cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Findings from the Follow Through Planned Variation Study

T hough Follow Through was originally conceived in 1967 to be a largescale compensatory education program extending Head Start services through third grade, budget problems quickly reduced it to a small program and its goals changed accordingly. Follow Through became known for its Planned Variation of educational approaches, and the hope was that study of these variations would increase knowledge of which kinds of educational programs would have different patterns of effects in various kinds of settings. Nearly twenty different educational models were studied. Each model was implemented in a variety of settings, and children in those settings were exposed to their model from kindergarten through third grade. Though the program and the planned variations are still in place, the study of effects is now completed. The Follow Through study was not a true experiment, or even a well-designed quasi-experiment. For example, school districts were nominated by states to participate in the program, and once accepted, they selected the models they would implement. Only after the school districts had identified the classrooms and children in their districts who would participate in Follow Through were they asked to help identify comparable groups to serve as controls. The study is an experiment in the sense that it systematically varies the treatments, but it is a natural study in the sense that disruptions to the setting were minimized by compromising experimental requirements. Abt Associates, Inc., who were commissioned to analyze third-grade outcomes on some 20,000 children involved in the study as well as their parents and teachers, recently submitted a final report to the Office of Education that stacks nearly six inches high (Abt Associates, Inc., 1977). The results have already been described in newspapers and news magazines as favoring more structured educational approaches. Such a conclusion is important to the educational community, but its validity and generalizability need to be evaluated, since the Follow Through study did not employ strict experimental standards. This paper will present an analysis of the findings from the Follow Through study and evaluate some of their meanings.
Pathophysiologic and Prognostic Implications of Measuring Arterial Compliance in Hypertensive Disease

Structural alterations of the arterial wall precede atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events. Endothelial dysfunction appears to be the earliest marker for this structural change that makes the vasculature sensitive to the adverse effects of pressure, lipids, diabetes, smoking and other so-called risk factors. Reduced arterial compliance or elasticity provides an index to the structural abnormalities associated with aging and disease states. Preliminary studies suggest that an alteration in pulsewave oscillations induced at small artery branch points serves as a guide to endothelial dysfunction and reduced nitric oxide bioactivity. Additional studies are urgently needed to document the usefulness of clinical measurement of arterial compliance as a marker for the vascular abnormality that leads to cardiovascular disease and as a guide to efficacy of therapeutic interventions.
E.s.r. of spin-trapped radicals in aqueous solutions of peptides. Reactions of the hydroxyl radical.

The reactions of hydroxyl radicals with 30 dipeptides and several larger peptides were studied in aqueous solutions. The OH radicals were generated by U.V. photolysis of H2O2. The short-lived peptide radicals were spin-trapped using t-nitrosobutane and identified by e.s.r. For dipeptides containing the amino terminal residues glycine, alanine and phenylalanine, abstraction of the hydrogen from the carbon adjacent to the peptide nitrogen was the major process leading to the spin-adducts. Such radicals will be referred to as backbone radicals. Dipeptides with a carbonyl terminal serine residue and also glycylglutamic acid form both backbone and side-chain radicals, with the latter being formed in larger quantities. For dipeptides, side-chain radicals were detected on either the carboxyl or amino terminal residues of both. The effect of pD on the e.s.r. sectrum of the spin-adducts of glycylglycine was studied and the pK of the carboxyl group of this radical was determined to be 2.5. For (Ala)3 and (Ala)n, with an average value of n = 1800, backbone and minor side-chain radicals were observed. For ribonucleases-S-peptide, containing 20 amino acid residues, both backbone and side-chain radicals were detected.
Chaotic synchronous modulation of semiconductor lasers subject to optical injection

A direct experimental observation of chaotic synchronous scenarios, namely chaotic optical modulation, is demonstrated in a unidirectional chaotic-coupling semiconductor laser system. In this fully optical system, the channel signal is different from the output field of the transmitter laser by an additional monochromatic optical field. Different from the chaos synchronization explainable by theory of chaos synchronization, the output field of the receiver laser is not synchronized to that of the transmitter laser. Instead, it is synchronized to the channel signal. However, the optical frequency of the receiver is not locked to that of the transmitter. It is observed that not only is the intensity of the receiver output is synchronized to that of the channel signal, but also the chaotic slowly-varying phase of the receiver. The synchronization of the slowly-varying phase is verified by optical interference between the output of the receiver and the channel signal, and the interference result is recorded through a photodetector.
Treatment of Croup with Glucocorticoids

Croup is a common upper airway disease in children that can range from mild and self-limiting to severe and fulminating. Typical treatment in the past has been mist therapy, although its effectiveness is still being debated. Studies have been published evaluating the efficacy of oral, nebulized, and intramuscular dexamethasone and nebulized budesonide, in a number of combinations and concentrations, in patients ranging in age from 3 to 72 months. The majority of the subjects in the studies were males and more than one-third of the patients in one study previously had croup. The studies have consistently pointed out that the use of oral, intramuscular, and nebulized steroids have been beneficial in patients with varying severity of croup. Nebulized budesonide has been shown to be effective, but is not currently available in the US. Based on this information, intramuscular or oral dexamethasone has been shown to be effective and, in some studies, safe and could be administered to patients presenting with moderate-to-severe croup.
Present status of deep UV nitride light emitters

