cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Models of Conditional Variance for Bond Prices

Evidence of predictability of financial time series along with recent advances in modeling time dependent conditional variance clearly call for incorporating such theory into expressions for expected bond price changes and variance of price changes. Thus, we derive new first and second order expressions for conditional variance of price change based on these advances. Among other things, we express conditional variance of price changes as a combination of innovations in simultaneously estimated expected change in yield and conditional variance of yield change. Also, we examine how conditional variance is affected by duration, yield volatility, expected change in yield, and convexity. Portfolio managers can use the results to enhance expected performance analysis. For example, in contrast to many theoretical papers, we find that variance of price changes depends on bond convexity. Bond portfolio managers should thus reassess the role convexity plays in their portfolio choices. That is, they may wish to be compensated for positive convexity in terms of greater expected return or required yield.
Bimodal opioid regulation of cyclic AMP formation: implications for positive and negative coupling of opiate receptors to adenylyl cyclase.

: A μ-selective opiate receptor agonist, sufentanil, can either increase or decrease the stimulated formation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in the myenteric plexus. The direction of the opioid modulation of this second messenger depends on the concentration of opioid used. Low doses of opioid enhance, whereas higher concentrations inhibit, the magnitude of cAMP that is formed in response to electrical stimulation. Opioids exert this dual regulation on only stimulated cAMP formation. Basal levels are not affected. Opioid facilitation and inhibition of stimulated cAMP formation are blocked by naloxone, indicating mediation by opiate receptors. Because all experiments were conducted in the presence of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, it is highly unlikely that opioid regulation of stimulated cAMP formation is due to changes in the rate of its degradation. Positive and negative coupling of μ-opiate receptors to adenylyl cyclase is the most plausible explanation for the bimodal opioid effects on cAMP content. The marked parallel between the current observations and the previously reported bimodal opioid regulation of evoked enkephalin release is consistent with the hypothesis that adenylyl cyclase is one biochemical substrate for the bimodal opiate receptor-coupled regulatory mechanism governing the stimulated release of this opioid peptide.
Institutional/Occupational Trends in Armed Forces: An Update:

Since its introduction in 1977, the institutional/occupational (I/O) thesis has generated a growing body of international research. The basic proposition is that the military is moving from an institutional to an occupational format. The thesis is brought up to date by greater specification of I/O variables in military organization. Variables include legitimacy, role commitments, compensation systems, spouse, reference groups, legal system, and postservice status. The current formulation favors an approach that examines shifting constellations of I/O features within armed forces.
Sulfates as Pollution Particulates: Catalytic Formation on Carbon (Soot) Particles

Experimental evidence (obtained by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis) is presented which shows that finely divided carbon (soot) particles may play a major role in the catalytic oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfate in polluted atmospheres. The results obtained with sulfates produced in the laboratory by the oxidation of sulfur dioxide on graphite particles and combustion-produced soot particles are compared with the properties and behavior of ambient sulfates. The proposed sulfur dioxide oxidation mechanism is qualitatively consistent with field observations.
Near-empty review provides low-level support for use of Electropalatography (EPG) as a treatment for articulation disorders due to cleft palate

This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Lee, A. S.-Y., Law, J., & Gibbon, F. E. (2009). Electropalatography for articulation disorders associated with cleft palate. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3. Art no.: CD006854. DOI: 10.1002/14651858. CD006854.pub2 Source of funding and disclosure of interest: No funding source was reported. Under declaration of interests, F. E. Gibbon reported having written extensively on this topic.
On a family of nonoscillatory equations y″ = φ(x) y

On considere l'equation differentielle lineaire d'ordre 2 y''=φ(x)y sur un intervalle [a,b] ou b peut etre non borne. On etudie le caractere oscillatoire ou non oscillatoire des solutions pour φ(x) et y a valeurs complexes
Laterally scaled Si-Si/sub 0.7/Ge/sub 0.3/ n-MODFETs with f/sub max/>200 GHz and low operating bias

We report on the dc and RF characterization of laterally scaled, Si-SiGe n-MODFETs. Devices with gate length, L/sub g/, of 80 nm had f/sub T/=79 GHz and f/sub max/=212 GHz, while devices with L/sub g/=70 nm had f/sub T/ as high as 92 GHz. The MODFETs displayed enhanced f/sub T/ at reduced drain-to-source voltage, V/sub ds/, compared to Si MOSFETs with similar f/sub T/ at high V/sub ds/.
Patient characteristics and the effect of three physician-delivered smoking interventions.

