cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pattern of postejaculatory urination and sociosexual behavior in the rat.

These experiments deal with two related aspects of the male rat's postejaculatory behavior in a seminatural environment: the consistency in his location within this environment and the occurrence of postejaculatory urination. In these studies, the environment was subdivided into 10 areas. After ejaculating, the male rats tended to remain in one location, the resting place. For each male, this resting place tended to be the same as the site at which he had ejaculated (ejaculation site). Moreover, the male tended to return to the same ejaculation site and the same resting place over successive ejaculatory series. During the postejaculatory interval, the males deposited significant amounts of urine on the substrate. Both males and females spent significant amounts of time investigating this urine, and evidence is presented that the urine deposits may serve as cues which mediate the subjects' returning to the same area over subsequent ejaculatory series.
Management of Large Congenital Renal Arteriovenous Malformations A Case Report

Congenital renal arteriovenous malformations (AVM) are rare, with approximately 50 cases reported in the English literature. Typically they are small (1-2 cm) and the majority present with gross hematuria. The authors report a case of a young woman with a 6 cm congenital renal AVM diagnosed during her first pregnancy when she presented with signs of hypertension. Hematuria and rupture of the AVM were not part of her clinical course and a subsequent partial nephrectomy was curative. A review of the English literature of congenital AVMs is presented.
Research Problems in the Assessment of Nursing Education

RESEARCH in any specialty of nursing education is not presently noted for its product ivity. An increasing number of studies may be noted in nursing journals, but the vast majority of these research endeavours are better described as programme innovations with some evaluative criteria applied, rather than systematic research. In fact, many teaching nurses know precious little about the effectiveness of their programmes that has been garnered by careful research procedures. There are at least several reasons for this condition.
Evidence that Cyclic AMP Does Not Mediate the Action of Gibberellic Acid

MANY animal hormones operate by increasing the intracellular level of cyclic AMP, which then acts as a second messenger to elicit a variety of physiological effects within the cell1. There is no conclusive evidence that cyclic AMP performs a similar function in higher plants. Exogenously supplied cyclic AMP can mimic certain effects of plant hormones2–4, but the responses do not equal the full effect of the hormone itself and may be pharmacological. Reports that plant hormones can elevate cyclic AMP levels in plant tissues5,6 lack sufficiently rigorous proof that the factor being measured is indeed the cyclic nucleotide. The criteria of identity most frequently employed, selective precipitation7 and cochromatography, are inadequate to resolve pmol quantities of cyclic AMP from nmol or μmol of other adenine nucleotides. I have investigated the possibility that cyclic AMP is synthesized in response to gibberellic acid (GA) in barley aleurone layers. I have measured the incorporation of 14C-adenosine into cyclic AMP in barley aleurone layers, and my results do not support the suggestion that the cyclic nucleotide mediates the action of GA2,3,5.
An Improved Method for Determination of Phosgene in Air

A reagent consisting of 0.25% 4-p-nitrobenzylpyridine and 0.5% N-benzylaniline in diethylphthalate was tested and proved to be highly sensitive and relatively specific for the spectrophotometric determination of phosgene in air. Concentrations under 0.1 ppm of phosgene in air may be determined with reliability. The color developed with the reagent was stable for several hours and only slightly affected by normal ambient humidity. None of the following substances interfered with the reaction: hydrogen chloride, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, trichloroethylene, tetrachlorethylene, and dichlorodifluoromethane in concentrations likely to be encountered under industrial conditions.
Knacktive: Answering a Call for More Interdisciplinary, Collaborative, Educational Experiences

Knacktive is a one-term course that incorporates a highly select group of undergraduate students and replicates the intense teamwork atmosphere of a technology-oriented, professional marketing communication agency. As an interdisciplinary learning opportunity, Knacktive melds students from five disciplines—including art and graphic design, interactive digital media and computer science, public relations, journalism and media studies, and marketing and business management—into an interactive, team-based course facilitated by five faculty members representing the disciplines. Although other college-level student agencies exist, many are staffed by students from only one discipline. Utilizing active research methodology, faculty reflections resulted in course changes that significantly improved course functionality. Student achievements included client implementation of many of the student team-developed concepts and promotional materials. Student reflections collectively viewed the agency-like process as a ...
Integrating Research and Practice Distractions, Controversies, and Options for Moving Forward

Integrating practice and research is vital in all helping professions in order to offer the most ethical, evidence-informed interventions to clients. This article describes some avoidable distractions that hinder integration, discusses controversies related to integration, and describes options for moving forward, including making wasted resources visible, use of an Environmental Deprivation Scale, and courage training.
The effect of etidocaine on spontaneous and evoked release of norepinephrine from rat brain synaptosomes.

