cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of alcohols on the actions of VIP and secretin on acinar cells from guinea pig pancreas.

In dispersed acini prepared from guinea pig pancreas, ethanol inhibited the increase in amylase secretion caused by cholecystokinin, carbachol, secretin, or vasoactive intestinal peptide. Ethanol did not alter binding of 125I] vasoactive intestinal peptide to pancreatic acinar cells or the inhibition of binding cause by secretin or vasoactive intestinal peptide. Ethanol potentiated the increase in adenylate cyclase activity and cellular adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate caused by secretin or vasoactive intestinal peptide. This potentiating action was reversible and could also be detected with straightchain alcohols having fewer than seven carbon atoms. At sufficiently high concentrations, straightchain alcohols having more than two carbon atoms inhibited the action of secretin or vasoactive intestinal peptide on adenylate cyclase activity, and this action was irreversible.
Processing of Human Reduction Mammoplasty and Mastectomy Tissues for Cell Culture

Experimental examination of normal human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) behavior, and how normal cells acquire abnormal properties, can be facilitated by in vitro culture systems that more accurately model in vivo biology. The use of human derived material for studying cellular differentiation, aging, senescence, and immortalization is particularly advantageous given the many significant molecular differences in these properties between human and commonly utilized rodent cells. Mammary cells present a convenient model system because large quantities of normal and abnormal tissues are available due to the frequency of reduction mammoplasty and mastectomy surgeries. The mammary gland consists of a complex admixture of many distinct cell types, e.g., epithelial, adipose, mesenchymal, endothelial. The epithelial cells are responsible for the differentiated mammary function of lactation, and are also the origin of the vast majority of human breast cancers. We have developed methods to process mammary gland surgical discard tissues into pure epithelial components as well as mesenchymal cells. The processed material can be stored frozen indefinitely, or initiated into primary culture. Surgical discard material is transported to the laboratory and manually dissected to enrich for epithelial containing tissue. Subsequent digestion of the dissected tissue using collagenase and hyaluronidase strips stromal material from the epithelia at the basement membrane. The resulting small pieces of the epithelial tree (organoids) can be separated from the digested stroma by sequential filtration on membranes of fixed pore size. Depending upon pore size, fractions can be obtained consisting of larger ductal/alveolar pieces, smaller alveolar clusters, or stromal cells. We have observed superior growth when cultures are initiated as organoids rather than as dissociated single cells. Placement of organoids in culture using low-stress inducing media supports long-term growth of normal HMEC with markers of multiple lineage types (myoepithelial, luminal, progenitor). Sufficient numbers of cells can be obtained from one individual's tissue to allow extensive experimental examination using standardized cell batches, as well as interrogation using high throughput modalities. Cultured HMEC have been employed in a wide variety of studies examining the normal processes governing growth, differentiation, aging, and senescence, and how these normal processes are altered during immortal and malignant transformation. The effects of growth in the presence of extracellular matrix material, other cell types, and/or 3D culture can be compared with growth on plastic. Cultured HMEC, starting with normal cells, provide an experimentally tractable system to examine factors that may propel or prevent human aging and carcinogenesis.
Laryngeal complexity in Otomanguean vowels

Linguistic sound systems necessarily possess contrastive values that are sufficiently distinct from one another that their individual characters may be learned by the listener. In this way, any given value in any given system fulfils its functional role of rendering forms distinct which differ in meaning. Articulatory, aerodynamic, acoustic and auditory constraints serve to mediate between such sound–meaning correspondences in non-trivial ways. Indeed, if it can be shown that the sound patterns of language are in part explainable by these physical systems, then students of linguistic sound systems would do well to study in detail the phonetic base. Consider an example case. Laryngeal gestures and supralaryngeal gestures are by and large articulatorily independent of each other. Thus, for example, a voiceless aspirated stop consists of an oral occlusion, cued by silence, as well as an articulatorily independent laryngeal abduction, cued by broadband noise. Were the phonetic realisation of these two gestures strictly simultaneous, the cues signalling the laryngeal abduction would not be perceived as such by the listener (*[ot]). A listener can tell that there is no voicing, but cannot recover more specific information regarding the state of the glottis during oral closure. Stated simply, the full closure here reduces the acoustic output to zero. With zero acoustic energy, no source information other than silence is transmitted to the listener. However, upon staggering the two gestures, the otherwise obscured information is rendered salient.
Palette of lipophilic bioconjugatable bacteriochlorins for construction of biohybrid light-harvesting architectures

