cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SATELLITE‐MONITORED BLUE WHALES (BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS) OFF THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST

Dive habits of four Northeast Pacific blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) were studied using satellite-monitored radio tags. Tags summarized dive-duration data into eight 3-h periods daily. One tag additionally summarized dive depth and time-at-depth information for these same periods. Tracking periods ranged from 0.6 to 12.7 d and provided data for 17 three-hour summary periods, representing 2,007 dives (788 of which provided depth information). Total number of dives during a 3-h summary period ranged from 83 to 128. Seventy-two percent of dives were ≤ 1 min long. All whales spent >94% of their time submerged. Average duration of true dives (dives >1 min) ranged from 4.2 to 7.2 min. Seventy-five percent of depth-monitored dives were to ≤16 m, accounting for 78% of that animal's time. Average depth of dives to >16 m was 105 ± 13 m.
Xenogeneic humoral graft-Vs-host disease following hamster-to-Rat bone marrow transplantation.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is an effective strategy to induce tolerance across xenogeneic barriers.1 This approach has been used in the hamster-to-rat BMT model.2 However, all animals suffered from graft-vs-host disease (GVHD). Although xenogeneic GVHD has been observed in other studies, it is not yet well characterized.3 Because xenograft rejection is primarily mediated by humoral mechanisms, we tested the hypothesis that, unlike allogeneic GVHD in which cellular mechanisms predominate, xenogeneic GVHD could also be humorally mediated.
EFFECT OF Gymnodinium breve TOXIN IN THE RAT PHRENIC NERVE DIAPHRAGM PREPARATION

1 The effects of a crude fraction of Gymnodinium breve toxin (GBTX) were studied on the rat phrenic nerve diaphragm preparation. 2 Indirectly stimulated muscle contractions were more sensitive to blockade by increasing concentrations of GBTX (0.25 microgram/ml to 10 micrograms/ml) than direct muscle contractions. 3 GBTX increased miniature endplate potential (m.e.p.p.) frequency and depolarized the resting membrane potential of the muscle fibres at the endplate and in non-synaptic regions of muscle fibre. 4 A concentration-dependent biphasic effect on m.e.p.p. amplitude was evident. At lower concentrations m.e.p.p. amplitudes were depressed whereas at high concentrations they were increased. 5 GBTX blocked endplate potentials (e.p.ps) in concentrations (0.5 microgram/ml to 2 micrograms/ml) that did not block m.e.p.ps. 6 Muscle fibre action potentials recorded from cells held at control membrane potential by hyperpolarizing current were not altered by toxin treatment. No repetitive e.p.ps, or muscle action potentials were observed. 7 These data suggest that GBTX may block indirectly stimulated muscle contractions and e.p.ps by depolarizing the nerve terminal in a manner similar to the observed depolarization of the muscle fibre. The depolarization of the nerve terminal may be sufficient to inhibit transmitter release.
Rewriting the Exercise of Power in the Landuc Segment of the Old Swedish Hærra Ivan and Chrétien’s Yvain

In his reformulation of the Landuc segment of Chretien’s Yvain, which unfolds in the hero’s arrival in Laudine’s realm, in his armed defeat of her husband, and in the hero and Laudine’s courtship and marriage, the anonymous poet of Haerra Ivan (1303) proposes a substantially clearer model for ideal rulership, government, and the exercise of power than had Chretien. In the Old Swedish romance, the hero, Ivan, becomes the more powerful partner in his political marriage with Laudine, Ivan takes more responsibility for his actions, there is greater respect for the counsel of vassals, and, finally, Laudine’s husband becomes more clearly a sovereign and less a simple defender of tradition.
Effect of nonylphenol on serum testosterone levels and testicular steroidogenic enzyme activity in neonatal, pubertal, and adult rats.

Previous dose range-finding studies with nonylphenol (NP) administered to rats in a soy- and alfalfa-free diet showed apparent feminization of several endpoints in male rats at doses of 25 ppm and above. One possible mechanism contributing to these effects is a reduction of testosterone at critical developmental periods. The present study was conducted as an adjunct to a multigeneration study and was designed to examine the effect of NP on testosterone production. Male rats in the F1 and F2 generations were exposed through their dams or directly to various dietary doses of NP (0, 25, 200 and 750 ppm) throughout gestation and until sacrifice at either postnatal day 2 (PND2), PND50, or PND140. Male pups in the F3 generation were examined only on PND2. At PND2, serum testosterone levels were significantly decreased in all groups exposed to NP in the F1 generation, but not in the F2 or F3 generations. The activity of 17α-hydroxylase/C17, 20 lyase (P450c17) in PND2 testicular homogenates was not affected by NP treatment. In F1 and F2 PND50 and PND140 rats, NP treatment did not affect serum testosterone levels. The absolute dorsolateral prostate weight was increased in the 200 and 750 ppm dose groups only in the F1 PND50 rats, however, no significant effects were observed in other male reproductive organs. NP treatment did not affect P450c17 activity in microsomes prepared from testes of F1 PND50 or PND140 rats. However, P450c17 activity was significantly decreased in testicular microsomes of F2 PND50 (200 and 750 ppm dose groups) and PND140 (25, 200, and 750 ppm dose groups) rats. A decrease in testicular β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) P450 reductase was also observed in all PND50 and PND140 NP-exposed rats of the F1 and F2 generations. The ability of NP to directly inhibit P450c17 activity in vitro at concentrations of 1–100 μM was also demonstrated. These results indicate that NP can inhibit the activity of enzymes involved in testosterone synthesis, but suggest minimal effects on testosterone or testosterone-dependent endpoints via this mechanism.
The Use of Buffered Solutions in Staining: Theory and Practice

