cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An analytical and experimental stress analysis of a practical mode II fracture test specimen

A boundary-collocation method has been employed to determine the Mode II stress-intensity factors for a pair of through-the-thickness edge cracks in a finite isotropic plate. An elastostatic analysis has been carried out in terms of the complete Williams stress function employing both even and old components. The results of the numerical analysis were verified by a two-step procedure whereby the symmetric (Mode I) and antisymmetric (Mode II) portions of the solution were independently compared with existing solutions. Since no previous analytical solutions existed for the asymmetric loading of an edge-cracked plate, the complete solution was verified by comparison with a photoelastic analysis.
Submicrometer Grain-Sized Transparent Erbium-Doped Scandia Ceramics

Erbium-doped transparent Sc2O3 ceramics with an average grain size of 0.3 μm were synthesized from solution-derived nanoparticles using a two-step sintering process followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The two-step sintered ceramics showed a remarkable decrease in grain size with relative density over 98% before HIP. After HIP, the Sc2O3 ceramics became highly transparent, with negligible grain growth, and exhibited an optical transmittance of about 80%, nominally the Fresnel limit, for wavelengths greater than about 1.0 μm.
Reconstruction of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla in the Salton Sea Basin using GIS and GPS

During prehistoric times, the Colorado River occasionally meandered into and filled the Salton Sea Basin, creating several huge inland lakes, variously called Lake LeConte and Lake Cahuilla. Previous researchers have identified high stands of these ancient lakes using standard survey methods. The objective of this investigation was to further delineate the prehistoric shorelines using satellite imagery, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies. Using one-meter digital orthophotographs, points were selected in the laboratory and were located in the field using a GPS. Point data were integrated with a digital elevation model (DEM) and elevation contours were plotted on Landsat-TM images, generating a range of prehistoric shorelines. Contours were then correlated with archaeological site data, geomorphic features, and other factors to reconstruct Early American settlement patterns for Lake Cahuilla. The combined GIS coverages of ancient Lake Cahuilla and cultural resources may be used together as a model for cultural resource constraints, identifying areas of high cultural resource sensitivity for evaluation of potential impacts as a result of implementation of Salton Sea restoration project alternatives.
Utilizing Biopsychosocial and Strengths-Based Approaches Within the Field of Child Health: What We Know and Where We Can Grow

We continue to increase our understanding of the experiences and settings that contribute to positive developmental outcomes in childhood, and those that confer greater risk. Although the mechanisms by which the risk and protective factors affect developmental outcomes need to be further elucidated through research, converging findings from the field of child health (spanning both physical and mental health) indicate that a biopsychosocial approach is useful. Here, we examine the evidence that early experiences confer both risk and protective processes on biopsychosocial development in childhood, and touch on some implications for the life course. Although this interdisciplinary field of research has already garnered substantial attention, here we aim to highlight the opportunity to use a strengths-based approach with the biopsychosocial model, with particular focus on children who experience prolonged stress. We close with consideration for future directions with an emphasis on policy and practice in clinical and educational settings to improve well-being in these early stages of the life course.
Neutron widths and level spacings of /sup 64/Zn+n

High resolution neutron total cross-section measurements on the separated isotope $^{64}\mathrm{Zn}$ have been made in energy range of few eV to about 370 keV using a pulsed neutron time-of-flight technique with a nominal resolution of 0.07 ns/m. We have analyzed the cross section data up to 370 keV using a multilevel multichannel computer code and obtained values of the resonance parameters (${E}_{0},{J}^{\ensuremath{\pi}},g{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{n}$). From these results we obtain the following values for the average properties of the resonance parameters: ${〈D〉}_{l=0}=(3.59\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.16)$ keV, ${S}_{0}(\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4})=1.89\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.26$, and ${S}_{1}(\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4})=0.59\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06$. We have also investigated the neutron width and nearest neighbor spacing distributions for 103 $s$-wave resonances up to 370 keV. The neutron width distribution follows a chi-squared distribution with $\ensuremath{\nu}=1.15\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.30$. We have determined values for Dyson-Mehta's ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{3}$ statistic for $s$-wave levels up to 300 keV as a function of energy. These are found to be in excellent agreement with the predicted values as explained in Table V. Similarly the linear coefficient of correlation between nearest neighbor spacings gives a value of $\ensuremath{\rho}=\ensuremath{-}0.35$ in agreement with the predicted value of the random matrix model. The value for the mean $p$-wave level spacing is larger than expected from the ($2J+1$) density law, indicative of missed $p$-wave levels.NUCLEAR REACTIONS $^{64}\mathrm{Zn}(n,n)$, $E=\mathrm{few}$ eV to \ensuremath{\sim}370 keV. Measured ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{t}$ vs ${E}_{n}$, deduced resonance parameters. Resonance energies ${E}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$, ${J}^{\ensuremath{\pi}}$, ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{n}^{0}$, ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{n}^{1}$, ${S}_{0}$, ${S}_{1}$, ${〈D〉}_{l=0}$, ${〈D〉}_{l=1}$.
Soundness and quality of semantic retrieval in DNA-based memories with abiotic data

