cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Specific response of ovarian and uterine veins of mice to sex hormones

Experiments were undertaken to determine if veins outside the reproductive tract also enlarge in response to sex steroids. Each group of test animals contained 10 adult female mice of the B6D2F1 strain. Pellets were placed on the mesentery or sc in the flank of ovariectomized (O) and of ovariectomized-hysterectomized (OH) mice insuring that most of the hormone would pass through the superior mesenteric or circumflex iliac veins. For controls pellets were of glass. For test animals progesterone (P) testosterone (T) or estradiol-17beta (E2) were in the pellets. After 21 days the vein diameters were measured at autopsy. T and E caused a significant enlargement of uteri. E also caused distension of bladders. Ovarian and uterine veins enlarged significantly in mice treated with T and E2 as compared with controls. All other veins failed to change after P T or E2 exposure. Results show a specific response of ovarian and uterine veins of O and OH mice to T and E2. The binding is consonant with the increase in blood supply to the uterus during pregnancy.
Effects of computer assistance on acquisition of piagetian conceptualization among children of ages two to four

AbstractForty-four preschool subjects were studied to find if computer assisted instruction could enhance performance on Piagetian classification and conservation tasks. Five two-year-olds, seven three-year-olds, and nine four-year-olds comprised the control group. Five two-year-olds, seven three-year-olds, and eleven four-year-olds, the experimental group, were exposed to the gamut of computer lessons. Age of the child was found to be a significant variable, but so was computer exposure. The study has implications for conceptual development in young children.
Advances in imaging the brain-gut axis: functional gastrointestinal disorders.

With over a decade of neuroimaging research of the brain– gut axis behind us, we find ourselves at a convergence of emergent technology and pathophysiologic understanding. Although biomarkers of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) remain elusive, we have made great progress in our understanding of the complex interrelationships of gastrointestinal sensation, motility, and immune function within the framework of the biopsychosocial model that we believe characterizes FGIDs.1 At the same time, the field of neuroimaging has grown rapidly, utilizing ever more precise and complex measures of brain structure and function. Our current environment is an enviable one for researchers in the field, although it brings with it the usual challenges of rapidly evolving technology and need for cautious interpretation. This review highlights some of the most promising avenues for brain– gut research that neuroimaging offers, emphasizing their applicability to FGIDS.
Electronic data acquisition forms in construction management

Abstract Effective management of construction projects depends on good access to and control of data, especially data pertaining to cost and schedule control functions. However, the proper design and development of automated mechanisms have not had the facility to acquire and store quality data in a timely manner. The purpose of this paper, then, is to discuss a prototype, automated data acquisition system that was developed to support an integrated project management system. The data acquisition system is composed of an integrated set of electronic forms used in conjunction with a bar coding data-entry tool.
Sodium inhibition of thermophilic methanogens

This study investigated the sodium inhibition of methanogens using two thermophilic (55°C) anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (ASBRs). The ASBRs were operated at a chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading of 4 g/L/day and a hydraulic retention time of 3 days. To evaluate the chronic toxicity of sodium to methanogens, the biomass in one of the ASBRs was acclimated to increasing sodium concentrations of 4.1, 7.1, and 12.0 g/L while the feed to the second ASBR was not supplemented with any additional sodium. The methanogenic activity (mL CH4/g volatile suspended solids/day) decreased by nearly 44% at an acclimation concentration of 12.0 g Na+/L, but the COD removal efficiency and methane production did not vary appreciably at the different acclimation concentrations studied. The acute toxicity of sodium to methanogens was determined by a series of batch anaerobic toxicity assays (ATAs). The biomass acclimated to different concentrations of sodium was collected from the ASBRs and used as inocula for the batch te...
Prevalence and co-occurrence of health risk behaviors among high-risk drinkers in a primary care population.

Background. Approximately 10% of patients seen in the primary care setting meet criteria for high-risk (HR) drinking. Little data are available about the co-occurrence of other risk behaviors (RBs) in this population. This study examines the co-occurrence of smoking, poor diet, and sedentariness, and several change-related variables, among 479 HR drinkers participating in Project Health, a NIAAA-funded study testing the effectiveness of a provider-delivered intervention to reduce HR drinking. Method. Data were collected at study entry via standardized interview and questionnaire. Results. The prevalence of additional RBs among HR drinkers was smoking, 35%; poor diet, 28%; and sedentariness, 44%. In addition to HR drinking, 67% of participants had at least one RB, and 61% reported smoking, sedentariness, or both. Perception of drinking as a problem was generally low (20%), as was intention to change drinking. Seventy-two percent of participants with multiple RBs perceived at least one of these RBs as a problem. Younger, unmarried, less-educated, blue-collar, and non-working participants were more likely to have multiple RBs than white-collar workers. Conclusion. Additional RBs are common among HR drinkers and may increase their already elevated health risks. Implications of these findings for interventions integrating multiple RBs into primary care settings are discussed.
Equilibrium behavior of confined triblock copolymer films

