cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Soot Formation in Laminar Premixed Ethylene/Air Flames at Atmospheric Pressure

Soot formation was studied within laminar premixed ethylene/air flames (C/O ratios of 0.78-0.98) stabilized on a flat-flame burner operating at atmospheric pressure. Measurements included soot volume fractions by both laser extinction and gravimetric methods, temperatures by multiline emission, soot structure by thermophoretic sampling and transmission electron microscopy, major gas species concentrations by sampling and gas chromatography, concentrations of condensable hydrocarbons by gravimetric sampling. and velocities by laser velocimetry. These data were used to find soot surface growth rates and primary soot particle nucleation rates along the axes of the flames. Present measurements of soot surface growth rates were correlated successfully by predictions based on typical hydrogen-abstraction/carbon-addition (HACA) mechanisms of Frenklach and co-workers and Colket and Hall. These results suavest that reduced soot surface growth rates with increasing residence time seen in the present and other similar flames were mainly caused by reduced rates of surface activation due to reduced H atom concentrations as temperatures decrease as a result of radiative heat losses. Primary soot particle nucleation rates exhibited variations with temperature and acetylene concentrations that were similar to recent observations for diffusion flames; however, nucleation rates in the premixed flames were significantly lower than in, the diffusion flames for reasons that still must be explained. Finally, predictions of yields of major gas species based on mechanisms from both Frenklach and co-workers and Leung and Lindstedt were in good agreement with present measurements and suggest that H atom concentrations (relevant to HACA mechanisms) approximate estimates based on local thermodynamic equilibrium in the present flames.
In search of medical riches

Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine. Michael Sappol, editor. National Library of Medicine/Blast Books; 2012 The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, are best known for their high concentration of medical research laboratories; amid the sprawling campus is also the
Estimation and control of stochastic bilinear systems with prescribed degree of stability

The design is described of exponentially data-weighting state estimators and feedback controllers with a prescribed degree of stability for stochastic bilinear (stochastic-parameter) discrete-time systems. Not only stability but also stability robustness in the presence of deterministic and stochastic parameter perturbations/modelling uncertainties are considered. The existence is shown of robustness properties similar to those encountered in the theory of linear deterministic systems.
How evolving enzymes can beat the heat and avoid defeat

Random mutations usually destabilize protein tertiary structure. Overexpression of the chaperonin GroEL/GroES protects evolving proteins from the destabilizing effects of adaptive mutations and improves the quantity and quality of enzyme variants with modified function.
Monte Carlo calculations of atoms and molecules

The variational and Green's function Monte Carlo (GFMC) methods can treat many interesting atomic and molecular problems. These methods can give chemical accuracy for up to 10 or so electrons. The various implementations of the GFMC method, including the domain Green's function method and the short-time approximation, are discussed. Results are presented for several representative atoms and molecules.
Post-ignition transients in the combustion of single char particles

he temperature-time histories of single char particles burning at temperatures above 1500 K have been measured by two-colour near infrared pyrometry techniques. Two coal chars and a synthetic char consisting of spherical glassy carbon particles of uniform size were used in the experiments. The results indicate that with lean combustion and low-to-medium temperatures, the char particles do not ignite over their whole external surface, but exhibit preferential ignition at specific sites. These ‘hot-spots’ probably involve regions in which the material exhibits strong inhomogeneities, either on or below the surface. Following ignition, the reaction may propagate over the particle surface. At elevated combustor temperatures and/or high oxygen partial pressures, ignition spreads quickly over the entire particle surface and the importance of the hot-spots diminishes. A simple model is used to estimate the rate of growth of a hot-spot under various experimental conditions.
Drifting apart? The U.S.–ROK alliance at risk

Abstract Given the success of the U.S.–ROK alliance over the past five and half decades, it is far easier to envision that it will remain undisturbed than to imagine major change, let alone the end of the alliance. Yet past history is no guarantee of future success. Major shifts in American foreign policy, new transnational challenges and a changing political, economic, and security environment in Northeast Asia, call into question whether the alliance will last another 10 years, let alone another half century. By the start of the twenty-first century, the United States had increasingly conceptualized the alliance in regional or even global terms, whereas the ROK military, despite some impressive blue-water naval assets, was still wedded to the mission of peninsular defense. Ideally, the United States would like the ROK to join with U.S. forces in addressing regional and global contingencies, in addition to fulfilling its primary missions to deter and, if necessary, defeat North Korea. Yet America's reori...
Fetal Origins of Obesity

