that the two lesions formed in highest yield are the 8-hydroxy modification of guanine and the formamido remnant of thymine. The effect of these lesions on the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond by nuclease P1 was studied. Whereas the 8-hydroxyguanine lesion does not affect hydrolysis of the adjacent 3′ phosphoester bond by nuclease P1, the formamido lesion markedly retards hydrolysis. Consistent with the oligomer results, digestion of irradiated DNA polymer by nuclease P1 plus acid phosphatase yielded the 8-hydroxyguanine lesion, obtained as the modified nucleoside, and the formamido lesion, obtained as a modified dinucleotide.
Three dimensional (3D) ultrasound measurement of fetal adrenal gland volume. A novel method of identifying the patient at risk for impending preterm birth

GLAND VOLUME. A NOVEL METHOD OF IDENTIFYING THE PATIENT AT RISK FOR IMPENDING PRETERM BIRTH OZHAN TURAN, SIFA TURAN, EDMUND F. FUNAI, IRINA A. BUHIMSCHI, JOSHUA A. COPEL, CATALIN S. BUHIMSCHI, Yale University, Ob./Gyn.R GA median [range]: 30.2 [22.5-34.4] weeks) and controls (n=73; GA: 29.6 [17.3-37.6] weeks). Multiplanar technique with rotational methods for measurement of fetal AGV was employed using VOCAL software. The estimated fetal weight (EFW) was used to correct for GA dependent changes in AGV and a corrected AGV index (cAGV) was obtained. RESULTS: Control women delivered at a higher GA than the preterm labor group (GA: 39.2 [28.6-40.2] vs. 33.2 [22.6-40.0] weeks, P!0.001). There was a direct relationship between the fetal AGV and GA at scan (r=0.735, P!0.001). A cAGV of 422mm/kg predicted best preterm delivery within 7 days from the time of measurement (ROC area: 0.948, SE=0.03, 95% CI [0.883–0.979], P!0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, Clikelihood (LR) and –LR ratios were: 89%, 99%, 89 and 0.12, respectively. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that fetal cAGV was the only significant independent predictor of delivery within 7 days of measurement.
Nonadiabatic perturbation of the C state shape resonances in the photodissociation of molecular hydrogen

Abstract We report the results of a theoretical study of the vibrational shape resonances in the C1Πu state of H2. The adiabatic potential curve for the C1Πu state was used in a single-channel calculation of the resonance positions and widths; there is at most one shape resonance for each value of the rotational quantum number J. Then the two-channel problem of the C1Πu and B1Σu states coupled by the same nonadiabatic interaction (Born-Oppenheimer correction) that gives rise to the Λ-doubling of the bound levels of the C state was solved, to investigate the effects of this coupling on the shape resonances. Eigenphase trajectories versus continuum energy are presented; effects of the noncrossing rule are seen. Finally, we calculated the photoabsorption cross section in the vicinity of the shape resonances, both for specific J final states and also for cross sections summed over final state J values and averaged over initial J states assuming T = 300 K.
Saying "no" to professional recommendations: client values, beliefs, and evidence-based practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore the phenomenon of saying “no” to secondary prevention recommended by healthcare providers. Data sources: Extracted findings from two qualitative studies in which participants have said “no” to provider recommendations for secondary prevention, specifically screening mammograms or treatment for latent tuberculosis infection, are discussed. Conclusions: Although these two studies focus on different aspects of secondary prevention, both studies emphasize how client values and beliefs impact health decisions. In evidence-based practice (EBP), both scientific evidence and client values and beliefs must be considered. Nurse practitioners (NPs) have the skill set and are in a position to assist clients to mediate between their values and beliefs and current scientific evidence. Implications for practice: Several findings from the two qualitative studies are relevant for practice: qualitative studies provide information about values and beliefs for EBP, and findings from these particular qualitative studies demonstrated that women were protective about their health even though their values and beliefs did not align with current scientific evidence. Through client narratives, NPs can facilitate clients aligning personal values and beliefs with current scientific evidence in relationship to caring for self.
Carbon monoxide (co) downregulates hepatic inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos) by a mitogen-activated protein kinase (mapk) dependent mechanism

