cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
No Significant Increase In Tree Mortality Following Coring In A Temperate Hardwood Forest

The collection of tree-ring data from living trees is widespread and highly valuable in ecological and dendro-climatological research, yet there is concern that coring injures trees, potentially contributing to mortality. Unlike resinous conifers that can quickly compartmentalize wounds, less decay-resistant angiosperms may face more pronounced risk of injury from coring. To test if coring increases mortality rates in temperate hardwood trees, we leverage a unique dataset tracking the mortality of cored and uncored hardwood trees representing 19 species from 10 genera in a 26-ha plot in Virginia, USA. We compare mortality rates between 935 cored trees and 8605 uncored trees for seven years following coring. Annual mortality rates did not differ between cored trees (1.71% yr–1; 95% CI 1.40 to 2.20) and uncored trees (1.85% yr–1; 95% CI 1.70 to 2.28) across the full dataset, nor were there differences by genus or size class. These results indicate that the risk of hardwood mortality caused by increment coring is probably lower than previously assumed. However, these results cannot rule out the possibility that coring elevates hardwood mortality in other climates or when trees face multiple additional stressors that were not influential over the course of our study.
VitalSign: Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Depression for Adolescents Presenting to Pediatric Primary and Specialty Care Settings.

Depression in youth is a critical public health concern. Nearly 13% of adolescents have experienced a depressive episode within the last year,1 and suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds.2 Depression's negative impact spans several domains of functioning, leading to long-term effects on development.3 Recognizing the magnitude of the crisis, renewed guidelines by the US Preventive Services Taskforce and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that pediatric primary care providers become more active in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of depression.4,5 Primary care settings provide optimal opportunities to identify and treat depression, while reducing stigma and barriers surrounding mental health, particularly given the limited availability and cost of psychiatric specialists. Although providers cite difficulties, including insufficient appointment time, inadequate training, discomfort addressing mental health disorders, and stigma, the management of depressed patients is feasible and efficacious in primary care.6-8 Several cost-efficient and easy-to-use depression screening tools are readily available and can be used alongside clinical interviews to diagnose and initiate treatment. In the following letter, we examine the feasibility of implementing a program focused on supporting pediatric providers in screening, diagnosing, and initiating depression treatment in youth.
Oblique Incidence Pulse Measurements At 100 KC/S

Fast rising pulses propagated over long ranges have provided a means for separating the ground-wave and various order sky-wave time modes at 100 kc/s. Amplitude and phase measurements of the once reflected sky wave show that besides the normal phase variations other phenomena occur. For example, large amplitude variations are not accompanied by phase variation; phase delays may differ for opposite directions of propagation along the same path; the attenuation rate of the signals increases with latitude; small solar flares may produce phase advances or retardations; and finally, the amplitude variations of different time modes are uncorrelated. The observed phenomena are interpreted as further evidence of the existence of a low altitude low electron density region in the ionosphere. The results are shown to be consistent, at least qualitatively, with the propagation theory for the lower ionosphere derived by Johler et al.
On the Grounds for Parental Consent in Determining the Treatment of Defective Newborns

Recent advances in medical technology have made it possible to substantially extend the life expectancy of defective newborn infants.(1) By the 1960’s application of this technology had become so widespread that it was the common practice of most major United States’ hospitals to offer maximal treatment to all such infants despite the severity of their impairment. By the end of the decade some physicians involved in the care of these children had begun to question the advisability of this practice. Where an infants’ life prospects were, at best, bleak they suggested that nontreatment might be preferable to active intervention. Reservations were voiced most frequently about treatment of the congenital malformation of the spinal cord known as spina bifida myelomeningocele. The infant is born with a lesion in the spinal column and paralysis below the level of the lesion. The higher the lesion the more severe the disability. Controversy soon began to surface in the medical journals between a group of physicians who advocated a policy of selective treatment of infants with such congenital malformations and those who now found themselves challenged to justify the prevailing practice. The controversy grew more complex as it was found that infants selected for nontreatment frequently survived nonetheless and their prognosis was often bleaker than would have been the case if they had been treated initially. Their death could not be accurately predicted.
Roles of integrins in regulating metastatic potentials of cancer cell derived exosomes