Background. This paper investigates individual patient characteristics predicting differential response to each of three physician-delivered smoking interventions after 6 months. Methods. Participants were 1,286 currently smoking patients seen by 196 medical and family practice residents in five primary care clinics affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Of the participants, 57% were female, 92% were white, their average age was 35 years, and they smoked an average of 23 cigarettes per day. Physicians were trained to provide the following interventions: advice only (AO), a brief (<10 min) patient-centered counseling intervention (CI), and counseling plus prescription of the nicotine-containing gum Nicorette (CI + NCG). The CI + NCG condition included NCG only when appropriate and if acceptable to the patient. Patients were randomized to one of these three physician-delivered intervention conditions. Results. Overall, stratified univariate analyses revealed that AO produced consistently lower cessation rates across most subgroups (generally 9–13%) but was somewhat more effective for certain groups of lighter smokers. Relative to AO, CI was somewhat more effective (about 20–24%) for less addicted smokers, for those with more previous quit attempts, and for those with fewer close associates who smoke, but generally failed to produce higher quit rates for harder core smokers or for women. CI + NCG had an overall pattern of greater effectiveness for both more addicted and less addicted smokers, with the highest absolute levels of cessation (about 27–30%) among less dependent smokers. Women in this group had cessation rates (20.6%) comparable to those of men (23.6%). Condition-stratified logistic regression analyses, controlling for a wide range of covariates, revealed associations similar to those observed in the univariate analyses: An overall logistic model in which intervention conditions were fitted as dummy variables produced the following significant main effects: sex, years smoked, contact with other smokers, symptoms, and CI + NCG condition. Significant interactions were observed for both CI and CI + NCG and smoking when feeling too ill to continue normal activities and CI + NCG and amount smoked. Conclusions. We observed significant main effects on cessation of variables related to addiction, sex, social factors, and physician counseling interventions. Specific interactions were observed between reported smoking when feeling ill and each of the counseling interventions as well as by amount smoked in the CI + NCG condition.
Native polymeric forms of properdin selectively bind to targets and promote activation of the alternative pathway of complement

Properdin, a positive regulator of the complement system, has recently been reported to bind to certain pathogenic microorganisms, to early or late apoptotic and necrotic cells, and to particular live human cell lines, thus providing a platform for de novo convertase assembly and complement activation. These studies, with some contradictory results, have been carried out with purified properdin, which forms a series of oligomers of a ~53,000 Mr subunit, assembling into dimers (P2), trimers (P3), tetramers (P4) and higher forms (Pn). The Pn forms have been shown to likely be an artefact of purification that results from procedures including freeze-thawing of properdin. In this study we isolated the individual natural forms of properdin (P2, P3, and P4) and separated them from the Pn forms present in purified frozen properdin using ion exchange and/or size exclusion chromatography. We analyzed the ability of each form to bind to live or necrotic Jurkat and Raji cells, rabbit erythrocytes (ER), and zymosan by FACS analysis. While the unseparated properdin and the purified Pn forms bound to all the surfaces except ER, the physiological P2-P4 forms specifically bound only to zymosan and to necrotic nucleated cells. Our results indicate that aggregated Pn present in unseparated properdin may bind non-specifically to some surfaces and should be separated before analysis in order to obtain meaningful results. Finally, we have determined for the first time that the physiological forms of human properdin can selectively recognize surfaces and enhance or promote complement activation, which is in agreement with the reported role for properdin as a complement initiator.
On Adoption of Social Computing in the Engineering Community

Social computing capabilities can harness the collaborative potential of many individuals, resulting in an outcome that no single individual would have been able to produce on their own. These capabilities are seeing widespread adoption in the consumer space. However, the motivations and the impediments to contribution in the consumer space do not necessarily translate into the enterprise space. In this work we investigate the adoption of social computing capabilities in an engineering setting in the enterprise. Our goals were to identify the opportunities for social computing in the enterprise as well as the barriers for its adoption; we review key concerns, or barriers, for adoption of social computing in this environment, and the potential approaches we have identified to mitigate these adoption barriers.
Cost-effectiveness of cytogenetic evaluation of products of conception in the patient with a second pregnancy loss

Objective To compare the cost of two strategies for managing the patient with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Design Cost analysis using a decision analytic model was used to compare obtaining an evidence-based workup (EBW) for RPL versus obtaining a karyotype of the products of conception (POC) and proceeding with an EBW only in the setting of euploid POC. Setting Outpatient care. Patient(s) A simulated cohort of patients experiencing a second pregnancy loss. Intervention(s) Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s) Total cost of investigating the cause of RPL after a second pregnancy loss. Result(s) For all age categories, obtaining a karyotype of POC was less costly than an evidenced-based RPL evaluation. Monte Caro analysis demonstrated a net economic benefit for the karyotype strategy ($4,498 [±$792] vs. $5,022 [±$1,130]). Conclusion(s) Our model suggests an economic advantage for obtaining a karyotype of POC in women with second miscarriage.
Economic analysis and pharmaceutical policy: a consideration of the economics of the use of desflurane