AbstractLocal anesthetics have been shown to have an effect on neurotransmission. In this study we examined the effect of a local anesthetic, etidocaine, on the uptake, efflux, and release of norepinephrine (NE) from central nerve terminals. The studies were performed on synaptosomes and vesicles prepared from rat brains. Etidocaine 10-4M inhibited synaptosomal accumulation of [3H]NE and did not significantly effect vesicular accumulation of this neurotransmitter. This concentration of etidocaine also augmented efflux of norepinephrine from synaptosomal preparations. This augmented efflux was primarily due to an increase in the deaminated metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol (DOPEG). The presence of etidocaine did not significantly alter the release of NE from synaptosomes superfused with high potassium (40 mM), a calcium-dependent exocytotic release process. These results indicate that in the central nervous system, as previously demonstrated in the peripheral nervous system, high concentrations of etido...
Combinatorial libraries of synthetic peptides as a model for shotgun proteomics.

A synthetic approach to model the analytical complexity of biological proteolytic digests has been developed. Combinatorial peptide libraries ranging in length between 9 and 12 amino acids that represent typical tryptic digests were designed, synthesized, and analyzed. Individual libraries and mixtures thereof were studied by replicate liquid chromatography−ion trap mass spectrometry and compared to a tryptic digest of Deinococcus radiodurans. Similar to complex proteome analysis, replicate study of individual libraries identified additional unique peptides. Fewer novel sequences were revealed with each additional analysis in a manner similar to that observed for biological data. Our results demonstrate a bimodal distribution of peptides sorting to either very low or very high levels of detection. Upon mixing of libraries at equal abundance, a length-dependent bias in favor of longer sequence identification was observed. Peptide identification as a function of site-specific amino acid content was characte...
Microscopic irreversibility and gibbs entropy

Conditions for change in the Gibbs many-body entropy stemming from the Liouville equation are considered. It is shown that the entropy remains constant for irreversible perturbations to the Hamiltonian of the system. The same results are derived for a fluid interacting with particles of a confining wall. It is concluded that the Gibbs entropy of a system (isolated or non-isolated) remains constant independent of the microscopic irreversibility of the system
Estimating Causal Effects from Large Data Sets Using Propensity Scores

The aim of many analyses of large databases is to draw causal inferences about the effects of actions, treatments, or interventions. Examples include the effects of various options available to a p...
Somatic gene transfer in the development of an animal model for primary hyperparathyroidism.

The overproduction of hormones is associated with a variety of endocrinological disorders. We have used somatic cell gene transfer of human PTH (hPTH) to develop an animal model of hypercalcemia and osteoclastic skeletal resorption. Recombinant retroviruses were used to transduce a functional hPTH gene into cultured rat fibroblasts. The recombinant-derived preproparathyroid hormone peptide was appropriately processed in this ectopic cell, and intact hPTH (1-84) was secreted at a high level (2-5 ng/10(6) cells/24 h). Transplantation of the PTH-secreting cells into syngeneic rat recipients was associated with the development of hypercalcemia mediated by increasing serum concentrations of hPTH. Thyroparathyroidectomy in these hypercalcemic rats producing hPTH did not result in hypocalcemia and tetany, which was observed in control animals undergoing thyroparathyroidectomy. Chronic overproduction of hPTH (60 days) was associated with severe hypercalcemia, metastatic calcification, and histological changes of ...
Apply STAMP to Critical Infrastructure Protection

Classical risk-based or game theoretic security models rely on assumptions from reliability theory and rational expectations economics that are not applicable for security risks. Additionally, these models suffer from serious deficiencies when they are applied to software-intensive, complex engineering systems. Recent work in the area of system safety engineering has led to the development of a new accident model for system safety that acknowledges the dynamic complexity of accidents. System-theoretic accident models and processes (STAMP) applies principles from control theory to enforce constraints on hazards and thereby prevent accidents. Appreciating the similarities between safety and security while still acknowledging the differences, this paper introduces the use of STAMP to security problems. In particular, it is applied to identify and mitigate the threats that could emerge in critical infrastructure systems such as the air transportation network.
High resolution FT-ICR mass spectral analysis of bio-oil and residual water soluble organics produced by hydrothermal liquefaction of the marine microalga Nannochloropsis salina

We report a detailed compositional characterization of a bio-crude oil and aqueous by-product from hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis salina by direct infusion Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) in both positive- and negative-ionization modes. The FT-ICR MS instrumentation approach facilitates direct assignment of elemental composition to >7000 resolved mass spectral peaks and three-dimensional mass spectral images for individual heteroatom classes highlight compositional diversity of the two samples and provide a baseline description of these materials. Aromatic nitrogen compounds and free fatty acids are predominant species observed in both the bio-oil and aqueous fraction. Residual organic compounds present in the aqueous fraction show distributions that are slightly lower in both molecular ring and/or double bond value and carbon number relative to those found in the bio-oil, albeit with a high degree of commonality between the two compositions.
A Taphonomic Study Exploring the Differences in Decomposition Rate and Manner between Frozen and Never Frozen Domestic Pigs (Sus scrofa)

