cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A hybrid high frequency pulse and pattern recognition method for water tree detection in long distance underground cables

The demand for wind energy has been on the rise. To satisfy this demand, power utilities have begun to construct an increasing number of wind generation facilities. Many of facilities are located in areas that require long distance underground cables connections to the grid. Maintaining these cables requires techniques to identify and locate potential problems such as water tree. However, many traditional detection techniques are not designed for long cables; therefore, new method must be developed to remotely and non-destructively locate and measure water tree development in long underground cables. By using a combination of high frequency pulse and pattern recognition, the new method can establish a system of benchmark frequencies corresponding to specific water tree capacitance values for a given piece cable. The new method works best for long cables and small water tree capacitances. It supplements tradition water tree detection techniques, such as travelling wave and partial discharge.
Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Nursing edited by Ruth Lindquist, Mariah Snyder, and Mary Fran Tracy

This new edition of an outstanding authoritative and comprehensive work on the topic is a must for all libraries with nursing collections. The increasing popularity of complementary and alternative...
Imperceptible Impressions and Disorder in the Soul: A Characterization of the Distinction between Calm and Violent Passions in Hume

Hume's explanation of our tendency to confuse calm passions with reason due to lack of feeling appears to present a tension with his claim that we cannot be mistaken about our own impressions. I argue that the calm/violent distinction cannot be understood in terms of presence/absence of feeling. Rather, for Hume the presence or absence of disruption and disordering of natural and/or customary modes of thought is the key distinction between the calm and violent passions. This reading provides new explanations of our confusion of (felt) calm passions with reason, and the potential for calm passions to prevail over violent.
Effects of ovariectomy, 192 IgG-saporin-induced cortical cholinergic deafferentation, and administration of estradiol on sustained attention performance in rats.

Female ovariectomized (OVX) and sham-OVX rats were trained in a task designed to assess sustained attention. After achieving asymptotic performance, OVX rats did not exhibit the impairment in performance over blocks of trials (i.e., the vigilance decrement) observed in sham-OVX rats. Furthermore, OVX rats' performance over blocks of trials was unaffected by the normally detrimental effects of a visual distractor. 192 IgG-saporin-induced lesions of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons resulted in similar impairments in the performance of OVX and sham-OVX rats. The acute, but not chronic, administration of 17beta-estradiol attenuated the lesion-induced decrease in the relative number of hits to longest signals exclusively in rats with intact ovaries. These findings indicate that the variables contributing to the potential therapeutic effects of estradiol remain poorly understood.
LHRH SECRETION OF IMMORTALIZED HYPOTHALAMIC NEURONS IS STIMULATED BY N-ACETYLASPARTYLGLUTAMATE

The acidic dipeptide N-Acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is thought to be an endogenous ligand of the excitatory amino acid receptor system. Because excitatory amino acids stimulate release of LHRH in vivo, we tested the hypothesis that NAAG might stimulate LHRH release from immortalized LHRH neurons in culture. GN-10 cells, grown to semiconfluence in 24-well plates, were incubated with NAAG, β-NAAG, or glutamate. LHRH secretion was evaluated by enzyme immunoassay. Both NAAG and glutamate elicited LHRH secretion in a dose-dependent manner. 10−9 M NAAG increased LHRH secretion significantly compared to controls (72 ± 45 [SD] vs 13 ± 17 pg/mL, p<0.005), whereas a 100-fold higher concentration of glutamate was required to achieve significant stimulation (46 ± 21 vs 8 ± 11 pg/mL, p<0.005). β-NAAG was inactive at all concentrations (10−13 to 10−4 M). To examine whether the stimulation of LHRH release observed with NAAG could be due to enzymatic cleavage of NAAG into NAA and glutamate, GN-10 cells were incubated for up to 2 hours with NAAG radiolabelled with 3H-Glu, and 3H-NAAG and 3H-glu separated by HPLC. No 3H-glu was detected. We conclude that NAAG is not degraded by GN-10 cells, and that NAAG is a potent stimulus for LHRH release at concentrations at which glutamate is inactive.
Improving infant exposure and health risk estimates: using serum data to predict polybrominated diphenyl ether concentrations in breast milk.

Women in the United States have breast milk concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) that are among the highest in the world, leading to concerns over the potential health implications to breastfeeding infants during critical stages of growth and development. Developing cost-effective and sustainable methods for assessing chemical exposures in infants is a high priority to federal agencies and local communities. PBDE data are available in nationally representative serum samples but not in breast milk. As a method to predict PBDE concentrations in U.S. breast milk, we present the development of congener-specific linear regression partitioning models and their application to U.S. serum data. Models were developed from existing paired milk and serum data and applied to 2003–2004 NHANES serum data for U.S. women. Highest estimated median U.S. breast milk concentrations were for BDE-47 (30.6 ng/g lipid) and BDE-99 (6.1 ng/g lipid) with the median concentration of Σ7PBDEs estimated at 54.2 ng/g ...
Facile synthesis of metal nanoparticles using conducting polymer colloids

