cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reassessment of the clinical significance of native dna antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus

To further clarify the clinical significance of nDNA antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus, 70 patients were studied longitudinally over an average period of 3 years each. Serum hemolytic complement (CH50) and nDNA antibodies measured by antigen binding and complement fixation were assessed during episodes of clinically inactive and active disease. Only slightly more than half of episodes of active disease were associated with low CH50 and high nDNA binding, and there was a significant occurrence of high nDNA binding or low CH50 with inactive disease. In contrast, nDNA antibodies measured by complement fixation were never present in the absence of clinical disease. Complement fixing nDNA antibodies were associated mainly with episodes of renal disease, whereas all types of disease activity except those involving predominantly the central nervous system (CNS) showed some correlation with the combined parameters of low CH50 and high nDNA binding. Most episodes of CNS disease occurred without CH50 depression or high nDNA binding. Disease activity was less commonly associated with only low CH50 or high nDNA binding. However, when rash was the predominant manifestation, low CH50 alone was frequently present. The CH50 test correlated with disease activity better than the nDNA antibody binding or complement fixation tests. However, as illustrated by longitudinal studies, a combination of these assays provided the best monitoring of disease activity. Contrary to recent reports, IgG/IgM nDNA antibody ratios did not correlate with disease activity. Studies on isolated nDNA antibody populations provided evidence that differences in complement-fixing activity were not due to class or subclass composition as previously proposed. Consideration of the above qualifications may result in more effective clinical application of the nDNA antibody test.
IDENTIFICATION WITH SPORTS TEAMS BY FANS OF WOMEN'S SPORTS

Previous studies on why sports fans identify with a particular team have focused on fans of men's sports teams. This study examined why fans favor a particular women's sports team. Based on survey responses from 273 self-identified fans of women's sports, athletes are most frequently cited as the reason for choosing a favorite women's sports team.
A one-horse race can have only one winner.

to the editor: The spectrum of reactions to my Viewpoint ([3][1]) regarding the role of the airway smooth muscle (ASM) in creating airway hyperresponsiveness akin to asthma has raised several interesting points (see Ref. [4][2]). First, I must begin with a critical clarification. A few of the
Growth of anisotropic shaped superconducting particles in the Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O system

Abstract Single phase, stoichiometric Tl2Ba2CuO5 (2201) and Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 (2212) were successfully formed by molten salt synthesis. A systematic study indicating the effect of reaction temperature and reaction time on the phase formation and particle morphology is reported. Significant morphological differences were observed between powders from solid state reactions and those prepared by molten salt synthesis. The Tl-2212 superconductor was found to be the thermodynamic equilibrium phase and was found to be stable over a very wide compositional range. The best growth conditions from KClNaCl, KCl, KBr and KI salt systems were determined. Sodium containing salts were observed to electrically poison the superconductor. KCl was found to be the best candidate for the optimum growth of Tl-2212 without any deterioration in the superconducting properties.
Spectro-polarimetric imager for intelligent transportation systems

We have built a portable spectro-polarimetric machine vision system that operates at video frame rates. Our system contains only electronically controllable components, including an imaging acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF), a phase retarder, acceptance and imaging optics, and a standard CCD-based camera. The device operates like an ordinary camera, except that a computer controls the spectral and polarization content of light to be viewed. For example, by sweeping the wavelength over the AOTF's range, one can obtain a spectral signature for each pixel in an image. Alternately, the camera can switch between two wavelengths, allowing for high-speed discrimination of closely matched colors in a scene. In addition to digitally controlling the wavelength, our imager uses a liquid crystal retarder to filter images based on polarization signatures of objects. We have implemented a number of algorithms to take advantage of the unique capabilities of our sensor, some of which can be applied to problems specific to transportation systems. We present two image processing applications that highlight the different methods we use to analyze scenes with our system. One application uses spectral processing to locate vegetation in a scene; the second uses polarization signatures to detect glare from hazardous road conditions such as water and ice.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Green cities and ivory towers: how do higher education sustainability initiatives shape millennials’ consumption practices?

College-educated millennials, motivated by a preference for vibrant, walkable neighborhoods with access to good public transportation, are helping to drive an economic resurgence in many American cities. At the same time, institutions of higher education (IHEs) are seeking to contribute to sustainable societies by encouraging students to incorporate principles of environmental responsibility into personal consumption practices. Popular writing on the urban migration of millennials—the generation born after 1982—has frequently celebrated the presumed environmental benefits of cities not designed around the automobile. Yet, little research has examined how, if at all, IHE efforts to shape student consumption practices may impact the sustainability of urban areas where many millennials are choosing to live and work. In this paper, we use survey and qualitative data on undergraduates at a large, public university to compare millennials’ commitment to different forms of sustainable consumption to their preference for particular urban forms. We find that student commitment to practicing sustainable consumption in their adult lives is weakest in an area crucial to the global ecological footprint of urban areas: how food is produced and consumed. We also find that evidence for IHE impact on student attitudes and practices related to any form of sustainable consumption is surprisingly lacking. We conclude by suggesting that IHEs have not yet realized their full potential to prepare millennials to be environmentally responsible citizens of sustainable cities, particularly where participation in food systems is concerned.
Nuclear protein accumulation by facilitated transport and intranuclear binding