Purpose of review: Exosomes are nano-sized extracellular vesicles ranging from 30–150 nm in diameter. Exosomes interact with nearby or distantly localized recipient cells by involving ligand/receptor binding at the surface of recipient cells or fusion with plasma membrane of recipient cells. A number of recent literatures support the role of integrins in mediating metastatic process of cancer cell derived exosomes. While exosomes need to dock on the surface of recipient cells to transmit signals or transfer their contents, the process of docking and uptake of exosomes by recipient cells is poorly understood. This review discusses the recent reports that suggest the potential roles of exosomal integrins in mediating docking and uptake of exosomes, and how these processes are related to metastatic potentials of cancer cell derived exosomes. Recent findings: Exosomal integrins (α6β4, α6β1, αvβ5, αvβ3, αvβ6) and exosomal integrin ligands (vinculin, fibronectin) have been recently reported to play roles in cancer metastasis. As exosomes are involved in cell-to-cell communication, integrins and their ligands in cancer cell derived exosomes can contribute to progression by selecting target tissues and triggering integrin mediated signaling cascades to form new metastatic niche. Recent studies also suggest that exosomal integrins and their ligands can be targeted for developing exosome based diagnostics and therapies.
Sugarcane response and fall panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorum) control with topramezone and triazine herbicides

Field studies were conducted on organic soils in Belle Glade, FL, in 2016 to 2017 to evaluate sugarcane tolerance and fall panicum control with topramezone applied alone or in combination with triazine herbicides (atrazine, metribuzin, ametryn). Treatments included topramezone (25 and 50 g ai ha–¹) applied alone or in combination with atrazine (2,240 g ai ha–¹), metribuzin (2,240 g ai ha–¹), and ametryn (440 g ha–¹) on four plant cane varieties to evaluate tolerance, and on second ratoon fields to determine efficacy on fall panicum control. Topramezone applied alone had no effect on sugarcane chlorophyll fluorescence (i.e., the ratio of variable fluorescence to maximum fluorescence), total chlorophyll, and carotenoid 7 to 28 d after treatment (DAT), suggesting sugarcane tolerance. Significant reduction of these parameters occured 7 to 14 DAT when topramezone (50 g ai ha–¹) was applied with ametryn or metribuzin; however, reductions were not detected thereafter, indicating recovery. Sugarcane yield was not affected by topramezone applied alone or in combination with the triazine herbicides. Topramezone (50 g ai ha–¹) plus metribuzin resulted in acceptable control of fall panicum (84%) with limited to no regrowth of meristematic tissue at sugarcane canopy closure, equivalent to 56 to 70 DAT. These results indicate that when sequential applications of topramezone, applied alone or in combination with these triazine herbicides, are required for efficacious weed control, topramezone applications alone can be made after 7 d, whereas the combinations can be made after 14 or 21 d, depending on sugarcane sensitivity. Nomenclature: Ametryn; atrazine; metribuzin; topramezone; fall panicum, Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx. PANDI; sugarcane (Saccharum spp., interspecific hybrids).
Parent education for families of children and youth with special needs in the digital era

Purpose: To evaluate needs for parent education materials at an academic child development evaluation center serving patients and families of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHN), to inform development of these educational materials. Methods: We performed 2 needs assessment surveys over 4 weeks: (1) in-person survey received from 93 caregivers of patients receiving developmental evaluations at a child development clinic, and (2) electronic survey received from 62 health care professionals working with CYSHN through the Utah Regional Leadership Education …
Study of tip wear for AFM-based vibration-assisted nanomachining process

Abstract Nanofabrication technologies have many applications in science and engineering. Among different nanofabrication technologies, the tip-based vibration-assisted nanomachining using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) provides a low-cost, easy-to-setup approach for the production of nano-scale structures. As the resolution and quality of the machined features are greatly affected by the radius and sharpness of the tip, it is critical to investigate the behavior of tip wear during the nanomachining process and to estimate the tip life. In this work, the evolvement of the tip wear was characterized and modeled to predict tip wear and tip life for the nanomachining process. Besides the direct inspection of the tip radius using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), the pull-off force between the AFM tip and the sample surface was found to correlate well with the tip radius, which enabled the measurement of tip wear directly without unloading the tip from the AFM. To study the tip wear at different conditions, the tip radius was measured from the pull-off force under a wide range of machining conditions. The change rates of the tip radius were significantly affected by the machining parameters, such as setpoint force and feed rate. Moreover, during the nanomachining process, three regions were identified for the tip wear evolvement as initial tip wear region, transition region, and tip failure region. Regression models were developed to describe the tip wear at different stages, and to estimate the tip life (i.e. when the tip needs to be changed), which provide usefully information for future process planning and process optimization.
The Fugitive Slave Law

