cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Alternative Ventilation Schemes in Cage-Free Poultry Housing.

This work investigated alternative ventilation schemes to help define a proper ventilation system design in cage-free hen houses with the goal of assuring bird welfare through comfortable conditions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was employed to simulate indoor and outdoor airflows to quantify the effectiveness of ventilation systems in maintaining suitable and uniform living conditions at the hen level. Four three-dimensional CFD models were developed based on a full-scale floor-raised layer house, corresponding to ventilation schemes of the standard top-wall inlet, sidewall exhaust, and three alternatives: mid-wall inlet, ceiling exhaust; mid-wall inlet, ridge exhaust; and mid-wall inlet, attic exhaust with potential for pre-treatment of exhaust air. In a sophisticated and powerful achievement of the analysis, 2365 birds were individually modeled with simplified bird-shapes to represent a realistic number, body heat, and airflow obstruction of hens housed. The simulated ventilation rate for the layer house models was 1.9–2.0 m3/s (4100 ft3/min) in the desired range for cold weather (0 °C). Simulation results and subsequent analyses demonstrated that these alternative models had the capacity to create satisfactory comfortable temperature and air velocity at the hen level. A full-scale CFD model with individual hen models presented robustness in evaluating bird welfare conditions.
Berne-Copenhague-Madrid-París-Santiago

In this article for the special issue of Revista Chilena de Literatura devoted to Chile’s bicentennial, I explore multiple literary, scientific, and geographic connections between Vicente Huidobro’s poem Altazor and the global philosophical-scientifi c contexts of the first few decades of the 20th century. I consider the impact of a series of linguistic, critical, allegorical, and gravitational “falls” in the trajectory of Altazor’s “viaje en paracaidas” in order to think through the impact of a linguistic event in the poem’s gravitational field. By engaging myriad critical approaches to the poem’s “illegible,” ambiguous conclusion, I link the Chilean and European avant-garde poetic scenes (Madrid-Paris-Santiago) with the scientific imaginaries of important discoveries in theoretical and experimental physics in the early 20th century (Berne and Copenhagen). I explore the ways in which Altazor in and of itself the marks the discursive passage between Newtonian and quantum cosmovisions vis a vis the historical context of the quantum/relativistic paradigm shift in physics that was contemporary to the poem’s composition. Altazor’s meaning-making activities, read with respect to quantum and cosmological concerns, show how Huidobro’s long poem traces the falling motion of a linguistic and cosmic event that, nevertheless, is horizon-less and radically heterogeneous in nature –a facet of the poem that is indicative of the kinds of quantum fl uctuations whose “path” cannot be accurately predicted or described with total certainty or mastery.
Counselors' Experience of Work and Family Roles During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this study, the researchers used quantitative analysis to examine the relationship between counselors' work-family conflict, work-family enrichment, work variables, and faamily variables during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors that predicted counselors' experience of conflict between work and family roles included lacking workplace flexibility, having a child under the age of 6, spending a high number of hours caring for, others, and experiencing a change in location of the work setting due to COVID-19. Workplace flexibility and a low number of hours spent caring for others predicted counselors' experience of enrichment. Participants' mean responses to the Work-Family Conflict Scale and Work-Family Enrichment Scale indicated they experienced higher levels of enrichment than conflict during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Mental Health Counseling is the property of American Mental Health Counselors Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Spectral Irradiance and Distribution of Pigments in a Highly Layered Marine Microbial Mat.

The spectral irradiance from 400 to 1,100 nm was measured with depth in the intertidal sand mats at Great Sippewissett Salt Marsh, Mass. These mats contained at least four distinct layers, composed of cyanobacteria, purple sulfur bacteria containing bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl a), purple sulfur bacteria containing Bchl b, and green sulfur bacteria. Spectral irradiance was measured directly by layering sections of mat on a cosine receptor. Irradiance was also approximated by using a calibrated fiber-optic tip. With the tip, irradiance measurements could be obtained at depth intervals less than 250 μm. The irradiance spectra were correlated qualitatively and quantitatively with the distribution of the diverse chlorophyll pigments in this mat and were compared with spectra recorded in plain sand lacking pigmented phototrophs. We found that the shorter wavelengths (400 to 550 nm) were strongly attenuated in the top 2 mm of the mat. The longer wavelengths (red and near infrared) penetrated to much greater depths, where they were attenuated by Bchl a, b, and c-containing anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria. The specific attenuation bands in the irradiance spectra correlated with the specific in vivo absorption bands of the Bchl-protein complexes in the bacteria. We concluded that the pigments in the phototrophs had a profound affect on the light environment within the mat. It seems likely that the diverse Bchl-protein complexes found in the anoxygenic phototrophs evolved in dense mat environments as a result of competition for light.
Governance in Organizations: A Cognitive Perspective