Nuclear proteins are transported from the cytoplasm into the nucleus via nuclear envelope pore complexes (NPCs). At the molecular level, the mechanisms responsible for this transport remain obscure. However, it is known that, for many proteins, the process requires ATP and proceeds against formidable nucleocytoplasmic concentration gradients. Therefore, the NPC is often thought of as an active transport site. In this article, Philip Paine presents the alternative hypothesis that, on current evidence, protein translocation across the nuclear envelope and accumulation in the nucleus can equally well be explained by facilitated transport through the NPC and subsequent intranuclear binding.
Plasma hormones and the sexual preferences of men.

Abstract (1) 190 men undergoing treatment in venereal disease clinics were screened for sexual activity and preference. Based on answers given to a questionnaire, subjects were assigned to one of five groups, ranging from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. (2) Endocrine profiling of subjects was performed by measuring a random serum sample for basal LH, FSH, prolactin and testosterone. (3) The mean values for each hormone were not significantly different for any of the groups. (4) This offers further evidence that homosexual males have normal basal levels of testosterone, prolactin, FSH and LH.
Mass spectrometric identification of increased C16 ceramide levels during apoptosis.

A variety of molecular changes occur during the process of apoptosis. Much of the recent work has focused on changes in critical cellular proteins, proteins necessary for the initiation and continuation of the apoptotic process. Given the fact that numerous membrane changes occur throughout the apoptotic process, we initiated an investigation aimed at determining the major lipid changes that occurred during programmed cell death. When ionizing radiation was used to initiate the apoptotic process in Jurkat cells, one of the major changes that occurred within 24 h was an increase in a species with a m/z of 572 as determined by negative ion electrospray mass spectrometry. This particular mass ion displayed high performance liquid chromatography characteristics of a neutral lipid species. Further analysis by collision-induced-dissociation tandem mass spectrometry indicated only one daughter species indicative of a Cl adduct and therefore a parental mass of 537. Comparison to a commercial C16 ceramide yielded identical spectra by mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS analysis in the negative ion mode. Increases in C16 ceramide levels occurred 2 h after initiation of apoptosis by ionizing radiation, and its accumulation paralleled apoptosis as determined by cellular morphology. Interestingly, radiation-sensitive Jurkat cells displayed increased levels of long term C16 ceramide accumulation, whereas radiation-resistant K562 cells did not. These findings were supported by increases in caspase-3 activity in Jurkat cells, whereas caspase-3 activity in K562 cells remained unchanged. C16 ceramide accumulation and sensitivity to ionizing radiation was investigated further in a melanoma cell line. Only those cells that were radiation sensitive (approximately 70–75%) displayed increases in long term ceramide accumulation. Taken together, these results indicated a correlation between increases in C16 ceramide accumulation and radiation sensitivity. Increases in long term C16 ceramide accumulation were also seen in Fas-induced apoptosis, which occurred at time points greater than 2 h. Analysis of mitochondrial modifications using the mitochondrial probe nonyl acridine orange (NAO) indicated that initial increases in C16 ceramide levels closely paralleled the decrease in mitochondrial mass during Fas or radiation-induced apoptosis. Taken together, these results support a role for C16 ceramide in the effector (mitochondrial) phase of apoptosis.
Parametric Content-Based Publish/Subscribe

Content-based publish/subscribe (CPS) is an appealing abstraction for building scalable distributed systems, e.g., message boards, intrusion detectors, or algorithmic stock trading platforms. Recently, CPS extensions have been proposed for location-based services like vehicular networks, mobile social networking, and so on.Although current CPS middleware systems are dynamic in the way they support the joining and leaving of publishers and subscribers, they fall short in supporting subscription adaptations. These are becoming increasingly important across many CPS applications. In algorithmic high frequency trading, for instance, stock price thresholds that are of interest to a trader change rapidly, and gains directly hinge on the reaction time to relevant fluctuations rather than fixed values. In location-aware applications, a subscription is a function of the subscriber location (e.g. GPS coordinates), which inherently changes during motion.The common solution for adapting a subscription consists of a resubscription, where a new subscription is issued and the superseded one canceled. This incurs substantial overhead in CPS middleware systems, and leads to missed or duplicated events during the transition. In this article, we explore the concept of parametric subscriptions for capturing subscription adaptations. We discuss desirable and feasible guarantees for corresponding support, and propose novel algorithms for updating routing mechanisms effectively and efficiently in classic decentralized CPS broker overlay networks. Compared to resubscriptions, our algorithms significantly improve the reaction time to subscription updates without hampering throughput or latency under high update rates. We also propose and evaluate approximation techniques to detect and mitigate pathological cases of high frequency subscription oscillations, which could significantly decrease the throughput of CPS systems thereby affecting other subscribers.We analyze the benefits of our support through implementations of our algorithms in two CPS systems, and by evaluating our algorithms on two different application scenarios.
Encouraging distributed generation of power that improves air quality: can we have our cake and eat it too?