The worldwide epidemic of obesity continues unabated. Obesity is notoriously difficult to treat, and, thus, prevention is critical. A new paradigm for prevention, which evolved from the notion that environmental factors in utero may influence lifelong health, has emerged in recent years. A large number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between birth weight and BMI attained in later life. Although the data are limited by lack of information on potential confounders, these associations seem robust. Possible mechanisms include lasting changes in proportions of fat and lean body mass, central nervous system appetite control, and pancreatic structure and function. Additionally, lower birth weight seems to be associated with later risk for central obesity, which also confers increased cardiovascular risk. This association may be mediated through changes in the hypothalamic pituitary axis, insulin secretion and sensing, and vascular responsiveness. The combination of lower birth weight and higher attained BMI is most strongly associated with later disease risk. We are faced with the seeming paradox of increased adiposity at both ends of the birth weight spectrum-higher BMI with higher birth weight and increased central obesity with lower birth weight. Future research on molecular genetics, intrauterine growth, growth trajectories after birth, and relationships of fat and lean mass will elucidate relationships between early life experiences and later body proportions. Prevention of obesity starting in childhood is critical and can have lifelong, perhaps multigenerational, impact.
The viscosity and diffusion coefficients of eighteen binary gaseous systems

Abstract The paper reports accurate measurements of the viscosity of the eighteen binary gaseous systems: CF 4 with He, Ne, Ar, N 2 , CO 2 , CH 4 ; SF 6 with He, Ne, Ar, N 2 , CO 2 , CH 4 , CF 4 and O 2 with He, Ne, CO 2 , CF 4 , SF 6 . The measurements were performed in a high-precision oscillating-disk viscometer at atmospheric pressure and in the temperature range 25–200°C for the systems containing CH 4 or SF 6 and in the temperature range 25–400°C for the remainder. The reported viscosities are believed to be accurate to within ±0.1% at room temperature and to within ±0.2% at 400°C. It is shown that the data conform to the extended law of corresponding states developed by Kestin, Ro and Wakeham despite the complexity of some of the component gases. The standard deviation between the experimental values and those calculated from the law of corresponding states is only 0.3% which is commensurate with the uncertainty in the experimental results. Binary diffusion coefficients derived from the mixture viscosity data are also presented; they have an estimated uncertainty of ±2%.
Bovine carotid artery and expanded polytetrafluroethylene grafts for hemodialysis vascular access

Abstract Seventy-six bovine carotid artery heterografts (BCAH) and 100 expanded polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) grafts were inserted as chronic hemodialysis arteriovenous fistulas. Cumulative patency at 1 year was 70% for the BCAH group and 87% for the PTFE group and at 2 years was 45 and 73%, respectively. Infection accounted for 38% of BCAH failures and none of the PTFE failures. BCAH required twice as many revisions per dialysis month to maintain patency as did the PTFE grafts (0.036 vs 0.019, respectively). Graft configuration and location did not affect patency rates. At present the PTFE grafts appear superior to the BCAH for construction of arteriovenous dialysis fistulas.
Comparison of macro-gravimetric and micro-colorimetric lipid determination methods.

Abstract In order to validate a method for lipid analysis of small tissue samples, the standard macro-gravimetric method of Bligh–Dyer (1959) [E.G. Bligh, W.J. Dyer, Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 37 (1959) 911] and a modification of the micro-colorimetric assay developed by Van Handel (1985) [E. Van Handel, J. Am. Mosq. Control Assoc. 1 (1985) 302] were compared. No significant differences were observed for wet tissues of two species of fish. However, limited analysis of wet tissue of the amphipod, Leptocheirus plumulosus, indicated that the Bligh–Dyer gravimetric method generated higher lipid values, most likely due to the inclusion of non-lipid materials. Additionally, significant differences between the methods were observed with dry tissues, with the micro-colorimetric method consistently reporting calculated lipid values greater than as reported by the gravimetric method. This was most likely due to poor extraction of dry tissue in the standard Bligh–Dyer method, as no significant differences were found when analyzing a single composite extract. The data presented supports the conclusion that the micro-colorimetric method described in this paper is accurate, rapid, and minimizes time and solvent use.
Reducing communication overhead: A parallel code optimization

Abstract In highly parallel computation, where a large number of closely coupled processors cooperate on a single task, communication overhead is often the dominant factor in efficiency. We report here on parallel code optimizations designed to reduce this overhead. Our optimizations are targeted for synchronous machines. Because we have found such machines to be difficult to program, we start with a high-level asynchronous code which we automatically convert for synchronous execution before applying our optimizations. Using relatively simple transformations, we are able to demonstrate significant performance improvements for many programs.
Why Total Quality Management Programs Do Not Persist: The Role of Management Quality and Implications for Leading a TQM Transformation*