Governance in organizations according to traditionalagency theory is based on the premise that managersand employees do not have identical goals. As aconsequence, employees need to be monitored andcontrolled. If legal contracts are not sufficient forproper control, incentive contracts should be used. This paper argues that incentive contracts are notsufficient to solve governance issues in organizationsdue to problems in measurability and enforceability ofpresumed contract violations. Such problems arecomplicated by asymmetries in power, perspectives andaspirations between managers and employees. Acognitive argument is advanced suggesting that timeconstraints and bounded rationality render the idea ofmonitoring relatively ineffective. Governance ideasthat focus on communication flow and informationsharing are described. The role that other cognitiveelements such as memory play in a more comprehensiveand interdisciplinary framework for understandinggovernance relations is discussed.
Design analysis of a distributed arithmetic adaptive FIR filter on an FPGA

Distributed arithmetic (DA) is an efficient architecture for implementing finite impulse response (FIR) digital filters. The DA FIR filter calculates the filter output using look up tables (LUTs) instead of multipliers. Thus, a DA based implementation of an FIR filter is highly parameterizable and area efficient. Furthermore, the fundamental building blocks in the DA architecture map well to the architecture of today's field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In this paper, we analyze the design of an adaptive FIR filter using the DA architecture on an FPGA. The design trade-offs discussed in detail include throughput, number of logic elements utilized, memory usage, and power consumption estimates.
Winter Burial of Transplanted Bay Scallops

During 1985, 1986, and 1987, extensive blooms of Aureococcus anophagefferens (“brown tides”) in eastern Long Island, New York waters decimated most of the commercially valuable stocks of bay scallops, Argopecten irradians irradians (Anonymous, 1985; Siddall, 1986). Recruitment of larval scallops in these areas also appeared to be very poor during both 1985 and 1986 (Siddall and Nelson, 1986; Bricelj et al., 1987a). These events have virtually eliminated the bay scallop fishery on Long Island, an industry which in 1984 produced approximately one-fourth of the total United States harvest and employed from 400–600 full-time baymen (Anonymous, 1985).
USE OF IRRADIATION IN PLASTIC WASTES DISPOSAL.

The feasibility of utilizing irradiation to assist in plastic waste disposal was investigated. This was based on the observation that most plastic materials become brittle upon irradiation. Sheets of polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene were bombarded with 1.3 MeV electrons generated by a Van de Graaff accelerator. They were tensile-tested at room temperature. The strength of the plastic materials was substantially reduced by irradiation, and the ductility was completely eliminated upon irradiation of about 3 x 10 16 e/cm² in polyvinyl chloride and 1 x 10 16 e/cm² in high density polyethylene. Based on the present experimental results, it was estimated that to eliminate the ductility of 1 g of polyvinyl chloride the material would require irradiation for about 17 min using a 1,000 curie Sr 89 radiation source (assuming 100% efficiency). Thus, utilization of radiation sources for plastic waste treatment seems impractical for large quantities.
Late amputation may not reduce complications or improve mental health in combat-related, lower extremity limb salvage patients

Abstract Introduction Following severe lower extremity trauma, patients who undergo limb reconstruction and amputations both endure frequent complications and mental health sequelae. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which late amputation following a period of limb salvage impacts the evolution of the clinical variables that can affect the patient's perception of his or her limb: ongoing limb associated complications and mental health conditions. Patients and methods A case series of US service members who sustained a late major extremity amputation from September 2001 through July 2011 were analysed. Pre- and post-amputation complications, mental health conditions, and reason(s) for desiring amputation were recorded. Results Forty-four amputees with detailed demographic, injury and treatment data were identified. The most common reasons for desiring a late amputation were pain and being dissatisfied with the function of the salvage limb. An average of 3.2 (range 1–10) complications were reported per amputee prior to undergoing late amputation and an average of 1.8 (range 0–5) complications reported afterwards. The most common complication prior to and after late amputation was soft tissue infection (24 (17%) and 9 (22%), respectively). Twenty-nine (64%) late amputees were diagnosed with a mental health condition prior to undergoing their amputation and 27 (61%) late amputees were diagnosed with mental conditions after late amputation. Only three of the 15 patients who did not have a mental health condition documented prior to their late amputation remained free of a documented mental health condition after the amputation. Discussion Ongoing complications and mental health conditions can affect how a patient perceives and copes with his or her limb following severe trauma. Patient dissatisfaction following limb reconstruction can influence the decision to undergo a late amputation. Patients with a severe, combat related lower extremity injury that are undergoing limb salvage may not have a reduction in their overall complication rate, a resolution of specific complications or an improvement of their mental health after undergoing late amputation. Conclusion Surgeons caring for limb salvage patients should counsel appropriately when managing expectations for a patient who desires a late amputation.
Database tuning: a principled approach