When twenty-three-year-old Peter Green left Newport, Giles County, Virginia, in early September 1850, his plan was to get to Richmond and from there to a Free State. He got only as far as Lynchburg, roughly one hundred miles from his home, when he was intercepted at the Franklin Hotel as he tried to buy a train ticket. When questioned, Green claimed he was a free man going on a visit to Pennsylvania. But it quickly became apparent that his free papers, which he readily produced, were forged. Those who took him into custody found that he was also carrying an atlas, pen, ink and paper – which possibly could be used to forge additional passes as needed – and on which was carefully recorded the mileage between Newport and Richmond. A few weeks earlier, a group of eight slaves from Clarke County, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, had arrived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Three of them, Samuel Wilson, George Brocks, and Billy, decided to try their luck in the city, unaware that their masters were hot on their heels. From Chillicothe, Ohio, came word that more than 110 slaves had passed through the town from Kentucky in the six months before October 1850. One slave catcher told a not-too-sympathetic correspondent that, over the spring and summer of 1850, Maryland and Virginia had lost more slaves than in “any former period.” Among them must have been the seven who together fled Maryland in August 1850, five of whom were captured in Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania, one mile above the Maryland line, as well as the ten Virginia slaves who got lost in the Allegheny Mountains and were captured in Bedford, Pennsylvania. These were just a few examples of what, to many Southerners, was a disturbing pattern of slave escapes. A few of these escapes were nothing if not spectacular. William and Ellen Craft had escaped from Macon, Georgia, over the 1848 Christmas holidays. Phenotypically white, Ellen dressed as a master traveling to Philadelphia for medical treatment; William accompanied her as her slave. Traveling openly by train and boat, they made it to Pennsylvania in just four days. Three months later, Henry Brown came up with the ingenious scheme to have himself crated and mailed to Philadelphia. Hours later he emerged triumphantly from his box at the offices of the American Antislavery Society, if a little worse for wear.
Encoding of 3D Head Orienting Movements in the Primary Visual Cortex

Animals actively sample the sensory world by generating complex patterns of movement that evolve in three dimensions. Whether or how such movements affect neuronal activity in sensory cortical areas remains largely unknown, because most experiments exploring movement-related modulation have been performed in head-fixed animals. Here, we show that 3D head-orienting movements (HOMs) modulate primary visual cortex (V1) activity in a direction-specific manner that also depends on light. We identify two overlapping populations of movement-direction-tuned neurons that support this modulation, one of which is direction tuned in the dark and the other in the light. Although overall movement enhanced V1 responses to visual stimulation, HOMs suppressed responses. We demonstrate that V1 receives a motor efference copy related to orientation from secondary motor cortex, which is involved in controlling HOMs. These results support predictive coding theories of brain function and reveal a pervasive role of 3D movement in shaping sensory cortical dynamics.
Breaking Bad Facts: How Intriguing Contradictions in Fiction Can Teach Lawyers to Re-Envision Harmful Evidence

Walter White is the “nerdiest old dude” that Jesse Pinkman knows. His students ignore him, laugh at him, and make fun of him at his after school job at the car wash. His home decor and personal fashion could best be described as New American Pathetic.And yet by the end of the hit television series, Breaking Bad, White is a feared multi-million dollar drug lord known as Heisenberg. He has killed multiple foes. He has lied. He built an empire, and, despite being chased by the DEA, the cartels, and various other murdering sociopaths, he has still left money for his family.The contradiction seems enormous, and, yet, it draws us in. It creates curiosity and somehow not only remains believable but actually breathes a more realistic-seeming life into this fiction character.By viewing contradictions through this storytelling lens, lawyers faced with seemingly contradictory facts in a trial or an appellate case can craft a more realistic and ethical narrative. In so doing, they can create greater logical cohesion and underscore their theory of the case.Previous scholarship on harmful evidence focuses on the effects of disclosing harmful facts or focuses on techniques regarding disclosure. This article takes those ideas to the next level by re-envisioning this seemingly contradictory evidence to see it as an integral part of a coherent whole. This concept is new in legal skills but has roots in legal skills precedent.This article explores fiction works like Breaking Bad and the book Room and shows how aspects of those works appear in actual cases, such as the United States Supreme Court prison-overcrowding case, Brown v. Plata, the exoneration of Eddie Joe Lloyd, or the battered spouse case, Weiand v. State.In the end, if the client’s ultimate assertion is true, then the attorney cannot merely break those “bad” facts. The attorney can show those facts in a new light so that they are no longer harmful and are actually a part of the client’s story.This article aids judges grappling with story’s role in law or with issues in the examples, such as prison overcrowding or wrongful convictions, lawyers seeking to overcome harmful evidence, applied legal storytelling scholars, skills professors, law students, and even fiction writers or literary criticism scholars.
Research on ECG De-noising Method Based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Wavelet Transform Using Improved Threshold Function