Abstract We report a simple method to synthesize Ag, Au, and Pt nanoparticles with a reasonable size dispersity using water-dispersible conducting polymer colloids composed of polyaniline (PANI) and conventional polyelectrolyte. This facile synthesis results in single crystalline metal nanoparticles that are stable in an aqueous solution for at least several weeks. The process involves incrementally adding a metal ion solution to aqueous conducting polymer colloids and does not require reducing agents such as NaBH 4 . In addition, the complete synthetic and purification procedure is carried out in an aqueous solution; therefore, it is environmentally benign and potentially suitable for large-scale production. We have also demonstrated synthesis of larger nanoparticles and nanosheets by varying the experimental parameters. With the tunable oxidation states of conducting polymers, we expect this synthetic platform can synthesize a wide range of nanostructured metals with specific size, shape and properties. Finally, the nanoparticles embedded in the conducting polymer matrix, the metal–polyaniline nanocomposite itself may be interesting since it represents a type of materials where metallic nanoislands are embedded in a semiconducting matrix.
Motivating students to prepare for class and engage in discussion using the hot seat

Abstract Accounting accreditation standards place a strong emphasis on student engagement in the learning process ( AACSB, 2009a , The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), 2009 ). However, budget constraints at many universities are creating larger class sizes, thereby complicating the student-engagement process in two respects. First, it is difficult for professors to motivate students to prepare for class when the students perceive a small probability of being held individually accountable for reading assigned materials. Second, it becomes harder for professors to have one-on-one interactions with students during class as enrollments grow ( Litke, 1995 ). This lack of interaction makes it more difficult to engage students in the learning process. This article describes a teaching approach, called the “hot seat,” that overcomes these challenges by motivating students to prepare for class and engage in the learning process during class. Assessment data suggest that students valued the instructor’s commitment to high-quality instruction and that they believed the hot-seat approach accomplished its intended objectives of increasing student preparation, participation, and learning.
Dirac and Majorana spinors on non-orientable Riemann surfaces

It is well known that (Weyl) spinors cannot be consistently defined on nonorientable manifolds. We prove that Dirac spinors can be defined on nonorientable Riemann surfaces. It is also shown that Majorana spinors cannot be defined consistently on closed nonorientable Riemann surfaces with odd Euler number, but can be consistently defined in all other cases.
Optimizing high latency links in the developing world

Long distance Wi-Fi links, satellite connections, and other low-bandwidth, high-latency, intermittent options are becoming the norm for providing connectivity in the developing world. For network administrators who must manage these connections, providing users the "best" (or even adequate) service is not a trivial problem.Previous work has focused on optimizing throughput and while we acknowledge the importance of this approach, we argue that latency is an important and often ignored component of network performance. The intrinsically high latencies seen in the developing world are exacerbated by excessive queueing from traffic which often swamp links with miss-sized queues. Current solutions to this problem tend to require resources (people, time and money) that are generally not available in developing environments. In this paper, we demonstrate that latency is a problem in real world deployments and propose an easy to deploy solution.
Design of high-Q 3-D integrated inductors for high frequency applications

Design of 3-Dimensional micromachined inductors on high-(10 K?·cm) and low-resistivity(10 ?·cm) Si substrate fabricated using stress metal technology we have developed [1, 2] is presented. Using high frequency electromagnetic simulation of 3-Dimensional inductors performed by Ansoft HFSS®, we have investigated the effects of number of turns, effective radius, metal line width, and different substrates on the quality factor, Q and self-resonant frequency, f sr of these inductors. We also have compared the simulated results with the measurement results of 3-D inductors fabricated using this technology.
Recovery of heterokaryons at high cell densities following isolation using irreversible biochemical inhibitors.

he selection of heterokaryons using irreversible biochemical inhibitors provides an effective method for isolating fusion products between any types of cultured cells. One weakness of the technique is that the surviving heterokaryons can only be obtained at low culture densities, making their analysis cumbersome. This report describes the use of Ficollsodium diatrizoate gradients to partially separate viable from nonviable cells and characterizes the effects of initial plating density and medium volume on heterokaryon survival. The combined result of optimizing these parameters increases cell rescue and permits heterokaryons to attach at densities of 60,000 cells/cm2 instead of 600 cells/cm2. These modifications substantially improve the ease of using irreversible biochemical inhibitors to isolate purified populations of heterokaryons.
Influence of geometry on persistent currents in quantum dots and rings

Abstract In a quantum dot the magnetic moment, proportional to the persistent currents, is given by the derivative with respect to the magnetic field of the energy of the system, which for noninteracting electrons is just the sum of the lowest filled one-particle levels. These quantities are calculated for round and square dots, with and without interior holes, using hard wall boundary conditions. The relation is traced between the old results of Landau for a large system and what may be expected in current experiments on small quantum dots of various sizes and shapes. For the square ring geometry at low and moderate magnetic fields we note and discuss the appearance of gaps separating braids of groups of four levels.
Exchange rate shocks and trade: A multivariate GARCH-M approach