Using a two-dimensional self-consistent field calculation, we determine the equilibrium morphology of thin films of ABC triblock copolymers confined between hard, smooth plates. The B segment is chosen to be the central block and all the blocks are incompatible. The chains microphase-segregate into a lamellar phase, with the stripes either perpendicular or parallel to the walls. When all the monomer-surface interactions are identical, the perpendicular orientation has the lowest free energy. When a repulsion is introduced between the surface and the A and C monomers, the surface interactions further stabilize the perpendicular orientation. At strong surface interactions, the morphology of the perpendicular structure is controlled by the overall thickness of the molten layer. In comparing diblocks to triblocks as candidates for forming laterally patterned films, our work indicates that triblocks possess distinct advantages over diblocks. First, no special effort needs to be taken to establish neutral surfaces. Second, the film does not have to be confined between two substrates. Thus, triblocks can be used to fabricate patterned polymer surfaces, which can be used for novel optical or electronic applications.
Evaluating the Potential for Site-Specific Phosphorus Applications Without High-Density Soil Sampling

Because of the costs of additional soil sampling and analyses, high-density soil sampling is a major obstacle for producers when deciding whether to variably apply P fertilizer. Our objective was to develop an approach to evaluate the potential for site-specific P applications prior to high-density soil sampling. Soil samples (40-167) were collected from eight fields ranging in size from 40 to 170 ha. The soil P test frequency distribution (D T ) was determined for each field using all the samples and assuming lognormally distributed soil P values. Sets (500) of random samples (n = 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50) were selected from all the samples for each of eight fields. With each sample set, the soil P test frequency distribution (D x ), was estimated. A deviation index (U dev ) represented the amount that D x deviated from D T . The generated populations of U dev were then used to evaluate the probability of exceeding any random U dev as a function of n, providing a measure of success in estimating D T . A P application based on the mean soil P test was compared with a P application based on D T , providing a measure of potential for a site-specific P application. The P application based on the mean soil P test deviated from the P application based on D T by 11.7, 9.4, and 5.1 kg P 2 O 5 ha -l for Fields A, B, and C, respectively, representing the average deviation for the entire field. Larger values represent greater potential return to a site-specific P application. The U dev that was obtained with 99% probability (n = 50) was used as the criterion from which to compare the success of using smaller sample sizes for estimating D T . To achieve the same success in estimating D T with 70, 80, and 90% probability, 18 to 26, 23 to 31, and 33 to 39 soil samples were required for Fields A, B, and C, respectively. This approach provides decision makers a practical tool for estimating D T prior to high-density soil sampling, with an estimate of the corresponding risk associated with different sample sizes.
Thomas McFarland and the anxiety of influence: Tradition and the individual talent once again

(1987). Thomas McFarland and the anxiety of influence: Tradition and the individual talent once again. Nineteenth-Century Contexts: Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 193-204.
The Case for Increasing the Global Capacity for Waste to Energy (WTE)

Recent efforts to generate renewable energy on a local scale and distributed basis have resulted in renewed interest in converting municipal solid waste (MSW) to energy. In addition, U.S. MSW generation has increased from about 1.1 tons per capita in 1990 to 1.3 tons in 2002, and worldwide, MSW generation is projected to double by 2030. Furthermore, many countries have established very strict limits on materials suitable for landfilling such as completely banning organic material from entering landfills. Typical MSW contains approximately 2800 kWh of heating content and is capable of yielding nearly 700 kWh of electricity in modern waste to energy (WTE) facilities. The composition of MSW has been demonstrated to be about 66% biogenic, thus today’s modern WTE facilities avoid 30 million tons per year of CO2 equivalent by avoiding CO2 from fossil fuel power plants and methane from landfills. Finally, research data shows that regions employing WTE facilities have a higher recycling rate. Therefore, increasing the usage of WTE facilities worldwide has the potential to satisfy a large part of the global energy demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing a safe waste disposal option. This paper will describe the current situation worldwide with some focus on the U.S. Some description and discussion on the dominant technology, mass burn, as well as other next generation technologies will be included. While all WTE emissions are well below regulations, particular emphasis will be placed on emission reduction schemes and potential for future advancement such as optimal pre-shredding, oxygen enhancement and conversion of MSW to fuels.
RNA in Coliphage T5

VIRUSES are thought to have either RNA or DNA as their genetic material, but not both1, although oncogenic RNA viruses containing reverse transcriptase have been shown to contain some DNA. I did not expect to find that coliphage T5, a DNA-containing virus, also contained some RNA.
The Absorption Spectra of Certain Organic Liquids in the Near Infra-Red