The challenge of creating both pigment building blocks and scaffolding to organize a large number of such pigments has long constituted a central impediment to the construction of artificial light-harvesting architectures. Light-harvesting (LH) antennas in photosynthetic bacteria are formed in a two-tiered self-assembly process wherein (1) a peptide dyad containing two bacteriochlorophyll a molecules forms, and (2) the dyads associate to form cyclic oligomers composed of 8 or 9 dyads in LH2 and 15 or 16 in LH1 of purple photosynthetic bacteria. While such antenna systems generally have near-quantitative transfer of excitation energy among pigments, only a fraction of the solar spectrum is typically absorbed. A platform architecture for study of light-harvesting phenomena has been developed that employs native photosynthetic peptide analogs, native bacteriochlorophyll a, and synthetic near-infrared-absorbing bacteriochlorins. Herein, the syntheses of 10 lipophilic bacteriochlorins are reported, of which 7 contain bioconjugatable handles (maleimide, iodoacetamide, formyl, carboxylic acid) for attachment to the peptide chassis. The bioconjugatable bacteriochlorins typically exhibit a long-wavelength absorption band in the range 710 to 820 nm, fluorescence yield of 0.1–0.2, and lifetime of the lowest singlet excited state of 2–5 ns. The α-helical structure of the native-like peptide is retained upon conjugation with a synthetic bacteriochlorin, as judged by single-reflection infrared studies. Static and time-resolved optical studies of the oligomeric biohybrid architectures in aqueous detergent solution reveal efficient (∼90%) excitation energy transfer from the attached bacteriochlorin to the native-like bacteriochlorophyll a sites. The biohybrid light-harvesting architectures thus exploit the self-constituting features of the natural systems yet enable versatile incorporation of members from a palette of synthetic chromophores, thereby opening the door to a wide variety of studies in artificial photosynthesis.
Drugs, industry, and academia.

This week, international academic and industry leaders, investors, and policy-makers participated in the Biotechnology Industry Organization9s International Convention in San Diego, a reminder that prospects for new drugs seem bleak. Only 17 new molecular entities were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2007, a fall from 53 in 1996. Coincident trends worsen the situation: a decline in prescription drug sales, the flight of investors, corporate layoffs, and pricing inequities in advanced economies that fuse with demands from poorer countries to gain cheap and immediate access to new drugs.
Mechanomyographic and electromyographic responses during fatigue in humans: influence of muscle length.

Mechanomyography (MMG) provides a measure of muscle mechanical changes during contractions. The purpose of this study was to quantify alterations in MMG signals during fatigue at two muscle lengths. Comparisons with electromyographic (EMG) recordings were made. A group of 13 subjects performed isometric dorsiflexions (50% of maximum for 60 s) at 40° of plantarflexion (long, ll) and 5° of dorsiflexion (short, ls). The mean power frequency of the EMG (f¯EMG) and MMG (f¯MMG) signals and the mean rectified MMG (\(\)) and EMG (\(\)) were determined over each 1-s period, normalized to the respective maximal value, regressed against time, and the resulting slopes (units = %max · s−1) were analyzed. The \(\) slopes were larger (P = 0.007) at ll compared to ls [mean ll 0.50 (SD 0.26), mean ls 0.27 (SD 0.16)], however there were no differences (P = 0.24) between mean f¯MMG slopes [ll−0.10 (SD 0.16), ls−0.16 (SD 0.11)]. Similarly, \(\) slopes were larger (P = 0.001) at ll versus ls [ll 0.26 (SD 0.13), ls 0.08 (SD 0.15)] and there were no differences (P=0.89) between mean f¯EMG slopes [ll−0.15 (SD 0.14), ls−0.14 (SD 0.12)]. At 5 s following the exercise to fatigue mean MVC (units = %max) were not significantly different between ll and ls [P = 0.08; ll 78.8 (SD 9.1), ls 85.2 (SD 6.0)]. These results showed that during fatiguing contractions, MMG and EMG amplitudes increased while frequency characteristics decreased at both muscle lengths. The change in \(\) and \(\) was greater at ll but no differences in f¯MMG or f¯EMG slopes occurred between lengths. These results would suggest that larger increases in motor unit recruitment occur with time during fatigue at ll compared to ls.
O-010 Comparison of hospitalization costs and medicare payments for carotid endarterectomy and carotid stenting in asymptomatic patients

Background Hospitals struggle to provide care for elderly patients based on Medicare payments. Amidst concerns of inadequate reimbursement, we sought to evaluate the hospitalization costs for recipients of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS), identify variables associated with increased costs, and compare these costs to Medicare reimbursements. Methods All CEA and CAS procedures were extracted from the 2001–2008 National Inpatient Sample. Average CMS reimbursement rates for CEA and CAS were obtained from CMS.gov. Annual trends in hospital costs were analyzed by Sen9s slope analysis. Associations between length of stay and hospital costs with respect to gender, age, discharge status, complication type, and co-morbidity were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Least-squares regression models were used to predict which variables had the greatest impact on LOS and hospital costs. Results The 2001–2008 National Inpatient Sample contained 181 200 CEA and 12 485 CAS procedures. Age and gender were not predictive of costs for either procedure. Among favorable outcomes, CAS was associated with significantly higher costs compared to CEA (p Conclusions The 2008 Medicare hospitalization payments were substantially less than median hospital costs for both CAS and CEA. Efforts to decrease hospitalization costs and/or increase payments will be necessary to make these carotid revascularization procedures economically viable for hospitals in the long-term.
THE EVOLUTION OF RESISTANCE TO HERBIVORY IN IPOMOEA PURPUREA. II. NATURAL SELECTION BY INSECTS AND COSTS OF RESISTANCE.