Ultraviolet light emitting diodes with emission wavelengths less than 400 nm have been developed using the AlInGaN material system. Rapid progress in material growth, device fabrication and packaging enabled demonstration of deep-UV light-emitting devices with emission from 400 to 210 nm with varying efficiencies. For high aluminum alloy compositions needed for the shorter wavelength devices, these materials border between having material properties like conventional semiconductors and insulators, adding a degree of complexity to developing efficient light emitting devices. This chapter provides a review of III-nitride based UV light emitting devices including technical developments that allow for emission in the ultraviolet spectrum, and an overview of their applications in optoelectronic systems.
Laser raman investigations of CxS and its related carbons

Abstract Carbon-sulfur nonstoichiometric compound, C x S, and its related carbons have been studied by Raman spectroscopy along with X-ray diffractometry. A partially carbonized polymer heat-treated at 600°C shows a weak Raman band at 1600 cm −1 and a broad strong band centering at 1300 cm −1 . A heat treatment temperature of 1000°C transforms the Raman spectrum into two strong bands at 1600 and 1350 cm −1 characteristic of disordered carbons. However, the E 2 g 2 Raman band of C x S samples prepared from the same polymer at 600°C is red-shifted to 1550 cm −1 . In addition to the 1550 cm −1 band and a strong 1360 cm −1 band, a weak band at about 490 cm −1 is also observed. Based on the present results and those obtained earlier, a simple model of the C itx S material is proposed as a turbostratic carbon which consists of random layer hexagonal carbon ring networks with C=S and thiophenic C-S-C groups existing in the peripheral rings at the layer edges. For the C x S materials with higher sulfur contents, cross-linkings with -S n - groups exist between layers and/or crystallites.
High resolution seismic-reflection imaging of shallow deformation beneath the northeast margin of the Manila high at Big Lake, Arkansas

Abstract The Manila high, an elliptical area 19 km long (N–S) by 6 km wide (E–W) located west-southwest of Big Lake, Arkansas, has less than 3 m of topographic relief. Geomorphic, stratigraphic and chronology data indicate that Big Lake formed during at least two periods of Holocene uplift and subsequent damming of the south-flowing Little River. Age data of an organic mat located at the base of an upper lacustrine deposit indicates an abrupt, possibly tectonic, formation of the present Big Lake between ad 1640 and 1950. We acquired 7 km of high-resolution seismic-reflection data across the northeastern margin of the Manila high to examine its near-surface bedrock structure and possible association with underlying structures such as the Blytheville arch. Sense of displacement and character of imaged faults support interpretations for either a northwest trending, 1.5 km-wide, block of uplifted strata or a series of parallel northeast-trending faults that bound horst and graben structures. We interpret deformation of the Manila high to result from faulting generated by the reactivation of right-lateral strike-slip fault motion along this portion of the Blytheville arch. The most recent uplift of the Manila high may have occurred during the December 16, 1811, New Madrid earthquake.
The Globalization of Multicultural Education

The appearance of edited volumes on a topic signals the maturation of scholarly reflection upon it within the field of comparative education. Such is the case with “multicultural education.” In common usage in the United States, multicultural education generally refers to education about different ethnic groups that comprise the U.S. population. Indeed, the vast majority of the literature produced on the subject consists of curricular units for teaching about African-Americans, Native Americans, Latinos/Chicanos, or various AsianAmerican groups. As dialogue on cultural difference and education has spread to other nations, it has become more sharply focused on complex issues of identity, diversity, and citizenship. Advocates of multicultural education define it as having either two or three key features. James Banks, a leading voice in the field, defines three central concerns addressed by multicultural education: validating the identities of socially oppressed groups; teaching the history of exploitation and resistance to it; and providing empowering education to oppressed groups. Others reduce these features to two: “the ‘recognition of diversity’ strand [and] the ‘social equality’ strand.” Scholars of multicultural education agree that it is a social movement for educational reform that initially grew out of civil rights movements in the United States, particularly efforts for the complete enfranchisement of African-Americans.
Automated lung segmentation in magnetic resonance images