Absorption spectra have been studied in the region from 0.8 to 2.5\ensuremath{\mu} with an accuracy of 0.002\ensuremath{\mu} for twenty-four organic liquids, including nine alcohols, six esters, two ethers, two aldehydes, and five miscellaneous compounds. The carbon-hydrogen linkage and other similar ones have been discussed as a probable source of the absorption. While certain inconsistencies are pointed out, no other explanation is available. The relative intensity of the various bands has been discussed and it is shown that the bands at 1.4 and 1.0\ensuremath{\mu} and the two bands at 1.2 and 0.9\ensuremath{\mu} evidently arise from different sources. The effect of homology is shown to be slight, which agrees with the conclusions of Weniger. An attempt has been made to get a relation between different band heads of a particular compound. The anharmonic series as suggested by Ellis, and the relation ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{n}={\ensuremath{\nu}}_{0}{(n)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ suggested by Gapon were both used with moderate success. The latter equation was modified so as to read ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{n}=\frac{{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{0}}{{(n)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$ and applied to part of the data of Weniger with moderate success.
Feeding China's Little Emperors: Food, Children, and Social Change

Feeding China's Little Emperors: Food, Children, and Social Change by Jun Jing. ed. Stanford University Press 2000
Phonon contribution to double‐heterojunction laser operation

Laser data (77 and 300 K) are presented on two photopumped undoped metallorganic chemical vapor deposition AlxGa1−xAs ‐GaAs heterostructures with active regions consisting of: (i) a thick GaAs layer (Lz1 ∼1500 A) coupled to an auxiliary quantum‐well array of seven small Lz2 ∼50 A coupled GaAs layers, and (ii) a comparison single thick GaAs layer (Lz2 ∼600 A) in the form of a conventional double heterostructure (DH). Because of the strengthening of phonon‐assisted recombination with temperature, laser operation of the bulk (Lz ≳500 A) GaAs layers is shifted from h/ω∼Eg at 77 K to Eg −h/ωL0⩽h/ω<Eg at room temperature. This behavior of the bulk DH GaAs layers agrees with that of the reference recombination radiation observed from the auxiliary quantum‐well array (wafer ♯1), which recent work indicates is phonon assisted.
Interaction of zinc and lead on δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase

Rat erythrocyte δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALA-D) has been confirmed to be an enzyme dependent on dietary zinc. Levels of blood ALA-D decreased substantially during the first five weeks after weaning and remained constant thereafter. Dietary lead (200 ppm) caused a dramatic fall in erythrocyte ALA-D activity and, following the removal of lead exposure, the return of the enzymatic activity toward normal values was quicker in the animals receiving higher zinc than in those on lower zinc diet. Furthermore, in vitro addition of zinc to erythrocyte preparation obtained from rats exposed to dietary lead reactivated ALA-D to control values. Maximal enzymatic activity in both lead-fed and control animals occurred at 10 −4 M ZnCl 2 . There seems to be a competition between Pb ++ and Zn ++ in binding to the enzyme, with Pb ++ as inhibitor and Zn ++ as activator.
MRI abnormalities in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Two patients with biopsy-proven Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease had MRI studies that revealed increased signal in the basal ganglia on T-2 weighted images, suggesting that MRI can be a useful diagnostic instrument in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Detection of magnetic field intensity by sea turtles

WHETHER migratory animals can determine their global position by detecting features of the Earth's magnetic field has long been debated1–4. To do this an animal must perceive (at least) two distinct magnetic parameters, each of which must vary in a different direction across the Earth's surface3,5. There has been no evidence that any animal can perceive two such magnetic features, and whether 'magnetic maps' exist at all has remained controversial2–6. Several populations of sea turtles7–9 undergo transoceanic migrations before returning to nest on or near the same beaches where they themselves hatched. Along the migratory routes, all or most locations have unique combinations of magnetic field intensity and field line inclination. It has been demonstrated that hatchling loggerhead turtles can distinguish between different magnetic inclination angles10. Here we report that turtles can also distinguish between different field intensities found along their migratory route. Thus sea turtles possess the minimal sensory abilities necessary to approximate global position using a bicoordinate magnetic map.
THE LADEW EXPEDITION TO BOLIVIA AND PERU: GEORGE TATE'S BOTANICAL COLLECTIONS