An important component of the process of coevolution between plants and their insect herbivores is the imposition of selection on plants by insects. Although such selection has been inferred from indirect evidence, little direct evidence for it exists. One goal of this study was to seek direct evidence by determining, for a single plant-herbivore system, whether insect herbivores impose selection on their host plants. A second goal was to determine whether costs are associated with genotypes that confer resistance to herbivores, as has been commonly postulated. The annual morning glory, Ipomoea purpurea, exhibits genetic variation in resistance to four different types of insects. For three of these types, most of the genetic variation is additive. Removal of insect herbivores increased the number of seeds produced by I. purpurea by 20% and eliminated additive genetic variation for seed number (fitness). This result implies that herbivores impose selection on some trait(s) of their host plants. Coupled with selection for decreased damage by corn earworms, as revealed by a negative additive genetic covariance between damage and fitness, this result suggests that insect herbivores impose selection on resistance to corn earworms in I. purpurea. Two types of cost of resistance to herbivores were sought in I. purpurea: 1) internal trade-offs in allocation of resources and 2) ecological trade-offs between resistances to different insects. No costs of either type were detected. This result suggests that cost-benefit arguments that attempt to predict the evolution of levels of resistance to herbivores are not applicable to I. purpurea.
Scatterplate Interferometry: A Diffraction Theory

AbstractThe Burch scatterplate interferometer is an extremely precise, equal path interferometer that providesdirect wavefront information without the use of any precision optical components. This paper describes theuse of Fourier transform techniques to provide a straightforward scalar diffraction theory of the interferom- eter. The results show the characteristic hot spot and speckle pattern seen in scatterplate interferograms.Practical applications of the theory are also discussed.IntroductionIn order to fully understand any interferometer, it is necessary to have a straightforward method ofanalyzing its output. Although the scatterplate interferometer has long been fairly well understood,(1,2)a concise description of its operation has not been presented in the literature. The purpose of this paperis to introduce Fourier methods to the analysis of the scatterplate interferometer. These techniques havebeen particularly useful in the area of coherent optical processing and other fields. The approach is todetermine the far field amplitude distribution by taking the Fourier transform of the appropriately modifiedamplitude distribution in the diffracting aperture. This method simplifies the mathematics of analyzingotherwise complicated optical systems.(3,4)Qualitative Description of Scatterplate InterferometryThe optical layout of the interferometer can be seen in Figure 1. A point source is focused onto apinhole, which is then imaged through the scatterplate by means of a beamsplitter and onto the test optics.When the scatterplate is properly aligned, an imaging system placed behind the beamsplitter will record inter-ference fringes superimposed on the exit pupil of the optics being tested.
Transport in polycrystalline polymer thin-film transistors

We describe a transport model for ordered polymer semiconductors that considers the physical and electronic structure, including the effects of hole delocalization in ordered lamella, grain boundary structures, a two-dimensional density of states, and percolation effects related to transport dimensionality. Simple model calculations are compared to experiments on regioregular polythiophene.
RF IC design challenges

This paper describes the challenges in designing RF integrated circuits for wireless transceiver applications. Receiver architectures such as heterodyne, homodyne, and image-reject topologies are presented and two transmitter architectures, namely, one-step and two-step configurations are studied. The design of building blocks: such as low-noise amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators is also considered.
NO2 adsorption on graphite at 90 K

Abstract High-resolution electron-energy-loss spectra (HREELS) and thermal-desorption spectra (TDS) are presented for NO2 adsorbed in the mono- and multi-layer regimes on graphite at 90 K. The TDS show a single desorption peak at 150 K at low coverages. A binding energy of 0.4 eV is estimated. At higher coverages, an additional peak due to multilayer desorption is observed at 140 K. The HREELS in the multilayer regime are fully compatible with a 3D solid structure of NO2 dimers. In the monolayer regime, a dimer interpretation is also favoured over monomer adsorption. The results are consistent with the dimers adsorbed with the molecular axis normal to the graphite surface.
Midchildhood Acne Associated with Inhaled Corticosteroids: Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

Midchildhood acne has been attributed to a number of causes in the literature, including adrenocortical tumor, hyperandrogenemia due to hypothalamic dysfunction, and contact with greasy topical skin care products. There are only a few case reports of inhaled steroids causing acneiform eruptions, all of which occurred in adults and with symptoms suggesting that the acne resulted from systemic absorption. We present two cases of comedonal and inflammatory midchildhood acne temporally associated with the use of inhaled corticosteroids administered through face masks, implicating a causative relationship between topical steroid exposure and midchildhood acne that does not necessitate systemic absorption.
The International Federalist Movement: Toward Global Governance