Abstract We build on the recent literature studying the effects of uncertainty on trade by introducing a model that combines a reduced form vector autoregression for the growth rates of exports, foreign income, and the real exchange rate (RER), with a multivariate GARCH model. Up to 12 lags of several conditional standard deviations are added to relevant mean equations, and all parameters are estimated simultaneously using maximum likelihood, thus allowing us to avoid two step procedures that are common in the literature. Using a large data set of both developed and emerging countries, we find evidence that RER uncertainty negatively impacts trade for several less developed countries. We also find that RER uncertainty tends to be associated with a real currency appreciation. When we compute generalized impulse response functions to study the impacts of unexpected shocks to RER growth on export growth, the results are typically asymmetric. Positive shocks generate substantial negative responses while unexpected depreciations produce relatively smaller positive responses, especially in our developing country sample.
Adenovirus E1A proteins can dissociate heteromeric complexes involving the E2F transcription factor: A novel mechanism for E1A trans-activation

Adenovirus infection activates the E2F transcription factor, in part through the formation of a heteromeric protein complex involving a 19 kd E4 gene product that then allows cooperative and stable promoter binding. We now find that cellular factors are complexed to E2F in extracts of several uninfected cell lines. E1A proteins can dissociate these complexes, releasing free E2F. This activity of E1A is independent of conserved domain 3 but is dependent on conserved domain 2 sequence. The E1A-mediated dissociation of the complexes allows the E4 protein to interact with E2F, generating a stable DNA-protein complex with the E2 promoter and a stimulation of transcription. These experiments demonstrate a function for E1A in mediating a dissociation of transcription factor complexes, allowing new interactions to form and thus changing the transcriptional specificity.
Gravity and Magnetic Survey of Portneuf River Valley Between McCammon and Lava Hot Springs, Idaho: ABSTRACT

The study was made to determine the subsurface shape and extent of faulting in the section of the Portneuf River valley between Lava Hot Springs and McCammon, Idaho. A series of roughly north-south-trending faults cuts the valley, leading to a stepped bed-rock surface. These steps are downdropped going west from Lava Hot springs to McCammon. Gravity readings were taken on a Worton Gravimeter and adjusted to latitude, terrain, and free air corrections. These final values were plotted and contoured on a 1:24,000-scale topographic map. Cross sections through the contours were then made and the resulting picture interpreted using Nealson's method. Magnetics were conducted to determine the extent of the valley-filling basalt. End_of_Article - Last_Page 941------------
Evaluating the Effect of Safety Culture on Error Reporting: A Comparison of Managerial and Staff Perspectives

Although medical error reporting has been studied, underreporting remains pervasive. The study aims were to identify the organizational factors with the greatest perceived effect on error reporting and to determine whether associations differ for management and clinical staff. A total of 515 637 respondents from 1052 hospitals completed the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Nine organizational factors were tested as predictors of error reporting using weighted least-squares multiple regression. Error feedback was perceived as the most significant predictor, while organizational learning was another significant factor. It also was found that although management support for patient safety was significantly related to error reporting among clinical staff, this association was not significant among management. This difference is relevant because managers may not be aware that their failure to demonstrate support for safety leads to underreporting by frontline clinical staff. Findings from this study can inform hospitals' efforts to increase error reporting.
An increased risk of breast cancer after delayed first parity.

Abstract Background As delayed childbirth increases for socioeconomic and fertility reasons, its impact on breast cancer risk needs definition. Methods From 1975 to 1981, 1,307 women with childbirth at ≥40 years of age were identified. They were divided into four groups by estimated first birth median ages (EFBMA): 23, 34, 38, and 41 years, corresponding to previous parity of more than 3, 2 or 3, 1, and zero, respectively. Cancer Registry cross-referencing identified those diagnosed with breast cancer. Results Breast cancer developed in 39 women. The EFBMA of 41 years carried a relative risk of 3.7, (95%CI: 1.30 to 10.5) compared with age 23. Odds ratio of breast cancer was 1.08 (95%CI: 1.02 to 1.14) with each year older at first birth and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.67 to 0.93) for each additional previous birth. Conclusions Increased breast cancer risk with advancing maternal age at first childbirth is supported by 3.7 relative risk in women with an EFBMA of 41 years compared with those with an EFBMA of 23 years.
Computer-Assisted Versus Traditional Instruction: Differential Moderating Influences Of Math, Verbal And Visual-Spatial Abilities On Learning

Abstract This paper reports the results of a laboratory study conducted to identify cognitive abilities which relate to performance when learning accounting concepts in a traditional, non-computer assisted approach and in a computer-assisted approach. Four distinct aspects of cognitive ability were assessed: verbal, mathematical, and two dimensions of visual-spatial ability, spatial relations and spatial scanning. Verbal ability and spatial relations ability, the ability to manipulate mentally or transform an image into other patterns with respect to other objects, were found to be related to performance in the non-computer assisted setting. For the computer-assisted group, mathematical ability was the only cognitive ability related to performance. Implications for the study are discussed.
Deterministic and probabilistic fatigue prognosis of cracked specimens using acoustic emissions