Database tuning is the activity of making a database application run quicker. Tuning is difficult because it requires global knowledge of an information system, from the hardware to the operating system to the query language to the application. Tuning is important because performance can make or break a database application. Achieving higher performance by tuning can save money by eliminating the need to buy new equipment or to develop new software. Features of the text include tuning advice for relational and object-oriented database systems in general, incorporating suggestions from consultants of competing vendors (IBM, Oracle, Sybase, Ingres).
Grand Unified Theories

I would like to begin by thanking Nino Zichichi, Harvey Newman, Tom Ypsilantis, and all the staff for the opportunity to be in this beautiful place and to reminisce about a fun decade of physics. Because time is so short, I am going to focus very narrowly on the decade of the 70′s, and to concentrate particularly on a 24 hour period which, for me, was the most exciting. I’ll flash a few transparencies to keep the theorists awake, but they won’t matter much. I will give a personal, or at most a Harvard-MIT perspective on the events that led to GUTS. I understand less well what was going on in Europe, or Caltech or Maryland, etc.
Commentary: So the Pendulum Swings—Making Sense of the Duty to Protect

Psychiatry has been struggling for nearly 40 years to make sense of the duty to protect. The great jurisdictional disparity as to what constitutes the duty has been a significant contributing factor. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) released the Model Statute in 1987 to establish a framework to guide legislators and courts toward consensus, to some effect. In response to case law and statutory requirements in most states, psychiatric practice has incorporated the assessment of risk to third parties by patients as an essential element of psychiatric assessment and care. Although court cases shortly after the Tarasoff decision expanded the scope and breadth of the duty to protect, in recent years there appears to have been a shift toward a more narrow interpretation as to what conditions must exist to find a defendant psychiatrist guilty of failing to exercise the duty properly. The threshold for the duty to warn or protect often rests precariously beside the criteria permitting an exception to confidentiality, placing the psychiatrist in a tenuous position. If appellate verdicts continue to find for the defendant psychiatrist in cases claiming a breach of the duty to protect, it could have an impact on how psychiatrists assess and manage threats made by patients toward third parties.
Forced smolder propagation and the transition to flaming in cellulosic insulation

Abstract It is well known that a smoldering fuel responds to an increased oxygen supply by becoming faster and hotter until, eventually, flames erupt. This sequence was examined quantitatively for thick horizontal layers of a permeable fuel, i.e., cellulosic insulation. Two configurations are possible, forward and reverse smolder; both were investigated experimentally. Reverse smolder was shown to respond only weakly to an increased air flow and it exhibited no transition to flaming at flow velocities up to 5 m/s. Forward smolder responded strongly to increased air flow and yielded transition to flaming at about 2 m/s for unretarded material. The influence of combustion retardants was also examined; these included boric acid, a smolder retardant, and borax, a flaming retardant. Both prevented the transition to flaming in the absence of adjacent flammable material but were less effective in its presence. The overall response of these various fuel mixtures and configurations suggests that both kinetics (via leading edge heat transfer effects) and oxygen supply rate (not the latter alone) play substantial roles in dictating smolder response to an air flow.
When the Music Stops: Succession is More than Filling Seats

State and local governments are handling budget challenges brought on by a major recession and exacerbated by goodsand manufacturingbased taxation systems, increased demands for services, and spiraling costs associated with entitlement programs such as Medicaid. Because personnel expenditures are a large proportion of the budget for any public organization, decision makers must look closely at staff reductions. The aging of the publicsector workforce in addition to anticipated staffing reductions, however, suggests that state and local governments are at a tipping point (Pitt-Catsouphes 2007). These governments already face a dearth of qualified employees who can succeed the estimated 25 percent of the 166.9 million adults in the workforce who will be at least fifty-five or older by 2018 (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009). Without strategic action to address these workforce issues, even well-intended decisions by high-level elected and appointed officials made to address immediate budget shortfalls will strain the capacity of state and local agencies to provide needed services.
Consumer reuse and recycling of post‐consumer textile waste

A growing sensitivity to environmental issues has stimulated increased consumer recycling of post‐consumer product waste. Post‐consumer textile waste is a largely untapped commodity with strong reuse and recycling potential. This study explored consumer practices regarding textile waste disposal. Findings revealed the use of several textile disposal options with significant relationships between options used and attitudes toward recycling. This research is a necessary precursor to the establishment of organised textile recycling programmes.
Induction and function of virus-specific CD4+ T cell responses