Top-down total quality management (TQM) programs often fail to create deep and sustained change in organizations. They become a fad soon replaced by another fad. Failure to institutionalize TQM can be attributed to a gap between top management's rhetoric about their intentions for TQM and the reality of implementation in various subunits of the organization. The gap varies from subunit to subunit due to the quality of management in each. By quality of management is meant the capacity of senior team to (1) develop commitment to the new TQM direction and behave and make decisions that are consistent with it, (2) develop the cross-functional mechanisms, leadership skills, and team culture needed for TQM implementation, and (3) create a climate of open dialogues about progress in the TQM transformation that will enable learning and further change. The TQM transformations will persist only if top management requires and ultimately institutionalizes an honest organizational-wide conversation that surfaces valid data about the quality of management in each subunit of the firm and leads to changes in management quality or replacement of managers.
Distribution and Structure-Function Relationship of Myosin Heavy Chain Isoforms in the Adult Mouse Heart

The two cardiac myosin heavy chain isoforms, α and β, exhibit distinct functional characteristics and therefore may be distributed regionally within the heart to match the functional demands of a specific region. In adult mouse hearts, which predominantly express α-myosin heavy chain, we observed high concentrations of β-myosin in distinct areas such as at the tip of papillary muscles and at the base close to the valvular annulus. In light of these distinct distribution patterns of the myosin isoforms, we subsequently explored the isoform-specific structure-function relationships of the myosins. The α- and β-isoforms are 93% identical in amino acid sequence, but it remains unclear which of the nonidentical residues determines isoform functionality. We hypothesized that residues situated within or close to the actin-binding interface of the myosin head influence actin binding and thereby modulate actin-activated ATPase activity. A chimeric myosin was created containing β-sequence from amino acid 417 to 682 within the α-backbone. In mice, ∼70% of the endogenous cardiac protein was replaced with the chimeric myosin. Myofibrils containing chimeric myosin exhibited ATPase activities that were depressed to the levels observed in hearts expressing ∼70% β-myosin. In vitro motility assays showed that the actin filament sliding velocity generated by chimeric myosin was similar to that of α-myosin, almost twice the velocities observed with β-myosin. These data indicate that this large domain sequence switch conferred β-like actin-activated ATPase activities to the chimeric myosin, suggesting that this region is responsible for the distinct hydrolytic properties of these myosin isoforms.
Implicit integration methods for dislocation dynamics

In dislocation dynamics simulations, strain hardening simulations require integrating stiff systems of ordinary differential equations in time with expensive force calculations, discontinuous topological events and rapidly changing problem size. Current solvers in use often result in small time steps and long simulation times. Faster solvers may help dislocation dynamics simulations accumulate plastic strains at strain rates comparable to experimental observations. This paper investigates the viability of high-order implicit time integrators and robust nonlinear solvers to reduce simulation run times while maintaining the accuracy of the computed solution. In particular, implicit Runge–Kutta time integrators are explored as a way of providing greater accuracy over a larger time step than is typically done with the standard second-order trapezoidal method. In addition, both accelerated fixed point and Newton's method are investigated to provide fast and effective solves for the nonlinear systems that must be resolved within each time step. Results show that integrators of third order are the most effective, while accelerated fixed point and Newton's method both improve solver performance over the standard fixed point method used for the solution of the nonlinear systems.
Cerebral Laterality and Verbal-Performance Discrepancies in Intelligence.

Abstract The cerebral laterality of children with various configurations of verbal-performance discrepancies was inferred with an objective measure of lateral preference. Specifically, Verbal and Performance IQ scores of the WISC-R were used to divide 90 learning-disabled children into three equal groups: (a) Verbal significantly higher than Performance, (b) Performance significantly higher than Verbal, and (c) Verbal not significantly different from Performance. Analysis of the scores on the Laterality Preference Schedule showed children in the Verbal > Performance group were significantly more bilateral in their preference patterns than either of the other groups. Data on familial laterality showed this Verbal > Performance group to also have parents who were significantly more mixed in their preference patterns than either the VSIQ
Neurotensin immunolabeling relates to sexually-motivated song and other social behaviors in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

The brain regions involved in vocal communication are well described for some species, including songbirds, but less is known about the neural mechanisms underlying motivational aspects of communication. Mesolimbic dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are central to mediating motivated behaviors. In songbirds, VTA provides dopaminergic innervation to brain regions associated with motivation and social behavior that are also involved in sexually-motivated song production. Neurotensin (NT) is a neuropeptide that strongly modulates dopamine activity, co-localizes with dopamine in VTA, and is found in regions where dopaminergic cells project from VTA. Yet, little is known about how NT contributes to vocal communication or other motivated behaviors. We examined the relationships between sexually-motivated song produced by male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and NT immunolabeling in brain regions involved in social behavior and motivation. Additionally, we observed relationships between NT labeling, non-vocal courtship behaviors (another measure of sexual motivation), and agonistic behavior to begin to understand NT's role in socially-motivated behaviors. NT labeling in VTA, lateral septum, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis correlated with sexually-motivated singing and non-vocal courtship behaviors. NT labeling in VTA, lateral septum, medial preoptic nucleus, and periaqueductal gray was associated with agonistic behavior. This study is the first to suggest NT's involvement in song, and one of the few to implicate NT in social behaviors more generally. Additionally, our results are consistent with the idea that distinct patterns of neuropeptide activity in brain areas involved in social behavior and motivation underlie differentially motivated behaviors.
Parent—Professional partnerships in the education of autistic children