Segmentation of the lungs within magnetic resonance (MR) scans is a necessary preprocessing step in the computerized analysis of thoracic MR images. This task is complicated by potentially significant cardiac and pulmonary motion artifacts, partial volume effect, and morphological deformation from disease. We have developed an automated segmentation method to account for these complications. First, the thorax is segmented using a threshold obtained from analysis of the cumulative gray-level histogram constructed along a diagonal line through the center of the image. Next two separate lung-thresholded images are created. The first lung-thresholded image is created using histogram-based gray-level thresholding techniques applied to the segmented thorax. To include lung areas that may be adversely affected by artifact or disease, a second lung-thresholded image is created by applying a grayscale erosion operator to the first lung-thresholded image. After a rolling ball filter is applied to the lung contour to eliminate non-lung pixels from the thresholded lung regions, a logical OR operation is used to combine the two lung-thresholded images into the final segmented lung regions. Modifications to this approach were required to properly segment sections in the lung bases. In a preliminary evaluation, the automated method was applied to 10 MR scans, an observer evaluated the segmented lung regions using a five-point scale (“highly accurate segmentation” to “highly inaccurate segmentation”). Eighty-five percent of the segmented lung regions were rated as highly or moderately accurate.
Mechanisms of Reperfusion Injury

Reperfusion of ischemic organs can result in tissue injury that is manifested as microvascular and parenchymal cell dysfunction. Reactive oxygen metabolites and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) have been implicated in the pathobiology of reperfusion injury. Reactive oxygen metabolites mediate the lipid peroxidation detected in postischemic tissues and promote the formation of inflammatory agents that recruit and activate PMN. These PMN appear to inflict reperfusion-induced tissue injury. Drugs that scavenge or inhibit the formation of reactive oxygen metabolites and/or prevent the recruitment of PMN may be useful in the treatment of reperfusion injury.
Children's attributions for peer victimization: A social comparison approach

Abstract A social comparison framework was used to examine the relations between children's attributions for victimization and adjustment. In Study One, 192 nine-to ten-year-old children were asked why someone may pick on them. Results revealed attributions reflecting five causes of victimization that could be reliably sorted by direction of social comparison: (a) jealous peer (downward), (b) mutual antipathy (horizontal), (c) being different from each other (horizontal), (d) personal behavior (upward) and (e) being uncool (upward). Children's responses were used to create an attribution measure that was administered to 206 eight-to eleven-year-old children. Results were consistent with the social comparison hypothesis such that peer jealousy was uniquely associated with lower levels of loneliness and greater acceptance whereas personal behavior and not being uncool were correlated with greater loneliness and lower perceived acceptance and self-esteem. Findings supported the usefulness of a social comparison framework for understanding associations among attributions and adjustment.
Semigroups generated by pseudo-contractive mappings under the Nagumo condition

Let X be a Banach space whose dual space X∗ is uniformly convex. We demonstrate that, for any demicontinuous, weakly Nagumo, k-pseudo-contractive mapping T:D(T)⊆X→X with closed domain, A=T−I weakly generates a semigroup on D(T). In this paper, we project the consequences of this result on fixed point theory. In particular, we show that if k<1 (id est, if T is strongly pseudo-contractive), then T has a unique fixed point. This implies that, if T is pseudo-contractive (k=1) and D(T) is closed, bounded, and convex, then T has at least one fixed point. Consequently, any demicontinuous pseudo-contractive mapping T:C→C (for an appropriate C) has a fixed point, which has been an important open question in fixed point theory for quite some time. In a subsequent paper, we explore the consequences of the semigroup result on the existence of solutions to certain partial differential equations. The semigroup result directly implies the existence of unique global solutions to time evolution equations of the form u′=Au where A is a combination of derivatives. The fixed point results from this paper imply the existence of solutions to partial differential equations of the form Lu=f.
Absence of Renormalization Group Pathologies Near the Critical Temperature. Two Examples

We consider real-space renormalization group transformations for Ising-type systems which are formally defined by $$\exp \left[ { - H'(\sigma ')} \right] = \sum\limits_\sigma {T(\sigma ,\sigma ')} \exp \left[ { - H(\sigma )} \right]$$ whereT(σ, σ′) is a probability kernel, i.e., ∑σ′T(σ,σ′) = 1 for every configuration σ. For each choice of the block spin configuration σ′, let σ′, let μσ′ be the measure on spin configurations σ which is formally given by taking the probability of σ to be proportional toT(σ, σ′) exp[−H(σ)]. We give a condition which is sufficient to imply that the renormalized HamiltonianH′ is defined. Roughly speaking, the condition is that the collection of measures μσ′ is in the high-temperature phase uniformly in the block spin configuration σ′. The proof of this result uses methods of Olivieri and Picco. We use our theorem to prove that the first iteration of the renormalization group transformation is defined in the following two examples: decimation with spacingb = 2 on the square lattice with β < 1.36βc and the Kadanoff transformation with parameterp on the trian gular lattice in a subset of the β,p plane that includes values of β greater than βc.
Hurricane preparedness and planning in coastal public school districts in the United States