This research examined differences in decomposition rate and manner of domestic pig subjects (Sus scrofa) in never frozen (control) and previously frozen (experimental) research conditions. Eight control and experimental subjects were placed in an identical outdoor research environment. Daily quantitative and qualitative measurements were collected: abdominal circumference, total body score (TBS), temperature, photographs, descriptive decomposition stages, and visual observations. Field necropsies were performed at accumulated degree days (ADD) between 50 and 300 (Celsius). Paired samples t-tests of ADD to TBS >3.0, TBS >9.5, and TBS >16.0 indicate the rate of decomposition of experimental subjects was significantly slower than controls at both TBS >3 and >9.5 (p = 0.003 and p = 0.002, respectively). A suite of qualitative indicators of predecomposition freezing is also reported. The differences between experimental and control subjects suggest previously frozen subjects should not be used in taphonomic research, as results do not accurately reflect the "normal" taphonomic condition.
The Relationship between Organizational and Environmental Factors and the Use of Innovative Human Resource Practices

Few studies have examined the influence of organizational and environmental characteristics on human resource (HR) practices. To identify potential correlates of progressive HR practices, concepts from the innovation literature were applied. In particular, the extent was explored to which size, climate, organizational structure, external conditions, and workforce variables were related to the use of HR innovations in a sample of 40 New York State public agencies. Agency size and the external condition variables of labor availability and public scrutiny exhibited the strongest linear relationships with HR innovation. Formalization, centralization, and HR department climate demonstrated somewhat weaker linear effects. External favorability demonstrated a nonlinear relationship with HR innovation. The results are discussed with consideration given to the differences between idea generation and adoption, formal and informal innovations, organic and mechanistic organizational structures, and the role of the ex...
A unified framework for grasping and shape acquisition via pretouch sensing

This paper presents a unified framework to enable automatic exploration with a pretouch sensor to reduce object shape uncertainty before grasping. The robot starts with only the incomplete object shape data it acquires from a Kinect depth sensor-it has no model of the object. Combining the Kinect pointcloud with prior probability distributions for occlusion and transparency, it makes inferences about portions of the object that the Kinect was not able to observe. Operating on the inferred shape of the object, an iterative grasp replanning and exploration algorithm decides when further exploration is required, and where to explore in the scene using the pretouch sensor. The information gathered by the exploration action is added directly to the robot's environment representation and is considered automatically in the next grasp planning iteration.
MYOSIN SUBSTRUCTURE: ISOLATION OF A HELICAL SUBUNIT FROM HEAVY MEROMYOSIN.

A highly α-helical subunit has been isolated from the heavy-mero-myosin portion of myosin. This molecule has a helix content of about 73 percent and an amino acid composition similar to that of light meromyosin. The presence of this subunit supports the current view that the myosin molecule consists of a long helical rod with a globular region at one end.
Occupational therapy intervention to foster goal setting skills for homeless mothers

Occupational therapy intervention was provided to two mothers living in a homeless shelter to foster goal setting skills and the ability to develop a systematic method to meet those goals. The Mode...
Marriage and the invisibility of women in absalom, absalom!

(1993). Marriage and the invisibility of women in absalom, absalom!. Women's Studies: Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 455-465.
Factor IX variants of hemophilia B. The effect of activated factor XI and the reaction product of factor VII and tissue factor on the abnormal factor IX molecules

Abstract Factor IX from 7 unrelated Hemophilia B patients have been isolated to homogeneity. The abnormal Factor IX proteins from the 7 patients could be separated into 5 distinguishable variants. This was based on appearance of Factor IXa activity and cleavage of the proteins when incubated with activated Factor XI or the reaction product of Factor VII and tissue factor, and by utilizing the ox brain prothrombin time. The five groups could be separated as follows: (1) patient with greatly prolonged bovine thromboplastin time, normal cleavage of the Factor IX protein but absolutely no trace of procoagulant activity upon incubation with activated Factor XI or Factor VII and tissue factor; (2) as (1) but normal bovine thromboplastin time; (3) mildly prolonged bovine thromboplastin time, no procoagulant activity and reduced cleavage rate upon incubation with activators of Factor IX; (4) 2 patients with mildly prolonged bovine thromboplastin time, generation of some Factor IXa like activity (1.7% and 2.5%) and reduced cleavage rate upon incubation with activated Factor XI or Factor VII and tissue factor; and (5) two patients with normal bovine thromboplastin time, normal cleavage and 2.8% and 21% Factor IXa like activity generated with activated Factor XI or Factor VII and tissue factor
Sputtered SiO2 deposited over a step