A de-noising method for electrocardiogram(ECG)based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition(EEMD)and wavelet threshold de-noising theory is proposed in our school.We decomposed noised ECG signals with the proposed method using the EEMD and calculated a series of intrinsic mode functions(IMFs).Then we selected IMFs and reconstructed them to realize the de-noising for ECG.The processed ECG signals were filtered again with wavelet transform using improved threshold function.In the experiments,MIT-BIH ECG database was used for evaluating the performance of the proposed method,contrasting with de-noising method based on EEMD and wavelet transform with improved threshold function alone in parameters of signal to noise ratio(SNR)and mean square error(MSE).The results showed that the ECG waveforms de-noised with the proposed method were smooth and the amplitudes of ECG features did not attenuate.In conclusion,the method discussed in this paper can realize the ECG denoising and meanwhile keep the characteristics of original ECG signal.
Intentionally and Systematically Integrating Diversity Discussions and Lessons in the Law School Classroom During a Race-Conscious Era

This article addresses the compelling interest states have in the educational benefit of diversity in higher education. It provides a framework for developing the classroom discussions most likely envisioned by the Supreme Court justices in recognizing this compelling interest. First suggested to be a compelling interest in the fractured yet landmark Regents of University v. Bakke decision, it was not until Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003 that the Court furthered the idea. The more recent Fisher v. University of Texas decision from 2016 seemed to accept educational diversity as a compelling interest; however, that conclusion received strong criticism. In Fisher, Justice Alito took the opportunity in his dissent to systematically cut a swath through the majority’s acceptance of the University’s goals of classroom diversity, interracial diversity, and the avoidance of racial isolation. This article disagrees with Justice Alito and aims to establish that the educational benefits of racial diversity in the classroom are evident. To do so, the article provides a historical tracing of the Court’s valuation of the educational benefits of a diverse student body. Next, the article focuses on the continued need for diversity lessons in a race-conscious culture and explains methodologies for incorporating lessons on diversity in traditional law school courses. The article provides the means for teaching racially sensitive topics; but because it questions whether everyone is equipped to openly handle diversity issues, it also makes suggestions on how to do so in silent and quiet manners. Finally, the article provides a brief review of post-Fisher litigation and concludes that the Court consider shifting its focus from the educational benefits of diversity to the educational benefits of inclusion. In so doing, the article recognizes the continued need to further develop both the educational benefit as a compelling interest and the law school conversations.
A Multi-Omics Approach to Interpreting the Influence of Polyphenols in Countering Exercise-Induced Physiological Stress

Metabolomics, lipidomics, and proteomics provide a systemwide view of the metabolic response to exercise by simultaneously measuring and identifying a large number of small-molecule metabolites, lipids, and proteins. Many of these are involved with immune function and regulation and are sensitive to dietary influences, especially acute carbohydrate ingestion from either sugar beverages or fruits such as bananas. Emerging evidence using large multi-omics data sets supports the combined intake of fruit sugars and phytochemicals by athletes during heavy exertion as an effective strategy to improve metabolic recovery, augment viral defense, and counter postexercise inflammation and immune dysfunction at the cell level. Multi-omics methodologies have given investigators new outcome targets to assess the efficacy of various dietary interventions for physiologically stressed athletes.
T cell exhaustion—a memory locked behind scars

Following clearance of chronic infections, virus-specific CD8+ T cells recover a subset of memory-related transcriptome features. Yet their unique open chromatin landscape largely reflects an exhausted or dysfunctional state, limiting their protective memory potential.
Exposure to a mixture of 23 chemicals associated with unconventional oil and gas operations alters immune response to challenge in adult mice.