Associative memories based on DNA-affinity have been proposed based in L. M. Adleman (1994) and E. Baum (1995). Previously, we have quantified the quality of retrieval of genomic information in simulation as stated in M. Garzon et al. (2003). Here, the ability of two types of DNA-based memories to store abiotic data and retrieve semantic information is evaluated for soundness and compared to state-of-the-art symbolic methods available, such as LSA (latent semantic analysis) of T. K. Landauer et al. Their ability is poor when performed without a proper compaction procedure. However, when the corpus is summarized through a selection protocol based on PCR or a training procedure on J. Chen et al. (2004) to extract useful information, their performance is much closer to that of LSA, according to human expert ratings. These results are expected to improve and scale up when actual DNA molecules are employed in real test tubes, currently a feasible goal.
TH-EF-BRD-09: Dosimetric Analysis of Patient-Specific Planning Target Volumes Using Population Statistical Modeling of Interfractional Prostate Motion

Purpose: To use a population-based statistical motion model to create a patient-specific planning target volume (PTV) for patients undergoing radiotherapy for definitive treatment of low-risk prostate cancer and to compare the dosimetric impact of this PTV against current clinically used PTVs. Methods: From mapping 10–13 fractional CT images to the planning image, systematic and random deformations were calculated for 19 prostate patients. These deformations were mapped to a reference image using inter-patient deformable image registration (DIR). In the reference image coordinate system, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to create 3D statistical motion models of the systematic and random displacements. Using these models to sample synthetic displacements and mapping them back to a patient’s planning coordinate system, organ occupancy maps were created for the prostate. The organ occupancy map was thresholded at the 95% coverage level to create a PCA-based PTV. For bony aligned and prostate centroid aligned patient setups, a virtual clinical trial was conducted to determine the dosimetric differences between a PCA-based PTV and a conventional PTV (using a van Herk margin for bony alignment and 5 mm fixed [3 mm posterior] for centroid alignment). Dose volume histogram (DVH) metrics were used in the analysis. Results: All PTVs provided prescription dose coverage to the prostate. For bony aligned setup, the PCA-based PTV significantly (p<0.05) reduced D₃₀, D₂₀, and D5 to bladder and D5₀ to rectum, while increasing rectal D₂₀ and D5. For the centroid aligned setup, the PCA PTV significantly reduced all bladder DVH metrics and trended to lower rectal DVH metrics. Conclusion: Statistical motion modeling provides a systematic method for creating PTVs. Plans created using these PTVs provide adequate prescription dose coverage of the prostate while lowering the bladder dose. PCA-based PTVs tended to increase rectal dose for bony-aligned patients and lower it for centroid aligned patients.
Array signal processing approaches to ultrasound-based arterial pulse wave velocity estimation

Assessment of the arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) has long been an area of interest in physiology, and ultrasound has long been used to provide measurements for such assessments. Recently, new signal processing approaches for ultrasound data have emerged. However, these methods suffer from inaccuracies due to pulse wave reflections, which are always present and can strongly bias the PWV estimates away from the true velocity. Recently the authors (Hoctor et al. (2004)) showed that pulse wave velocity estimation from several ultrasound measurements taken along a short uniform arterial segment is equivalent to the broadband directional of arrival problem with coherent multipath found in radar and sonar. This tutorial paper reviews the physiological and ultrasound-systems aspects of the PWV estimation problem, and examines its relationship to the direction-of-arrival estimation problem. The paper also demonstrates why nonlinear, high-resolution methods are needed and outlines the application of several such estimators to the problem.
Marital fertility at older ages in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Abstract This paper evaluates the evidence for the existence of a social custom believed to be important in influencing the fertility of older women in traditional societies. In such a system it is improper for a woman to continue sexual relations once she attains (potential) grandmotherhood. Thus, the hypothesis is that such a change in familial status leads to reduction in marital fertility. The hypothesis is tested with World Fertility Survey data using bivariate and logit regression analysis. The results support the custom's existence in Nepal and Bangladesh, but probably not in Sri Lanka. Its demographic impact, in terms of reduction in total fertility rate, amounts to about one-third of a child in Nepal and Bangladesh, but is insignificant in Sri Lanka. Its effect on the age pattern of natural fertility, estimated by using Nepalese data, is also large, thus indicating its importance as an explanation for deviations from Coale and Trussell's standard of natural fertility.
Strontium metabolism and strontium-calcium discrimination in man.

Summary1) These studies indicate that the behavior of radiostrontium in man is similar to that in animals. When ingested in water solution by adults, about 74% was excreted via the feces and 6% via...
Visualizing the prostate gland by MR imaging in young and old mice.