Abstract Measurements have been made of the thickness distribution and etch rate of sputtered SiO2 films in the vicinity of steps of various heights and of various materials. Thickness distribution near a step can be calculated approximately, and deviations from the calculated values are related to the re-emission coefficient of SiO2 as influenced by sputtering parameters. The etch rate of the film near the step is influenced by the material that composed the step, and it is shown that material from the step is incorporated in the film.
Coordination When Information is Scarce: How privacy can help

There is something to be gained by borrowing the tools of differential privacy and applying them to solve problems in seemingly unrelated fields.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder

During a routine visit, a 59-year-old woman, who describes herself as a lifetime “worrier” and has a family history of depression, reports having restless sleep, muscle tension, and fatigue. Recently, her worry has intensified about her children, her job, and her health, and it is having a negative effect on her family and work life. How should she be treated?
Object identification using automated decision tree construction approach for robotics applications

The objective of this article is to present a novel approach to object recognition and classification for robotic applications using the automated decision tree generation technique. The method developed relies upon simple statistical measurements extracted from object classes and represented in the form of a distance matrix ‘D’ to form a decision tree. The algorithms presented here are computationally efficient and simple to implement. The effectiveness of the features are automatically assessed, allowing for the automatic selection of only those features needed to accomplish object recognition and classification. The performance of the algorithms are successfully tested and demonstrated.
Lesbian sexual renegades

SUMMARY Whereas gay men have idealized the gay man as a sexual renegade, lesbians often are eager to distance themselves from practitioners of “deviant” lesbian sexuality. This paper explores how “acceptable” lesbian desire has been articulated in terms of a vision of “normal” sex that reflects feminine norms, making much of lesbian sex literally and figuratively unspeakable-yet also creating a potentially radical fringe of lesbian sexual outlaws.
Distribution and binding parameters of GABA and benzodiazepine receptors in the cat motor thalamus and adjacent nuclear groups.

Abstract Quantitative receptor binding autoradiography technique was utilized to study GABA and benzodiazepine receptors in the cat motor thalamus (ventral anterior, ventral medial and ventral lateral nuclei) and adjacent thalamic subdivisions. Binding parameters ( B max andK d ) and distribution pattern of the binding sites for 3 tritiated ligands [ 3 H]muscimol ([ 3 H]MUS), [ 3 H] flunitrazepam ([ 3 H]FLU) and [ 3 H]bacloen ([ 3 H]BAC) were analyzed and compared using measurements from discrete and anatomically well-defined thalamic regions. There was little correlation in the regional distribution of the 3 binding sites. The concentration of [ 3 H]BAC binding sites in thalamic nuclei of interest was very low, practically at the limit of resolution of the quantitative autoradiographic technique; whereas appreciable quantities of [ 3 H]MUS and [ 3 H]FLU binding sites were present in the motor and adjacent limbic nuclei of the thalamus. There was more difference between the nuclei in regard to the number of high affinity GABA receptors than benzodiazepine receptors. Moreover, the ratio of B max [ 3 H]MUS/B max [ 3 H]FLU varied from 2.2 to 4.4 in different thalamic regions suggesting the presence of a diverse population of GABA A and benzodiazepine receptors. The distribution pattern of the 3 binding sites was compared to the topography of GABAergic afferents of the basal ganglia origin and the frequency of GABAergic synapses formed by thalamic local circuit neurons (LCN) in the motor thalamus that were established earlier. It was concluded that in the cat motor thalamus; (1) none of the ligands studied appear to reveal the receptors associated with nigro- or pallidothalamic synapses; (2) [ 3 H]MUS binding sites may be associated with the dendrodendritic contacts formed by LCN; and (3) the [ 3 H]FLU binding sites are physically unrelated to [ 3 H]MUS binding sites. The concentration of [ 3 H]FLU and [ 3 H]MUS binding sites in the midline nuclei and of [ 3 H]MUS binding sites in the limbic nuclei was remarkably high. It was concluded that in addition to previously suggested limbic structures, the midline nuclei with their very high content of benzodiazepine receptors may be considered as a neuroanatomical substrate of certain forms of anxiety.
Direct magnetic resonance arthrography

Magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography has gained increasing popularity as a diagnostic tool in the assessment of intra-articular derangements. Its role has been studied extensively in the shoulder, but it also has been explored in the hip, elbow, knee, wrist and ankle. This article reviews the current role of direct MR arthrography in several major joints, with consideration of pertinent anatomy, techniques and applications.
Spatial variability, distribution and uncertainty assessment of soil phosphorus in a south Florida wetland