Several factors have to be considered in determining the cost of applying a new inhalational anaesthetic such as desflurane into clinical practice. Factors beyond the immediate control of the anaesthetic practitioner include the price set by the manufacturer (although this may be influenced by economic and political pressures), and the physical-pharmacological properties of the anaesthetic (e.g. vaporization, potency, solubility). The anaesthetic practitioner can minimise cost by applying lower inflow rates. Lower solubility (and hence lower uptake) provides a greater economy at lower inflow rates than does higher solubility. Furthermore, lower solubility permits the use of lower inflow rates with greater precision to the control of anaesthesia, and greater ease of application. At present unit prices, the cost of desflurane approximately equals that of isoflurane when a 1 l.min-1 inflow rate is used. The use of lower inflow rates presupposes that such rates do not allow the production of toxic compounds in recirculating gases. Modern equipment makes low-flow anaesthesia reliable and easy to control, and as desflurane is not degraded by the standard carbon dioxide absorbents, its use in low-flow systems is effective and economical. These cost considerations do not take into account the savings that may result from a more rapid recovery from anaesthesia, nor do they take into account the increased expense of capital equipment needed to apply a new anaesthetic.
Radiographic study of the distribution of boron in recent mollusc shells

Abstract Studies have been made of the boron content and distribution in recent Mytilus edulis shells by mapping the alpha particle distribution produced by the 10B (n,α)7Li reaction using cellulose nitrate track detectors. Boron is concentrated in the inorganic parts of the shell matrix and is enriched in aragonite relative to calcite by a factor of 1.5–2. The B contents in different parts of individual shells and in different specimens from a given locality are well defined, particularly for the aragonite layer. A correlation was found between the B in the aragonite layer and the salinity of the water in which the shells grew. The method shows promise as a means of using the boron content of fossil shells to determine paleosalinity.
Function of Human Cytomegalovirus Glycoprotein B: Syncytium Formation in Cells Constitutively Expressing gB Is Blocked by Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies

We report that U373 glioblastoma cells constitutively producing human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) glycoprotein B (gB), the product of open reading frame UL55 of the HCMV genome, formed syncytia that contained 5 to 25 nuclei. Flow cytometry with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to the extracellular domain of HCMV gB showed that these cells expressed high densities of gB in the plasma membrane. We studied the properties of five clonal UB cell lines and the results are as follows. Reactivity of a panel of mAbs to HCMV gB showed that UB cells forming syncytia expressed gB with all of the conformational and sequential epitopes contained in the viral gB made in HCMV-infected cells. Syncytium formation in UB cells was independent of low pH and proteolytic cleavage of gB and was blocked by drugs that inhibit glycosylation and translocation of gB to the cell surface. Infected UB cells formed more syncytia than infected U373 cells, virions entered UB cells more rapidly, and higher virus titers were produced. Incubation of UB cells with complement-independent neutralizing antibodies to gB, which prevent virion entry into cells, cell-to-cell transmission of infection, and fusion of HCMV-infected glioblastoma cells, significantly reduced syncytium formation in UB cells. These results show that overlapping functional domains on HCMV gB promote fusion of the virion envelope with the cell surface, fusion of infected U373 cells, and syncytium formation in UB cell lines expressing high densities of gB in the plasma membrane. Our findings indicate that the functional regions of gB can be subjected to detailed analysis without constructing viral mutants by expressing mutated forms of gB with site-directed changes that preclude syncytium formation of U373 cells expressing these gene products.
Of ‘Origins and Essences’: Aboriginal Conception Ideology and Anthropological Conceptions of Aboriginal Local Organization1

… myths often speak of archetypes in terms of prototypes. They describe the absolute nature of reality as the first and original one … by ‘first’ they mean ‘always’. Adam is relevant to us because he represents the essential man (an archetype), not just the first man (prototype). His ‘original sin’ is thus ours: it is inherent in the human condition. We do not inherit such sin just through time, genetically, like some sort of proclivity for contracting a disease or for playing the piano. Rather, we inherit it to the extent we inherit our humanity; we inherit it through the form. … The archetypical beginnings described in creation myths are absolute and essential. Their truths are always valid. We are so accustomed to thinking historically and linearly, placing the past ‘back there’, that this notion is somewhat difficult for us to grasp. … But it is not inscrutable if you think of time cyclically, repeating itself like the seasons. … It is also easier to understand if you envision the past as ‘deep within’, at the core, like the first age ring of a tree's growth (Sproul 1979:27–28).
Chromatin υ bodies: isolation, subfractionation and physical characterization

Abstract Monomer chromatin subunit particles (nu1) have been isolated in gram quantities by large-scale zonal centrifugation of micrococcal nuclease digests of chicken erythrocyte nuclei. nu1 can be stored, apparently indefinitely, frozen in 0.2 mM EDTA (pH 7.0) at less than or equal to 25 degrees C. Aliquots of the stored monomers have been subfractionated by dialysis against 0.1 M KCl buffers into a soluble fraction containing equimolar amounts of H4, H3, H2A, H2B associated with a DNA fragment of approximately 130-140 nucleotide pairs, and a precipitated fraction containing all of the histones including H5 and H1 associated with DNA fragments. The total nu1 and the KCl-soluble fraction of nu1 have been examined by sedimentation, diffusion, sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation, low-angle X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy. Physical parameters from all of these techniques are presented and correlated in this study.
Decomposition of Formic Acid under Hydrothermal Conditions