Abstract CD4+ T cells – often referred to as T-helper cells – play a central role in immune defense and pathogenesis. Virus infections and vaccines stimulate and expand populations of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in mice and in man. These virus-specific CD4+ T cells are extremely important in antiviral protection: deficiencies in CD4+ T cells are associated with virus reactivation, generalized susceptibility to opportunistic infections, and poor vaccine efficacy. As described below, CD4+ T cells influence effector and memory CD8+ T cell responses, humoral immunity, and the antimicrobial activity of macrophages and are involved in recruiting cells to sites of infection. This review summarizes a few key points about the dynamics of the CD4+ T cell response to virus infection, the positive role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the differentiation of virus-specific CD4+ T cells, and new areas of investigation to improve vaccines against virus infection.
Characterization of EST derived SSRs from the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2005. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Blackwell Publishing for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Molecular Ecology Notes 5 (2005): 567-568, doi:10.1111/j.1471-8286.2005.00996.x.
Episodic zircon age spectra of orogenic granitoids: The supercontinent connection and continental growth

Abstract To identify age peaks and other features in an isotopic age distribution, it is common to perform a kernel density estimation or similar analysis. A key aspect of this estimation process is the choice of an age resolution bandwidth that best reflects the random variable and other assumptions on the data. Probabilistic kernel density analysis of large databases (up to nearly 40,000 samples) of U/Pb zircon ages suggests an optimum bandwidth of 25–30 My for many key features, which yields approximately 40 peaks with confidence levels of c ≥ 0.9. Because of natural redistribution processes, geographic sample bias may be minimized by jointly analyzing isotopic ages from both orogenic granitoids and from detrital zircons. We show that the relative heights of age peaks are commonly controlled by the local geographic distribution of samples and are not necessarily correlated with total geographic extent. Eight peaks with c ≥ 0.9 occur on five or more cratons or orogens (at 750, 850, 1760, 1870, 2100, 2650, 2700, and 2930 Ma). Results suggest that orogenic plutonism age peaks principally reflect subduction system episodicity on local or regional scales, but not on continental or supercontinental scales. In contrast, peak clusters that are jointly defined by granitoid and detrital ages may be more representative of the general age distribution of the continental crustal record. Five major peak clusters are closely tied to supercontinent formation at 2700, 1870, 1000, 600, and 300 Ma and minima in age spectra correspond to supercontinent stasis or breakup (2200–2100, 1300–1200, 750–650, and ≤200 Ma). Age clusters also show a decrease in cycle duration beginning at 1000 Ma. A new histogram of continental preservation rate shows that approximately one-third of the extant continental crust formed during the Archean, about 20% during the Paleoproterozoic, and only 14% during the last 400 My. Peak clusters are probably related chiefly to preservation of juvenile crust in orogens during supercontinent assembly, although locally, continental crustal production rate may be enhanced during actual collisions.
Improvement of Labour Utilisation in Shift Scheduling for Services with Implicit Optimal Modelling

Using labour efficiently in service organisations is an important management objective since labour frequently accounts for more than 70 per cent of total operating costs. While most service organisations can use flexible scheduling rules to improve the utilisation of labour, selecting a good or “best” set of work schedules from a large set of alternatives has proved to be a formidable task. A new modelling procedure is described which allows optimal decisions to be made when the desired level of scheduling flexibility results in a very large population of possible schedules. Flexibility in shift scheduling is increased primarily through increasing the number of different shift lengths and allowing flexible placement of breaks. The power of the new modelling approach was used in an experiment described here to assess the relative impact of shift‐length and break‐placement flexibility on labour utilisation. The results indicated that, while either type of flexibility can improve labour utilisation, there w...
Ag3PO4 Oxygen Evolution Photocatalyst Employing Synergistic Action of Ag/AgBr Nanoparticles and Graphene Sheets

A graphene-supported Ag3PO4/Ag/AgBr water oxidation photocatalyst was prepared by a photoassisted deposition–precipitation reaction, followed by a hydrothermal treatment. The composite photocatalyst exhibits double the O2-production activity than that of bare Ag3PO4 under visible light irradiation. Moreover, it exhibits enhanced activity in comparison to unsupported Ag3PO4/Ag/AgBr, to graphene-supported bare Ag3PO4 powder as well as to Ag/AgBr powder. This increase in activity is attributed to a combination of depletion of the conduction band of the as-synthesized n-doped Ag3PO4 material and a downshift of the Ag3PO4 valence band due to the pinning of its conduction band at the silver Fermi level, a process that is assisted by charge transfer and distribution onto the graphene support.
Evolutionary ecology and the use of natural selection in ecological theory.