One hundred school districts were surveyed along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts from North Carolina to Texas. Nearly all had recent experience with a tropical storm or hurricane and had hurricane plans in place. About half teach hurricane preparedness to students and 85 % train staff members in hurricane preparedness. Sources of information about cyclone threats were the National Hurricane Center (91 %), local television news (74 %), The Weather Channel (67 %), and the internet (67 %). Only 36 % would cancel classes for a hurricane warning but 89 % would cancel classes for a mandatory evacuation. Most districts (75 %) would use schools as storm shelters, and 92 % would use school busses to assist in community evacuations. Districts with a higher percentage of Hispanic population provided hurricane information in Spanish. Larger school districts were less likely to cancel classes in the middle of the day for a storm threat. Districts with higher home values were less likely to use school busses for evacuations, and smaller school districts were less likely to provide schools as storm shelters. There were no other significant associations between hurricane preparedness of the districts and district demographic variables of poverty, percent black, percent Hispanic, population, district size, or median home values.
Aggressive Behaviour of Black Skimmers (Rynchops Niger)

The aggressive behaviour of skimmers was studied in a mixed species colony of black skimmers and common terns located on a sandy beach in New York. The levels and intensity of intraspecific aggression varied according to sex, season, and time of day. Males engaged in more intraspecific aggression, whereas females engaged in more interspecific defense. These differences suggest that interspecific defense is an appropriate response to the real threat of chick loss due to other birds (of both species). In general, females were defending space and their chicks, whereas males seemed to defend space, their chicks, and females. The aggression observed at any point in the reproductive cycle correlates with the magnitude of the threat.
A Computational Study of Torque and Forces Due to Compressible Flow on a Butterfly Valve Disk in Mid-stroke Position

The ability to accurately predict the aerodynamic torque and lift and drag forces on a 2-D model of a 0.18 aspect ratio biconvex circular-arc disk operating in a compressible flow using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was investigated. Fluent 6.0 was the CFD package utilized to perform these calculations. Grid-convergence and time-convergence/stability were analyzed first, followed by a qualitative study of the Spalart-Allmaras, k-e, and k-ω turbulence models with their enhancement features and model variants. Fluent was used to predict the pressure profile on the disk surface for disk positions 30, 45, and 60 deg (where 0 deg is the fully closed position) and over a range of pressure ratios. The pressure ratios were selected to determine the capability of CFD to accurately predict the flow field and resulting torque in flows ranging from nearly incompressible to highly compressible. Fluent predictions for the pressure profiles on the disk were compared to test data so that the lift and drag forces and aerodynamic torque could be determined responsibly. Acceptable comparisons were noted.
The Global and the Intimate: Feminism in Our Time

The Global and the Intimate: Feminism in Our Time, edited by Geraldine Pratt and Victoria Rosner, New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. 325 pp. US$29.50 (paper), ISBN: 978-0-2311-5449-9 Feminist geographers' investigations of the everyday intimacies of embodied subjects have been used to critique, intervene in, and retheorize abstract narratives of global processes and relations. With Elspeth Probyn, "We might call this a feminist attunement to the little details so crucial to adequately understanding the big picture" (p. 75). In their new collection, The Global and the Intimate: Feminism in Our Time, Geraldine Pratt and Victoria Rosner bring together feminist scholars from various disciplines concerned with this relationship between the intimate and the global. Cultural geographers will not only find this conceptual pairing fruitful for upending hegemonic notions of scale and space, but will find in each chapter examples of how an epistemological commitment to intimacy can be productively incorporated into academic research and writing. In their introduction, Pratt and Rosner problematize "the intimate" and "the global," reviewing the use of these concepts in feminist thought. Crucially, they insist that intertwining the global and the intimate is an ethical move attentive to specificity and broader global contexts simultaneously, and they highlight the importance of materiality ("the tastes, smells, and touch of everyday life") in the following fifteen chapters (p. 19). Chapter One in the first of four thematically organized sections, Ara Wilson's contribution acts as a second introduction to the collection, tracing the use of intimacy as a critical concept, and suggesting that its analytical value lies in its emphasis on relationality and linkages and its resistance to fixed definition. That most authors are not geographers is one of the book's strengths, particularly for cultural geographers, who will certainly appreciate the diversity of methods and cultural theories applied to important geographic themes. For example, for those interested in literature, Agnese Fidecaro's piece offers a critical reading of Jamaica Kincaid's My Garden (Book), arguing that it challenges a reification of the intimate to the domestic or private, and that it reveals the relationship of intimacy to global histories and forces. Geographers less interested in analyses of literature, film, or art installation will still find the chapters by Fidecaro, Mieke Bal, Marianne Hirsch, and Tsung-Yi Michelle Huang and Chi-She Li compelling for their concern with physical and emotional borders, exploration of tensions between intimacy and global forces, and attention to how objects and practices do (and do not) produce intimacy through processes of place and displacement. …
Enforcing and validating user-defined programming disciplines