This long article surveys the historic international world federalist movement since 1947 as it has confronted the political problems of membership, powers, representation, and transition. The cold war and what is now called the “global problematique” are seen as causes for the defeat of early hopes to establish peace under the rule of world law. Current trends toward global governance are seen in the slow progress of national federations, delegations of sovereignty in national constitutions, acceptance of the non-hierarchical UN system, common security, human rights, economic development, protection of the environment, and democracy. As national federations historically were ad hoc arrangements to create unity out of diversity, so the world order of the future will probably be as novel in comparison to the historic federations as the federations were to the confederations and monarchies that preceded them.
A dynamic n.m.r. study of dissolved and solid cyclohexyl polycarbonate

Abstract The conformational dynamics both in the solution state and in the bulk in the structurally modified polycarbonate of Bisphenol-A (BPAPC) with a cyclohexyl moiety in place of the isopropylidine group has been examined using n.m.r. The solution 13 C spectra allow the identification of the intramolecular dynamics at the repeat unit level and the consequences of the existence of microstructure. The cyclohexyl ring dynamics suggest that the ground state conformation is considerably strained relative to a pure chair form. This leads to a lower barrier for the ring inversion in agreement with modeling conclusions. In the solid state this phenylene mobility is further restricted and at low temperatures the bridgehead carbon C5 shows doublet character. As the temperature is raised, motion increases along with the free volume and this follows the onset of motion of the phenylene rings. The differential dynamics of the two phenylenes results in a broadening of the mechanical relaxation which correlates with their dynamics. The position and breadth of the shear mechanical relaxation corresponding to the dynamics monitored by the collapse of the C5 carbon can be obtained from the n.m.r. data. The conclusion indicated is that the more restricted (axial) phenylene ring is the one whose motion correlates with the high temperature side of the mechanical loss and it is the phenylene ring dynamics which correlates with the unusual shift in the low temperature loss characteristic of the cyclohexyl substitution and the increased breadth of the relaxation relative to BPAPC.
EXPANDING HORIZONS WITH AN NWS INTERNSHIP COURSE

M eteorology students at North Carolina State University (NCSU) participated in an experimental internship course during the spring of 2004 that allowed them to gain an operational perspective on meteorology by experiencing the everyday duties of the staff at the collocated National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offi ce (WFO) in Raleigh. Th e course was designed to meet several goals, which included allowing students to contribute to operational forecasting, gain profi ciency with routine NWS duties and soft ware tools, and sample the broad array of work performed by the NWS. Students also were exposed to operational meteorology and NWS careers and received assistance in pursuing such a career. During the semester, fi ve senior undergraduate and fi ve graduate students enrolled in the course. Th ey attended NWS training sessions, “shadowed” NWS staff , performed routine NWS duties, and assisted NWS staff during high-impact weather events. Overall, the students and NWS staff were decidedly positive about the course, which was again off ered during the spring of 2005. As the fi eld of atmospheric science continues to advance and diversify, courses of this type can play an increasingly vital role in education and professional development. In describing the new course, we hope to encourage others who may be contemplating a similar program, especially since many WFOs are located on college campuses, an arrangement that makes this type of experience feasible. Th e internship course was a natural extension of the 17 consecutive years of NOAA-funded collaboration between NCSU and the Raleigh WFO, which moved to the NCSU campus in 1994. Th e course was designed for students interested in an NWS career. Th e hands-on experience should help students decide whether an NWS career is something they might wish to pursue. Secondly, the course provided experience that will be invaluable when they apply for an entry-level NWS position. Students were selected for the course by the evaluation of a written statement of interest by NWS personnel and an interview with the NWS science operations offi cer and other NWS staff . Th e course required students to work at least 16 hours alongside NWS personnel performing routine shift duties and to maintain a journal documenting their experiences. Students initially observed NWS personnel during their shift s and gained experience with manual analysis of surface and upper-air maps, composing the state weather summary, and gathering and disseminating climate and hydrological data. With time, students became independently profi cient with these duties. In addition, the students traveled to NWS equipment sites and attended special sessions for hands-on experience with the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), seasonal familiarization with severe and winter weather forecast problems, offi ce safety, and applying for NWS jobs.
A study on adaptive IMRT treatment planning using kV cone-beam CT.