The goal of electric power deregulation in the United States is to lower electricity costs through market competition and greater consumer choice. This goal raises important questions: exactly what kinds of distributed generation (DG) should energy and environmental policy favor? What level of government is best-suited and/or most capable of governing DG? And what is the range of regulations that would most easily facilitate the competitive success of DG? In response, this article provides a comparative analysis of the electricity generation process with heat recovery created to assess the level of polluting emissions associated with a range of technologies and fuel types. Given the results of this analysis, we evaluate the governance structure responsible for regulating energy and environmental policy in the United States, and outline a regulatory approach that would ensure the use of the DG technologies and fuel sources that would be most beneficial to the environment and public health. Our analysis suggests that only the lowest emitting DG with significant waste heat recovery is even marginally competitive with combined cycle power production when air pollution issues are considered. Thus, we advocate technology-forcing in the specific form of manufacturer-based regulation, which would require, over time, the reduction of emissions from DG units at the point of manufacture as a means of ensuring greater air quality.
Agon and ritual: The Gulf War as popular culture and as television drama

Abstract For the mass public as well as for the mass media, war is less a political policy than a form of popular culture, an arena of individual and national self‐expression that generates far more emotional involvement than ordinary political events. This essay examines television coverage of the Gulf War, both network and local, from this perspective. It discusses two sides of war, war as an exercise of “purposive‐rational action"—a celebration of technical prowess and professionalism—and war as a celebration of community. The Durkheimian concepts of ritual and civil religion are employed in the discussion of the journalist's role as a celebrant of community unity during wartime. Results of a content analysis of network and local television coverage of the Gulf War, focusing primarily on the visual images employed, are included.
Conductivity and phase coherence length of single electrons in layered cuprates

We present a novel approach to the analysis of the normal-state in-plane σab and out-of-plane σc conductivities of anisotropic layered cuprates with incoherent out-of-plane transport such as YBa2Cu3Ox (6.35 ≤ x ≤ 6.93) and Y1 − yPryBa2Cu3O7 − δ (0.08 ≤ y ≤ 0.53). We show that the resistive anisotropy σab/σc of these crystals is a measure of the in-plane phase coherence length l,ab. This result has two important implications: i) One can obtain experimentally the dependence of conductivity on phase coherence length σab,c(l,ab). This σab,c(l,ab)-dependence for different doping follows a universal scaling relationship. This universality of σab,c(l,ab) for different doping is a direct experimental confirmation of the scaling hypothesis. ii) σab/σc at a given temperature changes nonmonotonically with doping, reaching a maximum in the sample closest to the metal-insulator transition. We show that this result is a consequence of incoherent c-axis conduction.
Coagulation factor Xa cleaves protease-activated receptor-1 and mediates signaling dependent on binding to the endothelial protein C receptor.

Summary. Background and objective: Coagulation is intrinsically tied to inflammation, and both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses are modulated by coagulation protease signaling through protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1). Activated factor X (FXa) can elicit cellular signaling through PAR1, but little is known about the role of cofactors in this pathway. Endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) supports PAR1 signaling by the protein C pathway, and in the present study we tested whether EPCR mediates surface recruitment and signaling of FXa. Methods and results: Here, we show that FXa binds to overexpressed as well as native endothelial EPCR. PAR1 cleavage by FXa as analyzed with conformation-sensitive antibodies and a tagged PAR1 reporter construct was strongly enhanced if EPCR was available. Anti-EPCR failed to affect the tissue factor-dependent activation of FX, but high concentrations of FXa decreased EPCR-dependent protein C activation. Most importantly, the FXa-mediated induction of Erk1/2 activation, expression of the transcript for connective tissue growth factor and barrier protection in endothelial cells required binding to EPCR. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that EPCR plays an unexpected role in supporting cell surface recruitment, PAR1 activation, and signaling by FXa.
Exclusive semileptonic decays of B mesons into light mesons.