The thermal decomposition of formic acid was studied in dilute aqueous solutions and in the absence of added oxygen at temperatures between 320 and 500 °C and pressures between 178 and 303 atm for residence times between 1.4 and 80 s. Under these conditions, the formic acid conversion ranged from 38% to 100%, and the major products were always CO2 and H2, which indicates that decarboxylation is the preferred reaction path for formic acid decomposition under hydrothermal conditions. CO also appeared as a product, which shows that a dehydration path is available, but the CO yield was always at least an order of magnitude lower than the yields of CO2 and H2. The kinetics of formic acid disappearance and product formation at temperatures above 320 °C are consistent with a reaction rate law that is first order in formic acid. The implications of the present results to the generally accepted molecular decomposition mechanism are discussed, as are the alternative free-radical, ionic, and surface-catalyzed reacti...
RIBONUCLEASE DIGESTION OF R17 VIRAL RNA.

The oligonucleotides resulting from ribonuclease digestion of 32P-labeled R17 RNA were separated on the basis of their chain length. The observed distribution was in agreement with statistical expectation. Three kinds of octanucleotides occurred. Knowing their specific radioactivity and the total radioactivity in all of the fractions, it was concluded that R17 RNA contains approximately 3342 nucleotide residues. The molecular weight of R17 RNA is thus approximately 1·1 × 106.
Interpretation of the serum enzyme changes following cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography.

Abstract The changes in the serum enzymes following cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography remain the subject of controversy and their value in the diagnosis of complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been questioned. In order to evaluate this problem serum glutamic oxaloacetic transminase (SGOT), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined before (PRE-) and 24 hours after (POST-) 70 uncomplicated studies. Intramuscular premedications were used in 50 (Group I) and 20 had oral premedications or none (Group II). The changes in SGOT and LDH were trivial, and the POST values remained within the normal range. The CPK increased significantly in 68 per cent of patients in Group I, while in Group II it increased insignificantly within the normal range. The mean enzyme values from 20 patients admitted to the Coronary Care Unit with straightforward AMI 24 hours after the chest pain were clearly and significantly higher than all the mean POST values; however, there was considerable overlap of the individual CPK values with those of Group I. With this understanding the serum enzymes remain a valuable adjunct to the diagnosis of AMI complicating coronary arteriography.
Human T-Cell-Porcine Endothelial Cell Interactions Induce Human Th1 Cytokines and Porcine Activation Markers

Abstract Background. Since the future of clinical transplantation will undoubtedly include xenotransplantation, there is a need to examine human anti-pig cellular reactions. The objective of this study is to use human anti-porcine mixed lymphocyte endothelial cell culture (MLEC) to investigate cell interactions, cross-species molecular compatibilities, and the induction of human cytokines and porcine activation markers. Methods. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells or enriched CD4+ T cells depleted of professional antigen-presenting cells were cultured with resting pig aortic endothelial cells in the absence of exogenous cytokines. T-cell proliferative responses were measured and PAEC were monitored for cell surface markers by flow cytometry. Culture supernatants were assayed for human TNF-α and IFN-γ by ELISA. Results. Human T cells proliferated strongly in response to PAEC (median stimulation index = 75), even in serum-free cultures. High levels of the human Th1 cytokines TNF-α (20–350 pg/ml) and IFN-γ (200–3800 pg/ml) were detected only in cultures containing PAEC, with levels peaking on Day 4. CD4+ T-cell-enriched, APC-depleted responders maintained proliferative anti-PAEC responses and cytokine release. By Day 3, MHC Class II and VCAM expression was induced in 92–96% PAEC: mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) increased from 5 to 83 ± 12 and 166 ± 74, respectively, and MHC Class I was increased from MFI 31 to 965 ± 269. Conclusions. These results indicate that MLEC is an excellent in vitro model in which to study human anti-porcine cellular responses. Human T cells are activated in response to direct antigen presentation by PAEC, which are also activated in this system. Specific cytokines, receptors, and adhesion molecules appear to cross the xenograft barrier and play a critical role in T-cell − PAEC interactions. Such interactions are likely to affect VEC activation and immune responses to porcine xenografts in vivo.
Dilute nitride InNP quantum dots: Growth and photoluminescence mechanism

Self-assembled dilute nitride InNP quantum dots (QDs) in GaP matrix grown under the Stranski-Krastanov mode by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy are studied. The N-related localized states inside the InNP QDs provide a spatially direct recombination channel, in contrast to the spatially indirect channel through the strained In(N)P QDs/GaP interface states. The N incorporation into InP QDs therefore causes a blueshift and double-peak features in photoluminescence, which are not observed in other dilute nitride materials.
Plasma lactate and 3-hydroxybutyrate levels in patients with acute ethanol intoxication