Studies in ecology focus on two basic problems: the first is determining what controls the distribution and abundance of organisms, the second is describing the interrelationships of living organisms with their biotic and abiotic environment. These problems are complementary, because the size of a population depends on interactions between the individuals in that population and its biotic and abiotic environment. Similarly, describing the interrelationships of organisms helps to reveal why the relative abundance of a species varies from one area to another. Fundamentally, ecologists seek to explain where organisms occur by understanding the interactions affecting the relative abundance of plants and animals. Studies in evolutionary biology, like those in ecology, focus on two basic problems: first, describing the historical record of life, the pattern of evolutionary change; second, discovering the mechanisms affecting the evolution of species. Ecologists study processes such as competition, predation, energy flow, and nutrient availability to understand why species vary in abundance. In addition, some ecologists have argued for considering the mechanisms of organic evolution as factors that help explain ecological patterns. In an evaluation of six introductory textbooks in ecology, for example, one of the criteria Gordon Orians used was the degree of pervasiveness of the concept of natural selection.' In this review he wrote, "Perhaps the greatest challenge for contemporary ecology is the development of theories about the properties of communities on the basis of selection for their component individuals." This emphasis on uniting concepts from ecology and evolu-
Adjusting forecast curves for abnormal spring and summer temperatures

With 20,000,000 acres under irrigation in Western States, the importance of the contribution of agricultural irrigation to the Nation's production of food and to fighting this war is clearly defined. It should be similarly recognized that irrigated lands have special problems not common to all farm-lands. One problem is the determination and proper management of available water-supply. Just as any industrial concern, to meet schedules of production, must correctly inventory at all times its raw materials on hand or available, so must irrigation enterprise prepare daily, monthly, and annual inventories of water-supplies on hand or in prospect. These inventories in Western States are known under the general term of snow-surveys and are frequently so inclusive as to encompass measurements of the volume of water impounded in reservoirs, in the mountain snow-cover, in watershed and crop-land soils, and in subterranean storage both on the watersheds and beneath the cultivated valleys below. The snow-surveys include the collection of data intended to indicate what proportion of such water-supplies may be available for use.
Scalar transport in large-eddy simulation of Langmuir turbulence in shallowwater

Abstract Large-eddy simulations (LES) of wind-driven shallow water flows with Langmuir turbulence have been conducted and scalar transport and surface scalar transfer dynamics analyzed. In these flows, the largest scales of the Langmuir turbulence consist of full-depth Langmuir circulation (LC), parallel downwind-elongated, counter-rotating vortices acting as a secondary structure to the mean flow. Langmuir turbulence is generated by the interaction of the wind-driven shear current with the Stokes drift velocity induced by surface gravity waves. In the absence of resolved surface waves, the Langmuir turbulence-generating mechanism is parameterized via the well-known Craik–Leibovich vortex force ( Craik and Leibovich, 1976 ) appearing in the momentum equation. Simulations do not resolve surface waves, thus the top of the domain is taken as a non-deforming, free-slip, wind shear-driven surface. LES guided by the full-depth LC field measurements of Gargett and Wells (2007) shows that Langmuir turbulence plays a major role in determining scalar transport throughout the entire water column and scalar transfer at the surface. Langmuir turbulence affects scalar transport and its surface transfer through (1) full-depth, large-scale LC and (2) near-surface, small-scale eddies. Two key parameters controlling the extent of these two mechanisms are (1)the ratio λ ˜ = λ / H , where λ is the dominant wavelength of the surface waves generating the turbulence and H is the mean water column depth and (2)the turbulent Langmuir number, Lat, which is inversely proportional to wave forcing relative to wind forcing. Results from simulations with varying combinations of λ ˜ and Lat are analyzed in order to understand the effect of these two parameters on scalar dynamics.
Children's eyewitness memory for multiple real-life events.

The present research examined the influence of prior knowledge on children’s free recall, cued recall, recognition memory, and source memory judgments for a series of similar real-life events. Forty children (5–12 years old) attended 4 thematic birthday parties and were later interviewed about the events that transpired during the parties using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development protocol. Of the events, half were generic in that they could have occurred at any birthday party, and half were specific to the theme of the party. Older children demonstrated more evidence of using gist-based information to guide their memory performance than did younger children. However, younger children were able to use global gist to inform their source memory judgments, qualifying past word-learning research.
Defect equilibria in undoped a -Si:H

Experimental and theoretical studies of the thermal equilibrium defect density in undoped a-Si:H are reported. The defect density measured by electron-spin resonance increases with temperature with an activation energy of 0.15\char21{}0.2 eV. The equilibration time is activated with an energy of about 1.5 eV, and the shape of the decay follows a stretched exponential, as in doped a-Si:H. The experiments confirm that defect equilibration occurs over a range of temperatures and sample deposition conditions. The relaxation time depends on the growth conditions, and the thermal defects are shown to anneal more slowly than optically induced defects. The temperature dependence of the thermodynamic equilibrium defect density is calculated, based on the weak-bond\char21{}dangling-bond conversion model. Four specific defect reactions are analyzed, two of which involve the motion of bonded hydrogen. The defect density is sensitive to the details of the model because of entropy effects. The experimental data agree well with the analysis, but do not conclusively distinguish between the different possible defect reactions because of uncertainties in the parameters of the model. The different annealing rates of thermal and optical defects are accounted for by relating the distributions of hydrogen-bonding energies, the defect-formation energies, and the valence-band-tail states. It is proposed that the time dependence of the relaxation is related to the shape of the valence-band-tail distribution.
Racial/ethnic differences in prevalence and correlates of binge drinking among older adults