Abstract This article reviews the history of training for parents of autistic children and evaluates progress toward the goal of forming genuine, co-equal partnerships between parents and professionals. The importance of comprehensive early intervention and parent involvement are emphasized as well as the need for a family systems approach by professionals. The argument is made that real partnerships can only happen when families have access to a full range of community-based educational and support services for their autistic children.
Transitive closures of fuzzy thesauri for information-retrieval systems

In this paper we represent a thesaurus (R) for an information system as the sum of two fuzzy relations,S(synonyms) and G(generalizations). The max-star completion of R is defined as R¯*, the max-star transitive closure of R. We interpret R¯*, which extends the concept-pair fuzzy relation R initially provided by an expert, as a linguistic completion of the thesaurus. Six max-star completions, corresponding to six well-known T- norms, are defined, analysed, and numerically illustrated on a nine-term dictionary. The application of our results in the context of document retrieval is this: one may use R¯* as a means of effecting replacements of terms appearing in a natural-language document request. The weights (R¯*)ij can be used to diminish or increase one's confidence in the degree of support being developed for each document considered relevant to a given query. The ijth element of R¯* can be regarded as the ultimate extent to which term j can be “reached” from term i; the values in R¯* thus represent degrees of confidence in max-star transitive chains.
A biomimetic quasi-static electric field physical channel for underwater ocean networks

Nature has had millions of years to develop and optimize life in the ocean. Nocturnal oceanic animals and those that live at depth cannot rely upon optical notions of vision to navigate, hunt, or avoid predators. Instead, many rely upon an electroreceptive capability achieved through a dense grid of electric field (Voltage) sensors. In this work, we develop and characterize an artificial system which seeks to mimic this capability. The detection range of our resulting prototype was a 5cm. The position accuracy in the middle of the transmit axis was ± 5cm after calibration.
Effects of Coping Styles on College Persistence Decisions among Latino Students in Two Year Colleges

Despite a high college dropout rate for Latino students, much remains unknown about college persistence decisions of these students. The present study examined the influence of stress management st...
An Optoelectronic Correlator Architecture for Shift, Scale & Rotation Invariant Target Recognition

In this paper, we present an architecture that correlates images using SLMs, detectors and VLSI chips, incorporating the Polar Mellin transform in order to achieve shift, rotation and scale invariance simultaneously.
Digital correction of PWM switching amplifiers

Pulsewidth modulated (PWM) signals for driving a switching audio amplifier can be synthesized in the digital domain with extremely high linearity and precision. However, nonidealities associated with the power stage degrade output performance. A method to digitally correct for these nonidealities, resulting in very low total harmonic distortion (THD) and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance, is presented. This method also provides excellent rejection of power supply noise which is otherwise absent in digital PWM amplifiers. To meet noise requirements for hi-fi audio, the feedback structure is a fourth-order structure which shapes the noise beyond the audio band. The method has been implemented on a bread board, and state-of-the-art performance was achieved. Total harmonic distortion of 85 dB and dynamic range of 100 dB was measured using Audio Precision test equipment.
Learner Perceptions of Asynchronous Oral Computer-mediated Communication: Proficiency and Second Langauge Selves

The present study addresses the perceptions of international teaching assistants regarding the role of language learning tasks using Wimba Voice (WV) in aiding the improvement of their second language (L2) oral skills. It specifically examines how this asynchronous computermediated communication (CMC) technology can foster the development of these learners’ L2 selves. According to Dornyei (2009), the more clearly learners can envision their future L2 selves, the more motivated they will be to achieve their L2 goals. With increased planning of oral production, access to instructor and peer feedback, and additional opportunities for selfreflection, asynchronous CMC technologies have been found to enable L2 learners to express their thoughts at their own pace and feel more relaxed and confident than in more threatening face-to-face situations (Sun, 2009). The findings suggest that learners have a variety of opinions regarding the role of asynchronous WV tasks in motivating them to develop their L2 oral proficiency. Also, many may prefer oral CMC environments that facilitate interaction and meaning negotiation. Results were inconclusive concerning the effect of WV-based tasks on students' perceptions of their future L2 selves; however, this may have been due to the short time frame in which these activities were employed.
The Origin of Ina: Evidence for Inflated Lava Flows on the Moon