In 1926 George Tate participated in a collecting expedition to the Cordillera Real of Bolivia and Peru under the auspices of H. S. Ladew and The American Museum of Natural History. Although the emphasis of the expedition was zoological, Tate managed to collect 1215 plant numbers from which over 50 new species were later described, primarily by H. H. Rusby. These specimens, including most types, were deposited at The New York Botanical Garden. Tate retained 632 duplicate sheets at the Museum to form the core of the “Ecological Herbarium of Dept. of Mammals.” The 24 collecting stations worked by Tate in Bolivia are described and mapped from data obtained from a transcribed copy of Tate’s field notes deposited in the archives of The New York Botanical Garden.
Effect of Preparation Methods on Moisture Content, Fat Content and Sensory Characteristics of Breaded Food Items Served in School Lunches

Abstract LEARNING OUTCOME: To determine effects of three preparation methods on moisture content, fat content and sensory characteristics of chicken nuggets and beef steak fingers. Level of fat in school lunches is a current concern of many nutrition professionals. Purpose of this study was to determine effect of preparation methods on moisture content, fat content and sensory characteristics of convenience breaded food products commonly served to school children. Chicken nuggets and beef steak fingers were prepared by baking, deep fat frying and hot air frying. Hot air frying is an innovative variation of convection baking that uses a hot air fryer. Samples were dried in a vacuum oven to determine moisture content before fat was measured by Goldfisch fat extraction method. Preparation methods caused moisture content of products to decrease in an almost inverse proportion to increase in fat content. Fat content of chicken nuggets (initially 14.9g per 100g of dry sample) decreased to 12.6g after baking and 8.2g after hot air frying while deep fat frying caused an increase to 18.4g. Fat content of beef steak fingers (initially 19.8g per 100g of dry sample) decreased to 19.1g after hot air frying, but increased to 20.9g after baking and 22.4g after deep fat frying. Untrained panelists compared the appearance, flavor, crispness, mouthfeel and over-all likability of products using paired preference tests. A significant number of panelists preferred deep fat fried products over baked and hot air fried product for most attributes. However, tests comparing hot air fried and deep fat fried chicken nuggets showed no significant panelist preference for either product on over-all likability, flavor and appearance. Hot air frying can be recommended as a method which will reduce fat content of chicken nuggets without having a significant effect on consumer preferences.
A retrospective cohort study of falls in a psychiatric inpatient setting.

Several factors increase the psychiatric inpatient's risk of falling, including side effects of medications and mental disorders that decrease awareness of environmental hazards. in this study, rates of falling were determined for a cohort of 4,156 psychiatric inpatients over 34 months. A total of 494 falls occurred among 376 patients. Thirty-five percent of the patients who fell required medical or nursing intervention. Forty-eight percent of the falls occurred in the over-60 age group. When other results were adjusted for age, neither gender nor diagnosis was found to increase the risk of falling, except for depressed patients under 20 years old, who were at less risk, and psychotic patients in their 60s, who were at greater risk. The authors discuss the costs of falls and preventive efforts instituted in their setting.
Deposition and accumulation of airborne organic contaminants in Yosemite National Park, California.

Deposition and accumulation of airborne organic contaminants in Yosemite National Park were examined by sampling atmospheric deposition, lichen, zooplankton, and lake sediment at different elevations. Passive samplers were deployed in high- elevation lakes to estimate surface-water concentrations. Detected compounds included current-use pesticides chlorpyrifos, dacthal, and endosulfans and legacy compounds chlordane, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane-related compounds, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Concentrations in snow were similar among sites and showed little variation with elevation. Endosulfan concentrations in summer rain appeared to coincide with application rates in the San Joaquin Valley. More than 70% of annual pesticide inputs from atmospheric deposition occurred during the winter, largely because most precipitation falls as snow. Endosulfan and chlordane concentrations in lichen increased with elevation, indicating that mountain cold-trapping might be an important control on accumulation of these compounds. By contrast, chlorpyrifos concentrations were inversely correlated with elevation, indicating that distance from source areas was the dominant control. Sediment concentrations were inversely correlated with elevation, possibly because of the organic carbon content of sediments but also perhaps the greater mobility of organic contaminants at lower elevations. Surface-water concentrations inferred from passive samplers were at sub-parts-per-trillion concentrations, indicating minimal exposure to aquatic organisms from the water column. Concentrations in sediment generally were low, except for dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane in Tenaya Lake, which exceeded sediment guidelines for protection of benthic organisms. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:524-533. # 2011 SETAC
Resolution in Type Theory

In [8] J. A. Robinson introduced a complete refutation pro­cedure called resolution for first order predicate calculus. Resolution is based on ideas in Herbrand’s Theorem, and provides a very convenient framework in which to search for a proof of a wff believed to be a theorem. Moreover, it has proved possible to formulate many refinements of resolution which are still complete but are more efficient, at least in many contexts. However, when efficiency is a prime consideration, the restriction to first order logic is unfortunate, since many state­ments of mathematics (and other disciplines) can be expressed more simply and naturally in higher order logic than in first order logic. Also, the fact that in higher order logic (as in many-sorted first order logic) there is an explicit syntactic distinc­tion between expressions which denote different types of intuitive objects is of great value where matching is involved, since one is automatically prevented from trying to make certain inappropriate matches. (One may contrast this with the situation in which mathematical statements are expressed in the symbolism of axiomatic set theory.)
Full Length Article: Nearest neighbor imputation using spatial-temporal correlations in wireless sensor networks