In order to assess the frequency and severity of lactic acidosis and 3-hydroxybutyric acidosis in ethanol abusers, 29 patients who presented to an emergency room with acute intoxication were tested. Most were also chronic ethanol abusers but were not otherwise seriously ill. Their serum ethanol concentrations averaged 226.5 +/- 94.8 mg/dl (range 98 to 426 mg/dl). In 20 patients, the plasma lactate level was elevated only mildly or not at all (1.1 to 3.0 mmol/liter). Seven patients had plasma lactate levels between 3.5 and 4.3 mmol/liter, and only two patients had moderately elevated levels, 5.1 and 8.7 mmol/liter. Thus, severe lactic acidosis was uncommon in these ethanol-intoxicated patients. Only two patients had even trivially elevated plasma levels of 3-hydroxybutyrate, 1.0 and 1.2 mmol/liter. Thus, these patients did not have unrecognized "alcoholic ketosis" manifested mainly as 3-hydroxybutyric acidosis. An unexpected and unexplained finding was the presence of hyperchloremia in 10 of the 29 patients, with serum chloride levels of more than 110 mmol/liter.
On the controllability of a class of discrete bilinear systems

The subject of this paper is the controllability of a class of time invariant discrete bilinear systems. Bilinear systems are classified into two categories: homogeneous and inhomogeneous. Necessity as well as the sufficiency results are obtained by means of decomposing the bilinear system into a linear system and a multiplicative feedback. Byproducts of the decomposition are the notions of multiplicative feedback compensation and the multiplicative feedback with bias compensation which may prove to be alternatives for the classical linear feedback compensation.
Effects of ruthenium on phase separation in a model Ni–Al–Cr–Ru superalloy

The temporal evolution of a Ni–10.0Al–8.5Cr–2.0Ru (at.%) alloy aged at 1073 K was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom-probe tomography. The γ′(L12)-precipitate morphology is spheroidal through 256 h of ageing as a result of adding Ru, which decreases the lattice parameter misfit between the γ′(L12)- and γ(f.c.c.)-phases. The addition of Ru accelerates the compositional evolution of the γ′(L12)- and γ(f.c.c.)-phases, which achieve their equilibrium compositions after 0.25 h. Initially, Ru accelerates the partitioning of Ni and Cr to the γ(f.c.c.)-phase, and the partitioning of Al to the γ′(L12)-phase, but after 0.25 h, Ru, which partitions to the γ(f.c.c.)-phase, decreases the partitioning of Ni and increases the partitioning of Al and Cr. The temporal evolution of the average radius, ⟨R(t)⟩, number density, volume fraction of the γ′(L12)-precipitates, and the supersaturations of Ni, Al, Cr, and Ru in the γ(f.c.c.)- and γ′(L12)-phases are compared in detail with predictions o...
A Synthesis Strategy Yielding Skeletally Diverse Small Molecules Combinatorially

The efficient synthesis of small molecules having many molecular skeletons is an unsolved problem in diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS). We describe the development and application of a synthesis strategy that uses common reaction conditions to transform a collection of similar substrates into a collection of products having distinct molecular skeletons. The substrates have different appendages that pre-encode skeletal information, called σ-elements. This approach is analogous to the natural process of protein folding in which different primary sequences of amino acids are transformed into macromolecules having distinct three-dimensional structures under common folding conditions. Like σ-elements, the amino acid sequences pre-encode structural information. An advantage of using folding processes to generate skeletal diversity in DOS is that skeletal information can be pre-encoded into substrates in a combinatorial fashion, similar to the way protein structural information is pre-encoded combinatorially in...
Compartmentalization of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in the fermentation of brined cucumbers

Abstract Lactic acid bacteria were distributed between the brine and cucumbers in brine-fermented cucumbers. The percentage of bacterial cells located within the cucumbers, of the total cells produced, varied from c. 8–51%, depending upon: (1) gas exchange treatment of the cucumbers before brining and (2) time of inoculation with Lactobacillus plantarum after brining. Oxygen exchange of the cucumbers before brining, and early inoculation of the brine, resulted in higher percentages of cells within the fermented cucumbers. Nitrogen exchange of the cucumbers before brining, and delay in inoculation of the brine for 2 days after brining resulted in lower percentages of cells within the cucumbers. No evidence was found to indicate that yeast cells were present within fermented cucumbers, even when the brines were inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the cucumbers had been O2-exchanged prior to brining. Yeasts, because of their greater size than bacteria, appear to be excluded from the cucumber interior.
Can Commutes Be Used to Test the Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis

This paper uses a simple spatial model of urban employment to demonstrate that the relationship between spatial mismatch and commuting times is indeterminate if employment probabilities decline as ...
The U.S. government response to global change: Analysis and appraisal