Ina is an enigmatic volcanic feature on the Moon known for its irregularly shaped mounds, the origin of which has been debated since the Apollo Missions. Three main units are observed on the floor of the depression (2.9 km across, < or =64 m deep) located at the summit of a low-shield volcano: irregularly shaped mounds up to 20 m tall, a lower unit 1 to 5 m in relief that surrounds the mounds, and blocky material. Analyses of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images and topography show that features in Ina are morphologically similar to terrestrial inflated lava flows. Comparison of these unusual lunar mounds and possible terrestrial analogs leads us to hypothesize that features in Ina were formed through lava flow inflation processes. While the source of the lava remains unclear, this new model suggests that as the mounds inflated, breakouts along their margins served as sources for surface flows that created the lower morphologic unit. Over time, mass wasting of both morphologic units has exposed fresh surfaces observed in the blocky unit. Ina is different than the terrestrial analogs presented in this study in that the lunar features formed within a depression, no vent sources are observed, and no cracks are observed on the mounds. However, lava flow inflation processes explain many of the morphologic relationships observed in Ina and are proposed to be analogous with inflated lava flows on Earth.
Blowing in the wind

Part of the answer to rising energy needs and costs may literally be blowing in the wind. Among sustainable sources of electricity, only wind energy has the capacity and technology needed to compete in the open marketplace. The largest onshore wind farm in Europe is being built in Scotland, the largest in the USA is planned for southern California, and the biggest offshore wind farm production in the world is slated for the Thames Estuary. But wind is intermittent. Marc Genton and Amanda Hering explain how advanced statistical techniques will enable wind energy to be more efficiently incorporated into the electrical grid.
Minimized Models and Grammar-Informed Initialization for Supertagging with Highly Ambiguous Lexicons

We combine two complementary ideas for learning supertaggers from highly ambiguous lexicons: grammar-informed tag transitions and models minimized via integer programming. Each strategy on its own greatly improves performance over basic expectation-maximization training with a bitag Hidden Markov Model, which we show on the CCGbank and CCG-TUT corpora. The strategies provide further error reductions when combined. We describe a new two-stage integer programming strategy that efficiently deals with the high degree of ambiguity on these datasets while obtaining the full effect of model minimization.
Advanced Aerodynamic Design of Passive Porosity Control Effectors

This paper describes aerodynamic design work aimed at developing a passive porosity control effector system for a generic tailless fighter aircraft. As part of this work, a computational design tool was developed and used to layout passive porosity effector systems for longitudinal and lateral-directional control at a low-speed, high angle of attack condition. Aerodynamic analysis was conducted using the NASA Langley computational fluid dynamics code USM3D, in conjunction with a newly formulated surface boundary condition for passive porosity. Results indicate that passive porosity effectors can provide maneuver control increments that equal and exceed those of conventional aerodynamic effectors for low-speed, high-alpha flight, with control levels that are a linear function of porous area. This work demonstrates the tremendous potential of passive porosity to yield simple control effector systems that have no external moving parts and will preserve an aircraft's fixed outer mold line.
Locus of Control and Delay of Gratification As Moderators of Employee Turnover

Main effects of personality on turnover have generally been weak. However, little previous research has considered its indirect effects. Personality may moderate the determinants of turnover. Using a sample of 192 hospital employees, this study examined the moderating effects of locus of control and ability to delay need gratification on the immediate determinants of turnover proposed by Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, and Meglino (1979). The findings generally indicated that the relative strength of the determinants of turnover varied as predicted. Implications for employee retention are discussed.
The effects of endogenous cytokinin content on benzyladenineenhanced nitrate reductase induction

Foliar application of benzyladenine (BA) has been shown to enhance nitrate-dependent induction of nitrate reductase (NR; EC 1.6.6.1) in etiolated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. Whether similar enhancement occurs in light-grown plants, or whether endogenous cytokinin content affects this enhancement is unknown. Since the cytokinin content of etiolated plants probably differs from that of light-grown seedlings, the NR response of each to exogenous root- or shoot-applied BA in wheat (cv. Red Bob) was examined. Endogenous cytokinins present in untreated control tissues prior to BA application and changes that occurred after a 22 h (12 h dark followed by 10 h of light) period were determined using a combined HPLC-immunoassay method. Shoot application of BA enhanced the induction of NR in etiolated seedlings in a concentration-dependent manner but failed to enhance NR induction in light-grown plants. Root-applied BA enhanced NR induction in both etiolated and light-grown seedlings. Endogenous root cytokinin levels were similar in both etiolated and light-grown plants. In contrast, shoots of 6 day-old light-grown seedlings contained at least 20 times the amount of total cytokinins measured in shoots from etiolated plants of the same age. Total cytokinin content of the light-grown plants diminished after the 22-h period while that measured in etiolated seedlings increased. The responsiveness of seedlings to BA was correlated with endogenous cytokinin levels in that enhancement of NR induction by exogenous BA was low in tissues which contained high concentrations of cytokinin at the time of BA application. These results may prove useful in interpretation of gene responses to exogenous plant growth regulators.
Inter-movement interval as a primary stable measure of periodic limb movements of sleep