Missing data is common in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), especially with multi-hop communications. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, such as unstable wireless communications, synchronization issues, and unreliable sensors. Unfortunately, missing data creates a number of problems for WSNs. First, since most sensor nodes in the network are battery-powered, it is too expensive to have the nodes re-transmit missing data across the network. Data re-transmission may also cause time delays when detecting abnormal changes in an environment. Furthermore, localized reasoning techniques on sensor nodes (such as machine learning algorithms to classify states of the environment) are generally not robust enough to handle missing data. Since sensor data collected by a WSN is generally correlated in time and space, we illustrate how replacing missing sensor values with spatially and temporally correlated sensor values can significantly improve the network's performance. However, our studies show that it is important to determine which nodes are spatially and temporally correlated with each other. Simple techniques based on Euclidean distance are not sufficient for complex environmental deployments. Thus, we have developed a novel Nearest Neighbor (NN) imputation method that estimates missing data in WSNs by learning spatial and temporal correlations between sensor nodes. To improve the search time, we utilize a kd-tree data structure, which is a non-parametric, data-driven binary search tree. Instead of using traditional mean and variance of each dimension for kd-tree construction, and Euclidean distance for kd-tree search, we use weighted variances and weighted Euclidean distances based on measured percentages of missing data. We have evaluated this approach through experiments on sensor data from a volcano dataset collected by a network of Crossbow motes, as well as experiments using sensor data from a highway traffic monitoring application. Our experimental results show that our proposed K-NN imputation method has a competitive accuracy with state-of-the-art Expectation-Maximization (EM) techniques, while using much simpler computational techniques, thus making it suitable for use in resource-constrained WSNs.
Side Channel Leakage Profiling in Software

Testing cryptographic implementations for side channel leakage is a difficult and important problem. The techniques used to uncover side channel leakage are more involved than the usual methodologies of software testing, for example sometimes involving physical measurements of hardware. As such, it is difficult to work this sort of analysis into the usual software testing process. To this end we have developed the side channel profiler. This is an extensible framework for capturing dynamic execution of cryptographic code and applying side channel analysis regardless of underlying architecture. This tool can be used to selectively emulate different hardware components, or apply other side channel leakage criteria. We also demonstrate how the tool can be used to analyze an implementation of naive square and multiply modular exponentiation.
An unusual cause of chest pain

A 19-year-old male patient with a history of asthma was in good health until he developed a sudden-onset, right side pleuritic chest discomfort and shortness of breath. At that time, he was on a cruise to Puerto Rico. He returned home 1 week later and was evaluated in the emergency room at that time. On further history, he denied cough, fever, chills, night sweats, weight loss, sputum production, haemoptysis or other symptoms. He did not recall recent sick contacts or exposure to tuberculosis. He was born in the USA and this cruise was his only recent travel. He worked in a law firm and denied significant occupational exposures, any tobacco or drug use, allergies or significant family history of lung or cardiovascular disease. Tachycardia was the only abnormality on his physical examination, and initial laboratory testing were completely normal. His pulse oximetry measurement was 97% O2 saturation on room air at rest. His ECG was consistent with sinus tachycardia, with a rate of 108/min and no ST–T wave changes. He was admitted to the hospital for further investigation of his chest pain. His chest radiograph (figure 1A) and chest CT scan (angiogram protocol) (figure 1B) were abnormal but showed no evidence of pneumothorax or pulmonary embolism. A small unilateral pleural effusion was present but was too small to sample using bedside ultrasonography. All subsequent blood tests in the hospital including cardiac enzymes, immunoglobulins levels and vasculitis screen were all unremarkable. The chest …
A Low Road to Extinction? Supply and Redress of Grievances in the Parliaments of the 1620s

When his colleagues at the beginning of the 1621 session were puzzling over whether supply should precede redress of grievances or vice versa, Sir George More rose to give them the benefit of his considerable experience. The question could best be resolved, he suggested, if redress and supply were thought of ‘as twins, asJacob and Esau’ which ‘should go hand in hand, for though grievances go first, yet the blessing may be upon subsidies’. The biblical analogy was quite clear. Although grievances like Esau had precedence as the elder of the twins, the two should in fact ‘go hand in hand’ through the House; at the closing, the order would be reversed and the subsidy would first receive the blessing just as the younger of Isaac's twins eventually did.
An ab initio computational study of pure Zn3N2 and its native point defects and dopants Cu, Ag and Au