Using heavy quark effective field theory, exponentiation of Sudakov double logarithms, and perturbative factorization theorems for exclusive processes, we calculate the amplitude for the semileptonic decay of mesons with a single, very heavy quark into \ensuremath{\pi} and \ensuremath{\rho} for a large hadronic recoil momentum. A formula for these large-recoil widths is obtained in terms of two-particle wave functions of the heavy and light mesons and applied to semileptonic decays of the B.
Effect of Gurney Flap Relative Span on Lift, Drag, and Trailing Vortex of a Rectangular Wing

[Abstract] An experimental study has been conducted to examine the effects that Gurney flap span has on the lift and drag of the wing-flap configuration and the near-field trailing vortex strength. The configurations tested included a rectangular wing, a full-span Gurney flap and two Gurney flaps having spans equal to one half the wing span, one positioned outboard, and the other inboard. All three flaps had a height equaling six percent of the wing chord. As expected, all three flaps significantly changed the wing lift and drag characteristics. While the flapped configurations developed much higher both lift and drag coefficients, the overall effect on the wing lift-to-drag ratio has been found to be detrimental for all three flap configurations as compared to the baseline wing, the negative effect increasing with the flap span. Also, significant flattening of the lift-to-drag vs. lift coefficient curve has been observed. As expected, the addition of the flaps led to additional trailing vortices which affect the overall trailing vortex rollup and strength. The effect of the flaps on the trailing vortex strength in the near field has been quantified using a rollup tightness factor. This measure has indicated that while the configurations employing the full-span Gurney flap and the 50-percent-span flap located over the outboard wing sections exhibited trailing vortex strength reductions over most of the range of angles of attack tested, the configuration involving the inboard 50-percent flap developed stronger trailing vortices in the near field. These results have indicated that an effective means for trailing vortex reduction via Gurney flap use should be sought within the design space incorporating flaps located outboard. Future studies should include outboard Gurney flaps of varying relative span, other wing planforms and higher Reynolds numbers. Also, far field effects need to be examined.
Ultrafast Electron Transfer Kinetics of Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition

High electrochemical reactivity is required for various energy and sensing applications of graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Herein, we report that heterogeneous electron transfer can be remarkably fast at CVD-grown graphene electrodes that are fabricated without using the conventional poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) for graphene transfer from a growth substrate. We use nanogap voltammetry based on scanning electrochemical microscopy to obtain very high standard rate constants k(0) ≥25 cm s(-1) for ferrocenemethanol oxidation at polystyrene-supported graphene. The rate constants are at least 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than those at PMMA-transferred graphene, which demonstrates an anomalously weak dependence of electron-transfer rates on the potential. Slow kinetics at PMMA-transferred graphene is attributed to the presence of residual PMMA. This unprecedentedly high reactivity of PMMA-free CVD-grown graphene electrodes is fundamentally and practically important.
Design and analysis of high availability networks

This study provides an analysis of representative critical service networks based upon research of component failure data. We used IP-SURVIV, a Noblis survivability analysis tool, to assess the availability of three representative critical service networks as components were disabled. Our findings indicate that the generally accepted high availability network topology and routing strategies - dual-homing access nodes and providing a primary and a single alternate route between all backbone node pairs - may result in surprisingly low network availability. We present architecture guidelines which significantly improve network availability. In light of our findings, entities requiring robust, high availability network service should consider reassessing the availability of their networks and also consider implementing both a multi-carrier, 3- connected backbone and a second MPLS backup route to achieve high availability (i.e., ≥ 0.9999).
A low-power sensor read-out circuit with FSK telemetry for inductively-powered implant system

This paper presents a low-power sensor read-out circuit with FSK telemetry option. The proposed system consists of a data generator block and a FSK generator block. The data generator block converts a sensor current to a square wave data signal whereas the FSK generator block produces two different frequencies depending upon the value of the data signal. The relatively simple architecture of the proposed system facilitates the low-voltage and low-power operation. The system has been designed using AMI 0.5 mum CMOS process. Simulation results show that the proposed system can detect a sensor current in the range of 50 nA to 5 muA and the total power consumption is 431 muW with a 3.3 V supply. The circuit is ready to be submitted for monolithic integration.
Hypersensitive acid-labile (HAL) tris(alkoxy)benzyl ester anchoring for solid-phase synthesis of protected peptide segments

Abstract The novel 5-(4-hydroxymethyl-3,5-dimethoxyphenoxy)valeric acid (HAL) handle has been prepared and applied to solid-phase peptide synthesis using 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc) for N α -amino protection and tert -butyl ethers, esters, and urethanes for side-chain protection. Otherwise fully protected peptide acids , which are needed for segment condensation studies, were obtained in excellent yields and purities by cleavage of the resultant tris(alkoxy)benzyl ester anchoring linkage with appropriate cocktails containing 0.5 – 0.1% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid.
Does Severity of Physical Neglect Moderate the Impact of an Efficacious Preventive Intervention for Maltreated Children in Foster Care