Purpose Prostate imaging requires optimization in young and old mouse models. We tested which MR sequences and field strengths best depict the prostate gland in young and old mice; and, whether prostate MR signal, size, and architecture change with age. Technique Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the prostate of young (2 months) and old (18 months) male nude mice (n = 6) was performed at 4.7 and 7 T and SCID mice (n = 6) at 7 T field strengths, using T1, fat suppressed T1, DWI, T2, fat suppressed T2, as well as T2-based- and proton density-based Dixon “water only” sequences. Images were ranked for best overall sequence for prostate visualization, prostate delineation, and quality of fat suppression. Prostate volume and signal characteristics were compared and histology was performed. Results T2-based-Dixon “water only” images ranked best overall for prostate visualization and delineation as well as fat suppression (n = 6, P<0.001) at both 4.7 T and 7 T in nude and 7T in SCID mice. Evaluated in nude mice, T2-based Dixon “water only” had greater prostate CNR and lower fat SNR at 7 T than 4.7 T (P<0.001). Prostate volume was less in older than younger mice (n = 6, P<0.02 nude mice; n = 6, P<0.002 SCID mice). Prostate T2 FSE as well as proton density-based and T2-based-Dixon “water only” signal intensity was higher in younger than older mice (P<0.001 nude mice; P<0.01 SCID mice) both at 4.7 and 7 T. This corresponded to an increase in glandular hyperplasia in older mice by histology (P<0.01, n = 6). Conclusion T2-based Dixon “water only” images best depict the mouse prostate in young and old nude mice at 4.7 and 7 T. The mouse prostate decreases in size with age. The decrease in T2 and T2-based Dixon “water only” signal with age corresponds with glandular hyperplasia. Findings suggest age should be an important determinant when choosing models of prostate biology and disease.
The Science of Reform: Abraham Geiger and the Wissenschaft des Judentum

In the nineteenth century, "scientific" history emerged as an academic discipline across Europe, especially in Germany. Historians, including historians of religion, tried to reconstruct the past "as it really was," in Leopold von Ranke's famous statement, based on facts gleaned from the critical investigation of primary documents. Although the accomplishments of German historians in the nineteenth century were impressive, scholars today are well aware of the many ways in which historical scholarship was not a purely objective or scientific presentation of the past as it really was. The historical study of religion done by Christian scholars clearly reflected the theological presuppositions of the authors, particularly in their negative portrayals of Judaism. Indeed, Christian scholars often used their historical reconstructions as a way of advancing particular reforms in the teachings or institutional structures of their churches, and these reforms often had more or less explicit political implications as well. The same was true for Jewish historians of religion in nineteenthcentury Germany. Like their Christian counterparts and often with even greater urgency, Jews debated the nature of their religious tradition and its place in modern life. Over the course of the century, legal restrictions on Jews in the German states were gradually eased, opening the door to a greater degree of assimilation than had previously been possible. Jews, therefore, had to determine what continued to be religiously obligatory, as opposed to what had derived from their legal and social position in German society and could change as that position improved.1 For scholars like Leopold Zunz
Recovery scopes, recovery groups, and fine-grained recovery in enterprise storage controllers with multi-core processors

In this paper we extend a previously published approach to error recovery in enterprise storage controllers with multi-core processors. Our approach first involves the partitioning of the set of tasks in the runtime of the controller software into clusters (recovery scopes) of dependent tasks. Then, these recovery scopes are mapped into a set of recovery groups, on which the scheduling of tasks, both during the recovery process and normal operation, is based. This recovery-aware scheduling (RAS) replaces the performance-based scheduling of the storage controller. Through simulation and benchmark experiments, we find that: 1) the performance of RAS appears to be critically dependent on the values of recovery-related parameters; and 2) our fine-grained recovery approach promises to enhance the storage system availability while keeping the additional overhead, and the resulting degradation in performance, under control.
Effectiveness of Placebo Therapy for Maintaining Masking in a Clinical Trial of Vergence/Accommodative Therapy

PURPOSE. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial (CITT) placebo therapy program in maintaining masking of patients randomized to the officebased treatment arms, determine whether demographic variables affect masking, and determine whether perception of assigned treatment group was associated with treatment outcome or adherence to treatment. METHODS. Patients (n 221, ages, 9‐17 years) were randomized to one of four treatment groups, two of which were office-based and masked to treatment (n 114). The placebo therapy program was designed to appear to be real vergence/ accommodative therapy, without stimulating vergence, accommodation, or fine saccades (beyond levels of daily visual activities). After treatment, patients in the office-based groups were asked whether they thought they had received real or placebo therapy and how confident they were in their answers. RESULTS. Ninety-three percent of patients assigned to real therapy and 85% assigned to placebo therapy thought they were in the real therapy group (P 0.17). No significant differences were found between the two groups in adherence to the therapy (P 0.22 for all comparisons). The percentage of patients who thought they were assigned to real therapy did not differ by age, sex, race, or ethnicity (P 0.30 for all comparisons). No association was found between patients’ perception of group assignment and symptoms or signs at outcome (P 0.38 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS. The CITT placebo therapy program was effective in maintaining patient masking in this study and therefore may have potential for use in future clinical trials using vergence/ accommodative therapy. Masking was not affected by demographic variables. Perception of group assignment was not related to symptoms or signs at outcome (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00338611). (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009;50: 2560‐2566) DOI:10.1167/iovs.08-2693
Enhancement of chemotactic response and microtubule assembly in human leukocytes by ascorbic acid