The importance of pH in staining tissue is emphasized. The effect of pH upon the selectivity and intensity of staining with iron hematoxylin, malachite green, and eosin Y is considered. Many difficulties may be avoided by staining in the higher alcohols and directions are given for the preparation of buffer solutions from pH 1.2-8 in alcohol. The concentration of stains, time of staining, and order of staining are discussed for progressive and regressive staining. At pH 8 in 95% alcohol very few tissues stain with malachite green at a concentration of 1/1000 saturated. At pH 6 most cytoplasmic elements stain with malachite green at a concentration of 1/1000 saturated or with eosin Y at 1/250 saturated. As the pH is lowered more tissue elements stain until the nucleus is completely stained. This behavior is in accord with the theory of chemical combination of dyes with proteins, which states that proteins combine with basic dyes on the basic side of their isoelectric points and with acid dyes on the acid s...
Heterogeneity of (Co)Variance and Heritabitity in Different Levels of Intraherd Milk Production Variance and of Herd Average

Abstract A multitrait sire model was used to estimate sire (co)variance and residual variance components in different levels of intraherd production variance, and in different levels of production average. An expectation-maximization algorithm of REML method was used on 305-d, mature equivalent, first lactation milk records of 366,202 cows that freshened from 1976 through 1987 in the northeastern US. Within each of the three 4-yr periods, records were stratified into three levels of intraherd-year variance in one case, three groups of intraherd variance in another, three groups of herd-year production and three groups of herd production in the other two cases. Stratifying records by intraherd-year variance proved to be the most effective way to produce heterogeneous estimates of variance components and heritability. The criterion of intraherd variance was not as effective and was followed by the criterion of herd-year production averages; the criterion of herd production averages was the least effective. The sire component of variance in the high group of intraherd-year variance was more than six times greater than that in the low group, the residual variance was three times greater, and the heritability estimates were 50 to 140% greater. When data were split by herd production levels, sire and residual variances components at high production were less than twice as great as those at low production, whereas heritability estimates of high group production were only slightly higher. In each of the herd stratification methods, the estimates of sire covariance components between groups were greater when higher production was involved, especially when intraherd-year variance was the criterion, but all genetic correlations between groups were close to unity. Therefore, sires were expected to be ranked similarly in different intraherd-year variance groups, but the magnitude of sire differences was much greater in the high than in the low group. All of these tendencies were similar in the three time periods.
Multivariable prediction of seizure outcome one year after resective epilepsy surgery: development of a model with independent validation

Abstract Purpose : To identify predictors of seizure-outcome after epilepsy surgery and validate the findings in an independent series of patients. To use the results to develop a predictive model. Methods : Sequential patients undergoing resective surgery for medically intractable epilepsy were identified at Yale New Haven Hospital (1987–1990, group 1) and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital (1991–1994, group 2). Information about seizure outcome and predictors of outcome was obtained from medical chart review. Good seizure-outcome was defined as having been seizure-free for one year beginning with discharge from the hospital. Multiple logistic regression was used to develop a model of predictors in group 1. It was then validated in group 2. Results : There were 133 patients in group 1 and 81 in group 2. In a multivariable analysis, independent predictors of outcome in group 1 were presence of mesial temporal sclerosis based on postsurgical pathological analysis (MTS) (relative risk (RR)=1.47), having a known underlying etiology (RR=1.32), and partial seizures only (RR=1.17). In group 2, the findings for each factor were similar to those in group 1: MTS, RR=1.49; etiology, RR=1.32; and partial seizures, RR=1.24. Used in combination, these three factors can identify patients with nearly a 100% chance of being seizure-free (all three factors present) versus less than a 50% chance (none of the three factors present). Conclusions : With independent validation of the findings, we can be reasonably certain that the three factors identified in this analysis are meaningful and generalizable predictors of seizure outcome following epilepsy surgery. Use of predictive models should be considered in future studies to convert study results into clinically relevant statements about a particular patient's likelihood of surgical success.
Loxapine Succinate as Initial Treatment of Hostile and Aggressive Schizophrenic Criminal Offenders