Physically neglected youth are at increased risk of mental health problems, but there are few interventions that have demonstrated efficacy in reducing mental health symptoms for this vulnerable population. The Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) program, which consists of mentoring and skills groups, was developed for preadolescent youth in foster care. In a published randomized controlled trial with 156 youth, FHF demonstrated positive impacts on mental health functioning. The current study sought to determine whether FHF might be particularly effective in ameliorating the impact of neglectful family environments. Because it was not possible to isolate a neglected-only subgroup, as most children with physical neglect histories had experienced other types of maltreatment, we tested the hypothesis that intervention effects would be stronger among children with more severe physical neglect. Findings did not support this hypothesis, however, as severity of physical neglect did not significantly moderate the impact of the intervention on psychosocial outcomes.
Multiple serotonin receptors: regional distribution and effect of Raphe lesions.

These studies confirm and extend the recent work suggesting that [3H]lysergic acid dielhylamide (LSD) labels two distinct binding sites in rat brain resembling serotonin (5HT) receptors. Although Scatchard analyses of [3H]LSD binding to membranes prepared from cortex/hippocampus were linear, the heterogeneity of the [3H]LSD binding sites was clearly demonstrated in displacement studies. The displacement curves for both 5HT and spiperone were bisigmoidal with the concentration required to saturate the high affinity components nearly 3 orders of magnitude lower than the concentrations necessary to saturate the low affinity components. Additivity studies suggested that the sites with high affinity for 5HT and spiperone are different, independent sites. These sites are referred to as 5HT1 and 5HT2, respectively. Regional analyses showed, that in the frontal cortex, the density of the 5HT2 site was slightly greater than the 5HT1 site, whereas the 5HT1, site was predominant in all other brain areas, including the spinal cord. The pharmacological properties of the two sites have features in common with 5HT receptors; however, electrolytic lesions of the midbrain raphe nuclei did not change the densities or binding constants of the two apparent 5HT receptor subtypes, even though the number of high affinity 5HT uptake sites was markedly reduced.
Crystal-melt interfacial free energy of binary hard spheres from capillary fluctuations

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.144112.
Toxicity of methyl tertiary‐butyl ether (MTBE) following exposure of Wistar Rats for 13 weeks or one year via drinking water

Thirteen-week and one-year toxicity studies of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) administered in drinking water to Wistar rats were conducted. Male and female rats were exposed to MTBE in drinking water at 0.5, 3, 7.5 and 15 mg ml(-1) for 13 weeks and at 0.5, 3 and 7.5 (males) or 0.5, 3 and 15 mg ml(-1) (females) for 1 year. Body weights were reduced only in males following 13 weeks of exposure. Reduced water consumption and urine output were observed in males and females exposed to MTBE. Kidney cell replication and α(2u)-globulin levels in males were increased at 1 and 4 weeks of MTBE exposure and tubular cell regeneration was increased in male kidneys exposed to MTBE concentrations of 7.5 mg ml(-1) or greater for 13 weeks. Wet weights of male kidneys were increased following 13 weeks, 6 months and 1 year of exposure to MTBE concentrations of 7.5 mg ml(-1) or greater. Kidney wet weights were increased in females at MTBE concentrations of 15 mg ml(-1) for 13 weeks. Tertiary-butyl alcohol blood levels increased linearly with dose in males and females following 1 year of exposure. Chronic progressive nephropathy (CPN), of minimal to mild severity, increased in males, but not females, with 1 year of MTBE exposure. In summary, exposure of Wistar rats to MTBE in the drinking water resulted in minimal exposure-related effects including limited renal changes in male rats suggestive of α(2u)-globulin nephropathy following 13 weeks of exposure and an exacerbation of CPN in males at the end of 1 year of exposure.
New Genus, New Species of Cestoda (Proteocephalidae) from the Lizard Sphenomorphus aignanus (Squamata: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea

Abstract Adenobrechmos greeri n. gen., n. sp. from the intestines of the skink Sphenomorphus aignanus (Scincidae) is described and illustrated. Adenobrechmos greeri n. sp. is unique among the Proteocephalidae by possessing an unarmed apical gland. The presence of the unarmed apical gland as well as an aspinose rostrum allows the erection of a new subfamily, Adenobrechmoinae, for the new genus. Adenobrechmos greeri n. sp. is the fourth species of Proteocephalidae reported to infect New Guinean reptiles.
Conceptions of Authority Within Contemporary Social Work Practice in Managed Mental Health Care Organizations

This article examines how social workers may use their authority to create managed mental health care organizations that support the principles and values of professional social work practice. By exploring research and theoretical contributions from a multidisciplinary perspective, the author suggests ways that social workers may incorporate empowerment strategies into their organizational practices to create more socially responsible and humane mental health organizations.
The evolution of robust, reversible, nano-scale, femtosecond-switching circuits