The incubation of human leukocytes with ascorbic acid increased chemotaxis of the cells. In addition, ascorbic acid promoted the assembly of intracellular polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) microtubules as assessed by transmission electron microscopy. Prior incubation of the PMN with colchicine blocked the effect of ascorbic acid on promoting microtubule assembly. Not only did ascorbic acid promote the assembly of microtubules in vivo, but it enhanced the assembly of bovine brain tubulin into microtubules in vitro as quantitated by a glass-fiber filtration assay and by promotion of viscosity changes. The enhancement in leukocyte mobility by ascorbate at concentrations achievable in normal tissues correlates with its ability to assemble microtubule organelles.
Protein kinase C in central vestibular, cerebellar, and precerebellar pathways of the rat

The protein kinase C family of enzymes is composed of at least ten different isoforms that display a variety of distinct biochemical specificities. Many of these isoforms are highly expressed in brain, and some show regional specificity in their distribution, suggesting that they may serve specific functions. By using immunocytochemistry to localize the betaI, betaII, gamma, or delta isoforms of protein kinase C in the central vestibular system of the adult rat, we found the vestibular ganglion and its peripheral and central processes of the eighth nerve to be heavily labeled with protein kinase C betaI immunoreactivity. Labeled axons and terminals were also found in all four vestibular nuclei. Some neurons of the vestibular ganglion were weakly stained with the antibody to protein kinase C betaII, as were scattered axons in the eighth nerve, and scattered axons and terminals were found in all four vestibular nuclei among weakly labeled neurons. A few axons in the vestibular portion of the eighth nerve were labeled with protein kinase C gamma immunoreactivity, and neurons of the spinal, lateral, and superior vestibular nuclei were heavily decorated with synapses, presumably derived from Purkinje neurons, which were also strongly immunoreactive. Neurons of the medial vestibular nucleus were not as heavily innervated. With the antibody to protein kinase C delta, we found scattered, weakly immunoreactive neurons in the vestibular portion of the eighth nerve. Myelinated fiber bundles of the spinal vestibular nucleus contained moderate numbers of labeled axons, and the other vestibular nuclei were well innervated by protein kinase C delta axons and terminals. Most of these probably derive from Purkinje cells, which were labeled in longitudinal bands interspersed with bands of labeled basket cells. These data suggest that particular protein kinase C isoforms play specific roles in vestibular and cerebellar function.
Two Variational Inequality Problems for the Wave Equation in a Half-space

An important problem in the theory of elasticity is the dynamic planestrain type crack problem. The subject of dynamic cracks in solids has received much attention in the past two decades (see Freund [4], Poruchikov [11], and Walton and Herrmann [17]). Most of the work done, however, has not explicitly imposed the physical condition that the two faces of the crack do not interpenetrate. This type of condition is known as a unilateral constraint. Imposing this type of condition amounts to imposing certain inequalities on the displacements or tractions to the problem. Problems in elasticity involving the contact of two elastic bodies give another example of problems with unilateral constraints imposed on boundaries (see Kikuchi and Oden [7]). A particular case of a contact problem is the punch problem which consists of a rigid body (the punch) indenting an elastic halfspace. While static contact problems have been studied extensively (see Kikuchi and Oden [7]) the case of dynamic contact problems has not been studied nearly as much. There is no work (to our knowledge) on the dynamic crack problem taking into account the condition of noninterpenetration. The mathematical formulation of the dynamic crack and punch problems with unilateral constraints involve the dynamic equations of linear elasticity. In this paper we consider two simplified dynamic problems with unilateral constraints obtained when the elasticity equations are replaced by a single wave equation. Although these simplified problems have no physical meaning, we will still call them the “crack” and “punch” problems, respectively.
The thermodynamics of the carbonate system in seawater