Developing good software requires a large investment of time and money. Yet, production-quality code often has lurking bugs and security vulnerabilities. To help manage the complexity of building robust software systems, developers use programming disciplines during the creation process such as naming schemes for understandability, design patterns for extensibility, and lock ordering schemes to prevent program deadlock. But these disciplines are only informally specified and lack tooling support that would allow them to be enforced consistently on the code. In this dissertation, I present a solution for creating frameworks for programming disciplines that allows programmers to define how disciplines should be enforced. Further, this solution allows users to validate that the disciplines they are using ensure desired program properties in their code. This solution is built upon three insights: a domain-specific language provides a standard way to specify a discipline; type systems provide a scaffolding for automatic discipline checking; and explicit association of a runtime invariant allows disciplines to be verified. I present an overview of two instantiations of such programmer-defined discipline frameworks that I developed and built: JAVACOP for Java, and CLARITY for C. I show how the use of these frameworks can be beneficial to programmers via case studies of disciplines—including design pattern checkers, untainted types, and non-null types—that find errors in real code. These frameworks further show a trade-off among the desired properties of expressiveness, usability, and reliability. JAVACOP is expressive in that the language can be used to write a wide variety of disciplines, but it cannot automatically validate that a discipline is sound with respect to its invariant. On the other hand, CLARITY has limited expressiveness but can automatically prove that a discipline establishes an invariant on a program.
Futures forecasting for strategic planning at general electric

Abstract Without in any way denying that there are forces for stability, I want to state, as strongly as I can, my conviction that change is now more rapid, more complex and more pervasive than ever before in human history. There are forces loose in the world, particularly in the ‘post-industrial society’ of the United States, that go far beyond the youth movement in creating change. As a result, it is utterly unrealistic to pretend that business can continue to plan its strategies in the traditional mode.
The mAKAP complex participates in the induction of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy by adrenergic receptor signaling

Maladaptive cardiac hypertrophy can progress to congestive heart failure, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. A better understanding of the intracellular signal transduction network that controls myocyte cell growth may suggest new therapeutic directions. mAKAP is a scaffold protein that has recently been shown to coordinate signal transduction enzymes important for cytokine-induced cardiac hypertrophy. We now extend this observation and show mAKAP is important for adrenergic-mediated hypertrophy. One function of the mAKAP complex is to facilitate cAMP-dependent protein kinase A-catalyzed phosphorylation of the ryanodine receptor Ca2+-release channel. Experiments utilizing inhibition of the ryanodine receptor, RNA interference of mAKAP expression and replacement of endogenous mAKAP with a mutant form that does not bind to protein kinase A demonstrate that the mAKAP complex contributes to pro-hypertrophic signaling. Further, we show that calcineurin Aβ associates with mAKAP and that the formation of the mAKAP complex is required for the full activation of the pro-hypertrophic transcription factor NFATc. These data reveal a novel function of the mAKAP complex involving the integration of cAMP and Ca2+ signals that promote myocyte hypertrophy.
Does It Matter Who’s Behind the Curtain? Anonymity in Political Advertising and the Effects of Campaign Finance Disclosure

Despite the Supreme Court’s acceptance of disclosure requirements, some donors have been able to remain anonymous through a combination of regulatory gaps, complicated financing schemes, and lags i...
840 CHROMOSOME ABNORMALITIES IN OSTEOSARCOMA DEVELOPING THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER TREATMENT FOR RETINOBLASTOMA

840 CHROMOSOME ABNORMALITIES IN OSTEOSARCOMA DEVELOPING THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER TREATMENT FOR RETINOBLASTOMA
Inert gas mixing in the upper and central airways of man.

Abstract The dispersion of an inert bolus of helium (He) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) was used as a direct, non-ivasive measure of longitudinal gas mixing in the conducting airways of three human subjects. Penetration volume was determined as the milliliters of air inspired after bolus injection, and by computing the increase in mixing between bolus penetrations of 30 and 90 ml, mixing was characterized in the intervening upper airway compartment. Mixing in a central airway compartment was similarly evaluated as the increased mixing between bolus penetrations of 90 and 150 ml. To investigate mixing mechanisms during inspiration, inspiratory flow rate was varied between 0.2 and 1.8 L·sec −1 while the expiratory flow rate was held constant at 0.4 L·sec −1 and conversely, expiratory mixing mechanisms were studied at a fixed inspiratory flow of 0.4 L·sec −1 by varying expiratory flow from 0.2 to 2.4 L·sec − . Under all eight experimental conditions ( i.e. two gases × two airway compartments × two variable flow half-cycles), the extent of SF 6 mixing was found to be three times that of He, and this is indicative of a dispersion process in which radial diffusion limits longitudinal mixing. This was furhter supported by the positive correlation between mixing and expiratory flow in the upper airway compartment. Mixing in this compartment did not vary with inspiratory flow, possibly because of the influence of turbulence generated by the glottis. In the central airways, the effect of changes in both inspiratory and expiratory flow was significant.
Changes in Religious Coping and Relapse to Drug Use Among Opioid-Dependent Patients Following Inpatient Detoxification