This paper introduces conceptual problems that will arise in the next 10-20 years as electronic circuits reach nanometer scale, i.e. the size of molecules. Suc1.09"h circuits will be impossible to make perfectly, due to the inevitable fabrication faults in chips with an Avogadro number of components. Hence they will need to be constructed so that they are robust to faults. They will also need to be (as far as possible) reversible circuits, to avoid the heat dissipation problem if bits of information are routinely wiped out during the computational process. They will also have to be local if the switching times reach femtoseconds, which is possible now with quantum optics. This paper discusses some of the conceptual issues involved in trying to build circuits that satisfy all these criteria, i.e. that they are robust, reversible and local. We propose an evolutionary engineering based model that meets all these criteria, and provide some experimental results to justify it.
All your data are always missing: incorporating bias due to measurement error into the potential outcomes framework

Epidemiologists often use the potential outcomes framework to cast causal inference as a missing data problem. Here, we demonstrate how bias due to measurement error can be described in terms of potential outcomes and considered in concert with bias from other sources. In addition, we illustrate how acknowledging the uncertainty that arises due to measurement error increases the amount of missing information in causal inference. We use a simple example to show that estimating the average treatment effect requires the investigator to perform a series of hidden imputations based on strong assumptions.
Consumption and Decomposition of Lichen Litter in a Temperate Coniferous Rainforest

Abstract Abstract: Nylon mesh litter-bags markedly reduced the rate of weight loss of lichen litter, as compared to unconfined (free) lichens, suggesting that herbivores and detritivores larger than the mesh size make a significant contribution to the disappearance of lichen litter. The half-life of free lichen litter was 1·5 months for Alectoria sarmentosa , 2·5 months for Hypogymnia inactiva , 3·5 months for Platismatia glauca , and 7 months for Lobaria oregana . The half-lives were 2-9 times longer for the same species in litter-bags. Because A. sarmentosa showed the greatest difference between free litter and litter-bags, we conclude that, of the four species studied, it had the highest rate of consumption by larger herbivores and detritivores.
Age-related development of crown structure in coastal Douglas-fir trees

We compared crown structure among 20-, 40-, and 450-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb. (Franco) var. menziesii) trees, and present a conceptual model of crown development. The model is based on the idea that the tree crown can be considered a vertical chronosequence of cohorts of branches that increase in age from upper- to lower-crown. Mean branch volume increased from upper- to lower-crown following the exponential or general logistic growth curve. Maximum branch volume occurred in the lower-crown for 20- and 40-year-old trees, while it occurred in the middle-crown for 450-year-old trees. For the 20- and 40-year-old trees, branch death did not occur in the upper-most part of the crown, and branch density decreased exponentially for the lower one-half and two-thirds of the crown, respectively. For the 450-year-old trees, branch death occurred and branch density decreased exponentially for the full extent of the crown. Epicormic branches increased branch density in the lower-crown, and moderated the rate of decrease in branch density. For the 20- and 40-year-old trees, branch diameter distributions changed from an abundance of small-diameter branches in the upper-crown, to positively skewed bimodal distributions in the middle-crown, and unimodal distributions comprised of surviving large-diameter branches in the lower-crown. For the 450-year-old trees, branch diameter distributions in the upper-crown were unimodal consisting mostly of original branches. In the middle- to lower-crown, branch diameter distributions were bimodal comprised of small-diameter epicormic branches and large-diameter original branches. For the 20- and 40-year-old trees, the relationship between mean branch volume and branch density showed two distinct phases. In the upper-crown where branch death was not observed, and mean branch volume increased with decreasing height while branch density remained relatively constant. In the middle- to lower-crown where branch death occurred, mean branch volume increased while branch density decreased exponentially with decreasing height. For the 450-year-old trees, branch death occurred, and mean branch volume increased while branch density decreased exponentially with decreasing height for the full extent of the crown. The relationship between mean branch volume and branch density after the onset of branch death defined the branch self-pruning line/curve. This relationship reflected sequential changes in the population structure of cohorts of branches growing under increasingly shady conditions as the crown grows taller and new cohorts develop above old ones. As a result of the combined effects of branch growth and death, vertical distribution of branch volume shifted toward the upper-crown with increasing tree age.
On the role of intrinsic material response in failure of tribo systems

This paper studies the intrinsic material response (IMR), to energy accumulation in sliding. The underlaying hypotheses is that any material has an intrinsic limit that bounds the rate of dissipation of externally applied energy (work/thermal flux). Whenever, the rate of application of external energy is less than that of the intrinsic dissipation rate, a material catastrophic event may be avoided and vice versa. It is shown that while wear may be correlated to the structures developed in compression of a given material, the structures are correlated to the response of the material to the interaction between thermal conduction and thermal storage. This parameter in turn is influenced by the combination of strain rates and rate of entropy generation. When such analysis is applied to the sliding of pure copper, wear is found to be correlated to two parameters: the thermo-mechanical coupling factor whereas, the second represents the rate of mechanical strains to thermal strains.
A DLL Based Multiphase Hysteretic DC-DC Converter