Abstract The apparent constants (K'i) for the ionization of carbonic acid in seawater at various salinities (S,%.) have been fit to equations of the form ln K' i = ln K i + A i S 1 2 + B i S whereKi is the thermodynamic ionization constant in water, Ai, and Bi are adjustable parameters. The temperature dependence (TK) of Ki, Ai and Bi were of the form, a0 + a1/T + a3 ln T. Equations of similar forms have been used to analyze the ionization constants for water and boric acid and the solubility product of calcite in seawater. The effect of pressure on the apparent constants ( K p i K o i ) have been fit to equations of the form ln ( K p i K o i ) = − (ΔVP + 0.5 ΔK P 2 )/RT where the volume (ΔV) and compressibility (ΔK) changes are polynomial functions of temperature. The equations generated for various acids in seawater have been used to examine the carbonate system in seawater. Equations relating the NBS and Tris pH scales have been derived as well as equations of pH as a function of temperature and pressure. The equations from Hansson (1972, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Goteborg, Sweden) and Mehrbach et al. (1973, Limnol. Oceanogr.18, 897–907) have been used to examine the components of the carbonate system. At a fixed total alkalinity and total carbon dioxide, differences of ±0.01 m-equiv kg−1 in HCO−3 and CO2−3 were found; however, the [CO2] and Pco2 are nearly the same. The contribution of borate ion, B(OH)−4 determined from the equations of Hansson (1972, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Goteborg, Sweden) and Lyman (1957, Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles) differ by ±0.01 m-equiv kg−1 for waters with the same salinity and temperature.
Automated antenna testing

A major stride in the technology of RF network design and testing was made with the introduction of the automated network analyzer. Considering the myriad of spatial and temporal parameters of radiating systems,it is apparent that an equal impact can be made by the introducton of the computer into antenna testing. Indeed, experience with automated pattern ranges at Texas Instruments has shown thitso be the case, with test time savings ranging from 30 to 70%. Projections of the capabilities of the next generation portend an additional quantum improvement.
Tracing the Continuity of Pleistocene Aquifers in Northern New Jersey by Seismic Methodsa

Seismic refraction measurements were used to draw a new bedrock contour map in Morris County, New Jersey, where the major ground-water supplies are found in Quaternary sand and gravel deposits filling pre-Pleistocene channels. Aquifer performance tests aided in tracing the continuity of the Quaternary aquifers in these channels. In one case, the lack of continuity between two wells substantiated the seismic prediction that two separate channels were involved. The success of the seismic exploration emphasizes the value of using such methods, so that test drilling can be devoted to exploring the more favorable areas for production wells.
Mind the Gaps: Professionalism for Inclusion in North American Early Care and Education

Current trends in the North American early care and education system point to the need for further professionalization of teaching. This article discusses the place of the family and the importance of inclusion in education; it also looks at the global models of early childhood education. In addition, the author reviews the gaps in early childhood education policies, teacher candidate selection, teacher pay, and curriculum recognized as essential for the success of early childhood education programs. Most importantly, she envisions awareness about the importance of early childhood educators and emphasizes the need for intense and focused professional preparation and greater teacher compensation for attracting and retaining quality educators in the profession. The author's recommendations have implications for policymakers across the world who are striving to prepare effective teachers in early childhood education to attain the UN's Millennium Development Goals and promote education for all.
A semi-synthetic approach to olefinic analogs of amino acid one (MeBMT) in cyclosporin A

The syntheses of four olefinic analogs of Cyclosporin A at amino acid one (MeBMT), a residue critical for the Cyclophilin binding domain, are reported. The synthetic process is a rapid, general, semi-synthetic sequence involving oxidative degradation of the olefinic sidechain followed by a Wittig olefination step.
THINKING ABOUT EDUCATION‐NOT COMPUTERS

(1975). THINKING ABOUT EDUCATION‐NOT COMPUTERS. The Review of Education: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 95-100.
A convenient preparation of deuterated fluoroolefins

Abstract The reduction of iodo-containing fluoroolefins with NaAlH4 in diglyme followed by hydrolysis with D2O provides a convenient preparative procedure to the corresponding deuterated fluoroolefin.
Fungal infections of the skin and nail: New treatment options

Knowledge of the currently available antifungal agents, along with clinical, microbiologic and histopathologic methods, can help the medical professional optimally manage skin and nail fungal infections. With regards to treatment of fungal disease of the skin or nail, there are a variety of systemic antifungal agents, including several newer agents that have different formulations, tolerability, adverse effect profiles and spectrum of activity. This review will highlight the clinically important fungal infections of the skin and nail and describe the activity and role of antifungal treatment.
Role of Immediate Feedback in a Personalized System of Instruction: Evidence of a Negative Impact:

The longstanding emphasis on immediate feedback in Personalized System of Instruction techniques was considered. Two studies investigated the effects of various feedback intervals in personalized instruction on measures of performance, retention, and preference of college students. The first study (N = 10) indicated that an after-each-item feedback condition more negatively affected performance, preference, and recall than did feedback provided after the examination. Findings of the second study (N = 12) replicated this effect by comparing after-each-item feedback with after-the-exam feedback and feedback given the next day with a minimal-feedback control condition. In all cases, feedback after-each-item provided the worst results. Further, even though both showed better effects on recall than did the control condition, after-the-examination and next-day-feedback conditions did not differ.
Development, validation, and application of a radioimmunoassay for insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 in human serum and other biological fluids.