Phosphorus enrichment has been of major concern in the Greater Everglades (GE) ecosystem since the early 1980s. Our objectives were to estimate spatio–temporal patterns of soil total phosphorus (TP) in Water Conservation Area 2A (WCA-2A) in the GE ecosystem and to compare two different geostatistical methods: ordinary kriging (OK) and conditional sequential Gaussian simulation (CSGS), addressing spatial variability, continuity and uncertainty of TP estimations. Overall, TP estimated with OK and CSGS were higher in 1998 than in 1990. Both methods generated spatial patterns of TP in 1998 which showed a spatial expansion of the phosphorus enrichment identified in the 1990 dataset. Cross-validation using OK produced a mean prediction error of −10.71 (1990) and −6.07 (1998). CSGS modeled the spatial uncertainty of TP estimations explicitly with 50 generated realizations. Uncertainty was modeled using the E-type mean of TP, which ranged from 216 to 2100 mg kg−1 in 1990 and 325.2 to 3660 mg kg−1 in 1998. Standard deviations ranged from 0 to 550 mg kg−1 maximum. To evaluate TP exceeding a threshold of 450 TP mg kg−1, which represents natural historic wetland conditions, we produced probability maps. Results suggested a distinctly higher retention of TP using CSGS when compared to the OK generated probability maps. Spatial probability patterns are valuable to guide the restoration process of this wetland. Jackknifing was used to estimate the bias of the descriptive statistics and semivariance. The total number of samples was robust enough to produce stable variograms; however, jackknifing suggested that more samples at closer distances from each other should be collected to reduce the uncertainty of the semivariance and to address short-range spatial variability. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of the Presence of Children on Adults' Helping Behavior and Compliance: Two Field Studies

Summary Two field studies investigated complementary aspects of the notion that the presence of children affects adults' helping behavior. In the first, 33 lone women (19 accompanied, 14 unaccompanied by a child), 28 pairs of women (14 with, 14 without a child), and 30 mixed-sex couples (15 with, 15 without a child) encountered an “injured” confederate in parks and parking lots of shopping centers. The main results suggested that it may be the task of fathers to model altruism for children in this situation. In the second study, an adult woman, accompanied or unaccompanied by a child, or a lone child, asked a total of 84 women in their suburban homes to sign a petition which was either “appropriate” or “inappropriate” for children. While an interaction between the age-of-requester and appropriateness-of-petition factors was predicted, only the overall difference between petitions was significant (p < .01). Implications of these results were discussed.
Potential Dependent Structural Changes of Underpotentially Deposited Copper on an Iodine Treated Platinum Surface Determined In Situ by Surface EXAFS and Its Polarization Dependence

Abstract An in situ structural investigation of the underpotential deposition (UPD) of copper on an iodine-covered platinum surface (Pt/C layered synthetic microstructure with Pt as the outermost layer) has been carried out using surface extended X-ray absorption fine structure (SEXAFS) and its polarization dependence. The effects of rinsing the electrode with pure supporting electrolyte have also been investigated. At an applied potential of +0.20 V (corresponding to half a monolayer of electro-deposited copper) there are two in-plane CuCu distances: 2.56 ± 0.05 A and 4.21 ± 0.05 A. This suggests the coexistence of a close-packed phase with a more open phase. It is likely that the open phase is stabilized by repulsive interactions between partially charged copper atoms, as well as by the presence of the strongly adsorbed iodine layer. At +0.10 V (corresponding to a full monolayer of electrodeposited copper) there is only one CuCu distance of 2.56 ± 0.05 A. Combining in-plane (parallel to the electrode surface) and out-of-plane (perpendicular to the electrode surface) SEXAFS measurements, we found that at full monolayer coverage, the copper UPD layer is incommensurate with respect to the platinum surface. The iodine ad-layer rides the eletrodeposited copper forming a 3 × 3 unit cell. This interfacial structure is not altered upon rinsing with pure supporting electrolyte.
Monte Carlo Simulation of Range and Energy Deposition by Electrons in Gaseous and Liquid Water

A stochastic simulation method employing suitable experimentally based cross sections has been developed for probing the spatial distribution of energy loss and the trajectory of 100 eV to 1 MeV electrons in gaseous and liquid water. Elastic collisions and large-energy-loss inelastic collisions strongly influence the passage of electrons such that the separation between the initial and final (E = 25 eV) position is considerably smaller than the path length. At all energies, the mean axial and the mean radial penetrations are somewhat similar, however, the former is strongly influenced by inelastic collisions and the latter by elastic collisions. The effect of phase on the density-normalized range is small for energetic electrons, but differences are apparant at the lowest energies, <2 keV. The spatial distribution of energy deposition shows a marked dependence on electron energy. The spatial dependence of radial energy deposition and dose distributions in the axial and radial directions have been calculated.
The curbside consultation: legal, moral, and ethical considerations.