Abstract Background and purpose Changes in tumor size during the course of radiotherapy warrant performing adaptive radiotherapy (ART). This work investigates the feasibility and usefulness of acquiring on-board cone-beam CT (CBCT) for ART for patients with bulky head and neck tumors treated with IMRT and for prostate patients with potentially significant target position variations during the treatment course. Materials and methods A phantom designed for CT quality assurance was used to compare the dosimetric and geometric accuracy between conventional CT and CBCT from a linear accelerator’s on-board imager. Patient planning CT and CBCT images were acquired before treatment and at mid-course. The IMRT plans made on the CT were applied to the CBCT and dose–volume histograms were calculated. Results In both phantom and patient studies, the dose–volume histograms (DVHs) based on CBCT images were in excellent agreement with DVHs based on planning CT images. Minimum, maximum and mean doses agreed very well. In a patient study, doses for targets and normal tissues from the same IMRT plans calculated on CBCT images agreed within 1–3% with those calculated on planning CT images. Conclusions CBCT images can be used to accurately predict dosimetric results. It is feasible to use CBCT to determine dosimetric consequences resulting from tumor shrinkage and patient geometry changes. An additional planning CT may be necessary to perform IMRT re-planning at present in order to accurately delineate tumor and organs. The CBCT has potential to become a very useful tool for on-line ART.
Sub-barrier fusion of neutron-rich nuclei and the role of neutron transfer and neutron-flow

We [Collaboration members include: F.J. Liang, D. Shapira, C.J. Gross, J.R. Beene, R.L. Varner, P.E. Mueller, A. Galindo-Uribarri, J. Gomez del Campo, D.W. Stracener, Physics Division ORNL, W. Loveland Oregon State Univ., H. Amro, J.J. Kolata Univ. of Notre Dame, J. Bierman Gonzaga Univ. A. L. Caraley State Univ. of New York at Oswego] have measured the formation of Evaporation Residues (ER) at near-barrier energies in collisions between several Te and Sn beams on 58 Ni and 64 Ni targets. The measured excitation functions are sparse but by measuring several systems we try to explore systematic trends in the sub-barrier cross section for ER formation. The data obtained show the expected enhancement in ER production (survival) with the addition of neutrons to the fused system. The overall cross sections, however, depend strongly on the capture cross sections that are the focus of this presentation An analysis of nucleus-nucleus capture in this mass region is attempted in the framework of a WKB formalism that incorporates neutron transfer/flow in a two-step process. The calculated capture cross sections are compared with the new, and other available data in this mass region. We use global potentials in our analysis and do not fit individual data sets but hope that these, or similar, calculations will provide a simple base for the prediction of trends in nucleus-nucleus capture cross sections.
Genes encoding a group of related small secreted proteins from the gut of Hessian fly larvae [Mayetiola destructor (Say)]

A group of related genes has been isolated and characterized from the gut of Hessian fly larvae [Mayetiola destructor (Say)]. Members in this group appear to encode proteins with secretary signal pep tides at the N-terminals. The mature putative proteins are small, acidic proteins with calculated molecular masses of 14.5 to 15.3 kDa, and isoelectric points from 4.56 to 4.88. Northern blot analysis revealed that these genes are expressed predominantly in the gut of Hessian fly larvae and pupae. Two related genes, G10K1 and G10K2, were isolated as tandem repeats. Both genes contain three exons and two introns. The intron/exon boundaries were conserved in terms of amino acid encoding, suggesting that they arose by gene duplication. The fact that the frequency of this group of clones in a gut cDNA library higher than that of total cDNA clones encoding digestive enzymes suggested that this group of proteins may perform an important function in the gut physiology of this insect. However, the exact functions of these proteins are as yet known since no sequence similarity could be identified between these proteins and any known sequences in public databases using standard methods.
Performance improvements for switchable H-PDLC gratings using morphological studies

We have used atomic force microscopy (AFM) tapping techniques to study the droplet cavity morphology of a Holographically-formed Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (H- PDLC). The samples were created using a Coherent Verdi laser at 532 nm to holographically form a transmission grating structure within the liquid crystal / polymer composite. The gratings were removed from their glass substrates and the liquid crystal removed, allowing us to image the inside of the droplet cavities. We found that the surface structure is rough, and that the structure varies depending on the polymer used in the material set. One result is a cavity that has a dimpled morphology. We report our investigations of the material sets, which include AFM images, image analysis of the structures, and the potential implications of such structures on liquid crystal anchoring within the droplet cavities.
Towards a Temporal Framework for “Inordinate Fondness”: Reconstructing the Macroevolutionary History of Beetles (Coleoptera)

Abstract Most molecular phylogenetic studies of beetles (order Coleoptera) using 18S rDNA have recovered the suborders Adephaga and Polyphaga as sister groups, together sister to the suborders Myxophaga and Archostemata, with Archostemata alone or in combination with Myxophaga as the closest relative of all other beetles. Analyses of data from other genes have recovered alternative arrangements. Estimated subordinal divergence times based on analyses of DNA sequence data and fossil calibrations range from ∼ 285–266 million years ago (Ma), with most extant families estimated to have originated in the Jurassic. However, timing and patterns of ecological and taxonomic diversification remain uncertain for most beetle groups primarily due to limited gene and nucleotide sampling, missing data, and a corresponding lack of well-supported resolution. Consequently, the nature and degree to which events in earth's history (e.g., the diversification and rise of angiosperms to ecological dominance) have influenced the...
Exploring expert system success factors for business process reengineering