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) serve as transport proteins for the IGFs and modulate their biological effects. In order to evaluate the relative contribution of IGFBP-5 to the IGF binding capacity of serum and other biological fluids and to study more accurately the in vivo regulation of serum IGFBP-5, we have developed an RIA for IGFBP-5 using recombinant human IGFBP-5 as the antigen, tracer, and standard. The validity of the IGFBP-5 RIA was established from the following data: 1) recombinant human IGFBP-5 and purified human bone-derived IGFBP-5 inhibited the binding of tracer to the antisera in an identical manner; 2) the immunoreactive IGFBP-5 in serum co-migrated with recombinant human IGFBP-5 in both sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and high performance gel filtration chromatography; 3) none of the other known IGFBPs (IGFBP-1, -2, -3, -4, and -6) exhibited significant cross-reactivity; 4) the addition of IGF-I or IGF-II to the samples did not affect the ...
Sound localization acuity in children with unilateral hearing loss who wear a hearing aid in the impaired ear.

Background: Disrupted binaural hearing is thought to contribute in part to the academic, social, and communication problems often associated with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) in childhood. It is not known, however, if putting a hearing aid in the impaired ear of a child with UHL will lead to bilateral or binaural benefit. This study seeks to utilize sound localization acuity measurements to assess hearing aid amplification efficacy in children with UHL.
Civic life in Gray Mountain: sizing up the legacy of New England's blue-collar middle class

Abstract When President Clinton took Congressional and business leaders on a tour early this summer to places where chronic poverty has persisted despite the nation’s booming economy, they visited Appalachia’s coalfields, the Mississippi Delta, the Pine Ridge Indian reservation and inner-city neighborhoods in East St. Louis and Los Angeles. They did not visit New England. Not that New England’s inner cities aren’t plagued with poverty and social problems; they are. And many poor families are struggling to get by in rural Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Yet the notoriously bad conditions that took the president to the nation’s “poverty pockets” are exceedingly rare in the six-state region. Why? Why have poverty rates stayed so high in the South compared with New England? And what can the region expect in the future? The answers lie in the kind of civic culture generated by each community’s economy and social structure. Chronically poor places are divided by race and class and saddled with corrupt politics, ineffective schools, and self-interested elites. Distrustful of one another, people in these places look out only for their own families. Escaping poverty is possible only for the lucky few who have a kind relative, caring teacher, or coach who pushes and inspires them to finish school and aim high. But most stay trapped in the same poor conditions their parents and perhaps grandparents knew. In contrast, when communities have a large middle class, the poor are less likely to be cut off from the mainstream. And they are more likely to have the set of contacts, habits and skills—the cultural tool kit—they need to leave poverty behind. More importantly, the community institutions that poor families rely upon are more likely to be effective because the middle class is committed to them. The poor can get ahead without relying solely on personal intervention from a mentor or other benefactor. During the 1990s, I studied poverty and community change in three remote, rural communities: a poor Appalachian coal county I call “Blackwell,” a poor Mississippi Delta plantation community I call “Dahlia” and a more stable and economically diverse northern New England mill community, “Gray Mountain.” The idea was to learn why poverty persisted generation after generation in Appalachia and the Delta, what made the difference when people did achieve upward mobility, and why it was so hard to bring about change. I examined 100 years of Census data detailing changes in population, patterns of work, income distribution and education. I read histories of each region, as well as the local weekly newspapers. But the heart of the study is the 350 in-depth interviews colleagues and I conducted with people living in these communities—not only the poor, but also the rich and those in between. These open-ended conversations revealed how each community’s civic culture—its level of trust, participation and investment—shapes opportunities for both individual mobility and social change.
EFFECT OF CRUDE OIL ON MICROBIAL PROCESSES IN MARINE SEDIMENTS

ABSTRACT Studies were carried out to detect and quantitate 12 microbial processes occurring in sediments in the north central Gulf of Mexico, and to determine the impact of low-level concentrations of oil on these processes. Under the simulated in situ conditions employed, photosynthesis, nitrification, dentrification, nitrogen fixation, sulfate reduction, and phosphate uptake were minimal, while sulfur oxidation and catabolic carbonaceous processes (heterotrophic activity, lipolysis, proteolysis cellulolysis, and chitinolysis) were present with varying degrees of activity. Little difference in metabolic activity was detected between oil-production platform sites and corresponding control sites, among different sediment types, or among three sampling seasons, and the presence of oil at up to 200 microliter per milliliter sediment had no significant impact on reaction rates. Pure culture studies confirmed that low-level concentrations of crude oil had essentially no effect on these processes.
Nurses' Diagnostic Stereotyping of the Elderly: The Case of Organic Brain Syndrome