A young female dermatologist attends a neighborhood cocktail party with her husband. At the social event, a gentleman whom the dermatologist knows from the neighborhood approaches the young woman and asks if he can show her something. She follows him to a bedroom in the house. He closes the door and proceeds to unzip his slacks. The young physician obviously becomes alarmed and starts to leave the room. At that point, the neighbor laughs and explains that she has misunderstood and that he only wants to show her a skin lesion on his thigh.
Chapter 4. Psychotomimetic Agents

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the clinical studies of psychotomimetic agents. The biochemistry of psychoses as well as the role of adrenochrome as a psychotomimetic agent is analyzed. An efficient process for the preparation of various secondary and tertiary lysergamides and the corresponding di- and tetrahydro derivatives was described. The in vitro experiments provided evidence for the bioconversion of myristicin to the corresponding phenylisoropylamine derivative. Important contributions toward the understanding of the actions of psychotomimetic substances, such as the role of serotonergic neurons, sites of central action, and development of tolerance and cross-tolerance are reviewed. Despite structural heterogeneity, the psychotomimetic agents in general caused an increase in brain 5-hydroxytryptamine levels and a decrease in its turnover rate. The effects on brain norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine were less clearly defined, but a lowering of brain levels and higher turnover rates of NE have been reported. The determination of an N-methyltransferase in human blood and brain that was capable of converting tryptamine into dimethyltryptamine is also described.
A DS-CDMA tracking mode receiver with joint channel/delay estimation and MMSE detection

A tracking mode receiver for asynchronous direct-sequence CDMA is presented based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The EKF jointly estimates the delays and multipath coefficients of the received CDMA waveform, and provides a modified minimum mean-square error (MMSE) estimate of the user data (MMSE-EKF). In order to obtain a practical algorithm, each user signal is tracked individually, with the remaining users modeled as colored Gaussian noise. However, the EKFs are coupled through the multiple access interference (MAI) covariance estimates. In order to obtain meaningful performance measures, approximate worst-case undesired user delays that minimize the desired user SNR and delay estimation Cramer-Rao bound are obtained. It is shown that such worst-case delays can be efficiently computed using the alternating maximization (A-M) algorithm. The resulting bit error rate (BER) performance of the MMSE-EKF tracking receiver is evaluated through a combination of simulation and analysis. The mean-time to lose lock (MTTLL) for a genie-aided EKF delay estimator is also obtained using the A-M computed delays.
The Opium Wars, Opium Legalization, and Opium Consumption in China

The effect of drug prohibition on drug consumption is a critical issue in debates over drug policy. One episode that provides information on the consumption-reducing effect of drug prohibition is the Chinese legalization of opium in 1858. In this paper we examine the impact of China's opium legalization on the quantity and price of British opium exports from India to China during the 19th century. We find little evidence that legalization increased exports or decreased price. Thus, the evidence suggests China's opium prohibition had a minimal impact on opium consumption.
Poroviscoelastic Properties of Mouse Cartilage From Inverse Finite Elements and Indentation

Transgenic mice offer a novel way to probe structure function relationships in healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage. Indentation is a convenient method to measure mechanical properties of cartilage in the mouse. In order to reduce test data to material properties, test model geometry along with a material model needs to be assumed. Most recent developments support the use of a poroviscoelastic (PVE) model for cartilage. However, using this model makes separation of the flow-dependent and flow-independent viscoelastic parameters challenging. For cartilage from larger animals, Huang [1] showed that tensile tests have negligible flow-dependent response and hence can identify the flow-independent material parameters. A compression experiment can then be used to find only the flow-dependent parameters. However, limited cartilage volumes in mouse do not allow for tension tests, so mouse cartilage is primarily tested by indentation. Mak [2] has shown that fluid flow occurs mainly for times comparable to the gel diffusion time T = a2/Hκ where a is the tip size, H is the aggregate modulus and κ is permeability. Consequently, we propose use of two different sized indenters to separate flow-independent and dependent effects in mouse cartilage. One tip is small enough to make T negligible (say <0.1 s), then relaxation data will probe only the flow-independent response, whereas a second considerably larger tip will probe both flow-dependent and fluid flow effects. The data from the small indenter can be used to fit the flow-independent parameters; the data from the large indenter, in conjunction with parameters from the first fit, can be used to fit the flow-dependent parameters.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Call-by-call simulator for telephone networks

A Call-by-Call SIMulator (CCSIM) of a switched communication network has been developed under the sponsorship of the Defense Information Systems Agency. It has been used for a variety of applications involving engineering and network management studies for the Defense Switched Network (DSN), undergoing a series of evolutionary extensions in the process. It is now a uniquely powerful tool for telephone network simulation applications. The purposes of this paper are to describe the goals, functionality, design and implementation of CCSIM; to summarize the applications for which it has proven a valuable tool to date; and to describe its current state of development, particularly in the context of understanding how to exploit CCSIM in future applications. A Call-by-Call SIMulator (CCSIM) of a switched communication network has been developed under the sponsorship of the Defense Information Systems Agency. It has been used for a variety of applications involving engineering and network management studies for the Defense Switched Network (DSN), undergoing a series of evolutionary extensions in the process. It is now a uniquely powerful tool for telephone network simulation applications. The purposes of this paper are to describe the goals, functionality, design and implementation of CCSIM; to summarize the applications for which it has proven a valuable tool to date; and to describe its current state of development, particularly in the context of understanding how to exploit CCSIM in future applications.
Presenting Signs and Symptoms of Pheochromocytoma in Pediatric-aged Patients