Abstract This paper presents the first principles, density functional theory, computations of pure zinc nitride (Zn 3 N 2 ) and its doped counterparts with dopants of native elements (Zn, N) and copper family elements (Cu, Ag, Au). Atomic geometry, formation energy, and electronic structure of defects in Zn 3 N 2 are also investigated. The formation energies of both native defects and copper family element impurities are predominantly affected by the chemical potential of different chemical species. The earlier experimental observation of electronic properties associated with nitrogen deficiency in Zn 3 N 2 is consistent with the results of formation energy calculations. Point defects of copper family elements have an energetic preference to occupy a substitutional N site, rather than Zn or interstitial position at a special value of chemical potential of nitrogen. The calculation of defect density of states suggests that among all three copper family elements, copper is the most suitable candidate as a p-type dopant in Zn 3 N 2 .
Interference-free polyhedral configurations for stacking

This paper uses a configuration space (c-space) based method to compute interference-free configuration for stacking polyhedral sheet metal parts. This work forms the interference analysis module of a stacking planner developed by us. Parts in a stack should not interfere with each other and should also satisfy stability, grasping, and stacking plan feasibility related constraints. We present two techniques to speed up the expensive step of c-space obstacle computation. The first technique identifies orientation intervals (for a convex pair of solids) within which the topology of face-edge-vertex graph of an obstacle stays the same. Within this interval, c-space obstacle geometry for one orientation can be extrapolated from obstacle geometry for another orientation. Our experiments show that extrapolation takes an order of magnitude less than the time taken to compute an obstacle from scratch. The second technique computes near optimal interference-free positions for a discrete orientation without having to compute the complete c-space obstacle. Our experiments show that, for complex sheet metal parts, less than 0.1% of the convex component pairs are evaluated in order to compute an interference-free configuration. We describe a configuration space-based method to compute a list of interference-free configurations that can be tested to see if they satisfy the above mentioned constraints. The cost function is a weighted sum of components that penalize floor space utilization and height of center of gravity of parts. The algorithm is able to pick nested stacks that tend to be stable and compact without having to explicitly enumerate features that can be nested. It is also able to accommodate flanges in holes to reduce the value of the user specified cost function. We use three test parts to illustrate the effect of the two techniques to speed up c-space obstacle computation. We also show the stacking plans generated for three different values of the weighting parameter in the cost function used by the stacking planner.
Intermittent Parasystole—Mechanism of Protection

Analysis of ten cases of intermittent ventricular parasystole suggested temporary loss of protection of the parasystolic focus resulting in discharge and "resetting" of the parasystole by sinus or other supraventricular beats. Parasystolic centers appear to be protected from supraventricular and other ventricular ectopic impulses early in their cycle by their refractory periods, and late in the cycle by diastolic depolarization. Between these two areas of protection is a period of "susceptibility" during which supraventricular beats can discharge the parasystolic focus. This phenomenon accounted for fixed coupling of the first parasystolic beat of a series to a preceding sinus beat. Under certain conditions all parasystolic beats may have such fixed coupling, a new and previously unconsidered mechanism for parasystole with fixed coupling. In one case of intermittent ventricular parasystole, the parasystole was shown to originate in the posterior fascicle of the left bundle branch on the basis of the shape...
Carotid sinus hypersensitivity: disease state or clinical sign of ageing? The need for hard endpoints.

This editorial refers to ‘Carotid sinus hypersensitivity: disease state or clinical sign of ageing? Insights from a controlled study of autonomic function in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects’ by M.P. Tan et al., on page 1630 Carotid sinus massage is a time-honoured and well-researched tool used to assess the cause for syncope in elderly subjects. Criteria to determine carotid sinus hypersensitivity (CSH) are established, accepted, and rarely contested; yet, what distinguishes a pathologic state responsible for symptoms from a normal variant remains ill defined. The lack of reliability, challenges in reproducibility, problems with sensitivity and specificity, and inability to correlate the reflex directly with symptoms are some of the issues that complicate the meaning of a purported abnormal carotid sinus response. Therefore, clinicians may question the value of carotid sinus massage in patient management, particularly for the elderly in whom the response is commonly considered abnormal. In this issue of the Journal , a group known for their study of the carotid sinus reflex extend our knowledge by asking a question and provide new insights in their report entitled: ‘Carotid sinus hypersensitivity: disease state or clinical sign of ageing? Insights from a controlled study of autonomic function in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects’.1 It would be fair to assume that specific issues referenced in the title would be addressed and the question would be answered. Instead, the report provides a perplexing mix of non-invasive autonomic findings. Firm data on how the carotid sinus reflex predicts … *Corresponding author: Tel: +1 319 356 2344; fax: +1 319 384 6247, Email: brian-olshansky{at}uiowa.edu
Electron microscopy of growing oocytes of Rana pipiens.