Relapse rates remain high among people with opioid dependence. Identifying psychosocial factors associated with outcomes is important for informing behavioral treatments. This study examined religious coping, opioid use, and 12-step participation among 45 participants receiving inpatient opioid detoxification at baseline and follow-up. At baseline, higher positive coping was related to less frequent opioid use pre-admission (β = −.44, p < .001) and history of 12-step participation (OR = 2.33, p < .05). Decreases in negative coping after discharge predicted less opioid use (β = .55, p < .001), and increases in positive coping predicted more frequent 12-step program participation (β = .42, p < .05). Positive religious coping may be protective, while negative religious coping may be a barrier to treatment.
Effect of weight reduction, triiodothyronine, and diethylstilbestrol on growth hormone in obesity

Abstract Plasma growth hormone levels in 23 grossly obese patients were measured in response to insulin-hypoglycemia and arginine infusion. Initially diminished responses to both stimuli were increased after weight reduction. Prior treatment with triiodothyronine increased the growth hormone response to arginine to a greater extent than weight loss alone. However, triiodothyronine did not affect the rise of insulin or glucose following arginine. In six patients studied, stilbestrol failed to augment the growth hormone response to arginine in three obese women, or to insulin in another three.
Bulk viscosity, decaying dark matter, and the cosmic acceleration

We discuss a cosmology in which cold dark matter particles decay into relativistic particles. We argue that such decays could lead naturally to a bulk viscosity in the cosmic fluid. For decay lifetimes comparable to the present Hubble age, this bulk viscosity enters the cosmic energy equation as an effective negative pressure. We investigate whether this negative pressure is of sufficient magnitude to account for the observed cosmic acceleration. We show that a single decaying species in a Λ=0, flat, dark-matter dominated cosmology can not reproduce the observed magnitude-redshift relation from Type Ia supernovae. However, a delayed bulk viscosity, possibly due to a cascade of decaying particles may be able to account for a significant fraction of the apparent cosmic acceleration. Possible candidate nonrelativistic particles for this scenario include sterile neutrinos or gauge-mediated decaying supersymmetric particles. © 2007 The American Physical Society.
Measuring orientation of actin filaments within a cell: orientation of actin in intestinal microvilli

Orientational distribution of actin filaments within a cell is an important determinant of cellular shape and motility. To map this distribution we developed a method of measuring local orientation of actin filaments. In this method actin filaments within cells are labeled with fluorescent phalloidin and are viewed at high magnification in a fluorescent microscope. Emitted fluorescence is split by a birefringent crystal giving rise to two images created by light rays polarized orthogonally with respect to each other. The two images are recorded by a high-sensitivity video camera, and polarization of fluorescence at any point is calculated from the relative intensity of both images at this point. From the value of polarization, the orientation of the absorption dipole of the dye, and thus orientation of F-actin, can be calculated. To illustrate the utility of the method, we measured orientation of actin cores in microvilli of chicken intestinal epithelial cells. F-actin in microvillar cores was labeled with rhodamine-phalloidin; measurements showed that the orientation was the same when microvillus formed a part of a brush border and when it was separated from it suggesting that "shaving" of brush borders did not distort microvillar structure. In the absence of nucleotide, polarization of fluorescence of actin cores in isolated microvilli was best fitted by assuming that a majority of fluorophores were arranged with a perfect helical symmetry along the axis of microvillus and that the absorption dipoles of fluorophores were inclined at 52 degrees with respect to the axis. When ATP was added, the shape of isolated microvilli did not change but polarization of fluorescence decreased, indicating statistically significant increase in disorder and a change of average angle to 54 degrees. We argue that these changes were due to mechanochemical interactions between actin and myosin-I.
Microemulsions: A Medium for Polymerization Reactions

Aqueous and nonaqueous microemulsions containing either of the monomers styrene or hexyl methacrylate polymerize when initiated with potassium persulfate. Reactions in both types of microemulsions lead to stable, bluish dispersions of latex particles with diameters ranging from 40 to 90 nm. By substituting formamide for water, one can investigate the effect of the monomer solubility in the continuous domain on the microemulsion polymerization mechanism in a way independent of the monomer type. When the monomer solubility in the polar domain is high, the latex particles are larger and have a larger number of polymer chains than when the monomer solubility is low. If the monomer solubility in the continuous domain is greater than the overall monomer concentration in the microemulsion, the reaction mechanism shifts from that of a microemulsion polymerization to one of a solution polymerization in the presence of empty micelles.
Four scorers and seven years ago: the scoring method for MUC-6

The MUC-6 scoring method is based on a two-step process of mapping an item generated by a system under evaluation (the "response") to the corresponding item in the human-generated answer key and then scoring the mapped items. The resulting scores are used for decision-making over the entire evaluation cycle, including refinement of the task definition based on interannotator comparisons, technology development using training data, validating answer keys, and benchmarking both system and human capabilities on the test data.
FREQUENCY CONTENT OF RANDOMLY SCATTERED SIGNALS II: INVERSION

We formulate and solve a one-dimensional inverse scattering problem using noisy data. We assume that the medium consists of a small scale random microstructure superimposed on large scale smooth macroscopic variations. We consider the problem of determining the macroscopic variation from the backscattered data. The medium is probed with a pulse whose width is intermediate between the two spatial scales
DNA repair kinetics in irradiated undifferentiated and terminally differentiated cells.