Near-load DC-DC converter insertion based on multiphase current-sharing topologies and hysteretic control techniques can be used to reduce external current requirements, decrease the size of on-die capacitance and output filter and provide fast load response to enable multiple supply domains in future microprocessor platforms. In this paper, a new delay locked loop (DLL) based multiphase hysteretic controller is presented. This topology utilizes the switching frequency from one hysteretic controller to automatically synchronize the remaining phases and eliminate the need for external synchronization. A dedicated duty cycle control loop is used to enable current sharing and ripple cancellation. A four phase buck converter is designed with this control scheme in 0.6mum CMOS technology. The results show that less than 0.1% duty cycle resolution can be achieved for nearly equal current sharing among all phases and low output ripple. The proposed DLL based controller measures roughly 0.6mm by 0.4mm and dissipates approximately 40mW at 60MHz
Consumer Valuations of Beef Steak Food Safety Enhancement in Canada, Japan, Mexico, and the United States

Food safety concerns have had dramatic impacts on food and livestock markets in recent years. We examine consumer preferences for beef steak food safety assurances. We evaluate the extent to which preferences are heterogeneous within and across country-of-residence defined groups and examine the distributional nature of preferences with respect to marginal improvements in food safety. Using mixed logit models, we find that consumers in Canada, Japan, Mexico, and the United States have willingness to pay preferences that are nonlinear in the level of food safety risk reduction. In particular, consumers in Japan and Mexico have preferences that are convex and consumers in Canada and the United States have preferences concave in the level of food safety enhancement. Les inquietudes entourant la securite alimentaire ont eu des repercussions considerables sur le marche du betail et le marche des aliments au cours des derni`eres annees. Nous avons examine les preferences des consommateurs concernant l’assurance de la securite alimentaire de la viande de boeuf. Nous avons evalue dans quelle mesure les preferences des consommateurs etaient heterog`enes au sein de groupes etablis selon le pays de residence et entre ces groupes, et avons examine la nature distributionnelle des preferences a l’egard des ameliorations marginales de la securite alimentaire. L’utilisation de modeles logit mixtes nous a permis d’etablir que la volonte de payer des consommateurs du Canada, du Japon, du Mexique et des Etats-Unis etaient non lineaires lorsqu’il etait question de diminuer le degre de risque concernant la securite alimentaire. Les preferences des consommateurs du Japon et du Mexique etaient convexes, tandis que celles des consommateurs du Canada et des Etats-Unis etaient concaves lorsqu’il etait question d’accroitre le niveau de securite alimentaire
Comparison of standard hip MR arthrographic imaging planes and sequences for detection of arthroscopically proven labral tear.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to compare multiple imaging planes and two pulse sequences for detection of arthroscopically proven labral tears.MATERIALS AND METHODS. From March 2004 through June 2007, acetabular labral tear was diagnosed at hip arthroscopy of 189 patients. Preoperative MR arthrography of the affected hip was performed on 144 patients at our institution. These MR arthrograms were retrospectively reviewed by a musculoskeletal fellow and two musculoskeletal radiologists. The sequences used were coronal T1-weighted with fat saturation, coronal T2-weighted with fat saturation, sagittal T1-weighted with fat saturation, axial oblique T1-weighted with fat saturation, sagittal oblique T1-weighted with fat saturation, and axial T1-weighted. Using consensus, the reviewers evaluated images obtained with each sequence for the presence of a tear, number of slices on which a tear was seen, and the signal intensity of the tear.RESULTS. Among the 144 tears, 97.2% were identified as definitely p...
Book Review: Sentencing and the Legitimacy of Trial Justice

Book Review: Henham, Ralph. Sentencing and the Legitimacy of Trial Justice (Routledge, 2012). Reviewed in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books.The book artfully explores unchartered territory. It attempts to explain the void in the discussion between sentencing outcomes and the public’s perception of the legitimacy of our criminal justice system. Current theory and research of the structure, policies, and processes that affect sentencing do not adequately reflect, or even acknowledge, society’s perception of individual sentencing outcomes as it relates to the public’s broader sense of justice. Henham seeks to fill this void by describing how public perception may reflect, and affect, criminal justice system within the concept of legitimacy. While other scholars have presented legitimacy as a part of the criminal justice dialogue, Henham explores legitimacy through the lens of morality and the sometimes conflicting community norms and values.
Delivering the Scary News: Newspaper Sourcing in a Bioterrorism Crisis