Abstract Business process reengineering (BPR) has become the buzzword representing dramatic changes to the business processes of organizations trying to quickly preempt or react to market opportunities and competition. Much of the changes are enabled by computer-based technology such as expert systems (ES) providing a unique opportunity to study significant implementations of the technology within a relatively short time. Eight ES implementation success factors proposed in the literature were empirically tested in this study in terms of their direct and indirect importance to the benefits from using ES in BPR. Sixty-two ES applications within E.I. Dupont de Nemours dealing with business process changes significant enough to be called BPR were used. Despite the relatively small sample size, four of the eight success factors were corroborated: user satisfaction with the ES, the difficulty of the business problem addressed, the degree of user involvement in the ES implementation process, and characteristics of the ES shells.
On the physical interpretation of Heywood and Redhead's algebraic impossibility theorem

Heywood and Redhead's 1983 algebraic (Kochen-Specker type) impossibility proof, which establishes the inconsistency of a broad class of contextualized local realistic theories, assumes two locality conditions and two auxiliary assumptions. One of those auxiliary conditions, FUNC*, has been called a physically unmotivated,ad hoc formal constraint.
Pulse broadening caused by deviations from the optimal index profile

The excess pulse broadening caused by deviations from the optimal index profile is analyzed for multimode optical fibers. First-order perturbation theory is used to evaluate the effects of arbitrary index perturbations having longitudinal spatial frequencies which are too low to cause mode coupling. A simplified expression is found for the excess pulse broadening in terms of a double integral over a weighting function. Weighting functions are evaluated and used to calculate the effects of two kinds of circularly symmetric perturbations, a Gaussian-shaped bump or dip in the index profile and an oscillating perturbation. These perturbations are found to affect the pulse broadening significantly according to the position and width of the bump and the transverse spatial frequency of the oscillating perturbation. The more narrow bumps and those located at larger core radii are found to have the greatest effect. For a typical multimode fiber, perturbations making 2–18 oscillations along the radius are found to cause significant increases in pulse broadening, while more rapid oscillations are found to have negligible effect. These results indicate the type and degree of index profile control required to keep the pulse broadening below a specified level.
FLUID MECHANICS APPROACH TO MACHINING AT HIGH SPEEDS: PART II: A POTENTIAL FLOW MODEL

Finite element models of machining at high speeds usually assume that there is a stagnation point at the tool tip as is the norm in the machining community. However, at ultra-high speeds the yield strength of the workpiece is easily exceeded in the material around the tool tip, allowing that material to “flow” and possibly allowing the stagnation point to migrate away from the tool tip. A potential flow solution is used to model the behavior of the material around a sharp tool tip during machining at high speeds. Interestingly, the flow solution predicts that there is a stagnation point on the rake face, not at the tool tip as is usually assumed. Because the stagnation point is not at the tool tip, the flow solution predicts a significant amount of deformation in the workpiece resulting in large residual strains and a possible related temperature rise on the finished surface.
Gene transfer in bovine blastocysts using replication-defective retroviral vectors packaged with gibbon ape leukemia virus envelopes

With this work we demonstrate that murine leukemia virus (MLV)-based replication-defective retroviral vectors encapsidated with Gibbon ape leukemia virus (GaLV) envelopes are significantly more infectious to bovine embryonic trachea (EBTr) cells than vectors encapsidated with murine xenotropic envelope proteins. In a test of internal promoter activity in an MLV retroviral vector, the rat β-actin promoter was shown to be better than the herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (TK) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoters for the expression of an E. coli β-galactosidase marker gene in bovine target cells. By co-culture of bovine blastocysts and virus-producing cells, or by culture of embryos in the medium harvested from virus-producing cells, we transferred the E. coli β-galactosidase gene into trophoblasts and also into inner cell mass (ICM) cells of a bovine embryo through the infection of the MLV-based replication-defective retroviruses encapsidated with GaLV envelope proteins. The infection was confirmed by the expression of the E. coli β-galactosidase gene under a β-actin internal promoter. In addition, co-culture of ICM cells with virus-producing cells resulted in differentiation of ICM cells into embryoid bodies expressing the marker genes. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Relation of the transition-state structure for the water-catalyzed hydrolysis of 1-acetylimidazolium ion to solvent hydrophobicity: proton inventories in water-acetonitrile mixtures

The transition-state structure for the water-catalyzed hydrolysis of 1-acetylimidazolium ion has been probed in solvent systems which may mimic the hydrophobic nature of an enzyme's active site. The kinetic solvent deuterium isotope effects, k/sub H/sub 2/O//k/sub D/sub 2/O/, are 2.58, 2.49, and 2.10 in water, in 0.5 vol fraction of acetonitrile in water and 0.9 vol fraction of acetonitrile in water, respectively. The proton inventory investigations suggest all three solvent systems entertain a transition-state structure composed of a catalytic proton bridge between the reorganizing substrate and a water molecule acting as a general-base catalyst. A compression of the transition-state structure in the solvent system containing the largest amount of acetonitrile is suggested to be responsible for the diminished kinetic solvent deuterium isotope effect. The reaction has been shown to be second order with respect to water.
Parole decision making in Colorado