The prevalence of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) operations raises concerns regarding the potential for adverse health outcomes following exposure to water tainted by mixtures of UOG associated chemicals. The potential effects that exposure to complex chemical mixtures has on the immune system have yet to be fully evaluated. In this study, effects on the immune system of adult mice exposed to a mixture of 23 chemicals that have been associated with water near active UOG operations were investigated. Female and male mice were exposed to the mixture via their drinking water for at least 8 weeks. At the end of the exposure, cellularity of primary and secondary immune organs, as well as an immune system function, were assessed using three different models of disease, i.e. house dust mite (HDM)-induced allergic airway disease, influenza A virus infection, and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The results indicated exposures resulted in different impacts on T-cell populations in each disease model. Furthermore, the consequences of exposure differed between female and male mice. Notably, exposure to the chemical mixture significantly increased EAE disease severity in females, but not in male, mice. These findings indicated that direct exposure to this mixture leads to multiple alterations in T-cell subsets and that these alterations differ between sexes. This suggested to us that direct exposure to UOG-associated chemicals may alter the adult immune system, leading to dysregulation in immune cellularity and function.
Directional thermal channeling: A phenomenon triggered by tight packing of heat sources

Understanding nanoscale thermal transport is critical for nano-engineered devices such as quantum sensors, thermoelectrics, and nanoelectronics. However, despite overwhelming experimental evidence for nondiffusive heat dissipation from nanoscale heat sources, the underlying mechanisms are still not understood. In this work, we show that for nanoscale heat source spacings that are below the mean free path of the dominant phonons in a substrate, close packing of the heat sources increases in-plane scattering and enhances cross-plane thermal conduction. This leads to directional channeling of thermal transport—a novel phenomenon. By using advanced atomic-level simulations to accurately access the lattice temperature and the phonon scattering and transport properties, we finally explain the counterintuitive experimental observations of enhanced cooling for close-packed heat sources. This represents a distinct fundamental behavior in materials science with far-reaching implications for electronics and future quantum devices.
Opportunities and challenges for engineering construction materials as carbon sinks

Population growth and urbanization over the coming decades are anticipated to drive unprecedented demand for infrastructure materials and energy resources. Unfortunately, factors such as the degree of resource consumption, the energy-intensive nature of production, and the chemical-reaction driven emissions make infrastructure materials production industries among the greatest contributors to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Yet there is an often-overlooked potential environmental benefit to infrastructure materials: most remain in use for decades and their long service lives can facilitate extended storage of carbon. In this perspective, we present an overview of recent technological advancements that can support infrastructure materials acting as a global, distributed carbon sink and discuss areas for further research and development. We present mechanisms to quantify the extent to which the embodied carbon will be removed from the carbon cycle for a long enough period of time to provide carbon sequestration and climate benefit. We conclude that it is possible to unlock the vast potential to engineer a carbon sequestration system that simultaneously meets societal need for expanding infrastructure systems; however, complexities in how these systems are engineered must be systematically and quantitatively incorporated into materials design.
Chronic adolescent exposure to cannabis in mice leads to long-term sex-biased changes in gene expression networks across brain regions

Background: The molecular mechanisms underlying the long-lasting behavioral changes associated with adolescent cannabis use are poorly understood. To this end, we performed gene network analyses of multiple brain regions in adult mice exposed during the entire adolescence to Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of cannabis. Methods: Two weeks after the last exposure to THC (10 mg/kg) or vehicle, we measured cognitive behaviors and profiled the transcriptomes of 5 brain regions from 12 female and 12 male mice. We performed differential gene expression analysis and constructed gene coexpression networks (modules) to identify THC-induced transcriptional alterations at the level of individual genes, gene networks, and biological pathways. We integrated the THC-correlated modules with human traits from genome-wide association studies to identify potential regulators of disease-associated networks. Results: THC impaired cognitive behaviors of mice, with memory being more impacted in females than males, which coincided with larger transcriptional changes in the female brain. Modules involved in endocannabinoid signaling and inflammation were correlated with memory deficits in the female dorsal medial striatum and ventral tegmental area, respectively. Converging pathways related to dopamine signaling and addiction were altered in the female amygdala and male nucleus accumbens. Moreover, the connectivity map of THC-correlated modules uncovered intra- and inter-region molecular circuitries influenced by THC. Lastly, modules altered by THC were enriched in genes relevant for human cognition and neuropsychiatric disorders. Conclusions: These findings provide novel insights concerning the genes, pathways and brain regions underlying persistent behavioral deficits induced by adolescent exposure to THC in a sex-specific manner.
A Practical Approach to the Diagnosis of Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension can be difficult to diagnose as there are a number of tests available and knowing how to appropriately choose amongst them is not always easy. In this article, we will review the available diagnostic options and provide a practical approach to the workup of a patient with suspected intracranial hypotension.
Reconfigurable protocol sensing for space-based applications