This study examines patterns in news sourcing and play, in light of risk communication factors. A content analysis of 457 U.S. newspaper stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks revealed that more stories included outrage rhetoric than risk explanations. Stories containing uncertainty factors appeared more often during the impact phase than any other crisis phase. The more sources a story used, the less likely it was to include vague advice and explanations. The more play that a story received, the less likely it was to include explanations. Health agency and law enforcement officials dominated the coverage, while scientists, victims, and citizens were quoted least often. Stories quoting experts received higher play than stories quoting non-experts. A relatively large proportion of stories quoted unnamed sources, only one source, or non-experts, indicating a lack of access to authoritative interview sources, especially during the outbreak and impact phases of the crisis.
Calcium, phosphorus, iron and nitrogen balances in pregnant women

Summary We have followed a group of patients through pregnancy and the puerperium to determine if the addition of calcium, phosphorus, iron, or vitamins A and D to the diet had any effect on the course of pregnancy, prevented complications from developing, or insured a higher incidence of normal infants. Studies of the serum calcium, phosphorus, protein, as well as hematocrit and hemoglobin showed them to be within normal limits and uninfluenced by the foregoing additions to the diet. A study of the effect of the additions to the diet on the various complications of pregnancy showed some differences but no definite conclusions could be drawn. The duration of labor was certainly not shortened by the administration of vitamin D as has been suggested. The additions to the diet caused a significant increase in maternal weight. No significant effects were noted on the fetus that. could be attributed to the changes in diet.
Role-Playing and the Development of Insight

ation from the mean average is Ino more than could be reasonably attributed to chance, that in the records of the state with the most striking variation there appear to be clerical errors which account for the variation, that in numerous instances adjoining states with somewhat similar physical conditions vary considerably (cf. Alabama and Georgia, Vermont and New Hampshire, Arizona and Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota), raises serious doubt as to the actual existence of regional variations in the human sex ratio of native white live births in the United States. These data do not, therefore, support the view that geographic conditions directly affect the sex ratio at birth.
Increased Inlet Blood Flow Velocity Predicts Low Wall Shear Stress in the Cephalic Arch of Patients with Brachiocephalic Fistula Access.

Background An autogenous arteriovenous fistula is the optimal vascular access for hemodialysis. In the case of brachiocephalic fistula, cephalic arch stenosis commonly develops leading to access failure. We have hypothesized that a contribution to fistula failure is low wall shear stress resulting from post-fistula creation hemodynamic changes that occur in the cephalic arch. Methods Twenty-two subjects with advanced renal failure had brachiocephalic fistulae placed. The following procedures were performed at mapping (pre-operative) and at fistula maturation (8–32 weeks post-operative): venogram, Doppler to measure venous blood flow velocity, and whole blood viscosity. Geometric and computational modeling was performed to determine wall shear stress and other geometric parameters. The relationship between hemodynamic parameters and clinical findings was examined using univariate analysis and linear regression. Results The percent low wall shear stress was linearly related to the increase in blood flow velocity (p < 0.01). This relationship was more significant in non-diabetic patients (p < 0.01) than diabetic patients. The change in global measures of arch curvature and asymmetry also evolve with time to maturation (p < 0.05). Conclusions The curvature and hemodynamic changes during fistula maturation increase the percentage of low wall shear stress regions within the cephalic arch. Low wall shear stress may contribute to subsequent neointimal hyperplasia and resultant cephalic arch stenosis. If this hypothesis remains tenable with further studies, ways of protecting the arch through control of blood flow velocity may need to be developed.
Comparison of conventional standard tube agglutination test and rose bengal precipitation test in determining brucellosis

Objective:To explore a fast,accurate,sensitive test to diagnose brucellosis. Methods:The rose bengal precipitation test(RBPT) and standard tube agglutination test(SAT) were employed. Results:The positive rate of standard tube agglutination test was 35. 7%,while that of rose bengal precipitation test was 38. 1%,the positive coincidence rate was 93. 8%. The rose bengal precipitation test had stronger sensitivity,while the standard tube agglutination test had a higher specificity. Conclusion:Rose bengal precipitation test is suitable for screening and epidemiological research in wide range of brucellosis.
Suppression of self-pulsing regime of direct current driven microplasma discharges

An instability suppressor circuit for self-pulsing direct current (DC) driven microplasma discharge is proposed and experimentally tested over a range of pd values for helium feed gas. The external circuit configuration suppresses self-pulsing of the discharge, extending the normal glow regime to lower currents. The negative differential resistance (NDR) region was observed to shift further left in the voltage–current parametric space (i.e., lower current), and the slope of the NDR region was decreased substantially. In addition, the suppressor element decreased the pulsing frequency as well as the static positive resistance of the discharge in the shifted NDR region. Modeling of the discharge configuration indicated that the inductor element of the suppressor circuit increases the time lag of the plasma response, which increases the stable region of operation. A stability map in terms of the external circuit parameters is introduced.