: The efficacy and safety of loxapine were evaluated in 18 acutely ill schizophrenic criminal offenders in the Essex County Jail. The offender patients were treated for three days with intramuscular loxapine (25 mg three or four times a day), followed by seven days of oral concentrate (up to 150 mg/day in three or four divided doses). Psychiatric status was determined with the Brief Psychiatric Rating and the Clinical Global Impression scales at the time of admission, after 8, 24, 48, and 72 hours, and on days 7 and 10 of medication. Three patients did not complete treatment: one was released on bail after 24 hours of therapy, and the other two had adverse reactions (tongue swelling and muscle spasms, each in one patient) which required cessation of treatment. Statistically significant improvement in both rating scale results was evident as early as 8 hours after treatment began. By day 10, all Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale items and factors and the Clinical Global Impression results were statistically improved over baseline measurements. At the end of the study, 87 per cent (13/15) of the patients were well enough to cooperate with their attorneys and understand the procedures of the court. Adverse effects (generally extrapyramidal) appeared in four of 18 patients during parenteral administration and in two of 15 patients during oral therapy.
M-1 injector development - Philosophy and implementation.

M-1 injector baffles, ablative chamber and start system design and development, using subscale testing
The design of a five-cell superconducting RF module with a PBG coupler cell

We discuss the problem of incorporating a Photonic Band Gap (PBG) cell into a superconducting accelerating module of 5 cells designed for the operational frequency of 2.1 GHz. The reason for using a PBG cell is to provide a good accelerating mode confinement and good Higher Order Mode (HOM) suppression. PBG cell can potentially be used for placing HOM and fundamental mode couplers. However, because of the naturally higher ratio of the peak magnetic field to the accelerating field in the PBG cell, it should be designed to operate at a lower accelerating gradient than the other cells of the module. This ensures that the probability of quench in the PBG cell would be no higher than in other elliptical cells of the structure.
The factor V Leiden mutation in children with cancer and thrombosis

Thromboembolic phenomena, frequently observed in children with cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy, can cause significant morbidity and, less frequently, mortality. Many contributory factors have been identified. Whether the recently identified and most common coagulation defect predisposing to thrombosis, factor V Leiden, is associated with thrombosis in this setting, has not been explored. The current study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of the factor V Leiden mutation in children with cancer who developed thromboembolic phenomena as compared to those with cancer who did not. Genomic DNA was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), followed by digestion of the amplification product with the restriction enzyme MnlI. The digested PCR products were then size-fractionated to classify samples as heterozygous, homozygous or normal for the factor V Leiden mutation. 67 children with cancer were evaluated for the factor V Leiden mutation. One of 32 children with cancer and thrombosis, and none of 35 who had not experienced thrombotic problems, was found heterozygous for this mutation. We conclude that the factor V Leiden mutation does not play a significant role in the overall incidence of thromboses that occur in children with cancer.
Vanadium in tunicates: Oxygen-binding studies

1. 1. No reversible oxygen-binding by the blood of the tunicate A. nigra is detectable. 2. 2. Blood cells contain iron(II) and vanadium(III), and a yellow-green chromogen which can be separated from the metals by fractionation on Sephadex G-100. 3. 3. The chromogen will reduce oxygen in alkaline medium, it is heat-stable and has absorption peaks at 280 and 330 nm (in 0.1 N HCl). The peak at 330 nm is lost on oxidation.
Optimal Row-Column Design for Three Treatments

Abstract The A-optimality problem is solved for three treatments in a row–column layout. Depending on the numbers of rows and columns, the requirements for optimality can be decidedly counterintuitive: replication numbers need not be as equal as possible, and trace of the information matrix need not be maximal. General rules for comparing 3 × 3 information matrices for their A-behavior are also developed, and the A-optimality problem is also solved for three treatments in simple block designs.
Influence of unsteady aerodynamics on hingeless rotor ground resonance

Calculations of the model frequency and damping for a hingeless rotor on a gimballed support in hover are compared with measured results for two configurations (differing in blade flap stiffness). Good correlation is obtaned when an inflow dynamics model is used to account for the influence of the unsteady aerodynamics. The effect of the unsteady aerodynamics is significant for this rotor system. The inflow dynamics model introduces additional states corresponding to perturbations of the wake-induced velocity at the rotor disk. The calculations confirm the experimental observation that the inflow mode introduced by these additional states is measurable for one configuration but not for the other.
Mouse or Man: Is GAD the cause of type I diabetes?