There is evidence that the processes of greenhouse warming, depletion of stratospheric ozone, and acid precipitation are likely to have increasingly harmful effects in the next few decades. Though there are uncertainties, we do not have the luxury of deferring all action until the predicted changes are more fully ascertained. Major policy and budgetary decisions must be reached. The situation calls for coherent, stable, but flexible policies to provide the base for coordinated interagency programs of observation, research, analysis, and regulation, as well as for international negotiations concerning global change.
Codes over rings of order 16

We study codes over finite commutative local Frobenius rings of order 16. We define a standard form for the generator matrix for linear codes over these rings. Finally, we describe the generating characters for each ring which produce MacWilliams relations for codes over these rings.
Incentives, regulations, and sustainable land use in Costa Rica

Deforestation in Costa Rica has proceeded at a rapid pace. Of the remaining 2,700 km2 of virgin forests on privately-owned land, over 300 km2 are being deforested each year. Pressure on National Parks, which cover about 27 percent of Costa Rica is likely to increase in the future. Preliminary information indicates that, contrary to our expectations, most of the deforestation at present is not being done by squatters, but driven by profit and asset maximization motives of the timber industry, banana companies, and large cattle ranchers. Setting aside 27 percent of the country's land as parks and reserves was a major policy decision. Aside from the removal of some “perverse” incentives operating inside park areas, the main issue there is one of sound management, including protection from intruders, strengthening enforcement, and controlled “tourism”. On the remaining primary and secondary forest areas on privately-owned land outside the parks, a key question is whether public interests connected with external costs of deforestation warrant public intervention. The paper suggests that a differentiated approach to this and other questions is needed, depending on the costs and benefits involved, and it discusses incentives and regulations which influence land use, and makes proposals for reforms.
Study the performance of battery models for hybrid electric vehicles

This paper studies the performance of battery models for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Two battery models are evaluated using plug-and-play powertrain and vehicle development software, Autonomie. The base vehicle model used for testing the performance of battery models is the Prius MY04, a power-split hybrid electric vehicle model in Autonomie. The battery model in Prius MY04 is based on the Thevenin battery model. It does not consider the effects of double layer, diffusion, and coulombs coefficient. To improve battery model, this study includes battery current loss in the battery model. In addition, voltage losses on double layer effect and diffusion effect are included in the improved battery model. Simulation tests are conducted to compare simulated vehicle fuel economy with two battery models to the vehicle fuel economy test data provided by the department of energy (DOE). The simulation results show that the improved battery model has smaller fuel economy errors than the Thevenin battery model comparing with DOE published vehicle test data.
Hand Gestures: Perspectives and Preliminary Implications for Adults With Acquired Dysarthria

Most communicators engage in some degree of hand gesturing while speaking. The purposes of the present paper are to review in detail the nature of hand gestures (gesticulations) in normal communica...
A Transparent Flow Gating Interface for the Coupling of Microcolumn LC with CZE in a Comprehensive Two-Dimensional System

A new interface for the coupling of microcolumn high-performance liquid chromatography (micro-HPLC) with capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) is presented. The new interface is based on the original flow gated design developed in this laboratory but is now made from a clear plastic which allows for the direct observation and routine manipulation of the micro-HPLC and CZE capillaries. As with the original design, a transverse flow of CZE buffer controls analyte injection onto the CZE capillary. To evaluate the reproducibility of the interface, 400 consecutive CZE separations of a mixture of fluorescein 5-isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled phenylalanine and glutamic acid are performed over a 2 h period. The percent relative standard deviations (% RSD) of the peak height, peak area, and migration times of 400 runs of FITC-phenylalanine are 2.5, 3, and 0.07%, respectively, and of FITC-glutamic acid are 2.5, 3.5, and 0.07%, respectively. The % RSDs of the peak height, peak area, and migration time were reduced to 0...
Learning By Doing and Tariff Protection: A Reconsideration of the Case of the Ante-Bellum United States Cotton Textile Industry

Can learning by doing be held to have played a significant part in raising productive efficiency during the early growth of manufacturing industries in the United States? If there is indeed an adequate basis for regarding technical progress during the pre-Civil War period as an endogenous process depending crucially upon the accumulation of practical experience, what sorts of ‘learning functions” best describe the forms in which that process manifested itself? And, in evaluating the impact of national commercial policies—be they historical or contemporary—what implications flow from the existence and the characteristics of learning effects in young industries, and possibly also in not-so-young industries?
The Origins of Multicellularity and the Early History of the Genetic Toolkit For Animal Development

Multicellularity appeared early and repeatedly in life's history; its instantiations presumably required the confluence of environmental, ecological, and genetic factors. Comparisons of several independently evolved pairs of multicellular and unicellular relatives indicate that transitions to multicellularity are typically associated with increases in the numbers of genes involved in cell differentiation, cell-cell communication, and adhesion. Further examination of the DNA record suggests that these increases in gene complexity are the product of evolutionary innovation, tinkering, and expansion of genetic material. Arguably, the most decisive multicellular transition was the emergence of animals. Decades of developmental work have demarcated the genetic toolkit for animal multicellularity, a select set of a few hundred genes from a few dozen gene families involved in adhesion, communication, and differentiation. Examination of the DNA records of the earliest-branching animal phyla and their closest prot...
NF-kB inhibitor blocks B cell development at two checkpoints.