1. In the cytoplasm of oocytes of stage Y0, prior to the appearance of yolk, one observes a few scattered profiles of endoplasmic reticulum and numerous filamentous mitochondria, usually distributed at random but sometimes clustered. As the nuclear membrane begins to bulge outward, small granules and short rods appear in the perinuclear cytoplasm and endoplasmic reticulum becomes more prominent throughout the cytoplasm. 2. Coincident with the appearance of the first yolk platelets, which are deposited in a narrow peripheral ring within the endoplasm at stage Y1, protoplasmic processes, the microvilli, push out all over the surface of the oocyte. At the same time follicle cells pull away but remain attached to the oocyte at some points through finger-like processes which interdigitate with neighboring microvilli. It is estimated that the microvilli increase the absorptive area of the surface to about thirty-five times that of a simple sphere. Just beneath the microvillous layer is the basal protoplasm of the cortex, now containing tiny granules probably synthesized from newly absorbed raw materials. Cortical granules appear and become aligned below the basal layer on the external border of the endoplasm. Both the cortical granules and the yolk platelets measure up to 1 µ in diameter at this stage. 3. By stage Y3 (yolk filling peripheral three-fourths of cytoplasm), the basal layer of the cortex is folded so that it appears in section as alternating ridges and valleys. The microvilli now extend from the summits of the cortical ridges. Small, ring-shaped granules are abundant in the cortex. Cortical granules have increased to 2 µ in diameter. 4. Yolk platelets continue to be synthesized around the cortical granules and in the subjacent endoplasm. The largest platelets measured in the interior cytoplasm at stage Y4 (cytoplasm filled with yolk) were 3.7 µ wide by 5.8 µ long. Pigment granules increase in size from 0.15 µ in diameter at stage Y3 to 0.30 µ in diameter at stage Y4.
Diagnostic role of micro-MGIT culture of BAL samples in sputum smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis

Introduction: In view of the diagnostic difficulties associated with sputum- negative pulmonary TB (PTB), we aimed at exploring if bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples can be subjected to smear- microscopy and rapid mycobacterial culture (by Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube method) to achieve improved diagnosis of this condition. Methods: Patients presenting with clinico-radiological features suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis and whose sputum smears were negative for acid- fast bacilli (AFB) or who could not expectorate sputum were prospectively enrolled in this study. BAL samples collected from them were subjected to smear- microscopy for AFB and micro-MGIT culture. BAL samples were also inoculated on Lowenstein- Jensen (LJ) slants. Results: A total of 105 patients (74 males) were recruited in the study, with a mean (±SD) age of 51 (± 15) years. The diagnosis of PTB was made in 52 patients on the basis of clinico- radiological presentation, with or without microbiological confirmation. Thirty- four patients (65.4 %) had microbiologically confirmed PTB. Of them, AFB was detected in 12 BAL samples, while culture- positivity was noted in 24 and 27 patients by the LJ and MGIT methods respectively. Inter- test agreement between the LJ and MGIT methods was found to be significant (κ= 0.655; p= Conclusion: Examination of BAL samples by smear- microscopy and micro-MGIT culture can, therefore, provide a rapid and definitive diagnosis of PTB in sputum- negative patients. Keyword: MGIT, micro-MGIT, smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchoscopy.
Discovering object instances from scenes of Daily Living

We propose an approach to identify and segment objects from scenes that a person (or robot) encounters in Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Images collected in those cluttered scenes contain multiple objects. Each image provides only a partial, possibly very different view of each object. An object instance discovery program must be able to link pieces of visual information from multiple images and extract the consistent patterns.
Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase and ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the slow loss of large motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain. The mean age of onset is 55 years. After the disease begins, it progresses relentlessly to a lethal paralysis and culminates in the death of the afflicted person, usually within two to five years of symptom onset (Brown, 1997). The disease is inherited in approximately 10 % of cases and about one-fifth of those familial ALS (FALS) cases are associated with dominantly inherited, single-site mutations in SOD1, the gene that encodes human copper-zinc Superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) (Cudkowicz and Brown, 1996). SOD-associated FALS thus represents only a fraction of the total cases of ALS, but it is the only form of the disease for which a cause is known. Many laboratories are actively seeking to understand how mutations in CuZnSOD cause this form of ALS in the hope that such knowledge will hasten the discovery of causes of this disease as well as potential therapeutic agents.
Financial Covenants, Credit Risk, and the Resolution of Uncertainty