Background: Low dose CO is non-toxic and has been shown to possess potent anti-inflammatory properties. We hypothesize that CO would decrease cytokine-stimulated iNOS induction in rat hepatocytes. Methods: Primary hepatocytes from Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to combinations of cytokines (TNFα, IL-1, IFγ) in the presence or absence of CO pre- and co- treatment at 250 ppm. Protein was harvested for Western blotting at 0, 1 and 6 hours after treatment. Greiss reaction was used to quantify NO production and crystal violet staining was used to measure cell viability. Experiments were performed 2–3 times each and t-test was used to assess significance between groups. Results: CO exposure at 250 ppm did not decrease hepatocyte viability measured by crystal violet staining at 24 hours. Pretreatment with CO resulted in a statistically significant decrease in cytokine mixture (TNFα 500 U/ml, IL-1 200 U/ml, IFγ 100 U/ml) stimulated hepatocyte NO production measured by Greiss reaction (37.8 ± 7.4 to 20.8 ± 5.7 μM, p < 0.05). Western blot 6 hours after stimulation resulted in a similar decrease in iNOS protein in the CO exposed hepatocytes. Pretreatment with CO up-regulated mitogen activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) protein and decreased TNFα induced c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation measured by Western blot. Conclusions: CO pretreatment decreased cytokine stimulated hepatocyte iNOS protein synthesis and NO production. A possible mechanism for this effect is the up-regulation of MKP-1 protein and subsequent decrease in cytokine stimulated JNK activation. The study provides a new mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effects of CO and validates the importance of JNK activation in pro-inflammatory signaling.
Crystal structure of human UP1, the domain of hnRNP A1 that contains two RNA-recognition motifs.

Abstract Background: Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A1 is one of the most abundant core proteins of hnRNP complexes in metazoan nuclei. It behaves as a global regulator of alternative pre-mRNA splicing by antagonizing the activities of several serine/arginine-rich splicing factors (SR proteins), resulting in the activation of distal alternative 5′ splice sites and skipping of optional exons. Purified hnRNP A1 has nucleic acid annealing activity. The protein also shuttles continuously between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, a process mediated by signals within its C-terminal glycine-rich domain. The N-terminal region of human hnRNP A1, termed unwinding protein 1 (UP1), contains two RNA-recognition motifs (RRMs), RRM1 and RRM2. Understanding the structural elements by which hnRNP A1 interacts with RNA will have broad implications for studies of RNA processing. Results: The crystal structure of UP1 has been determined to 1.9 A resolution. Each RRM independently adopts the characteristic RRM fold, consisting of a four-stranded antiparallel β -pleated sheet and two α helices packed on one side of the β sheet. The two RRMs are antiparallel and held in close contact, mainly by two Arg–Asp ion pairs. As a result, the two four-stranded β sheets are brought together to form an extended RNA-binding surface. A segment of the linker connecting the two RRMs is flexible in the absence of bound RNA, but the general location of the linker suggests that it can make direct contacts with RNA. Comparison with other RRM structures indicates that a short 3 10 helix, found immediately N-terminal to the first β strand in RRM1, may interact with RNA directly. Conclusions: The RRM is one of the most common and best characterized RNA-binding motifs. In certain cases, one RRM is sufficient for sequence-specific and high affinity RNA binding; but in other cases, synergy between several RRMs within a single protein is required. This study shows how two RRMs are organized in a single polypeptide. The two independently folded RRMs in UP1 are held together in a fixed geometry, enabling the two RRMs to function as a single entity in binding RNA, and so explaining the synergy between the RRMs. The UP1 structure also suggests that residues which lie outside of the RRMs can make potentially important interactions with RNA.
A Geiger counter with post-acceleration

Abstract A Geiger counter with post-acceleration has been constructed for use with the Vanderbilt iron-free spectrometer. Electrons focused on the spectrometer exit slit are accelerated by an electric field before penetrating the counter window. The accelerating potential is variable from 0 to 8.5 kV. A variable decelerating potential (0 to 300 V), positioned in front of the accelerating field, rejects very low energy electrons, reducing the background. With the accelerating potential, electrons with initial energies of less than 1 keV can be detected with ∼ 100% efficiency with counter windows thick enough ( > 30 μg/cm 2 ) to maintain reasonable counter pressures (4 cm Hg) without leaking or breaking. Electrons with initial energies of 0.1 keV have been measured with window transmissions of 95%.
Parts, classes and Parts of Classes: an anti-realist reading of Lewisian mereology