Objectives: This study examines how the prevalence and correlates of binge drinking among older adults vary by race/ethnicity. Methods: Drawn from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, adults aged 60 and older (n = 18,772) were selected. Binge drinking was measured dichotomously based on whether individuals reported consuming five or more drinks in a single day (four or more for females) in the previous year. Prevalence rates for binge drinking in the past year were calculated by race/ethnicity. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted using binge drinking in the past year as the dependent variable. Results: Significant racial/ethnic differences were found in prevalence rates: the presence of binge drinking was most common among non-Hispanic Whites (11.9%), followed by Latinos (10.8%), American Indian/Alaska Natives (9.8%), Blacks (8.0%), and Asians (4.2%). Being a current smoker was found to be the strongest predictor of binge drinking and significant main effects were also found ...
Can the punishment fit the crime when suspects confess child sexual abuse

Abstract Objective To determine significant predictors of severity of sentencing of sex offenders of minors in a jurisdiction which obtains many confessions. Method Data were abstracted from 323 criminal court case records of sexually abused minors over 11 years in a county which places a high priority on sexual abuse prosecution. The sample used in this analysis consisted of 218 men who received a sentence for a sex offense. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine what factors predicted severity of sentences. Specifically this study explores whether, in a county which is very successful in obtaining confessions to sexual abuse of children, the severity of sentence is explained by the seriousness of the crime (more severe type of sexual abuse, younger age of the victim, prior conviction of a sex offense, and abusing more than one child), or by factors unrelated to the seriousness of the offense, offender confession and/or having a court-appointed attorney. Results Factors that predicted the severity of the sentence were the seriousness of the sex crime, prior conviction of a sex crime, and young age of the victim. Conclusions This community, with a high confession rate and a high conviction rate, imposed sentences that were consistent with the crimes, with more severe sentences for more serious crimes. Convenience factors, such as the fact the offender confessed, and systemic factors, such as having a court-appointed attorney, did not result in more severe sentences.
Heterologous expression of carbonyl reductase: Demonstration of prostaglandin 9-ketoreductase activity and paraquat resistance

Transfection of murine NIH3T3 fibroblasts with a pSV2-derived eukaryotic expression vector for human cytosolic carbonyl reductase (E.C. 1.1.1.141) resulted in clones with increased carbonyl reductase activity as demonstrated by an elevation in cellular NADPH-dependent alcohol (menadione) reductase activity. Prostaglandin 9-ketoreductase (9KR) activity, previously noted only in purified enzyme preparations, was also elevated. Although the cellular molar capacity of 9KR activity was less than menadione reductase activity (picomoles versus nanomoles per mg of protein), when compared to endogenous activity there was a greater relative increase in 9KR activity as compared to menadione activity (10 fold increase versus 3 fold). Thus, the 9KR properties of carbonyl reductase may have a physiologic role in prostaglandin regulation. Most transgenic clones lost their enhanced carbonyl reductase activity despite continuous selection, but two clones retained enhanced enzyme activity. RNA analysis indicated that these two murine clones expressed human carbonyl reductase mRNA. These two clones overexpressing carbonyl reductase did not display resistance to menadione, in agreement with a previous report. There was, however, a demonstrable increase in resistance to paraquat of a magnitude similar to that previously noted with transgenic cell lines overexpressing manganese superoxide dismutase.
MTII administered peripherally reduces fat without invoking apoptosis in rats

The melanocortin (MC) system in the brain is believed to be an important downstream effector of leptin signaling; interference with MC functioning results in severe obesity. Melanotan II (MTII), an MC3/4-receptor agonist, produces similar behavioral and metabolic outcomes to those observed after leptin treatments, which enhance apoptosis in specific fat depots. To determine whether MTII also mediates adipose apoptosis induced by leptin treatment, two groups of rats (n=8) received MTII (2 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline (2 ml/kg) once daily for 4 days and had free access to food and water, and a third group was injected with saline and pair-fed (PF) to MTII treated rats. Food intake, water intake, body temperature, and body weight were measured daily. MTII reduced food and water intake and body weight gain (P<.05) and decreased body temperature compared to PF and saline-treated control groups. Retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (WAT) mass and epididymal WAT mass were reduced 46.3% and 21.1%, respectively (P<.05), after MTII, but not after PF, compared with the saline control rats. Both MTII- (25.0%) and PF (33.3%)-treated rats had decreased brown fat weight (P<.05), whereas muscle mass remained unchanged. Free fatty acid concentrations in serum were not different between MTII and control groups, but increased by 56.4% in PF group. DNA fragmentation assay did not support a role for MTII as an apoptotic signal in any of the fat tissues tested. These results show that in addition to reducing food intake and inhibiting body weight gain, intraperitoneal administration of MTII reduces fat mass, most likely by accelerated lipid mobilization, but not by apoptosis.
Auditory temporal perception deficits in the reading-impaired: A critical review of the evidence