Abstract During the past decade parole decision making in the United States has come under severe scrutiny. One response has been for researchers to intervene and develop parole guideline matrices for use by state parole boards. The research reported here describes such an effort in Colorado. Our data were derived from the records of 292 parolees during a two year period. A systematic sampling process, taking every other docket number from the parole board's monthly eligibility lists, initially produced 1,500 potential parolees. From this list, a 20 percent sample was drawn at random. This yielded a workable guideline matrix that produced less than 13 percent variance from Colorado parole board decisions. The article discusses the procedures for developing the matrix and how it was implemented by the parole board.
A Carcass Merit Pricing System for the Pork Industry

A small proportion of hogs sold to packers are priced according to their carcass value, and some producers feel that price incentives for lean hogs are inadequate. Pork carcass composition and value relationships were analyzed for a sample of 185 pork carcasses. Carcass weight, back fat thickness, and muscling index accounted for 79% of the variations in carcass value; these factors were incorporated into a standardized payoff matrix providing larger incentives for better carcasses which could be incorporated into individual packer procurement systems.
Review and Analysis of the Journal of College Counseling: 1998- 2005

The journal of College Counseling (JCC) began its life in 1995 with the appointment of a founding editor and its 1st editorial board. The 1st semiannual issue of the journal was published in spring 1998, and the journal has continued to be published twice each year since then. This article presents an analysis and discussion of the content of the first 15 issues of JCC. Implications and recommendations for the future of the journal are discussed.
Ghost beams and the energy spectra of anomalous positrons

Abstract It is suggested that nuclear reactions induced by medium mass projectiles, with A q close to that of the primary beam, could explain the anomalous positron-electron peaks observed in sub-barrier collisions of very heavy nuclei. The reactions result in prominent γ-rays which convert to e+e− pairs in material near the target. Possible experiments to examine this hypothesis are suggested.
Two-band model with off-diagonal occupation dependent hopping rate: enhancement of the coupling and superconductivity

Two-band hopping model is treated on a two-dimensional square lattice. The atoms are located at the corners and the middles of the edges of the squares. In addition to the strongly overlapping orbitals of the atoms, there are extra orbitals at the corners, which are weakly hybridized. The assumption is made that the Fermi level is inside the broad band and is very near to the narrow band formed by the extra orbitals. The Hamiltonian is Hubbard type, but the off-diagonal part of the two-site interaction is kept also where one creation or annihilation operator acts on the extra orbital and the others on one of its neighbors. The weak coupling is enhanced by the on-site Coulomb repulsion at the corners, which enhancement is a power function of the ratio of the broad band width and the narrow band position measured from the Fermi level. That enhancement is obtained by summation of logarithmic Kondo-type corrections of orbital origin, which reflects the formation of a ground state of new type with strong orbital and spin correlations. Interaction between the particles of the broad band is generated by processes with one heavy and one light particle in the intermediate state. That interaction strongly depends on the momenta of the particles. The generated interaction can result in attractive interaction, but particular parity of the different orbitals are required in the given approximation. The model clearly demonstrates that repulsive interaction can result in superconductivity.
Does the Shoe Fit? Applying Lessons Learned in Aviation to Healthcare

Aviation’s successful use of Decision Support Systems (DSS) has not been replicated in the healthcare subset of DSS referenced as Clinical Decision Support (CDS). Here the domains of healthcare and aviation are compared and contrasted providing an overview of the adaptation of lessons learned in aviation to healthcare. We propose there are differences in characteristics inherent to the contexts of aviation and healthcare that affect the data necessary for efficient, effective CDS systems. Specifically, ten context characteristics are discussed that jointly and separately affect the availability, quantity, quality and temporal relevance of the data. By providing remedies for overcoming deficiencies and supporting accurate representation of the data perhaps then CDS systems will meet their potential for improved adoption, user satisfaction and patient outcomes.
Charge–discharge stability of graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract A graphite powder disk sandwiched between two nickel screens was used as a lithium-insertion working electrode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), galvanostatic intermittent titration (GIT) using pulsed microcurrent, and in-situ intrinsic resistance measurements were used for the evaluation of kinetics and intrinsic (i.e. physical) resistance changes during charge–discharge cycling from room temperature to elevated temperatures. The investigation of the thermal stability of the electrolyte at elevated temperature used an EIS study of a palladium electrode in the electrolyte. EIS measurements for electrochemical reaction and intrinsic resistances of a graphite electrode show that the first high-frequency depressed semicircle is due to the ‘solid electrolyte interphase’ (SEI) film, although it is also influenced by the electrode contact impedance. The growth of the SEI film on the MCMB 10-28 graphite electrode surface with cycling, results in a decline in kinetic rate and a corresponding increase in contact resistance giving rapid capacity fade. The high stability of the capacity of JM 287 electrodes is due to the slow increase in SEI film thickness on their surfaces. Although new SEI films were formed on the originals at elevated temperature, the kinetics were still more rapid than at room temperature in the initial cycling.
Methodology for determining the sensitivity of swing leg toe clearance and leg length to swing leg joint angles during gait