Abstract This paper presents and compares two methodologies for predicting fatigue life of structural elements using Acoustic Emission data. These methodologies have the potential to be used by bridge owners to assess the state of key structural elements in an almost real time fashion and forecast the state of the element at any time in the future. This information can be used to schedule maintenance or replacement. The proposed methodologies have the potential to be applied to any structural element with active cracks and do not require knowledge of the load history. One approach uses fracture mechanics models and relationships between acoustic emission features, while the other approach is based on relationships between acoustic emission features and stress intensity range to estimate the stress intensity range of a particular crack a number of cycles in the future. Compact tension specimens are used to explore the capabilities of both techniques.
Infrared spectra of phospholipid membranes: interfacial dehydration by volatile anesthetics and phase transition

Fourier-transform infrared attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy was used to study the effect of volatile anesthetics on fully hydrated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicle membranes. The main phase transition was monitored by the change in the C-H2 asymmetric stretching frequencies of the lipid tails. The surface property was analyzed by the changes in the P = O stretching, (CH3)3-N+ stretching of the hydrophilic head, and C = O stretching of the glycerol skeleton. The partial pressures of those agents that decreased the transition temperature 1.0 C degree were halothane 0.75, enflurane 1.90 and CCl4 0.85 kPa. At a 2:1 lipid/anesthetic mole ratio, the polar anesthetics, halothane and enflurane, increased the ratio of (P = O stretching band area)/((CH3)3-N+ stretching band area) by 26.3% and 21.1%, respectively, whereas apolar CCl4 increased it 10.5%. The water molecules bound to the P = O moiety are apparently replaced by the anesthetic molecules. The deconvoluted C = O spectra showed two peaks: free sn-1 that is closer to the lipid core and hydrogen-bonded sn-2 that is closer to the polar head. Addition of halothane and enflurane, but not CCl4, increased the number of peaks to three. The third peak is free sn-2, formed by disrupting hydrogen-bonding to water. Because the temperature-induced spectral change was limited to C-H2 stretching at the main phase transition, the effects of anesthetics on the lipid membrane structure are not identical to temperature elevation. Among anesthetics, the effects of apolar and polar molecules on the interfacial properties are different.
Routine and ritual elements in family mealtimes: contexts for child well-being and family identity.

This chapter focuses on how the routine elements of family mealtimes such as assigned tasks and the more emotional ritual aspects such as recognition of feelings are related to children's well-being and the creation of a family identity.
Approximate modeling of spiral-wound gas permeators

Abstract An approximate modeling technique for spiral-wound permeators separating binary gas mixtures is developed. The approximate model is derived directly from a standard fundamental model [1] by assuming that the residue flow rate is constant in the direction of permeate flow. This assumption reduces the original boundary value problem to a more computationally tractable problem involving a small number of nonlinear algebraic equations. Theoretical justification for the modeling technique is obtained via comparison to one-point collocation. A nonlinear programming method for estimating unknown model parameters from experimental data is proposed. The approximate modeling and parameter estimation techniques are evaluated for the separation of CO 2 CH 4 mixtures.
The characterization of polymer surfaces by photoacoustic fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Abstract Weathered surfaces of intact polymer films on standard test substrates have been characterized with photoacoustic detection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with minimum sample preparation. Vibrational spectra were obtained from the surface of fully formulated and pigmented paint samples aged in Florida testing, and in QUV and carbon arc accelerated weathering environments. Single- and two-component polyester urethane resin films on polybutyleneterephthalate-polycarbonate-rubber substrate were examined to a depth of approximately 8–12 μm. The samples were analyzed for differences in chemical changes occurring during natural and accelerated testing. Spectra for these samples were compared with those obtained by attenuated total reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy, which requires time-consuming sample preparation. Photoacoustic detection infrared is applicable for heavily pigmented and opaque samples which are difficult to examine by conventional transmission or reflection techniques. The essence of photoacoustic detection in a Fourier transform infrared experiment is discussed.
A CD4+, HLA-DR7-restricted T-helper lymphocyte clone recognizes an antigen shared by human malignant melanoma and glioma.