Abstract Aim Periodic leg movements in sleep (PLMS) are generally evaluated by the number of events per hour during sleep, but this is an unstable measure with marked nightly variability and also fails to assess the basic periodicity that essentially characterizes these movements. The inter-movement interval (IMI) evaluates a putative biological process producing the period of PLMS. By contrast, the actual number of PLMS reflects the expression of this biological process that would likely be affected by multiple factors, particularly those disrupting sleep. Thus, this study tests the hypothesis that measurement of IMI duration should be more stable over nights in comparison to any measure based on counting the number of movements. IMI approximates a log-normal distribution. This study, therefore, tests the hypothesis that the means of the log IMI are more stable from night 1 (N1) to night 2 (N2) sleep recordings compared with measures of the number of PLMS. Methods PLMS/h and IMI were measured for two consecutive nights of full sleep recordings for 29 restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients not being treated and 22 healthy controls without RLS. N1–N2 difference between nights was measured as percent of average for the nights. Results Mean log IMI showed little nightly variability (mean ± SD for RLS: 3.6% ± 3.7, controls: 7.1% ± 7.0) significantly less p Conclusion Mean log IMI is a remarkably stable measure across nights within a subject and shows differences between subjects that may have clinical and biological significance. Because of this consistency, the mean log IMI should be considered as one standard measure of PLMS alongside the PLMS index.
Complete Genomic Sequence of the Virulent Salmonella Bacteriophage SP6

We report the complete genome sequence of enterobacteriophage SP6, which infects Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The genome contains 43,769 bp, including a 174-bp direct terminal repeat. The gene content and organization clearly place SP6 in the coliphage T7 group of phages, but there is approximately 5 kb at the right end of the genome that is not present in other members of the group, and the homologues of T7 genes 1.3 through 3 appear to have undergone an unusual reorganization. Sequence analysis identified 10 putative promoters for the SP6-encoded RNA polymerase and seven putative rho-independent terminators. The terminator following the gene encoding the major capsid subunit has a termination efficiency of about 50% with the SP6-encoded RNA polymerase. Phylogenetic analysis of phages related to SP6 provided clear evidence for horizontal exchange of sequences in the ancestry of these phages and clearly demarcated exchange boundaries; one of the recombination joints lies within the coding region for a phage exonuclease. Bioinformatic analysis of the SP6 sequence strongly suggested that DNA replication occurs in large part through a bidirectional mechanism, possibly with circular intermediates.
Effects of aspirin on endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis

T beneficial effects of aspirin in decreasing ischemic events have been largely attributed to its activity in inhibiting platelet aggregation, an effect achieved by irreversible inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase and prevention of the formation of the platelet aggregation agonist thromboxane.1 Whether aspirin exerts beneficial effects on endothelial function in addition to its antiplatelet effect remains a matter of investigation; aspirin has been shown to inhibit production of the vasodilator prostanoid prostacyclin in endothelial cells. In healthy vessels, acetylcholine induces endothelium-dependent vasodilation that is believed to be largely mediated by release of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor. In the presence of atherosclerosis or its risk factors, response to acetylcholine is either a decreased vasodilator effect or paradoxical vasoconstriction; this effect has been attributed to decreased activity of endothelium-derived vasodilators.2 However, there is evidence that acetylcholine may also induce production of cyclooxygenase-dependent vasodilator and vasoconstrictor substances. Acetylcholine-induced production of vasoconstrictor prostaglandins has been observed in numerous animal studies, including animal models of endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, diabetes, and congestive heart failure.3,4 In humans, cyclo-oxygenase inhibition with indomethacin was found to improve acetylcholine-induced vasodilation in congestive heart failure patients.5 Although most studies have shown no effect of cyclo-oxygenase inhibition on the acetylcholine response in diabetic or hypertensive patients,6,7 one report has indicated that acetylcholine induces the release of vasoconstrictor prostaglandins in the forearm circulation of patients with hypertension.8 We performed studies in patients with atherosclerosis to assess whether an endothelium-derived, cyclo-oxygenase-dependent constrictor substance contributes to the abnormal acetylcholine response and whether aspirin might reverse this activity.9
Genetic and developmental bases of serial homology in vertebrate limb evolution.