Recent headlines in the national and presumably international news media have characterized the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) as the cause of type I diabetes. The news accounts were stimulated by two excellent research reports that indicated that Tcells from the spleens of young NOD mice responded to GAD before other autoantigens and that intravenous injection of GAD or intrathymic injection of GAD prevented the development of diabetes (1,2).
Vibrational signatures of zwitterionic and charge-solvated structures for alkaline earth-tryptophan dimer complexes in the gas phase

Abstract Infrared multiple-photon dissociation (IR-MPD) spectra in the N–H and O–H stretching region (3000–3700 cm −1 ) are reported for gas-phase monomeric M 2+ Trp and dimeric M 2+ Trp 2 complexes (where M = Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba). The spectra are obtained by irradiating the complexes in the Penning trap of a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer, using a tunable continuous-wave (cw) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser in combination with a fixed wavelength CO 2 laser (10.6 μm). These spectra are compared with previously recorded mid-IR-MPD spectra, using the free electron laser FELIX, and are interpreted based on harmonic frequency calculations performed with density-functional theory (DFT). The experimental spectra show that a simple assignment of bands can be made to distinguish zwitterionic (ZW) from charge solvation (CS) complexes. In particular, the carboxylic acid O–H stretch at ∼3550 cm −1 identifies the presence of a CS structure, whereas the NH 3 + antisymmetric stretching mode in the 3150–3375 cm −1 range is diagnostic of a ZW structure. For the monomeric Ba 2+ Trp complex, exclusively the ZW structure is observed. Conversely, for the dimeric complexes of M 2+ Trp 2 (M = Sr and Ba) merely CS/CS geometries are confirmed. Surprisingly, for smaller alkaline earth metal dications (M = Mg and Ca), the IR-MPD spectra are consistent with the presence of mixed CS/ZW dimers. This is contrary to most previous trends for alkali metals, where larger cations typically favor ZW stabilization.
Clinical course of concurrent lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia and common variable immunodeficiency

Abstract Rationale Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a heterogenous syndrome, characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia, impaired antibody responses and lymphocyte defects. Respiratory complications include pneumonia and bronchiectasis. Lymphoid interstitial pneumonia (LIP) and sarcoid-like granulomatosis occur infrequently. Rare case reports describe the clinical course and management of LIP in CVID. Methods A 19 year old African American female was diagnosed with CVID at age 10 when she presented with streptococcal meningitis, pneumonia, sinusitis and splenomegaly. Hypogammaglobulinemia and absent antibody responses were documented and she was begun on IVIG. Chest and abdominal CT scans at time of CVID diagnosis, showed diffuse pulmonary reticular nodular changes and mediastinal, hilar, axillary and abdominal lymphadenopathy (LAD). Splenectomy and lymph node biopsy revealed benign lymphoid hyperplasia without granulomas. Results Open lung biopsy at age 15 revealed widespread interlobular and alveolar septal lymphocytic infiltrates, consistent with LIP. Oral steroids were begun. Clinical course has included worsening shortness of breath and progressive CT findings of LAD and extensive nodular interstitial lung disease, in the absence of infection. Pulmonary function tests have shown stable moderate restrictive defects with progressive gas exchange impairment. Repeat immune assessments revealed IgG >1100 mg/dl (on IVIG) with absent IgA, low IgM and normal T-cell number and function. This case report describes the progression of LIP, documented by diminished DLCO, despite IVIG (600 mg/kg) q 21 days for 9 years and prednisone (10–60 mg qd) for 5 years. Conclusion Concurrent LIP and CVID is manifested by advanced restrictive lung disease and progressive gas exchange impairment despite aggressive treatment with IVIG and steroids.
Some observations on stress-induced martensitic toughening in a partially stabilized zirconia

The fracture toughness of commercial-grade partially stabilized zirconia with 8.5 mol pct MgO was determined experimentally for various aging temperatures and times. The specimens were also examined by scanning electron microscopy after polishing and etching in 50 pct HF for 10 min. The most significant feature of the fracture toughness data for specimens aged for up to 6 hr is a sharp increase in fracture toughness for aging temperature around 1470 C followed by an equally sharp decrease for aging temperatures slightly greater than 1470 C. This result is explained in terms of changes in the distribution of tetragonal ZrO2 particles. 6 references.
Restricted dislocation motion in crystals of colloidal dimer particles.

Zsim � 6:18 � 0:01 in simulated monocrystalline DCs. Dislocation propagation beyond these obstacles is observed to proceed through dislocation reactions. We estimate that the energetic cost of dislocation pair separation via such reactions in an otherwise defect free DC grows linearly with final separation, hinting that the material properties of DCs may be dramatically different from those of 2-D crystals of spheres. The microscopic motion of dislocations plays a crucial role in melting [1,2] and governs numerous macroscopic phenomena observed in crystalline materials, including plastic flow, yield, and work hardening [3‐6]. Studies of dislocations in colloidal crystals enable direct visualization of such processes [7‐12], providing an illustrative model for addressing fundamental questions in statistical physics and materials science. Thus far, such studies have focused on crystals of spherical particles, whose defect transport mechanisms are well described by existing models [3‐5]. Advances in colloidal particle synthesis techniques have enabled the production of a variety of anisotropic yet monodisperse particles [13‐19]. Dimer particles are a simple, fundamental extension of spherical particles and can be found in systems ranging from granular piles [20,21] to paired adatoms in thin film epitaxy [22]. Furthermore, dimers are exceptional since although they are nonspherical, their constituent lobes can nevertheless occupy the lattice sites of crystal structures formed by hard spheres. The study of ordered phases formed by such particles therefore constitutes a natural expansion of the existing body of knowledge on crystals of spheres. Here, we directly examine the mechanisms for dislocation nucleation and propagation in a crystalline phase formed by dense monolayers of colloidal dimer particles. This crystalline phase, known as a Degenerate Crystal (DC), was first identified in simulations of dimer particles [23,24], and is defined by the following two characteristic features. First, the individual dimer particle lobes form a triangular lattice, and second, the particle orientations are disordered, uniformly populating the three crystalline directions of the underlying lattice. We find that dislocation glide in DCs of colloidal dimers is severely limited by geometric constraints formed by certain particle orientations. This restricted dislocation motion suggests that the material properties of DCs may be dramatically different from those of crystals of spherical particles.
Comparing the Effects of Teen Mentors to Adult Teachers on Child Lifestyle Behaviors and Health Outcomes in Appalachia.