This study experimentally tested three behaviors thought to underlie the clinical decision-making process that permits the systematic labeling of the elderly as senile; namely, when compared to a younger person with identical neuropsychiatric symptoms, an older person will more likely be given a diagnosis of organic brain syndrome, will more likely be given a poor prognosis for recovery, and will more likely be given palliative rather than interventive treatment. The study also examined the impact of contact with older patients on the making of these clinical decisions. Subjects were the entire nursing staff (N = 186) of a general hospital in a northeastern American city. One-half of the sample responded to a vignette of a young person and one-half to a vignette of an old person with identical signs of emotional, behavioral, and perceptual disorder. The results support the notion that clinical decisions tend to be biased against old age and thus contribute to inappropriate labeling of the elderly. Results...
Personality and Career Success: Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations

The present research addresses the dynamic transaction between extrinsic (occupational prestige, income) and intrinsic (job satisfaction) career success and the Five-Factor Model of personality. Participants (N = 731) completed a comprehensive measure of personality and reported their job title, annual income, and job satisfaction; a subset of these participants (n = 302) provided the same information approximately 10 years later. Measured concurrently, emotionally stable and conscientious participants reported higher incomes and job satisfaction. Longitudinal analyses revealed that, among younger participants, higher income at baseline predicted decreases in Neuroticism and baseline Extraversion predicted increases in income across the 10 years. Results suggest that the mutual influence of career success and personality is limited to income and occurs early in the career.
Agricultural enterprise information management using object databases, Java, and CORBA

A software architecture based on an object database management system (ODBMS), Java, and Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) was applied to a variety of agricultural enterprise applications. The advantages and disadvantages of using object database are compared with conventional relational database management systems in complex applications. In a distributed object computing environment, a commercial ODBMS provides a repository for information on agriculture and natural resources in large organizations, Java provides a high-level programming environment, and CORBA provides a way of sharing applications and information across the Internet. Several applications are described, including an extension publication archive and an institutional accountability project. Results were that the object database offered significant advantages in modeling complex data applications, and the object design approach led to an overall increase in productivity by software developers. However, the technology in general suffers from a lack of maturity.
Building representations for the environment of a mobile robot from image data

This paper presents an alternative approach to building representations for the environment of a mobile robot. This approach is based on recording the geometrical relationships between the observed features rather than their absolute position with respect to an arbitrary coordinate frame of reference. The resulting representation takes the form of a graph where the nodes represent the observed features and the edges represent the relationships between the features. This representation is particularly well suited for recognition tasks which can be reformulated as graph matching problems. Unlike Cartesian maps, relational maps can be built and maintained without any estimates for the position of the robot which means that the errors in this representation will be independent of any errors in the estimates for the robot position.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Broadband superheterodyne tracking circuits for millimeter‐wave measurements

Superheterodyne stimulus‐response measurements can be made with high dynamic range, but are often sensitive to oscillator frequency drift and noise. The usual techniques for reducing this sensitivity often become impractical at millimeter‐wave frequencies and above. This paper describes a feedforward tracking technique and its application to single frequency millimeter‐wave interferometry and Doppler‐shift scattering measurements on tokamak plasmas. Swept frequency transmission measurements can also be made with high dynamic range using this technique.
Overview of hemostatic factors involved in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Hemostatic factors associated with the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) include fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and factor VII. Each SD increment of these increases the association by 24–30%. Most hemostatic factors are intercorrelated with inflammatory markers [e.g., C-reactive protein (CRP)] and LDL cholesterol. Fibrinogen seems the most fundamental hemostatic risk factor for CVD. The Framingham Study reaffirms the significant linear risk factor trends across fibrinogen tertiles (P<0.001) for age, body mass index, smoking, diabetes mellitus, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and TG in both sexes. Fibrinogen may also directly increase CVD risk because of its role in platelet aggregation, plasma viscosity, and fibrin formation. Fibrinogen is also an acute-phase reactant that is elevated in inflammatory states. Fibrinogen mediates the thrombogenic effect of other risk factors. Fibrinogen levels increase with the number of cigarettes smoked and quickly fall after smoking cessation. This rapid fibrinogen decline may be a mechanism for CVD risk reduction after smoking cessation. Weight loss is accompanied by reduced fibrinogen. The correlation between fibrinogen and LDL cholesterol suggests that lipidimposed CVD risk is mediated partly through fibrinogen. Hyperreactive platelets of diabetics may result in part from their increased fibrinogen. Elevated fibrinogen and CRP of unstable angina suggest an acute-phase reaction. Prevalence, case-control, angiographic, and echocardiogram investigations incriminate hemostatic and inflammatory markers as strong independent risk factors for initial and recurrent CVD. Framingham Study data indicate that each SD increase in fibrinogen imposes a 20% independent increment in risk. It may be concluded that fibrinogen and CRP determination may be useful screening tools to identify individuals at added risk for thrombotic complications of CVD.
Effect of cure history on the morphology of polyimide: Fluorescence spectroscopy as a method for determining the degree of cure