Two sets of paired appendages are a characteristic feature of the body plan of jawed vertebrates. While the fossil record provides a good morphological description of limb evolution, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process are only now beginning to be understood. It is likely that the genes essential for limb development in modern vertebrates were also important players during limb evolution. In recent years, genes from a number of gene families have been described that play important roles both in limb induction and in later patterning processes. These advances facilitate inquiries into several important aspects of limb evolution such as their origin, position along the body axis, number and identity. Integrating paleontological, developmental and genetic data, we propose models to explain the evolution of paired appendages in vertebrates. Whereas previous syntheses have tended to focus on the roles of genes from a single gene family, most notably Hox genes, we emphasize the importance of considering the interactions among multiple genes from different gene families for understanding the evolution of complex developmental systems. Our models, which underscore the roles of gene duplication and regulatory ‘tinkering’, provide a conceptual framework for elucidating the evolution of serially homologous structures in general, and thus contribute to the burgeoning field seeking to uncover the genetic and developmental bases of evolution.
Protein Translocation across the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum

The rough endoplasmic reticulum is a major site of protein biosynthesis in all eukaryotic cells, serving as the entry point for the secretory pathway and as the initial integration site for the majority of cellular integral membrane proteins. The core components of the protein translocation machinery have been identified, and high-resolution structures of the targeting components and the transport channel have been obtained. Research in this area is now focused on obtaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of protein translocation and membrane protein integration.
The exceptional zero conjecture for Hilbert modular forms

Using a p-adic analogue of the convolution method of Rankin–Selberg and Shimura, we construct the two-variable p-adic L-function of a Hida family of Hilbert modular eigenforms of parallel weight. It is shown that the conditions of Greenberg–Stevens [R. Greenberg and G. Stevens, p-adic L-functions and p-adic periods of modular forms, Invent. Math. 111 (1993), 407–447] are satisfied, from which we deduce special cases of the Mazur–Tate–Teitelbaum conjecture in the Hilbert modular setting.
Risk, Reward, and Economic Decision Making in Aging

Objectives. Older adults’ decision quality is considered to be worse than that of younger adults. This age-related difference is often attributed to reductions in risk tolerance. Little is known about the circumstances that affect older adults’ decisions and whether risk attitudes directly influence economic decisions. We measure the influence of risk attitudes on age-related differences in decision making in both nonsocial and social contexts. Methods. Risk attitudes and economic decision making were measured in 30 healthy older adults and 29 healthy younger adults. Results. Older adults report being less impulsive, sensation seeking and risk tolerant than younger adults. Age did not affect a measure of nonsocial economic decision making. Older adults were more likely to reject unfair divisions of money during an economic social-bargaining game and more likely to make equitable divisions of money during socialgiving game. These age-related differences were determined in part by individuals’ self-reported risk taking. Discussion. We conclude that age-related differences in decision making are domain specific and that some social economic decision making is influenced by risk attitudes. Older adults are more risk avoidant, but this does not alter their willingness to wait for reward in a nonsocial context. Perceiving more risk is associated with an unwillingness to accept an unfair offer in social economic contexts and ultimately leads to poorer outcomes for older adults.
Automated image analysis of protein localization in budding yeast

Motivation: The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the first eukaryotic organism to have its genome completely sequenced. Since then, several large-scale analyses of the yeast genome have provided extensive functional annotations of individual genes and proteins. One fundamental property of a protein is its subcellular localization, which provides critical information about how this protein works in a cell. An important project therefore was the creation of the yeast GFP fusion localization database by the University of California, San Francisco, USA (UCSF). This database provides localization data for 75% of the proteins believed to be encoded by the yeast genome. These proteins were classified into 22 distinct subcellular location categories by visual examination. Based on our past success at building automated systems to classify subcellular location patterns in mammalian cells, we sought to create a similar system for yeast. Results: We developed computational methods to automatically analyze the images created by the UCSF yeast GFP fusion localization project. The system was trained to recognize the same location categories that were used in that study. We applied the system to 2640 images, and the system gave the same label as the previous assignments to 2139 images (81%). When only the highest confidence assignments were considered, 94.7% agreement was observed. Visual examination of the proteins for which the two approaches disagree suggests that at least some of the automated assignments may be more accurate. The automated method provides an objective, quantitative and repeatable assignment of protein locations that can be applied to new collections of yeast images (e.g. for different strains or the same strain under different conditions). It is also important to note that this performance could be achieved without requiring colocalization with any marker proteins. Availability: The original images analyzed in this article are available at http://yeastgfp.ucsf.edu, and source code and results are available at http://murphylab.web.cmu.edu/software Contact: murphy@cmu.edu
Extubation force: tape versus endotracheal tube holders.