The brains of male Fisher 344 rats bearing 80–150 mg intracerebral 9L/Ro tumors were irradiated with doses of 1,250–5,000 rads of x- orγ-rays. At various times after irradiation, the cerebellum and tumor were excised, dissociated into single cells and the DNA from these cells sedimented through alkaline sucrose gradients in zonal rotors with slow gradient reorienting capability. Quantitation of the DNA repair kinetics demonstrated that the process in both tumor cells and neurons has a fast and slow phase. Although all other alternatives cannot be completely eliminated, we suggest that these two phases are most reasonably interpreted as representing repair of lesions in very accessible and less accessible regions of the genome rather than1) repair of different types of lesions such as single-or double-strand breaks or2) removal of immediate breaks and breaks induced during excision repair of latent base damage. The slow repair phase is saturable, but not inducible in both tumor cells and neurons. The data suggest that tumor cells restore their chromosomal DNA structure to the unirradiated state faster than neurons because1) they contain more of the repair system per unit of DNA and2) a larger proportion of their genetic material is comprised of very accessible regions. The data also suggest that the entire tumor cell genome may be accessible to the repair enzyme(s), while it is possible that a portion of the neuronal genome may be completely inaccessible.
Model-Based Reinforcement Learning in a Complex Domain

Reinforcement learning is a paradigm under which an agent seeks to improve its policy by making learning updates based on the experiences it gathers through interaction with the environment. Model-freealgorithms perform updates solely bas ed on observed experiences. By contrast, model-basedalgorithms learn a model of the environment that effectively simulates its dynamics. The model may be used to simulate experiences or to plan into the future, potentially expediting the learning process. This paper presents a model-based reinforcement learning approach for Keepaway, a complex, continuous, stochastic, multiagent subtask of RoboCup simulated soccer. First, we propose the design of an environmental model that is partly learned based on the agent's experiences. This model is then coupled with the reinforcement learning algorithm to learn an action selection policy. We evaluate our method through empirical comparisons with model-free approaches that have been previously applied successfully to this task. Results demonstrate significant gains in the learning speed and asymptotic performance of our method. We also show that the learned model can be used effectively as part of a planning-based approach with a hand-coded policy.
Aging activates adipogenic and suppresses osteogenic programs in mesenchymal marrow stroma/stem cells: the role of PPAR-γ2 transcription factor and TGF-β/BMP signaling pathways

Osteoblasts and adipocytes originate from a common progenitor, which arises from bone marrow mesenchymal stroma/stem cells (mMSC). Aging causes a decrease in the number of bone-forming osteoblasts and an increase in the number of marrow adipocytes. Here, we demonstrate that, during aging, the status of mMSC changes with respect to both their intrinsic differentiation potential and production of signaling molecules, which contributes to the formation of a specific marrow microenvironment necessary for maintenance of bone homeostasis. Aging causes a decrease in the commitment of mMSC to the osteoblast lineage and an increase in the commitment to the adipocyte lineage. This is reflected by changes in the expression of phenotype-specific gene markers. The expression of osteoblast-specific transcription factors, Runx2 and Dlx5, and osteoblast markers, collagen and osteocalcin, is decreased in aged mMSC. Conversely, the expression of adipocyte-specific transcription factor PPAR-γ2, shown previously to regulate osteoblast development and bone formation negatively and to regulate marrow adipocyte differentiation positively, is increased, as is a gene marker of adipocyte phenotype, fatty acid binding protein aP2. Furthermore, production of an endogeneous PPAR-γ activator(s) that stimulates adipocyte differentiation and production of autocrine/paracrine factor(s) that suppresses the osteoblastic phenotype are also increased. In addition, expression of different components of TGF-β and BMP2/4 signaling pathways is altered, suggesting that activities of these two cytokines essential for bone homeostasis change with aging.
Transcription Factor Nrf2 Protects Renal Dopamine D1 Receptor Function During Oxidative Stress

The renal dopaminergic system plays a significant role in controlling sodium excretion and blood pressure (BP). Overwhelming evidence shows that oxidative stress downregulates renal dopamine receptors (D1R), and antioxidant supplementation protects D1R function. However, the mechanisms for benefits of antioxidants in protecting D1R function are unknown. We investigated the role of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a redox-sensitive transcription factor, in reducing oxidative stress, protecting renal D1R function and lowering BP in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with L-buthionine-sulfoximine (BSO) and sulforaphane for 4 weeks. Rats treated with BSO exhibited significant increase in oxidative stress and BP. BSO treatment reduced renal D1R expression and abolished SKF38393 (a D1R agonist)-induced Na/K-ATPase and Na/H-exchanger (NHE3) inhibition. Also, in these rats, SKF38393 failed to promote sodium excretion. BSO caused an increase in nuclear factor-κB expression, a modest nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and a moderate activation of phase II antioxidant enzymes. Treatment of rats with sulforaphane alone induced modest activation of Nrf2 and phase II antioxidant enzymes, although having no effect on BP, redox status, or D1R function. However, sulforaphane prevented oxidative stress, protected D1R function, and abrogated hypertension in BSO-treated rats. In these animals, sulforaphane, whereas attenuating nuclear factor-κB activation, caused a robust stimulation of Nrf2 and phase II antioxidant enzyme pathway. In conclusion, oxidative stress via nuclear factor-κB activation downregulated D1R function causing a decrease in sodium excretion, which contributed to an increase in BP. Sulforaphane via activation of Nrf2-phase II antioxidant enzyme pathway mitigated oxidative stress and nuclear factor-κB activation, preserved D1R function, and prevented hypertension.
Ethane dehydrogenation on Pt/Mg(Al)O and PtSn/Mg(Al)O catalysts