Members of the NF-kB transcription factor family are differentially expressed in the B cell lineage. Disruption of individual or two NF-kB subunits exhibits distinct defects in B lymphocyte development, activation, and survival. However, the role each NF-kB plays during B cell development has been obscured by molecular compensation. To address this issue, a trans-dominant form of IkBα was transduced into bone marrow cells to act as a pan-inhibitor of NF-kB using a retroviral system. While the development of T-lymphocytes and myeloid cell lineages was not grossly affected by the transduced IkBα gene, a significant reduction in the number and percentage of B lineage cells was apparent in IkBα transduced chimeric mice. IkBα expression decreased the percentage of pre-B and immature B cell subsets in the bone marrow and further impaired the development of follicular mature B cells and marginal zone B cells in the periphery. Introduction of the Bcl-X transgene completely restored the pre-B and immature B cell pool in the bone marrow. However, despite a significant improvement of overall viability of the B cell lineage, Bcl-X expression was insufficient to overcome the maturation block resulting from NF-kB inhibition. Together, our study suggests that NF-kB activity is required for two distinct checkpoints during B cell development: one is for pre-B/immature B cell viability, the other is to provide both survival and maturation signals to ensure the proper development of follicular mature B cells.
Astronauts & Pregnancy Bed Rest: What NASA is teaching us about inactivity…

In the early 1940s, NASA and other aerospace scientists believed that the long‐term effects of space flight would be similar to those seen during and after bed rest. Acting on that hunch, they began to put people on bed rest in order to study the potential effects of weightlessness in space. After decades of research, they found that bed rest causes numerous changes that occur in every system in the body. Their work began influencing health care starting in the 1950s, and the science that subsequently developed became the rationale for encouraging patients to get out of bed and walk around, particularly after events such as surgery.
On the efficacy of fine-grained traffic splitting protocolsin data center networks

Multi-rooted tree topologies are commonly used to construct high-bandwidth data center network fabrics. In these networks, switches typically rely on equal-cost multipath (ECMP) routing techniques to split traffic across multiple paths, such that packets within a flow traverse the same end-to-end path. Unfortunately, since ECMP splits traffic based on flow-granularity, it can cause load imbalance across paths resulting in poor utilization of network resources. More fine-grained traffic splitting techniques are typically not preferred because they can cause packet reordering that can, according to conventional wisdom, lead to severe TCP throughput degradation. In this work, we revisit this fact in the context of regular data center topologies such as fat-tree architectures. We argue that packet-level traffic splitting, where packets of a flow are sprayed through all available paths, would lead to a better load-balanced network, which in turn leads to significantly more balanced queues and much higher throughput compared to ECMP.
Stress-Based Identification and Classification of Antibacterial Agents: Second-Generation Escherichia coli Reporter Strains and Optimization of Detection

Escherichia coli strains bearing single-copy fusions between the lacZ reporter gene and the cspA, ibp, or P3rpoH stress promoters offer a simple means to detect sublethal concentrations of antibacterial agents interfering with prokaryotic translation or cell envelope integrity while simultaneously providing information on the mechanism of action of the test compound (A. A. Bianchi and F. Baneyx, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:5023-5027, 1999). Here, we expand the usefulness of this system by (i) demonstrating that a fusion between the SOS-inducible sulA promoter and lacZ is a highly specific probe for the detection of antimicrobial agents that ultimately interfere with DNA replication, (ii) showing that inactivation of the tolC gene allows efficient detection of very low concentrations of model antibiotics (including aminoglycosides) whereas polymyxin B-mediated outer membrane permeabilization facilitates the identification of intermediate concentrations of hydrophobic compounds, and (iii) validating the potential of detector strains and sensitization strategies for high-throughput screening using a reproducible and internally consistent 96-well microplate assay.
Information Versus Intelligence: Construction and Analysis of an Open Source Relational Database of Worldwide Extremist Activity

This study built and assessed the feasibility of an open source relational database capable of investigating 21st century terrorism. Data were collected over a two-year period from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004 and consisted of 7802 worldwide terrorist incidents. Although specific details about each incident were collected, analyses were primarily directed towards more general categories of variables, including the incident itself, geographical location, group involvement, individual involvement, and injuries and deaths. Although the literature on terrorism has grown exponentially since the 9/11 attacks, most of the research lacks a comprehensive database approach. This research, on the other hand, offers a more comprehensive approach through the identification of group and individual relationships, the ability to link a large number of variables, and provides the organisation and structure required to investigate valuable patterns and trends.
Two types of possessive forms in English