This study is in two parts. In the first part, various important principles of classical extensional mereology are derived on the basis of a nice axiomatization involving ‘part of’ and fusion. All results are proved here with full Fregean (and Gentzenian) rigor. They are chosen because they are needed for the second part. In the second part, this natural-deduction framework is used in order to regiment David Lewis’s justification of his Division Thesis, which features prominently in his combination of mereology with class theory. The Division Thesis plays a crucial role in Lewis’s informal argument for his Second Thesis in his book Parts of Classes. In order to present Lewis’s argument in rigorous detail, an elegant new principle is offered for the theory that combines class theory and mereology. The new principle is called the Canonical Decomposition Thesis. It secures Lewis’s Division Thesis on the strong construal required in order for his argument to go through. The exercise illustrates how careful one has to be when setting up the details of an adequate foundational theory of parts and classes. The main aim behind this investigation is to determine whether an anti-realist, inferentialist theorist of meaning has the resources to exhibit Lewis’s argument for his Second Thesis—which is central to his marriage of class theory with mereology—as a purely conceptual one. The formal analysis shows that Lewis’s argument, despite its striking appearance to the contrary, can be given in the constructive, relevant logic IR. This is the logic that the author has argued, elsewhere, to be the correct logic from an anti-realist point of view. The anti-realist is therefore in a position to regard Lewis’s argument as purely conceptual.
Consumer Awareness and Strategies Among Families with High-deductible Health Plans

Objective High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) are a new and controversial approach to increasing the share of health care costs paid by patients. Our study had the following aims: (1) to describe the experiences of families with HDHPs who had incurred high out-of-pocket costs and (2) to identify areas where clinicians could support more effective health care decisions by such families.
The functional concern of mothers for their infants

The Functional Maternal Concern of mothers for their infants was assessed (with an Index derived from Caldwell's Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment.) when 36 children, heterogeneous with respect to social status, were 6- and 18-months-old. Scores on this Index were related to the mother's IQ and education, as well as to certain temperamental characteristics of the children: cooperativeness and happiness. The Index proved stable over the time period of 6 to 18 months and yielded better predictability of Stanford Binet scores at 48 months than the Bayley Infant test scores. Moreover, there appears to be a minimal level of maternal concern needed to facilitate the child's development which seems to be especially important for the second year of life.
Fertility of Cattle Inseminated with 12, 24 or 35 Million Sperm in 0.5 or 0.9 Milliliter

Abstract Cows were inseminated with 12, 24, or 35 million sperm extended to 0.5 or 0.9ml in egg-yolk citrate or Plus-EX and frozen in 1.0ml ampules. The average 60- to 90-day nonreturn rate of 73.2% for 9,696 cows inseminated with 0.9ml semen was significantly greater than the fertility (70.5%) of 11,119 cows inseminated with 0.5ml semen (P ≈ 0.02). Sperm numbers of 12, 24, and 35 million per ampule resulted in average fertilities of 70.6, 72.0 and 73.1% (P ≈ 0.50). Plus-EX resulted in an average of 2.4 percentage points higher fertility than yolk-citrate (P
Structural and electronic structural properties of ordered LiAl compounds.

Des resultats precis des calculs de la structure electronique des principes premiers des proprietes structurales et electroniques du compose binaire LiAl, sont presentes pour les structures cristallines B32 et B2 a base bcc, les structures L1 o a base fcc et B1 a base cubique simple, obtenues avec la methode de l'onde plane augmentee linearisee a potentiel entier. Les resultats corroborent l'existence d'une transition de phase a haute pression entre B32 et B2 (on la trouve a 140 kbar). On discute des structures de bande, des densites d'etat, des energies totales et des densites de charge
Asynchronous rejection of heart and lungs following cardiopulmonary transplantation.

Abstract Eighteen patients have received 19 combined heart-lung allografts since March, 1982. During the maturation of our program of heart-lung transplantation, we have learned that isolated rejection of the lung can occur frequently and that exclusive dependence on the cardiac biopsy can be misleading. Of the 18 patients who received allografts, 10 are the basis for this report. The other patients were excluded because of death from excessive bleeding (1), inadequate lung preservation (2), an inability to differentiate rejection from infection (3), or an absence of rejection of either the heart or the lungs (2). Rejection of the lung was suggested, in the absence of clinical evidence of infection, by the radiographic appearance of a diffuse pulmonary infiltrate. It was confirmed by a prompt response to augmentation of maintenance immunosuppression with an intravenous pulse of methylprednisolone. The presence or absence of cardiac rejection was determined by the standard endomyocardial biopsy. Direct biopsy of the involved lung through a thoracotomy was performed in 4 patients so that a definitive histological diagnosis of rejection would reinforce the anticipated clinical diagnosis. The clinical course in 6 of the 10 patients plus the results of the open lung biopsy in 3 of them suggest that isolated rejection of the lung developed in the absence of cardiac findings. Patients responded within 12 to 24 hours to augmented immunosuppression with a dramatic improvement in the abnormal chest radiograph. In all 10 patients, either isolated lung or synchronous heart and lung rejection episodes were confined to the first six weeks after operation unless a severe alteration in the immunosuppression was made (2 patients). It is believed that in the absence of clinical infection, the appearance of a diffuse pulmonary infiltrate after the first postoperative week should be treated with a brief course of intravenous administration of steroid irrespective of the results of the endomyocardial biopsy.
Submitting to authority: Its effect on decision-making