Childhood obesity prevalence rates in the United States are the highest in the rural Appalachian areas. Teens mentoring younger children to reverse obesity health risks are an understudied approach. This randomized-controlled trial compared the effects of two curriculum delivery methods and assessed the mediating effects of the number of sessions attended on the outcomes. The control group received the 8-week Just for Kids! curriculum via an adult teacher in a classroom and the experimental group received the same curriculum via individual teen mentoring. Data collected at baseline and postintervention were analyzed using multilevel linear models. Each of the outcomes (e.g., body mass index, blood pressure, current lifestyle behaviors) were modeled separately. Only the mentored children demonstrated improved current lifestyle behaviors (e.g., physical activity and dietary patterns) and health outcomes. Teen mentoring was an effective and efficacious approach to impact the lifestyle patterns and health outcomes of children in a school setting.
Monitoring earthquakes off California Coast

The first in a network of about 20 permanent broadband earthquake monitors to be placed off the coast of Monterey, California, was burrowed into the ocean floor on 9 April. The sensor, part of the Monterey Ocean Bottom Broadband project, could help scientists with the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and others to better understand seismic activity along the California coast and on the Pacific Plate.
A non-enzymatic method for lens decapsulation which leaves the epithelial cells attached to the fibers

We have developed a method to mechanically decapsulate the lens yet leave the epithelial cells attached to the fibers. This method uses divalent ion chelaters to loosen the capsule-epithelial interactions and bumetanide to control cell swelling. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and in-vitro fluorescence microscopy demonstrate that the capsule is removed and the epithelial cells remain adherent to the fibers when these procedures are used. Ion channel activity and epithelial gap junction communication remain following decapsulation. This decapsulated lens preparation should prove useful for many kinds of lens studies.
Birefringence of Single and Bundled Microtubules

Abstract We have measured the birefringence of microtubules (MTs) and of MT-based macromolecular assemblies in vitro and in living cells by using the new Pol-Scope. A single microtubule in aqueous suspension and imaged with a numerical aperture of 1.4 had a peak retardance of 0.07nm. The peak retardance of a small bundle increased linearly with the number of MTs in the bundle. Axonemes (prepared from sea urchin sperm) had a peak retardance 20 times higher than that of single MTs, in accordance with the nine doublets and two singlets arrangement of parallel MTs in the axoneme. Measured filament retardance decreased when the filament was defocused or the numerical aperture of the imaging system was decreased. However, the retardance "area," which we defined as the image retardance integrated along a line perpendicular to the filament axis, proved to be independent of focus and of numerical aperture. These results are in good agreement with a theory that we developed for measuring retardances with imaging optics. Our theoretical concept is based on Wiener's theory of mixed dielectrics, which is well established for nonimaging applications. We extend its use to imaging systems by considering the coherence region defined by the optical set-up. Light scattered from within that region interferes coherently in the image point. The presence of a filament in the coherence region leads to a polarization dependent scattering cross section and to a finite retardance measured in the image point. Similar to resolution measurements, the linear dimension of the coherence region for retardance measurements is on the order λ /(2 NA), where λ is the wavelength of light and NA is the numerical aperture of the illumination and imaging lenses.
Gradual Increase in the Sensitivity of Extraocular Muscles to Acetylcholine During Topical Treatment of Rabbit Eyes with Isoflurophate

During the course of four to 14 days of topical application of isoflurophate ointment to rabbit eyes, there was a gradual increase in the sensitivity to acetylcholine of the superior recti muscles of treated eyes in vitro in the absence but not in the presence of eserine. The development of increased sensitivity to acetylcholine was accelerated when isoflurophate was applied twice daily. This increased sensitivity to acetylcholine was maintained when, after two weeks of twice-daily isoflurophate treatment, the frequency of administration was decreased to two applications per week. Partial reversal of this effect occurred seven to 14 days after the last isoflurophate treatment.
Intravenous Safety Study in Rats Given Paramagnetic, Polystyrene Beads with Covalently Bound Sheep Anti-Mouse Immunoglobulin G (IgG)