I examine the role of financial covenants in private debt contracts. I predict that financial covenants help limit ex ante uncertainty about the borrower’s performance - the risk that the borrower will default on the loan - in the contract. I find that covenant inclusion is positively related to uncertainty measured prior to contracting. I also find that the selection of the covenant measure is associated with the leverage and earnings performance of the borrower. This is consistent with covenants featuring the financial measure most informative of borrower debt value and default risk. The results suggest that financial covenants limit the risk of making loans to borrowers with uncertain future performance.
What Happens after Audit Review? The Effects of Individual Feedback Orientation and the Supervisor's Approach on Attitudes and Actions of Staff Auditors

The audit review process is both a quality control mechanism and an opportunity to provide feedback to improve the performance of staff auditors. While most prior research focuses on the features of audit review that impact task performance of staff auditors, there is little attention specifically devoted to understanding auditors’ attitudes and actions following the review experience, which can drive counterproductive behaviors and turnover. Informed by theories from the psychology and management literatures, we use an experiential questionnaire to investigate how the staff auditor’s receptivity to feedback (i.e., feedback orientation) and the supervisor’s approach to the review (i.e., provision of positive/negative feedback and emphasis on learning/performance goals) combine to affect the coaching relationship at the time of review, subsequent actions to improve performance, and the current overall attitude towards the review experience. We find that individuals with stronger feedback orientations are less likely to let negative feedback adversely affect their coaching relationship and are more likely to act on it to improve performance, relative to those with weaker feedback orientations. However, results on current attitudes toward review imply that individuals with weaker feedback orientations can overcome their initial reactions to negative feedback if it is provided with learning goals. These results underscore the importance of examining personal characteristics of auditors in contexts where their behaviors may be dependent on these characteristics. Further, contrary to research in psychology, we find that learning goals are as or more effective than performance goals in producing better attitudes of staff auditors following review, whether feedback is positive or negative.
Modeling Impacts to Agricultural Revenue and Government Service Costs from Urban Growth

Urban expansion in rural areas may impact agricultural revenues and the burden of service provision on local governments. Spatially explicit urban growth models shed light on the consequences of such land use decisions. The San Joaquin Valley, an important agricultural region of California, will double in population by 2050. Using this region as an example, we modeled the spatial patterns of urban growth under seven policy scenarios and calculated potential loss of annual agricultural revenue from each. We also measured the distance from existing urban areas to new development in order to develop scenario-specific indicators of the cost to local governments for providing urban services such as sewer, water, roads, police and fire protection.As with all modeling exercises, an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the model being applied is essential for interpretation. The modeling applied here is not a full economic mode, but instead applies simple processes using frequently available data to estimate the farmgate revenue lost to agricultural land conversion and to represent service costs. Crop replacement, relocation, and the conversion of unfarmed lands to cropland, among other factors, are not considered. Other effects either positive or negative that may result from the growth patterns have not been analyzed.The unconstrained growth scenario (Status Quo) consumed the most land and had the greatest impact on agricultural revenue. Compact development had the least impact on agricultural revenue and the shortest distances to new development. Other forms of agricultural land protection and growth management scenarios fell short of the agricultural revenue savings and service cost reductions provided by compact development.
Thermal Annealing of Light-Induced K Centers in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Nitride

The thermally-induced decay of light-induced, paramagnetic neutral silicon dangling bonds (K° centers ) in hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride thin films is monitored using electron spin resonance. The nitride films are of gate-quality and nitrogen-rich and are deposited at two different temperatures (250 and 400 °C). The kinetics for isothermal annealing of the light-induced K° states is dependent upon sample deposition temperature and is observed to follow a stretched exponential dependence, exp {— (t/τ)β}, upon annealing time (t). The stretched exponential factor, β, shows a non-linear dependence upon annealing temperature including temperature independent regimes. Thermal annealing is thermally activated with an apparent activation energy of ~ 0.4 eV and is independent of deposition temperature. These results indicate that annealing is a dispersive process which involves hopping and multiple trapping or trap controlled hopping in the thermal annealing of light induced K° centers in amorphous SiN1.6:H.
Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation in Major Depression Effects on Memory and Stress Reactivity

Interpreting ambiguous stimuli in a negative manner is a core bias associated with depression. Investigators have used cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) to demonstrate that it is possible to experimentally induce and modify these biases. This study extends previous research by examining whether CBM-I affects not only interpretation, but also memory and physiological stress response in individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). We found that CBM-I was effective in inducing an interpretive bias. Participants also exhibited memory biases that corresponded to their training condition and demonstrated differential physiological responding in a stress task. These results suggest that interpretation biases in depression can be modified, and that this training can lead to corresponding changes in memory and to decreases in stress reactivity. Findings from this study highlight the importance of examining the relations among different cognitive biases in MDD and the possibility of modifying cognitive biases.