CD4+ Th cells that are restricted by MHC class II molecules play an important role in the induction of antitumor immune responses. We have established a stable CD4+ Th cell clone (Th35-1A) from the PBMCs of a patient with primary cutaneous melanoma. The Th cell clone is noncytolytic and proliferates specifically in the presence of irradiated autologous melanoma cells or autologous EBV-transformed B cells pulsed with melanoma tumor cell lysates. Th35-1A produces IFN-γ (a Th1-type cytokine) after autologous tumor cell stimulation, and its proliferative reactivity is HLA class II–restricted. Th cells showed helper activity for PWM responses of PBMCs. Using a panel of HLA class II–matched and unmatched EBV-B cells as APCs and allogeneic melanoma tumor cell lysate as stimulant, DR7 was delineated as the HLA class II restriction element used by the Th cell clone. In agreement with these results, transfection of an allogeneic melanoma cell line with HLA-DR7 isolated from autologous EBV-B cells rendered the cell line stimulatory for Th35-1A cells. Specificity studies using autologous EBV-B cells (EBV-B35) pulsed with a panel of allogeneic tumor cell lysates of various tissue origins indicated that the Th cell clone recognizes an antigen shared by melanoma and glioma cells. The availability of the Th cell clone may lead to the development of new therapies against melanoma, using adoptive Th cell transfer and/or active immunization with a shared Th cell antigen. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Transition State for β-Hydride Elimination in Alkyl Groups on Pt(111)

The transition state for β-hydride elimination in alkyl groups on the Pt(111) surface has been probed by studying the effects of fluorine substitution on the barriers to β-hydride elimination, Δ . Four different fluoroalkyl groups have been formed on the Pt(111) surface by dissociative adsorption of four fluoroalkyl iodides: RCH2CH2−I (R = CF3, CF3CH2, and CF3CF2) and (CF3)2CHCH2−I. In the absence of preadsorbed hydrogen, fluoroalkyl groups on the Pt(111) surface dehydrogenate via β-hydride elimination to form unsaturated fluorocarbons and deposit hydrogen atoms onto the surface. Those hydrogen atoms then hydrogenate the remaining fluoroalkyl groups to produce fluoroalkanes that desorb rapidly from the surface. The kinetics of hydrogenation and fluoroalkane desorption are rate limited by the β-hydride elimination step and thus serve as measures of the kinetics of β-hydride elimination. The field effects of the fluorinated substituents increase the barriers to β-hydride elimination with a reaction constan...
Consistency or Heroics: Skewness, Performance, and Earnings on the PGA TOUR

The structure of the payments in professional golf tournaments is heavily weighted to reward the top performers more handily. On the PGA TOUR, for example, the winner typically receives 18% of the purse, second place receives 10.8%, and so on down to 0.2% for 70th place. This payment structure brings up the possibility that the PGA TOUR is disproportionately rewarding one-time, exceptional performances rather than consistent steady play. To examine the extent of this effect, this paper correlates the 2002 earnings of the top 100 PGA TOUR professional golfers with their average performances, the variance around the averages, and the skewness of the individual distributions of their scores. Mean performance, variance, and skewness are all significantly related to earnings per tournament in the theoretically predicted directions. The research makes connections to and has implications for several topics in the sports economics literature including competitive balance and the hot-hand phenomenon. Additionally, it uncovers a heretofore unappreciated consequence concerning the relationships among the distributions of effort, performance, and remuneration in the tournaments compensation model.
Percolation scaling of 1/f noise in single-walled carbon nanotube films

We use Monte Carlo simulations and noise modeling to study the scaling of $1/f$ noise in single-walled carbon nanotube films as a function of device parameters and film resistivity. Despite its relative simplicity, this computational approach provides a general framework for the characterization of $1/f$ noise in nanotube films and explains previous experimental observations. We consider noise sources due to both tube-tube junctions and nanotubes themselves. By comparing the simulation results with the experimental data, we find that the noise generated by tube-tube junctions dominates the total nanotube film $1/f$ noise. Furthermore, we systematically study the effect of device length and film thickness on the $1/f$ noise scaling in nanotube films in order to demonstrate that the simulation results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. Our results further show that the $1/f$ noise amplitude depends strongly on device dimensions, nanotube degree of alignment, and the film resistivity, following a power-law relationship with resistivity near the percolation threshold after properly removing the effect of device dimensions. We also find that the critical exponents associated with the noise-resistivity and noise-device dimension relationships are not universal invariants, but rather depend on the specific parameter that causes the change in the resistivity and $1/f$ noise, and the values of the other device parameters. Since $1/f$ noise is a more sensitive measure of percolation than resistivity, these simulations not only provide important fundamental physical insights into the complex interdependencies associated with percolation transport in nanotube networks and films, but also help us understand and improve the performance of these nanomaterials in potential device applications, such as nanoscale sensors, where noise is an important figure of merit.
Species specificity in cell-substrate interactions in medusae

A new system is described for the study of ECM-tissue interactions, using the ECM (called mesogloea) of various cnidarians and isolated striated muscle and endodermal tissue of jellyfish. The mesogloea consists mainly of water and collagen. It is present in all cnidarians and can be isolated without enzyme treatment. It can be used as a substrate to which cells and tissues adhere and on which they spread and migrate. Tissues of striated muscle and endoderm adhere and spread not only on mesogloea from regions they normally cover, but also from other regions of the animal. However, adhesion and spreading are highly species-specific. Species-specific adhesion is found throughout the whole mass of mesogloea even at regions where cells do not occur naturally. The cell adhesion factor can be extracted from the mesogloea so that the mesogloea no longer shows any cell adhesion properties. The extract consists mainly of a cysteine-containing collagen.
Vanadium pentoxide as a high-temperature solvent for phase equilibrium studies in CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2