Abstract Polyimides are widely used in a variety of technological applications, from interlayer dielectrics in multilevel very-large-scale integrated circuits to matrix resins in high-temperature composite materials. Although data are available from most polyimide manufacturers on the electrical and physical properties of fully cured polyimide, few data are available concerning the precured or undercured polymer. Moreover, there is currently no convenient method available to monitor the degree of cure, which is determined by the highest cure temperature used in the thermal treatment of the polyimide film. In the present studies the degree of cure of a poly( N , N ′-bis(phenoxyphenyl)pyromellitimide)-type polyimide has been observed to have a profound influence on the fluorescence of films irradiated in the near-ultra-violet to visible regions. Excitation of two bands centred at 350 and 490 nm results in an emission band centred at 575 nm that undergoes a significant increase in intensity with cure temperature. We propose that this fluorescence behaviour is associated with an increase in local ordering or aggregation coincident with an increase in the final cure temperature, from 200 to 450°C. Conformational changes such as rotation around the N -phenyl bond are proposed to account for the change in morphology and fluorescence intensity with cure. In addition, the formation of a charge transfer complex between the dianhydride (acceptor) and diamine (donor) moieties is invoked to explain the low-energy absorption band that results in the observed fluorescence.
DEVELOPMENTAL LOCALIZATION OF GAP-43 AND OLFACTORY MARKER PROTEIN IN RAT OLFACTORY BULB TRANSPLANTS

Abstract In an effort to identify and understand the laminar disorganization that occurs in the transplanted (TX) rat olfactory bulb (OB), we examined the development of fiber systems within these TX OBs. One antibody for olfactory marker protein (OMP) was used to identify axons of mature olfactory receptor neurons (ONs) and a second antibody, for a growth-associated protein (GAP-43), provided a marker for all extending or immature fibers. Donor OBs were taken from fetuses on embryonic days 14 or 15 (sperm-positive day is zero) and TX directly into the cavity produced by removal of an OB in 1-day-old hosts of the same strain. After survival times of I and 2 weeks and at maturity, adjacent 8 pm paraffin sections from the TX material were examined for OMP and GAP-43 reactivity. Fiber bundles, reactive for OMP, were found within the TX by 1 week post-TX, indicating rapid reinnervation of the donor OB by ONs. The appearance of OMP reactivity gradually shifted from tightly packed, well-defined fiber bundles at 1 week post-TX to a diffuse reticulated pattern of individual fibers emerging from bundles at maturity. The OMP-reactive fiber bundles of the TX OB also contained GAP-43-reactive fibers, but GAP-43 reactivity also extended to other (OMP-negative) bundles and fields. Reactivity for GAP-43 in the TX OB was nearly ubiquitous at 2 weeks post-TX but, as development progressed (in both the TX and normal OB), such reactivity gradually decreased. Thus, while maturation in sensory afferent fiber systems in the TX OB may be delayed, it eventually follows a pattern similar to that in the normal OB, suggesting that factors other than the timing of fiber extension may be responsible for the laminar disorganization of the TX OB.
Norms, culture, and world politics: insights from sociology's institutionalism

International relations scholars have become increasingly interested in norms of behavior, intersubjective understandings, culture, identity, and other social features of political life. However, our investigations largely have been carried out in disciplinary isolation. We tend to treat our arguments that these things "matter" as discoveries and research into social phenomena as forays into uncharted territory. However, scholars within the fields of international law, history, anthropology, and sociology have always known that social realities influence behavior, and each field has incorporated these social constructions in different ways into research programs. Sociologists working in organization theory have developed a particularly powerful set of arguments about the roles of norms and culture in international life that pose direct challenges to realist and liberal theories in political science. Their arguments locate causal force in an expanding and deepening Western world culture that emphasizes Weberian rationality as the means to both
Supramolecular self-assembly of dendronized polymers: reversible control of the polymer architectures through acid-base reactions.

Acid-base switchable supramolecular dendronized polyacetylenes (DPAs) with increasing steric bulk on going from generation one [G1] to three [G3], were constructed using multiple self-assembly processes between Frechet-type [G1]-[G3]-dendritic dialkylammonium salts and a dibenzo[24]crown-8-containing polymer. The formation of the supramolecular systems is acid-base switchable to either an ON (rodlike dendronized polymers) or an OFF (flexible polymers) state. Thus, by controlling the superstructures of the supramolecular polymers with the [G1]-[G3] dendrons, it is possible to induce conformational changes within the polymer backbones. The supramolecular dendronized polymers, as well as their threading-dethreading properties, were characterized by (1)H NMR and UV absorption spectroscopies, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and light scattering (LS). Independent measures of molecular weight (GPC, LS) indicate that DPAs behave as increasingly rigid macromolecules with each generation in solution. Molecular dynamics simulations of each DPA suggest that the lengths of the polymer backbones increase accordingly. Atomic force microscopy of the [G3]-dendronized polystyrene (DPS), as well as the DPAs, reveal surface morphologies indicative of aggregated superstructures.