The dehydrogenation of ethane to ethene on Sn-promoted Pt supported on calcined hydrotalcite, PtSn/ Mg(Al)O, was investigated with the aim of understanding the effects of Sn on the local environment of the dispersed Pt, the catalyst activity and selectivity for dehydrogenation, and the formation of coke. The origins of methane, the primary byproduct of ethane dehydrogenation were also investigated as a part of this study. Pt/Mg(Al)O was reacted with tetra-n-butyl tin in order to introduce Sn selectively to the dispersed Pt particles. High-resolution TEM revealed the formation of a PtSn bimetallic phase upon
Social Problems as Collective Behavior

Sociologists have erred in locating social problems in objective conditions. Instead, social problems have their being in a process of collective definition. This process determines whether social problems will arise, whether they become legitimated, how they are shaped in discussion, how they come to be addressed in official policy, and how they, are reconstituted in putting planned action into effect. Sociological theory and study must respect this process.
Morphological processing of physiological signals for feature extraction

The paper proposes a novel method of extracting features from physiological signals using intrinsic mode decomposition (IMD) and morphological signal processing (MSP). The complex, nonlinear and non-stationary biomedical signals are first decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMF). Next each IMF is subjected to MSP for extracting features, namely, pattern spectrum entropy, that characterize the shape-size complexity of the component signals. These along with other features like energy and sample entropy are extracted from the individual IMF as well as the cumulative sums of IMF for characterizing the signals. The procedure is illustrated using heart sound signals digitally recorded during cardiac auscultation representing different cardiac conditions.
A New Contrast-Enhancing Feature for Cloud Detection in Ground-Based Sky Images

AbstractFor this study a ground-based sky imaging system was developed that, unlike most other such systems, consists of a low-cost sun-tracking camera fitted with a fish-eye lens. The application of interest is short-term solar power forecasting, so cloud detection is an important step. The hybrid thresholding algorithm proposed by Li et al. for cloud detection is employed. Most cloud detection algorithms make use of the red and blue components in a color image. Though these features perform well for many images, they do not produce good results for the images in this study due to the insufficient contrast between cloud and sky pixels when using ratios between red and blue. To overcome this issue, a new feature, the normalized saturation/value (NSV) ratio, is proposed that is computed in the hue–saturation–value (HSV) color space. This study shows that the NSV ratio produces good contrast between cloud and sky pixels not only for the images in this study but also for general sky images acquired using dif...
Improved fuel cell and electrode designs for producing electricity from microbial degradation.

A new one-compartment fuel cell was composed of a rubber bunged bottle with a center-inserted anode and a window-mounted cathode containing an internal, proton-permeable porcelain layer. This fuel cell design was less expensive and more practical than the conventional two-compartment system, which requires aeration and a ferricyanide solution in the cathode compartment. Three new electrodes containing bound electron mediators including a Mn(4+)-graphite anode, a neutral red (NR) covalently linked woven graphite anode, and an Fe(3+)-graphite cathode were developed that greatly enhanced electrical energy production (i.e., microbial electron transfer) over conventional graphite electrodes. The potentials of these electrodes measured by cyclic voltametry at pH 7.0 were (in volts): +0.493 (Fe(3+)-graphite); +0.15 (Mn(4+)-graphite); and -0.53 (NR-woven graphite). The maximal electrical productivities obtained with sewage sludge as the biocatalyst and using a Mn(4+)-graphite anode and a Fe(3+)-graphite cathode were 14 mA current, 0.45 V potential, 1,750 mA/m(2) current density, and 788 mW/m(2) of power density. With Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst and using a Mn(4+)-graphite anode and a Fe(3+)-graphite cathode, the maximal electrical productivities obtained were 2.6 mA current, 0.28 V potential, 325 mA/m(2) current density, and 91 mW/m(2) of power density. These results show that the amount of electrical energy produced by microbial fuel cells can be increased 1,000-fold by incorporating electron mediators into graphite electrodes. These results also imply that sewage sludge may contain unique electrophilic microbes that transfer electrons more readily than E. coli and that microbial fuel cells using the new Mn(4+)-graphite anode and Fe(3+)-graphite cathode may have commercial utility for producing low amounts of electrical power needed in remote locations.