Molten high-temperature solvents can provide major kinetic advantages in phase equilibrium studies of silicate systems, by markedly enhancing rates of crystal growth and chemical reaction. Experience gained in a study of cation partitioning between ortho-and clinopyroxene at low temperatures and atmospheric pressure suggests that an ideal solvent would combine the following properties: high solubilities for component oxides of silicates, with minimum temperature dependence; no formation of oxide-solvent compounds with melting points above that of the pure solvent; minimal incorporation of solvent components into the crystalline phases of interest; ease of chemical separation of crystalline phases from quenched solvent-rich melt; low volatility and viscosity; density close to that of the crystalline phases; and high surface tension against encapsulation materials, typically platinum. Maximum kinetic benefits of the technique are derived only when the composition of saturated solvent-rich melt is carefully determined as a function of temperature, so that melt-to-crystal ratios in experimental charges can be raised to high values. V2O5 is one solvent suitable for studies involving olivine, pyroxenes, and plagioclase in the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 and its subsystems.
Petrogenesis of Lavas from Western Samoa

Thirteen samples of basaltic rock from the islands of Upolu and Savai'i, Western Samoa, were analyzed for major element composition, for the minor elements Rb, Sr, and Ni, and for strontium isotopic composition. Ten high-potassium alkali basalts and three relatively potassium-rich olivine tholeiites have initial Sr87/Sr86 ratios of from 0.7051 to 0.7066. These values are among the highest yet found from within the ocean basins. The high potash contents and high Sr87/Sr86 ratios suggest that the mantle source material from which these rocks were derived has been less depleted by previous magmatism than much of the suboceanic mantle.
Sequential sampling procedures for query size estimation

We provide a procedure, based on random sampling, for estimation of the size of a query result. The procedure is sequential in that sampling terminates after a random number of steps according to a stopping rule that depends upon the observations obtained so far. Enough observations are obtained so that, with a pre-specified probability, the estimate differs from the true size of the query result by no more than a prespecified amount. Unlike previous sequential estimation procedures for queries, our procedure is asymptotically efficient and requires no ad hoc pilot sample or a a priori assumptions about data characteristics. In addition to establishing the asymptotic properties of the estimation procedure, we provide techniques for reducing undercoverage at small sample sizes and show that the sampling cost of the procedure can be reduced through stratified sampling techniques.
Construction of Endo-Functionalized Two Dimensional Metallacycles via Coordination-Driven Self-Assembly

The synthesis of three endofunctionalized two-dimensional supramolecular metallacycles including two [2 + 2] rhomboids (5 and 6) and a [3 + 3] hexagon (7) is reported. The resulting self-assembled supramolecular structures, containing several nitrobenzyl moieties at their interior surface, have been fully characterized by multinuclear NMR (31P and 1H) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. A significant C−H···O hydrogen bonding between the nitrobenzyl acceptor and the edge molecules of the supramolecular architecture is observed in the small rhomboid 5 and this interaction gradually decreases upon the enlargement of the resulting polygonal structures from a small rhomboid 5 through a large rhomboid 6 to a hexagon 7. Molecular modeling with the MMFF force field gives a possible conformation of each self-assembly in different solvents and shows that the hydrophilic nitrobenzyl moiety prefers to be buried in the cavity of the resulting polygonal structures in nonpolar solvents, thus forming hydrogen ...
West Nile Virus Economic Impact, Louisiana, 2002

West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause illness in humans ranging from mild fever to encephalitis. In 2002, a total of 4,156 WNV cases were reported in the United States; 329 were in Louisiana. To estimate the economic impact of the 2002 WNV epidemic in Louisiana, we collected data from hospitals, a patient questionnaire, and public offices. Hospital charges were converted to economic costs by using Medicare cost-to-charge ratios. The estimated cost of the Louisiana epidemic was $20.1 million from June 2002 to February 2003, including a $10.9 million cost of illness ($4.4 million medical and $6.5 million nonmedical costs) and a $9.2 million cost of public health response. These data indicate a substantial short-term cost of the WNV disease epidemic in Louisiana.
Altered trafficking and turnover of LAMP-1 in Pompe disease-affected cells.

The lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP-1) is elevated in the cells and plasma from lysosomal storage disorder-affected individuals; however, the mechanism of this elevation is not well defined. In this study we have investigated the synthesis, glycoprocessing, trafficking, and turnover of LAMP-1 in human skin fibroblasts from Pompe disease patients and control individuals. There were similar levels of LAMP-1 synthesis in both cell types, but glycoprocessing was retarded in Pompe (T1/2 = 25 min) compared to control (T1/2 = 17 min) fibroblasts. There was also a marked delay in trafficking of LAMP-1 to lysosomes of Pompe (T1/2 = 200 min) compared to control (T1/2 = 100 min) cells. A proportion of newly synthesized LAMP-1 (5.4% in Pompe and 8.5% in controls) was trafficked out of the cell (T1/2 = 3.5 h in controls) and, although significantly smaller than the lysosomal form, still had a transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tail. In contrast, a soluble lysosomal pool of LAMP-1 had no tail sequence, suggesting that it had been clipped from the membrane. In turnover studies, LAMP-1 was more stable in Pompe (T1/2 = 4.9 days) compared to control (T1/2 = 1. 6 days) cells, implying either reduced proteolysis or lysosomal function, in Pompe cells. These results indicate altered traffic and turnover of LAMP-1 in storage disorders and identify different intracellular and extracellular pools of soluble LAMP-1, suggesting alternative trafficking pathways.
trans-Dichloridotetrakis(3,5-dimethylpyridine)copper(II).

The title compound, [CuCl2(C7H9N)4], lies on a site of crystallographic 42 (D4) symmetry in the space group P4/­nnc, and is isomorphous with the Ni and Co analogues. The Cu and Cl atoms thus lie on a fourfold axis, and the 3,5-­lutidine ligands lie on twofold axes. The Cu—Cl distance is 2.7649 (7) A and the Cu—N distance is 2.0510 (12) A. The space group of the Co analogue is revised from Pnnn to P4/­nnc.
Synthesis and Function of Hypothalamic Neuroprogesterone in Reproduction

The physiology and regulation of steroid synthesis in the brain have emerged as important for understanding brain function. Neurosteroids, those steroids synthesized de novo in nervous tissue, have been associated with numerous central nervous system functions, including myelination, mental retardation, and epilepsy. Central regulation of reproduction was thought to depend on steroids of peripheral origin. Only recently has the role of neurosteroids in reproduction been appreciated. This minireview describes our work trying to understand how circulating estradiol modulates the synthesis of neuroprogesterone. The synthesis of neuroprogesterone occurs primarily in astrocytes, and requires the interaction of membrane-associated estrogen receptor with metabotropic glutamate receptor and the release of intracellular calcium stores. The newly synthesized neuroprogesterone acts on estradiol-induced progesterone receptors in nearby neurons to initiate the LH surge.
Pharmacokinetics of imipramine are affected by age and sex in rats.

Abstract Chronic treatment with the antidepressant imipramine (IMI) leads to accumulation of imipramine's major metaboite desmethylimipramine (DMI) in the brain. Juvenile, young and middle-aged female rats, as well as juvenile and young male rats were treated chronically with imipramine (14 days) and analyzed 24 hours later for levels of IMI and DMI in the hypothalamus-preoptic area (HPA) and serum. Older animals of both sexes showed higher levels of DMI than juvenile animals, in both the HPA and serum. Females also had higher DMI levels than males at comparable ages. Analysis of IMI and DMI levels at intervals after a single imipramine injection suggested that the initial metabolism of imipramine is slower in older animals and in females (compared to males). The results indicate that age and gender alter the initial metabolism of imipramine, leading to enhanced accumulation of metabolites during chronic treatment in older animals and in female rats, compared to younger rats and males, respectively.
Direct Evidence for Stiffness Threshold in Chalcogenide Glasses

Raman scattering in ${\mathrm{Ge}}_{x}{X}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$ glasses, $X\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\mathrm{S}$ or Se, reveals that the frequency of ${A}_{1}$ modes of corner-sharing $\mathrm{Ge}({X}_{1/2}{)}_{4}$ tetrahedra displays a discontinuous jump between $x\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0.225$ and $x\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0.230$, which coincides with a minimum in the nonreversing heat flow at the glass transition ${T}_{g}$ established from modulated differential scanning calorimetry. These results constitute direct evidence for a stiffness threshold at a mean coordination $〈r{〉}_{c}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}2.46(1)$, which is well described by mean-field constraint counting procedures.
The Laplacian-of-Gaussian kernel: a formal analysis and design procedure for fast, accurate convolution and full-frame output

An LoG of space constant σ can be decomposed into the product of a Gaussian and an LoG mask (Chen, Huertas, and Medioni, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell. PAMI-9, 1987, 584–590). The resulting LoG has space constant σ1
Monarch butterfly migration in North America: Controversy and conservation.

The monarch butterfly is the most spectacular example of insect migration known. Monarchs are threatened by the destruction of their over-wintering sites in Mexico, California and elsewhere, and many efforts are being made to conserve these sites. However, a controversial recent suggestion, that some monarch populations may not migrate at all, has jeopardized some of these efforts. This article assesses the evidence for and against the new suggestion.
Collateralized divergent feedback connections that target multiple cortical areas.