We assess evidence and arguments brought forward by Tallal (e.g., 1980) and by the target paper (Farmer & Klein, 1995) for a general deficit in auditory temporal perception as the source of phonological deficits in impaired readers. We argue that (1) errors in temporal order judgment of both syllables and tones reflect difficulty in identifying similar (and so readily confusable) stimuli rapidly, not in judging their temporal order; (2) difficulty in identifying similar syllables or tones rapidly stem from independent deficits in speech and nonspeech discriminative capacity, not from a general deficit in rate of auditory perception; and (3) the results of dichotic experiments and studies of aphasics purporting to demonstrate left-hemisphere specialization for nonspeech auditory temporal perception are inconclusive. The paper supports its arguments with data from a recent control study. We conclude that, on the available evidence, the phonological deficit of impaired readers cannot be traced to any co-occurring nonspeech deficits so far observed and is phonetic in origin, but that its full nature, origin, and extent remain to be determined.
Disseminated Mycobacterium chelonei Infection Following Cadaveric Renal Transplantation: Favorable Response to Cefoxitin

This article describes a case of disseminated Mycobacterium chelonei infection in a renal transplant recipient. This patient, who underwent thoracic duct drainage prior to cadaveric renal transplantation, developed M chelonei bacteremia and numerous subcutaneous nodules a few weeks after transplantation. The M chelonei initially responded to amikacin and tetracycline. Because of side effects and bacterial resistance, however, these drugs had to be discontinued. Subsequent treatment with cefoxitin led to reduction in size of subcutaneous nodules, but control of the infection was not achieved until an intravascular nidus of infection at the anastomotic site of an arteriovenous fistula was removed.
Picrotoxin-like channel blockers of GABAA receptors

Picrotoxin (PTX) is the prototypic antagonist of GABAA receptors (GABARs), the primary mediators of inhibitory neurotransmission (rapid and tonic) in the nervous system. Picrotoxinin (Fig. 1 A ), the active ingredient in this plant convulsant, structurally does not resemble GABA, a simple, small amino acid, but it is a polycylic compound with no nitrogen atom. The compound somehow prevents ion flow through the chloride channel activated by GABA in the GABAR, a member of the cys-loop, ligand-gated ion channel superfamily. Unlike the competitive GABAR antagonist bicuculline, PTX is clearly a noncompetitive antagonist (NCA), acting not at the GABA recognition site but perhaps within the ion channel. Thus PTX appears to be an excellent example of allosteric modulation, which is extremely important in protein function in general and especially for GABAR (1). Recent advances in structural modeling of GABAR (Fig. 1 B and C ) are consistent with action of PTX and analogous convulsants as NCAs. In a recent issue of PNAS, Chen et al. (2) describe how numerous drugs in this category, with a variety of pharmacological effects, can interact with the same domain of the GABAR protein within the ion channel. Fig. 1. Schematic view of the GABAA receptor–chloride channel and its blocker picrotoxinin. ( A ) Chemical structure of picrotoxinin. ( B ) Structure of a cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel receptor. Schematic view of a native GABAR heteropentamer, with the channel in the center, formed of two copies of an α subunit (α1–α6), two copies of a β subunit (β1, β2, or β3), and one additional type, like γ2 or δ. ( C ) Cytoplasmic end of the TM2/channel α-helix for two β3 subunits (black dots in B ; the other three subunits are not shown) in GABAR, showing the PTX site residues near 2′–9′ (residues are numbered 1′–23′ from the N-terminal bottom of the helix … *E-mail: rolsen{at}mednet.ucla.edu
Tree-based Search Algorithm for Web Service Composition in SaaS

With the growing demand of cloud computing most companies are moving software to the cloud in form of web services. Web services are popular in terms of distributed technology that can successfully solve integration problems between heterogeneous systems. Web service composition is NP-hard problem and one of the most challenging problems in web services. This paper aims to optimize QoS attributes in web service composition using a tree-based heuristic search algorithm. The proposed algorithm consists of three main steps: tree creation, tree filtering and tree searching. First the algorithm creates a tree that represents all possible composition solutions. Second the filtering algorithm removes illegal composition paths as well as composition paths that less likely to be in the optimal set. Finally a best-first search algorithm is used to find, evaluate and rank the optimal composition solutions. To demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we provided experimental results for supply chain management system case study with multi QoS attributes.
Trouessartiidae, New Status, with the Description of a New Genus (Agarina: Analgoidea)