The potential for acute toxicity from Dynabeads1 M-450 Sheep Anti-Mouse IgG ST (SAM-Beads) administered once intravenously to male and female rats was assessed. SAM-Beads in saline containing 0.5% plasma protein fraction (PPF) was intravenously administered at dosages of 9.6 times 104 or 8.3 times 108 beads/kg at a rate of ≥2.5 ml/min/kg. Rats administered 9.6 times 104 beads/kg were killed 14 days posttreatment. Rats administered 8.3 times 108 beads/kg were killed either 14 or 42 days posttreatment. Saline containing 0.5% PPF served as the control article. Treatment groups were statistically compared with respect to clinical chemistry, hematology parameters, and body weight data. No significant group differences were detected (α = 0.01) with respect to any statistically analyzed data. No SAM-Beads were detected in urine samples collected overnight posttreatment. No test beads were found in any of the tissues from animals administered 9.6 times 104 beads/kg. The SAM-Beads were evident in the lung, liver, ...
Compositional boundedness of solutions for symmetric nonautonomous control systems

This paper presents boundedness results for symmetric nonautonomous control systems. The results are Lyapunov-based and exploit the symmetric structure present in many compositional or distributed control system. The work extends some of our prior work which defined an equivalence class of symmetric control systems by determining conditions for boundedness of solutions for such systems. The extension is along two lines. First, the prior work was focused on stability for autonomous symmetric systems, and this work extends it to the nonautonomous case. Second, the prior work required exact symmetry in the system whereas the results in this paper allow for symmetry-breaking in the nonautonomous terms, which significantly broadens the class of systems to which these results will apply. These results will be useful for robotics and control engineers dealing with large-scale and distributed systems which are composed of many similar components because it will enable closed-form analysis on a very small system, and then guarantee system properties for much larger equivalent systems. The application of the theoretical results is illustrated with a nonlinear consensus example. Other potential application areas would be, for example, the design of control algorithms for fleets of autonomous robotic vehicles acting in a coordinated manner.
New criteria for the diagnosis of healed inferior wall myocardial infarction in patients with left bundle branch block

The diagnosis of healed inferior myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) is difficult because there are no established criteria. To develop criteria, we retrospectively examined the electrocardiograms of 166 patients with complete LBBB who had either normal images (normals) or an isolated, unequivocal inferior MI on delayed stress thallium imaging. Diagnostic Q waves were defined as a significant Q or QS of at least 30-ms duration. Diagnostic T-wave inversion was defined as complete T inversion or biphasic waves with initial, predominantly negative deflection. The most useful diagnostic findings were in lead aVF, where a Q wave was present in 10 of 35 patients in the MI group compared with only 4 of 131 patients in the normal group (p <0.00001). Diagnostic T-wave inversion was noted in 23 of 35 patients in the MI group compared with 8 of 131 patients in the normal group (p <0.00001). The presence in lead aVF of either a diagnostic Q-wave or T-wave inversion was seen in 30 of 35 patients with inferior MI (sensitivity of 86%) compared with only 12 of 131 patients with uncomplicated LBBB (specificity 91%). Thus, these criteria are potentially useful for the diagnosis of inferior MI in patients with LBBB.
Environmentally Sensitive Design of Transportation Facilities

During the development of the United States' highway system, the basic premise of all design was the movement of vehicles quickly and safely from one point to another. All too often in the early years, the serious community and environmental impacts that occurred as a result of highway construction were overlooked and addressed only when they became obvious or hazardous, or when litigation was involved. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act in 1991 and the National Highway System Act in 1995 allowed the design of highway facilities that both meet transportation needs and positively affect the communities through which they pass. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, while not further modifying the standards language, provided for additional flexibility and programs for funding community-oriented aspects of highway projects. However, there is still much to be done before the flexible use of highway design standards becomes the norm and not the exception. Better communication of an environmental ethic from chief engineers to their staff designers is needed. Freer communication of flexible standards and success stories among the state highway agencies is also required.
Making Modernism Fit

Rob Hawkes argues that Ford Madox Ford and other “misfit” early twentieth-century writers who remain partly or wholly outside the parameters of modernist formal experimentation (Arnold Bennett, H.G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, John Galsworthy, Rebecca West, Siegfried Sassoon, and Robert Graves) challenge the value of such categorization. Hawkes devotes his first two chapters to discussions of character and plot development in Ford’s early work. The second half of his book focuses on Ford’s fictional and autobiographical writings about World War I. Hawkes’s readings are persuasive, although one wonders whether, by creating alternative categories for “non-modernist” writers, or by expanding the term beyond usefulness, he escapes the very traps he identifies for those who wish to engage “modernism.”
Effects of speculation on performance and issue queue design

Current trends in microprocessor designs indicate increasing pipeline depth in order to keep up with higher clock frequencies and increased architectural complexity. Speculatively issued instructions are particularly sensitive to increases in pipeline depth. In this brief, we use load hit speculation as an example, and evaluate its cost effectiveness as pipeline depth increases. Our results indicate that as pipeline depth increases, speculation is more essential for performance but can drastically alter the utilization of pipeline resources, particularly the issue queue. We propose an alternative, more cost-effective design that takes into consideration the different issue queue utilization demands without degrading overall processor performance.
Dynamic Service and Data Migration in the Clouds