Nonreciprocal feedback connections from ventromedial areas TE and TF have previously been reported to visual areas V1 and V2 (Kennedy and Bullier, 1985; Rockland and Van Hoesen, 1994). The present report confirms these earlier observations by utilizing anterograde label in conjunction with serial section analysis. Furthermore, it directly demonstrates the divergent configuration and range of these terminal fields. Thirteen axons were analyzed from ventromedial TE (4) or area TF (9) to occipitotemporal areas, and two from area TF to the upper bank of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). All these axons have narrow, elongated fields that range from 4.0-21.0 mm. Terminations are distributed linearly along the axon or, in some cases, concentrated in irregularly spaced clusters. Most of these axons have terminations concentrated in layer 1. The two axons in the IPS have a bistratified terminal distribution (in layers 1–3 and 6) in their anterior field, but a distinctly different laminar pattern (with terminations concentrated in layer 1) in their distal 2.0 mm. These fields probably correspond to different areas, most likely MIP and PO. Axons projecting from higher order to early visual areas may contribute to extraperceptual, complex processes within area V1, such as activation in response to visual imagery, and are a possible substrate for synchronous linkage of spatially discrete assemblies of neurons. In summary, these results demonstrate 1) that some neurons in ventromedial TE and TF are in direct communication with early visual areas, including V1 and V2, and 2) that some feedback axons target several areas, sometimes with different laminar termination patterns. These results emphasize that cortical areas are interrelated by multiple direct and indirect pathways, not all of which are strictly hierarchical. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Effects of propafenone on ventricular arrhythmias: Double-blind, parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled dose-ranging study☆

Propafenone is a new class Ic antiarrhythmic compound with a broad pharmacologic profile. In this study, its dose-response relationship was examined in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled five treatment parallel design protocol. Patients enrolled had heart disease with Lown grade 2 premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) (greater than or equal to 30/hr) documented on 24-hour Holter recordings. Propafenone was compared in four doses (337.5, 450, 675, and 900 mg/day) to placebo. The double-blind phase lasted 2 weeks. Two hundred twenty-six patients were enrolled, of whom 171 were men and 55 were women; their mean age was 59.8 years and 85% were Caucasian and 4% were black. The arrhythmias were symptomatic in 173. Twenty (8.8%) withdrew from the study before completion: 15 had adverse reactions, two had intercurrent illnesses, and three withdrew for administrative reasons. In one patient, the density of arrhythmia appeared to increase with propafenone. Side effects were of central nervous system or gastrointestinal origin; less than 5% of patients developed first-degree atrioventricular block or intraventricular conduction defect. There were no deaths in the study. The occurrence of side effects was not related to dose. Propafenone had no effect on heart rate. It increased the PR interval at all doses (9% to 22% compared to placebo at baseline; p less than 0.01) at 450 to 900 mg/day after 2 weeks of therapy. The drug increased the QRS duration at all doses, highly significantly at 675 mg/day (8.5 msec; p less than 0.01) and at 900 mg/day (15.7 msec; p less than 0.01) after 2 weeks of therapy. Only at the highest dose was the QTc slightly but significantly (14.3 msec; p less than 0.01) increased. Propafenone exerted a dose-dependent effect on PVCs recorded on serial 24-hour Holter recordings: compared to placebo, at 2 weeks 337.5 mg/day reduced PVCs by 70.8% (p less than 0.05), 450 mg/day reduced PVCs by 82.0% (p less than 0.01), 675 mg/day reduced PVCs by 90.2% (p less than 0.01) and 900 mg/day reduced PVCs by 95.3% (p less than 0.01). The effects of the two highest doses of propafenone were significantly greater than those of 337.5 mg/day. In 68% of the patients receiving 900 mg/day, 80% or greater reduction in total PVCs was found. In addition, there was a greater than 90% decrease in ventricular couplets, and 96% decrease in ventricular tachycardia (VT) beats. Propafenone eliminated PVCs in 8% of all patients, ventricular couplets in 58%, and VT beats in 91%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Dynamic Column Adsorption Studies of Toxic Cr(VI) Ions onto Iron Oxide Loaded Gelatin Nanoparticles

The present study investigates the utility of iron oxide loaded nanoparticles of biopolymer gelatin (FeO-gelatin) for removing hexavalent Cr(VI) ions in aqueous solutions by continuous (fixed bed) column adsorption analysis. In column experiments the influence of pH, Cr(VI) concentration, and flow rate were studied on the adsorption profiles of the metal ions. The maximum adsorption of Cr(VI) on FeO-gelatin was observed at pH 2 due to the electrostatic attraction of acid chromate ion ( ) with protonated amine ( ) and surface ( ) groups on adsorbent surface. At a bed height of 3 cm and flow rate of 0.5 mLmin−1 the metal removal capacity of FeO-gel for Cr(VI) was found to be 71.4%. The bed depth service time (BDST) model was used to analyze the experimental data. The sorption capacity per unit bed volume (N0) and rate constant (Ka) were calculated to be 2.1 mgL−1 and 0.657 Lmg−1min−1, respectively. In the flow rate experiments, the results confirmed that the metal uptake capacity and the metal removal effic...