To describe the varied presenting signs and symptoms in pediatric patients with pheochromocytoma, a retrospective chart review of the presenting signs and symptoms and subsequent clinical course of patients who presented to the Pediatric ICU following surgical excision of a pheochromocytoma was undertaken. The cohort of 7 patients (5 boys, 2 girls) ranged in age from 4 to 16 years. Two patients were hypertensive at initial presentation, and the other 5 developed hypertension after their initial presentation. The initial presenting signs and symptoms were related to the central nervous system (CNS) in 6 of the patients (5 with an acute alteration in mental status and 1 with visual disturbances). Two patients presented with congestive heart failure. Other signs and symptoms at the time of initial presentation included sweating, headache, weight loss, heat intolerance, increased thirst and urination, a decline in school activity, and red/puffy hands and feet. The time from the initial presentation until the diagnosis was confirmed was 5 months or more in 4 of the 7 patients. The diagnosis was confirmed by demonstration of elevated urinary catecholamines in all 7 patients, although 2 patients had initial negative urinary levels.
Developmental aspects of maternal-fetal, and infant gut microbiota and implications for long-term health

Early life interactions between the human host and microbes set the stage for future health and disease. In this review, some of the relationship of the human microbiome effects will be discussed as they relate to preterm delivery, early life diseases seen in prematurely delivered infants, and other childhood and adult maladies which include autoimmunity, allergic diseases, obesity or a healthy phenotype. Although the data in these areas is just beginning to emerge, this review will provide a brief summary of some of the key research being done and will also speculate on emerging areas where major questions are being raised.
Coupled-cluster method with optimized reference state

We propose a variant of the coupled-cluster (CC) method in which spin orbitals of the reference Slater determinant are optimized in a self-consistent way. This approach is a reformulation of the Brueckner–Hartree–Fock (BHF) method used in nuclear physics and known also as the exact SCF method. We discuss the use of the reference-state determinants built of HF, natural, and Brueckner spin orbitals, with relations among them investigated in terms of the many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). It is shown that the Brueckner spin orbitals emerge as a convenient basis set in the coupled-cluster method and equations that determine these spin orbitals are found. The Brueckner spin orbitals can be calculated as eigenvectors of a certain Hermitian one-electron operator which has a form of the Hartree–Fock operator plus a “correlation potential” depending linearly on two- and three- electron cluster amplitudes. The usual decoupling scheme in the coupled-cluster method leads to a hierarchy of approximations; in the first nontrivial one the three-electron cluster amplitudes are neglected, and the two-electron ones are determined by solving Cižek's CPMET equations. We also analyze the problem of spatial, spin, and time-reversal symmertry in the CC and BHF methods. If (and only if) the reference-state determinant belongs to a one-dimensional representation of a certain symmetry subgroup of the system, the CC operator and the BHF one-electron operator are invariant with respect to this subgroup. Thus the restricted (entirely symmetry-adapted) version of the BHF method can be formulated only for the closed-shell systems. This is done for the above-mentioned approximate BHF method. We discuss also the usefulness of the BHF method in application to extended metallic systems.
Structural Roles of Monovalent Cations in the HDV Ribozyme

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) ribozyme catalyzes viral RNA self-cleavage through general acid-base chemistry in which an active-site cytidine and at least one metal ion are involved. Monovalent metal ions support slow catalysis and were proposed to substitute for structural, but not catalytic, divalent metal ions in the RNA. To investigate the role of monovalent cations in ribozyme structure and function, we determined the crystal structure of the precursor HDV ribozyme in the presence of thallium ions (Tl(+)). Two Tl(+) ions can occupy a previously observed divalent metal ion hexahydrate-binding site located near the scissile phosphate, but are easily competed away by cobalt hexammine, a magnesium hexahydrate mimic and potent reaction inhibitor. Intriguingly, a third Tl(+) ion forms direct inner-sphere contacts with the ribose 2'-OH nucleophile and the pro-S(p) scissile phosphate oxygen. We discuss possible structural and catalytic implications of monovalent cation binding for the HDV ribozyme mechanism.
Indra: a peer-to-peer approach to network intrusion detection and prevention

While the spread of the Internet has made the network ubiquitous, it has also rendered networked systems vulnerable to malicious attacks orchestrated from anywhere. These attacks or intrusions typically start with attackers infiltrating a network through a vulnerable host and then launching further attacks on the local network or Intranet. Attackers rely on increasingly sophisticated techniques like using distributed attack sources and obfuscating their network addresses. On the other hand, software that guards against them remains rooted in traditional centralized techniques, presenting an easily-targeted single point of failure. Scalable, distributed network intrusion prevention techniques are sorely needed. We propose Indra - a distributed scheme based on sharing information between trusted peers in a network to guard the network as a whole against intrusion attempts. We present initial ideas for running Indra over a peer-to-peer infrastructure to distribute up-to-date rumors, facts, and trust information in a scalable manner.
Geographical representation of library collections in WorldCat: A prototype