Trouessartiinae Gaud, 1957 is elevated to familial rank and includes 2 subfamilies transferred from the Alloptidae—Trouessartiinae (s.s.) and Thysanocercinae Atyeo & Peterson, 1972. Steatacanis bifiditibia , n. g., n. sp., a trouessartiine, is described from the Oilbird, Steatornis caripensis (Caprimulgiformes, Steatornithidae), collected in Ecuador and Trinidad.
Heterochronic genes and the temporal control of C. elegans development

The heterochronic genes of Caenorhabditis elegans encode part of a regulatory system that controls the temporal component of cell fates in development. The genes have been characterized genetically and molecularly, and their study has so far revealed a genetic hierarchy that specifies sequences of developmental events, a novel RNA-mediated mechanism of gene regulation and a reprogramming phenomenon associated with arrested development.
The effect of double adrenalectomy on the development of rickets in rats.

It has been claimed by many investigators that there is an intimate association between the action of the adrenal glands and the development of rickets. Adrenalin has been given in this disorder by...
Soybean Fibrous Root Heritability and Genotypic Correlations with Agronomic and Seed Quality Traits

A major obstacle in selecting for increased soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed protein concentration lies in the negative genetic correlation between seed yield and protein. The plant introduction PI 416937 has extensive fibrous root surface area that contributes to increased nitrogen fixation. PI 416937 also exhibits drought tolerance. It may be an important breeding line in the Southeast region of the USA, which is vulnerable to drought stress during soybean development. The development of breeding lines with superior root systems may be an effective way of stabilizing soybean production in drought-prone regions. The objectives of this study were to estimate the heritability of phenotypic root score and genotypic correlations between root score and seed yield, seed protein concentration, seed oil concentration, and seed weight. A peanut inverter was used to excavate F 2 plants of a population from the cross 'Lee 74' x PI 416937. The root systems were scored visually, based on the percentage of fibrous root area. F 2:3 and F 2:4 rows were grown at two locations, Clayton and Kinston, NC, in 1992 and 1993. Ten plants per plot were evaluated for root score at the R7 stage of development. Heritability estimates for root score were 0.39 on an entry-mean basis from testing in 2 yr and two locations, and 0.24 from a realized heritability estimate. The genotypic correlation between root score and seed protein concentration was positive (r G = 0.42). This is encouraging and suggests that PI 416937 is a valuable germplasm resource for developing high protein, high yielding breeding lines.
Experimental evidence for AcO-7 neighboring group participation

Abstract The reaction of diol diacetates with anhydrous aluminium chloride at ca 100° leads to displacement of only one of the acetoxy groups by chlorine. An oxygen-18 label study has shown that these displacements take place via acetoxonium intermediates and has provided direct evidence for the intervention of a seven-membered ring acetoxonium ion in the displacement of acetate by chlorine in 1,4-butanediol diacetate.
Obtaining absolute water velocity profiles from glider-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers

ADCP sensors have recently been incorporated into AUV Gliders offering the potential for increased physical and biological oceanographic observations. These vehicles can collect high-density measurements for weeks at a time at a small cost compared to vessel-reliant operations. Glider-based ADCPs can provide absolute water velocity profiles based on the “shear method” developed from LADCP research and offer the ability to perform oceanographic research where stationary platform and vessel-based ADCP observations are unavailable or not suitable. The ability to obtain accurate velocity profiles from gliders will further enable high resolution and cost-effective oceanographic observations. Shear is calculated from water track velocities measurements for every ensemble and averaged within depth intervals to create one shear profile for each glider dive. The vertically averaged shear profile is integrated to establish a velocity profile relative to the bottom of the glider dive. As shear is independent of platform motion, integrated relative velocities will not contain glider motion bias. Absolute velocities are computed by referencing dive-averaged velocity measurements, based on the glider drift. Bottom track velocities, where available, they be referenced to water track measurements and provide absolute velocities. Bottom referenced velocities provide a verification for dive-averaged velocities and are valuable for removing diverging velocity offsets. Effective data processing methods, data filtering, accurate heading information, and instrument settings for high-quality data collection are the tools for obtaining absolute water velocity profiles from gliders. The Oregon State University Glider Research Group is refining these methods by comparing results against concurrent velocity measurements from adjacent ADCP platforms. The findings described in this document result from experiments performed in 2011 by OSU off the Oregon Shelf and during the Office of Naval Research sponsored Lateral Mixing Project in the Sargasso Sea.
Life on the Outside: Returning Home after Incarceration

With record-high incarceration rates, unprecedented extension of state supervision over individuals leaving prison, and a complex maze of legal barriers to reintegration, more people than ever befo...
The Two Dams and That Damned Paresis

Philosophers of science take it as a datum that Mayor John's having syphilis explains why he, rather than certain nonsyphilitics, had paresis. Using a new hypothetical example, the case of the two dams, it is argued that three independent considerations invalidate these philosophers' starting point.