During the swing phase of gait, the effective length of the leg-distance from the hip joint center to the toe-must be made shorter than the distance from the hip to the floor to avoid toe-stubbing or tripping while walking. Critical toe clearance occurs approximately halfway through swing phase when the distance between the toe and the floor reaches a local minimum. Analytical techniques derived in this study were used to evaluate: (1) the sensitivity of toe clearance to the swing leg hip, knee, and ankle joint angles; and (2) the sensitivity of the hip-toe distance to the swing leg knee and ankle joint angles. The toe clearance, hip-toe distance, toe clearance sensitivity (TCS), and hip-toe distance sensitivity (HTDS) were calculated for each frame of data during the swing phase of 10 able-bodied subjects. A minimum toe clearance of 1.9+/-0.5cm occurred at about 51% of the swing phase during able-bodied gait. At that particular time, the toe clearance was found to be most sensitive to the angle of the ankle (17.1cm/rad), then the hip (9.5cm/rad), and lastly the knee (2.5cm/rad). The hip-toe distance was found to be about twice as sensitive to the angle of the ankle (-15.3cm/rad) than to that of the knee (-7.6cm/rad) at the time of critical toe clearance. The methodology developed here and the baseline information calculated for able-bodied subjects could be used to evaluate the effects that different gait pathologies have on swing-phase toe clearance and hip-toe distance.
Structure and Stability of a Model Pyrimidine-Purine-Purine DNA Triple Helix with a GC.T Mismatch by Simulation

A 1.5 ns long molecular dynamics simulation was conducted to compare the structure and stability of a model DNA triplex in saline solution with that found from experiments. The model DNA was an antiparallel py.pu.pu (CG.G) 7-mer structure which contained a GC.T mismatch triplet at the middle of the sequence. The local conformation of the mismatch triplet and the effects of this triplet on the global helical structure suggest that the GC.T triplet forms stable hydrogen bonds and shows distortions from an in-plane alignment. The overall rms deviation of the triplex is similar to one without a mismatch, although the thymine base in the mismatch triplet shows significantly higher mobility. A high coordination probability for water between the G and T bases in the mismatch triplet was observed to have an effect on the stability of non-hydrogen-bonded base pairs. Average helical parameters, sugar pucker, and backbone dihedral angles indicate that the CG.G triplets on the 3' side of the mismatch triplet possess different structural and dynamical properties than that of the 5' side. These observations are consistent with recently available experimental results and provide an interpretation of the observed experimental structure. They also suggest that inclusion of explicit water molecules is necessary in order to understand and predict the interaction between the third strand and duplex DNA.
Enhancement of free fatty acid incorporation into phospholipids by choline plus cytidine.

Abstract Cytidine and choline, present in cytidine 5′-diphosphate choline (CDP-choline), are major precursors of the phosphatidylcholine found in cell membranes and important regulatory elements in phosphatide biosynthesis. Administration of CDP-choline to rats increases blood and brain cytidine and choline levels; this enhances the production of endogenous CDP-choline which then combines with fatty acids (as diacylglycerol), to yield phosphatidylcholine. We examined the effect of providing cytidine and choline on incorporation of free fatty acids into phosphatidylcholine and other major phospholipids in PC12 cells. Addition of equimolar cytidine and choline (100–500 μM) to [ 3 H ]-arachidonic acid (50 μM, 0.2 μCi, bound to bovine serum albumin) dose-dependently increased the accumulations of [ 3 H ]-phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho), [ 3 H ]-phosphatidylinositol (PtdIno) and [ 3 H ]-phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) (by up to 27±3%, 16±3% and 11±3%, respectively, means±S.E.M.). This effect was seen with 8–18 h of incubation. The incorporation of [ 3 H ]-oleic acid into [ 3 H ]-PtdCho was even more enhanced (by up to 42±3%) as were the incorporations of [ 14 C ]-choline and [ 3 H ]-glycerol. The effects of choline and cytidine were enhanced by 12- O -tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA, 1 μM), which activates CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CT) and facilitates choline uptake. Replacing choline by ethanolamine also enhanced the incorporation of [ 3 H ]-arachidonic acid into [ 3 H ]-PtdEtn, [ 3 H ]-PtdIno and [ 3 H ]-PtdCho. Arachidonic acid (10–200 μM) alone failed to affect the incorporation of [ 14 C ]-choline into phosphatidylcholine. We suggest that the increases in phospholipid synthesis caused by concurrent cytidine and choline supplementation enhance the incorporation of arachidonic acid and certain other fatty acids into the major glycerophospholipids. Removing these fatty acids as source of potentially toxic oxidation products could contribute to the beneficial effects of CDP-choline in treating stroke or other brain damage.