Abstract Decision-makers often make choices in situations where an authority (e.g., a parent, a boss, a tradition) has prescribed a choice. Submitting to an authority's prescription is advantageous in that any decision costs associated with comparing alternative choices can be avoided. However, the authority's prescription may be far from optimal, meaning a decision-maker may also be motivated to deviate from the prescription. In an experimental setting, this paper examines how the decision-making process and the quality of decisions are affected by changes in the quality of the authority's prescribed choice, changes in the level of punishment for disobedience, and changes in the decision-making environment.
The Counting-Based Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty: The Focus on Economic Resources, Inner Capabilities, and Relational Resources in the United States

This paper assesses the Alkire and Foster (AF) approach to measure multidimensional poverty and proposes a ‘dimensional’ approach with economic resources, inner capabilities, and relational resources to account for its conceptual deficits. By measuring poverty in the United States using data from General Social Survey, it shows that, compared to the AF approach, the two-step process of the dimensional approach can provide greater insights into the form and structure of poverty, helping to analyze issues more comprehensively and inform policy decisions better. The relevance of the specific poverty dimensions and indicators and their operationalization are discussed and carried further.
Longitudinal Measurement of Ventricular Volume Gain in the Healthy Old

Macroscopically, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by global atrophy that is more pronounced, at least, initially, in medial temporal lobe structures and accompanied by ventricular enlargement. Rates of hippocampal atrophy (rHVLs) and ventricular volume gain (rVVGs) have been proposed as possible measures to judge the efficacy of treatments designed to be disease modifying. Our interest has focused on whether and when rHVL and rVVG differ between healthy subjects destined to develop AD and those destined to remain healthy. In prior work, based on 4 MRI scans obtained in a 6 year period, on 26 healthy subjects (mean age = 58.8 years), we found that rHVLs were linear and significantly differed among subjects, even those sharing identical apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes and that higher rHVLs were associated with subsequent poorer memory performance. In this study, the same scans were used to investigate rVVGs. rVVGs were also found to be linear with differences observed among subjects independent of APOE genotype. However, in contrast to rHVLs and hippocampal volumes, rVVGs and baseline ventricular volumes correlated with age, but not with memory performance on a selective reminding task. The findings are consistent with selective atrophy of the hippocampus rather than global cortical atrophy as responsible for age-related declines in episodic memory in healthy subjects in their 6th and 7th decades while higher rVVGs may be associated with other age-related cognitive impairments.
Liquid Water Path and Plane-Parallel Albedo Bias during ASTEX

Abstract Inhomogeneous distributions of liquid water like those observed in real clouds generally reflect less solar radiation than idealized uniform distributions assumed in plane-parallel theory. Here the authors determine cloud reflectivity and the associated plane-parallel albedo bias from distributions of liquid water path derived from 28 days of microwave radiometer measurements obtained on Porto Santo Island in the Madeiras during June 1992 as part of the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX). The distributions are determined for each hour of the day, both for composites of the full act of 28 days and for a subset of 8 days having a high fraction of relatively thick cloud. Both sets are compared with results obtained from California stratocumulus during FM [First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment]. In FIRE the albedo bin was dominated by variability of the cloud optical depth, as measured by a fractal parameter, 0≤ f 0 ≤ 1, while the ASTEX ...
Surgical Anatomy of the Coronary Artery Distribution in Congenital Heart Disease

Distribution of major coronary arteries was studied in 154 congenitally malformed hearts and 24 normal hearts. The artery to the atrioventricular node constantly arose in the area of the coronary sinus from either the right or left coronary artery. In specimens with ostium primum malformations, this artery coursed immediately beneath the inferior (dorso-caudad) rim of the defect. Anomalous distribution of the coronary arteries in the region of the right ventricular outflow tract poses a serious problem in openheart surgery. The two most frequent variants were anomalous anterior descending artery arising from the right coronary, and single right coronary artery with the left coronary branch passing across the right ventricular outflow tract. Such anomalies occur most frequently in transposition complexes and tetralogy with extreme dextroposition of the aorta. Fatalities have been reported following division of these vessels. Although some anomalies of the coronary vessels may be recognized on inspection of...
A neural architecture for visual motion perception: Group and element apparent motion