Abstract In this paper we distinguish between the two instances of word-final -s characterizing English possessive forms: (i) the pronominal final -s of hi s and (ii) the full-DP final -s of Mary’ s . We argue that the pronouns are morphologically complex, consisting of a nominative pronoun ( he , you ) and the endings -s or -r , which correspond to the copular forms is and are ( he’ s , you’ re ). As such, they are not real possessive markers, but rather, sg./pl. copulas, which together with the nominative pronoun yield a possessive pronominal form ( hi s , you r ). We adopt the idea that the agreement between pronoun and copula is triggered in a spec-head configuration in a DP-internal agreement projection [E. Ritter, Nat. Lang. Linguist. Theory 13 (1995) 405; R.-M. Dechaine, M. Wiltschko, Linguist. Inq. 33.3 (2002) 409]. We further argue, in line with Kayne [Stud. Linguist. 47.1 (1993) 3] (and in contrast with den Dikken [M. den Dikken, (Anti-)agreement in DP, in: R. van Bezooijen, R. Kager (Eds.), Linguistics in the Netherlands, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 1998, p. 95; On the structural representation of possession and agreement: the case of (anti-)agreement in Hungarian possessed nominal phrases, in: I. Kenesi (Ed.), Crossing Boundaries: Advances in the Theory of Central and Eastern European Languages, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 1999, p. 137], that the -s of Mary’ s book and a book of Mary’ s is not a copula, but rather a (singular) number marker akin to that found in the verbal domain ( she eat s ). Plural possessive DPs ( the kids’ mother ), according to our analysis, are plural DPs ( the kids ) further marked with a null plural number morpheme ‘o’ ( the kids ’ o mother ). We claim that this is the same as the (null) plural morpheme found in the verbal domain ( she eat s vs. they eat o ).
Development of a Regional Climate Model for U.S. Midwest Applications. Part I: Sensitivity to Buffer Zone Treatment

Abstract A regional climate model (RCM) is being developed for U.S. Midwest applications on the basis of the newly released Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Fifth-Generation Mesoscale Model (MM5), version 3.3. This study determines the optimal RCM domain and effective data assimilation technique to accurately integrate lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) across the buffer zones. The LBCs are constructed from both the NCEP–NCAR and ECMWF reanalyses to depict forcing uncertainties. The RCM domain was chosen to correctly represent the governing physical processes while minimizing LBC errors. Sensitivity experiments are conducted for the Midwest 1993 summer flood to investigate buffer zone treatment impacts on RCM performance. The results demonstrate the superiority of the buffer zone treatment that consists of the physically based domain choice and revised assimilation technique. Given this treatment, the RCM realistically simulates both temporal variations and spatial distributions in the major flood area ...
Exploration of Genetic Programming Optimal Parameters for Feature Extraction from Remote Sensed Imagery

Abstract. Evolutionary computation is used for improved information extraction from high-resolution satellite imagery. The utilization of evolutionary computation is based on stochastic selection of input parameters often defined in a trial-and-error approach. However, exploration of optimal input parameters can yield improved candidate solutions while requiring reduced computation resources. In this study, the design and implementation of a system that investigates the optimal input parameters was researched in the problem of feature extraction from remotely sensed imagery. The two primary assessment criteria were the highest fitness value and the overall computational time. The parameters explored include the population size and the percentage and order of mutation and crossover. The proposed system has two major subsystems; (i) data preparation: the generation of random candidate solutions; and (ii) data processing: evolutionary process based on genetic programming, which is used to spectrally distinguish the features of interest from the remaining image background of remote sensed imagery. The results demonstrate that the optimal generation number is around 1500, the optimal percentage of mutation and crossover ranges from 35% to 40% and 5% to 0%, respectively. Based on our findings the sequence that yielded better results was mutation over crossover. These findings are conducive to improving the efficacy of utilizing genetic programming for feature extraction from remotely sensed imagery.
Efficient Belief Propagation for Vision Using Linear Constraint Nodes

Belief propagation over pairwise connected Markov random fields has become a widely used approach, and has been successfully applied to several important computer vision problems. However, pairwise interactions are often insufficient to capture the full statistics of the problem. Higher-order interactions are sometimes required. Unfortunately, the complexity of belief propagation is exponential in the size of the largest clique. In this paper, we introduce a new technique to compute belief propagation messages in time linear with respect to clique size for a large class of potential functions over real-valued variables. We demonstrate this technique in two applications. First, we perform efficient inference in graphical models where the spatial prior of natural images is captured by 2 times 2 cliques. This approach shows significant improvement over the commonly used pairwise-connected models, and may benefit a variety of applications using belief propagation to infer images or range images. Finally, we apply these techniques to shape-from-shading and demonstrate significant improvement over previous methods, both in quality and in flexibility.
Density-graded cellular aluminum

Open-cell metallic foams with controlled, continuous density gradients were created from polyurethane foam precursors using an investment casting method. This method, designed to improve mass-efficiency in load-bearing metallic foams and facilitate bonding of foams to dense materials in higher-order structures, is described in detail, and demonstrated through pure aluminum foams with model relative density gradients. Methods for structural characterization, including non-destructive local density mapping, are also illustrated.