Cloud computing is an emerging computation paradigm. To support successful cloud computing, service oriented architecture (SOA) should play a major role. Due to the nature of widely distributed service providers in clouds, the service performance could be impacted when the network traffic is congested. This can be a major barrier for tasks with real-time requirements. In clouds, this problem can be solved by migrating services to different platforms such that the communication cost can be minimized. In this paper, we consider the problem of service selection and migration in clouds. We develop a framework to facilitate service migration and design a cost model and the decision algorithm to determine the tradeoffs on service selection and migration.
Orogen response to changes in climatic and tectonic forcing

Despite much progress, many questions remain regarding the potential dynamic coupling between atmospheric and lithospheric processes in the long-term evolution of mountain belts. As a complement to recent efforts to discover the interrelationships among climate, topography, erosion, and rock deformation under conditions of mass-flux steady state, we explore orogen response to changes in climate and tectonic influx. We derive an analytical model that predicts a powerful climatic control on orogen evolution and distinct, potentially diagnostic, responses to climatic and tectonic perturbations. Due to isostatic compensation, the near-surface rock uplift rate during transients is tightly coupled to climate-modulated erosional efficiency. System response is approximately exponential, with a characteristic response timescale that is inversely proportional to the climate- and lithology-modulated erosional efficiency, and is largely insensitive to initial conditions, tectonic influx, and both the sign and magnitude of perturbations.
Eddy-Mediated Regime Transitions in the Seasonal Cycle of a Hadley Circulation and Implications for Monsoon Dynamics

In a simulation of seasonal cycles with an idealized general circulation model without a hydrologic cycle and with zonally symmetric boundary conditions, the Hadley cells undergo transitions between two regimes distinguishable according to whether large-scale eddy momentum fluxes strongly or weakly influence the strength of a cell. The center of the summer and equinox Hadley cell lies in a latitude zone of upper-level westerlies and significant eddy momentum flux divergence; the influence of eddy momentum fluxes on the strength of the cell is strong. The center of the cross-equatorial winter Hadley cell lies in a latitude zone of upper-level easterlies and is shielded from the energy-containing midlatitude eddies; the influence of eddy momentum fluxes on the strength of the cell is weak. Mediated by feedbacks between eddy fluxes, mean zonal winds at upper levels, and the mean meridional circulation, the dominant balance in the zonal momentum equation at the center of a Hadley cell shifts at the transitions between the regimes, from eddies dominating the momentum flux divergence in the summer and equinox cell to the mean meridional circulation dominating in the winter cell. At the transitions, a feedback involving changes in the strength of the lower-level temperature advection and in the latitude of the boundary between the winter and summer cell is responsible for changes in the strength of the cross-equatorial winter cell. The transitions resemble the onset and end of monsoons, for example, in the shift in the dominant zonal momentum balance, rapid shifts in the latitudes of maximum meridional mass flux and of maximum convergence at lower levels, rapid changes in strength of the upward mass flux, and changes in direction and strength of the zonal wind at upper and lower levels. In the monsoonal regime, the maximum upward mass flux occurs in an off-equatorial convergence zone located where the balance of the meridional geopotential gradient in the planetary boundary layer shifts from nonlinear frictional to geostrophic. Similar dynamic mechanisms as at the regime transitions in the simulation—mechanisms that can act irrespective of land–sea contrasts and other inhomogeneities in lower boundary conditions—may be implicated in large-scale monsoon dynamics in Earth’s atmosphere.
Radiocarbon Measurements of Black Carbon in Aerosols and Ocean Sediments

Black carbon (BC) is the combustion-altered, solid residue remaining after biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion. Radiocarbon measurements of BC provide information on the residence time of BC in organic carbon pools like soils and sediments, and also provide information on the source of BC by distinguishing between fossil fuel and biomass combustion byproducts. We have optimized dichromate-sulfuric acid oxidation for the measurement of radiocarbon in BC. We also present comparisons of BC 14C measurements on NIST aerosol SRM 1649a with previously published bulk aromatic 14C measurements and individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) 14C measurements on the same NIST standard.Dichromate-sulfuric acid oxidation belongs to the chemical class of BC measurement methods, which rely on the resistance of some forms of BC to strong chemical oxidants. Dilute solutions of dichromate-sulfuric acid degrade BC and marine-derived carbon at characteristic rates from which a simple kinetic formula can be used to calculate concentrations of individual components (Wolbach and Anders, 1989). We show that: (1) dichromate-sulfuric acid oxidation allows precise, reproducible 14C BC measurements; (2) kinetics calculations give more precise BC yield information when performed on a % OC basis (vs. a % mass basis); (3) kinetically calculated BC concentrations are similar regardless of whether the oxidation is performed at 23°C or 50°C; and (4) this method yields 14C BC results consistent with previously published aromatic 14C data for an NIST standard.For the purposes of intercomparison, we report % mass and carbon results for two commercially available BC standards. We also report comparative data from a new thermal method applied to SRM 1649a, showing that thermal oxidation of this material also follows the simple kinetic sum of exponentials model, although with different time constants. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.
SOCIAL NETWORKS AND CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTION: A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE FEMALE TERRACOTTA FIGURINES OF HELLENISTIC BABYLON