Abstract A neural network model of motion segmentation by visual cortex is described. The model's properties are illustrated by simulating on the computer data concerning group and element apparent motion, including the tendency for group motion to occur at longer ISIs and under conditions of short visual persistence. These phenomena challenge recent vision models because the switch between group and element motion is determined by changing the timing of image displays whose elements flash on and off but do not otherwise move through time. The model clarifies the dependence of short-range and long-range motion on a spatial scale. Its design specifies how sustained response cells and transient response cells cooperate and compete in successive processing stages to generate motion signals that are sensitive to direction-of-motion, yet insensitive to direction-of-contrast. Properties of beta motion, phi motion, gamma motion, and Ternus motion are explained. A number of prior motion models are clarified, transformed, and unified, including the Reichardt model, Marr-Ullman model, Burt-Sperling model, Nakayama-Loomis model, and NADEL model. Apparent motion and real motion generate testably different model properties. The model clarifies how preprocessing of motion signals by a motion OC Filter is joined to long-range cooperative motion mechanisms in a motion CC Loop to control phenomena such as induced motion, motion capture, and motion after effects. The total model system is a motion Boundary Contour System (BCS) that is computed in parallel with the static BCS of Grossberg and Mingolla before both systems cooperate to generate a boundary representation for 3-D visual form perception.
Preparation and properties of the system Fe1−xCrxNbO4

Abstract Members of the system Fe1−xCrxNbO4 were prepared and their magnetic and electronic properties were investigated. It was shown that chromium substitution favored the formation of the rutile structure, which resulted in a decrease in the electrical conductivity because of randomization of the transition metal ions in the structure. The replacement of a few percent of Fe3+ with Cr3+ caused a significant lowering of the lowest optical band gap, whereas the higher-energy transitions remained essentially unchanged. This resulted in increased response to the longer wavelengths of the solar spectrum.
A note on performance as a function of association value

Sixth-grade students were tested with paired-associate tasks. Seven tasks were administered, a separate group of students per task. Each task was homogeneous in association value of the responses. Results indicate that differences of 60.8% association value may be required to alter performance significantly. The r between association value of each response and performance on that pair was .16. It is suggested that the apparent contradiction between these data and earlier investigations is rooted in a distinction between relative and absolute association value. It is felt that only an interpretation of association value relative to other items in a list is tenable.
Cervical dilation, conception rate, and concentrations of progesterone and estradiol-17B in postpartum ewes treated with porcine relaxin.

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of porcine relaxin (pRLX) on cervical dilation and conception rates in postpartum ewes. In Experiment 1, ewes received medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP) sponge on day 16 (day 0 = lambing) and 750 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) at sponge removal on day 30. Control ewes received saline and relaxin-treated (RLX) ewes received 0.5 mg pRLX (>/= 3000 U/mg) i.m. at 24 h and 1.0 mg pRLX at 36 h after PMSG. All ewes were inseminated (Al) at 55 h after PMSG with 0.4 ml fresh semen. The proportion of RLX treated ewes (6 6 ) in which the cervix was penetrated was greater (P < 0.05) than in Control ewes (0 5 ). However, ova recovery rate was lower (P < 0.05) for RLX ewes (1 6 ) than for control ewes (5 5 ). In Experiment 2, ewes between Days 90 to 120 post partum received MAP sponges for a period of 8 d and 750 IU PMSG at sponge removal. Control ewes (n = 9) received saline; RLX-1 ewes (n = 8) received 0.5 mg pRLX at 24 h and an additional 0.5 mg pRLX at 36 h after PMSG; and RLX-1.5 ewes (n = 9) received 0.5 mg pRLX at 24 h and an additional 1.0 mg pRLX at 36 h after PMSG. Ewes were mated to rams at estrus, and cervical dilation was checked at 55 h after PMSG. The cervix could not be penetrated in any of the ewes. Conception rates on Day 26 were 66, 56 and 63% for control, RLX-1 and RLX-1.5 groups, respectively. These results demonstrate that the effect of relaxin on cervical dilation and conception rate is dependent upon the postpartum stage of the ewes.
Veto Threats: Rhetoric in a Bargaining Game

A specific bargaining game is studied, motivated by the speech-making, billproposing, and bill-vetoing observed in legislative processes. The game has two players, a chooser and a proposer, with the preferences of the chooser not known to the proposer. The chooser starts the game by talking. Then the proposer proposes an outcome, which the chooser accepts or vetoes. Only two kinds of perfect equilibria exist. In the more interesting kind the chooser tells the proposer which of two sets contains his type. Two proposals are possibly elicited, a compromise proposal and the proposer's favorite proposal. Ironically, only the compromise proposal is ever vetoed.