In today’s world, people can be inundated by an overwhelming amount of information. Library and information science professionals attempt to provide information systems that are capable of retrieving precise and accurate information. One method for the organization and retrieval of geographicallybased information is to develop a system to visually represent the data. A prototype for an interactive map, the OCLC WorldMap, was developed to provide a visual tool for the management and representation of geographically-based library collections and library data. These data are used to provide information for decision-making in regard to remote storage, collection management and cooperative collection development, preservation, and digitization. The collection data for the map were generated from WorldCat, the OCLC Online Computer Library Center bibliographic database. WorldCat contains approximately 55 million records, and not only serves as an aggregator of bibliographic data, but also identifies a billion holding locations by type of library for library resources. Additional data, gathered from more than thirty other sources, such as library expenditures and number of libraries, are represented on the OCLC WorldMap.
Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate regulates CapZβ1 and actin dynamics in response to mechanical strain

Mechanical stress causes filament remodeling leading to myocyte hypertrophy and heart failure. The actin capping protein Z (CapZ) tightly binds to the barbed end of actin filaments, thus regulating actin assembly. The hypothesis is that the binding between CapZ and the actin filament is modulated through phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and how the COOH-terminus of CapZβ1 regulates this binding. Primary neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) were strained at 10% amplitude and 1-Hz frequency. Dot blotting measured the PIP2 amount, and affinity precipitation assay assessed the direct interaction between PIP2 and CapZβ1. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching of green fluorescent protein-CapZβ1 and actin-green fluorescent protein after 1 h of strain shows the dynamics significantly increased above the unstrained group. The increases in CapZ and actin dynamics were blunted by neomycin, suggesting PIP2 signaling is involved. The amount of PIP2 dramatically increased in NRVMs strained for 1 h. With a ROCK or RhoA inhibitor, changes were markedly reduced. Subcellular fractionation and antibody localization showed PIP2 distributed to the sarcomeres. More PIP2-bound CapZβ1 was found in strained NRVMs. Less PIP2 bound to the CapZβ1 with its COOH-terminus intact than in the COOH-terminal mutant of CapZβ1, suggesting some inhibitory role for the COOH-terminus. Myocyte hypertrophy normally induced by 48 h of cyclic strain was blunted by dominant negative RhoA or neomycin. This suggests that after many hours of cyclic strain, a possible mechanism for cell hypertrophy is the accumulation of thin filament assembly triggered partially by the increased PIP2 level and its binding to CapZ.
Economic interdependence, bargaining power, and political influence

Bargaining theory is used to evaluate the proposition that asymmetrical economic interdependence among states is a source of political power. It is shown that asymmetrical economic interdependence does not imply that less dependent actors will be able to exercise political influence over more dependent ones. The use of economic interdependence for political influence requires, instead, that the exchange of economic resources for political concessions make both parties to a relationship better off than they would be if they bargained over the distribution of the gains from the economic relationship alone. Whether this is true is independent of the degree of asymmetry in the economic relationship, or its direction. An explanation is given for the fact that other scholars have reached different conclusions, and the implications of these results for our understanding of a variety of types of relations among governments are derived.
Some Surprising Results from Simulated Seeding of Stratiform-Type Clouds

Abstract Studies have been conducted to determine the cloud seeding potential of stratiform type clouds using a two-dimensional, time-dependent cloud model. An atmospheric sounding from Villanubla, Spain, in February 1980, was used to initialize the model. The model is designed to allow mesoscale convergence in the lower levels and divergence in the upper levels, which results in a stratiform-type cloud in this Spanish situation. The seeding of clouds using either dry ice or silver iodide has been tested and rather surprising results are indicated. The silver iodide seeding simulations produce strong dynamic responses in the model clouds, even with small amounts of supercooled liquid available and a few natural ice crystals per liter in the cloud. These effects occur in a nearly moist adiabatic layer as well as in a convectively unstable layer. The effects appear to be due to the heat released as the liquid freezes and the cloudy environment switches from liquid saturation to ice saturation. Cloud vertica...
Early Legislative Attempts at Requiring Environmental Assessment and SEQRA's Legislative History

The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requires an environmental impact assessment of activities. Prior to its enactment, New York made several attempts at passing similar statutes, dating back to the 1970s. These prior attempts were integral in developing SEQRA because those laws reflected the basic policy questions that needed to be addressed.This article is a reflection on those previous laws and provides an historical account of SEQRA’s development all the way through the signing by the governor and subsequent amendments. The article also provides the author’s ideas on how the law will be interpreted by the courts.