Summary. In the study of the Hellenistic period in Babylon, cross-cultural interactions between Greeks and native Babylonians have been primarily interpreted using colonialist theories of Hellenisation, domination, and cultural isolation. This paper finds, however, that such theories cannot adequately explain the types of cross-cultural combinations seen in the archaeological record of female Hellenistic Babylonian terracotta figurines. The forms and functions of these terracotta figurines were substantially altered and combined throughout the Hellenistic period, resulting in Greek-Babylonian multicultural figurines as well as figurines that exhibited new features used exclusively in Hellenistic Babylonia. In order to facilitate a greater understanding of the full complexity of these Greek–Babylonian interactions, a new interpretation of cross–cultural interaction in Hellenistic Babylon is developed in this paper. This Social Networks model provides an alternative framework for approaching both how a hybrid material culture of terracotta figurines was developed and how Hellenistic Babylon became a multicultural society.
Linearized theory of thermal-blooming phase-compensation instability with realistic adaptive-optics geometry

It has been recognized for some time that compensation for thermal blooming by phase-conjugate adaptive optics is prone to instability. The theory of thermal-blooming phase-compensation instability is extended here to take into account the lattice geometry of real adaptive optics. A general equation for instability growth rates is derived, and approximate methods of solution are discussed. This growth-rate equation has been used elsewhere to explain observation of chain-link patterns in laboratory laser irradiance measurements. The general growth-rate equation depends on wave-front-sensor, deformable-mirror, and servo details through two structure functions, whose construction is illustrated for the specific system used in a recent laboratory experiment. It is shown that an approximate solution of the growth-rate equation leads to the following universality theorem: Instability growth rates are approximately independent of wave-front-sensor and deformable-mirror details as long as the servo coupling them is null seeking. It is also shown, through an approximate solution, that real parts of growth rates are generally reduced by wind, in contrast to the situation in which adaptive optics is modeled as a simple Fourier filter. Finally, a novel, analytically convenient, and realistic model of a deformable-mirror influence function is derived for use in illustrating the instability theory.
Parallel finite element reconstruction for spectrally-solved bioluminescence tomography

In Bioluminescence Tomography (BLT), a priori information is necessary to obtain unique BLT reconstruction. When using the explored a priori information, such as complex heterogeneous model and multispectral measurements, the reconstruction speed especially in whole-body small animal molecular imaging becomes slow. Because of the flexibility of the finite element method (FEM), reconstruction algorithms based on it are extensively developed. Fully 3D BLT reconstruction though is challenging. Although the computer hardware technology is rapidly developed, BLT reconstruction time becomes long, even impossible in a single PC when fine discretization is used to obtain the desirable spatial resolution. In this paper, a fully parallel 3D finite element reconstruction algorithm is proposed for spectrally-resolved BLT reconstruction. In this algorithm, anatomical information and multispectral measurements can be easily used to improve BLT reconstruction. Specifically, for parallelization, the reconstruction domain is partitioned into several subdomains corresponding to the number of nodes of the cluster. Establishment of a parallel linear relationship between the measured data and the unknown source distribution and optimization is performed to improve the reconstruction speed. In a numerical reconstruction, the effectiveness and potential is verified with a large-volume homogeneous phantom.
A comparative study of nonlinear filters for target tracking in mixed coordinates

The measurement model nonlinearity is a major challenge in target tracking. This paper presents a comparative performance study of seven nonlinear filters in handling the measurement model nonlinearity. They are: the extended Kalman filter, the unscented filter, the second order divided-differences filter, the Gauss-Hermite quadrature filter, the two-step Kalman filter, the Gaussian particle filter, and the linear minimum mean-square error tracking filter with polar measurements. Comprehensive performance evaluation and comparison of all of the above mainstream nonlinear filters over the same tracking scenarios are conducted via Monte Carlo simulation. The results can facilitate the choice and design of nonlinear tracking filters in mixed coordinates.
Wavelets for computer graphics: a primer.1

Wavelets are a mathematical tool for hierarchically decomposing functions. They allow a function to be described in terms of a coarse overall shape, plus details that range from broad to narrow. Regardless of whether the function of interest is an image, a curve, or a surface, wavelets offer an elegant technique for representing the levels of detail present. The article is intended to provide people working in computer graphics with some intuition for what wavelets are, as well as to present the mathematical foundations necessary for studying and using them. We discuss the simple case of Haar wavelets in one and two dimensions, and show how they can be used for image compression. >