Study objective Tape is the standard method for securing endotracheal tubes to prevent extubation. This study examines the force required to extubate endotracheal tubes from cadavers with either tape or one of 4 commercially available endotracheal tube holders. Methods Newly deceased, unembalmed cadavers were intubated with standard tracheal intubation techniques. The endotracheal tube was secured with either tape or one of 4 commercially available endotracheal tube holders. The endotracheal tube was then connected to a force-measuring device and pulled until the cuff was removed from the trachea. The largest force recorded on the device was then marked as the "extubation force" for that trial. Results When tape was used to secure the endotracheal tube, it required a significantly larger force to extubate than 3 of 4 off-the-shelf endotracheal tube holders. Only the Thomas Tube Holder secured the endotracheal tube better than tape. Conclusion Although the Thomas Tube Holder had the greatest holding force in this study, tape was shown to be the least expensive and outperformed 3 other commercially available devices used to secure endotracheal tubes.
Teachers Are Still the Test Limitations of Response to Instruction Strategies for Identifying Children with Learning Disabilities

In this paper I comment on recent recommendations that students' responsiveness to instruction (RTI) provides a basis for identification of students as learning disabled. I repeat an earlier argument (Gerber & Semmel, 1985) that teachers embedded in schools are naturally variable in their capacity to respond to differences in students' response to instruction. This fact continues to be the only logical empirical foundation for the construct of learning disability. I describe a theoretical model of instructional tolerance that indicates why standardized protocol RTI strategies, specifically, cannot be achieved at desirable scale without incurring enormous costs.
Cytomegalovirus Pneumonitis: An Unusual Cause of Pulmonary Nodules in a Patient With AIDS

A patient with AIDS and a history of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma developed a generalized illness associated with the appearance of multiple pulmonary nodules on a chest radiograph. Cytomegalovirus infection was demonstrated by needle aspiration cytology. The patient's symptoms and radiographic abnormalities resolved completely on ganciclovir therapy. This unusual case (1) broadens the differential diagnosis of nodular pulmonary disease in patients with AIDS and (2) suggests that cytomegalovirus can cause clinically significant lung disease which may respond to standard antiviral therapy in patients with AIDS. (Chest 1993; 103:1918-20)
Phonon scattering: How does it affect the image contrast in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy?

Abstract In quantitative high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), the theoretically calculated images usually give better contrast than the experimentally observed images although all the factors have been accounted for. It is suggested that this discrepancy is due to thermal diffusely scattered electrons, which were not included in the image calculation. The question is: how do they affect the image contrast? In this paper, under the weak-phase object approximation, it is shown that the contribution of the thermal diffusely scattered electrons to the image is of the same order as the cross-interference terms for the Bragg reflected beams in the dark-field HRTEM imaging. Indirect experimental measurements showed that thermal diffuse scattering (TDS) is not a small effect; rather it is the dominant scattering at large angles. The TDS absorption is measured and the result indicates that about 12% of the incident electrons have been diffusely scattered to angles larger than 15.6° (the column...
Grammatical Concept Acquisition: An Historical Textbook Analysis of Advanced Secondary Students' Writing Errors (From 1949 to 2000)

When people think of grammar, they think of a “system of rules for language use” (Weaver, 1996, p.2). It may also be defined as a prescription for words‟ structures. Those who refer to grammar in this manner see words and their structure as a depiction of standards and correctness in the English language. Reflecting a prescriptive manner, it explicates language rules and the commonest grammar taught in elementary and secondary schools. Teachers continue to teach this type of grammar because they have always done so. Prescriptive grammar has always been a “supreme human achievement that deserves to be studied as such” (Weaver, 1996, p.7).Another way to view grammar is from the eyes of the linguist, who is primarily concerned with the internal mechanics that cause humans to formulate and speak grammar. This descriptive grammar does not concern itself with the textbook grammar rules. This thesis will focus on the study of prescriptive grammar and how authors present English grammar textbooks to advanced secondary students who are taking College level writing and grammar. As background, I will first analyze the history of descriptive grammar, before analyzing the transition from descriptive to prescriptive.
Multi-scale Simulation Study of Pt-Alloys Degradation for Fuel Cells Applications

Low-temperature fuel cells are one of the most promising systems for the transformation of fuels in an efficient, silent, and environmentally friendly manner. The requirements for the electrocatalyst are essentially three: the highest possible catalytic activity and the longest life cycle at the lowest cost. Sometimes, we can obtain one at expenses of the other. In this chapter, we review the simulation methods used in our group to study the degradation of catalysts for fuel cell applications: Density functional theory (DFT), classical molecular dynamics (CMD), Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC). In the first part, we employ DFT, AIMD, and CMD to address the importance of the oxygen concentration on the surface of the catalysts and its influence on the “buckling” of Pt atoms and the role of the subsurface atoms. Then we analyze the temporal evolution of shape and composition of Pt/Ni nanoalloys by KMC simulations at various overall compositions and applied voltages. Finally, using DFT we study the effect that the presence of oxygen in the subsurface has on the buckling of Pt skin/PtCo structures by varying the oxygen coverage factor. The different methods and time scales used for the simulations permit us to fathom the factors governing the stability of electrocatalysts for fuel cells applications.