In this paper, we present sensing performance using an architecture for a reconfigurable protocol chip for space-based applications . We examine three common framing standards and present the sensing performance of these standards and their decorrelation statistics. We also examine the impact over lossy links. Finally, we describe a process flow for development of this sensor mechanism.
Ecological effects of multi-species, ant-hemipteran mutualisms in citrus

1. Protection mutualisms between ants and honeydew-producing insects influence arthropod food webs by altering the behaviour, activity and local abundance of ants on plants. Ants often tend multiple species of honeydew-producing insects; however, studies that examine such effects typically consider only pairwisemutualisms. This study investigates how multi-species mutualisms between ants and honeydew-producing insects structure arthropod food webs in citrus.2. In an organic lemon orchard in San Diego County, California, U.S.A., ants or honeydew-producing insects (or neither) were experimentally removed from individual, mature lemon trees and then abundances of the following were estimated over a 2-year period: the Argentine ant, five species of honeydew-producing hemipterans, and California red scale. Red scale produces no honeydew but indirectly benefits from the presence of ants, which disrupt parasitism by Aphytis wasps.3. Mutualism between ants and honeydew-producing hemipterans indirectly andpositively affected red scale. Levels of parasitism decreased with increasing antrecruitment, and red scale density increased with both increasing ant recruitment and increasing honeydew-producing hemipteran abundance. Moreover, abundances of each of three honeydew-producing hemipteran species emerged as positive predictors of redscale density in different analyses; this finding suggests that individual hemipteran taxa exhibit distinct and spatially localised effects on ants.4. Evidence of positive, indirect effects between two focal species of honeydew-producing Hemiptera was also detected. Guilds of honeydew-producing hemipterans may provide ants with honeydew more consistently or for longer than that produced by any single species. These results argue for an appreciation of how mutualist diversity affects the ecological consequences of mutualisms.
Accommodating QoS Prediction in an Adaptive Resource Management Framework

Resource management for dynamic, distributed real-time systems requires handling of unknown arrival rates for data and events; additional desiderata include: accommodation of heterogeneous resources, high resource utilization, and guarantees of real-time quality-of-service (QoS). This paper describes the techniques employed by a resource manager that addresses these issues. The specific contributions of this paper are: QoS monitoring and resource usage profiling; prediction of real-time QoS (via interpolation and extrapolation of execution times) for heterogeneous resource platforms and dynamic real-time environments; and resource contention analysis.
Treating the personality disordered agoraphobic patient with individual and marital therapy:: A multiple replication study☆

Abstract Agoraphobic patients with concurrent personality disorder may be less responsive to individual behavior therapy because of their intense conflicts concerning independent functioning and their difficulties in interpersonal relationships. This study used a multiple replication, time series design to determine the efficacy of Behavioral Marital Therapy (BMT) in the enhancement of marital concordance and the decrease in panic disorder (PD) and agoraphobic symptoms in four female patients suffering from both PD and a personality disorder. Two couples reported high marital conflict both on self-report inventories and during interview. Two couples reported low conflict in self-report scores and during initial clinical interviews, but were later found to exhibit high levels of marital distress. Subjects were administered four measures of symptom severity during each session of four treatment phases: Baseline (3 sessions), Individual Treatment (10 sessions), Marital Treatment (10 sessions), and Follow-up (3 consecutive months). Trend analysis of variance and post hoc tests indicated that subjects from self-labeled discordant marriages exhibited an enhancement of marital concordance and a decrease in panic/agoraphobic symptoms after BMT. Couples who initially did not report marital conflict exhibited little or no change following BMT and had variable results following individual treatment. Idiographic analysis of personality and family factors must be considered prior to determining the most efficacious treatment for dually diagnosed patients.
Towards Finding the Critical Value for Kalman Filtering with Intermittent Observations

In [1], Sinopoli et al. analyze the problem of optimal estimation for linear Gaussian systems where packets containing observations are dropped according to an i.i.d. Bernoulli process, modeling a memoryless erasure channel. In this case the authors show that the Kalman Filter is still the optimal estimator, although boundedness of the error depends directly upon the channel arrival probability, p. In particular they also prove the existence of a critical val ue, pc, for such probability, below which the Kalman filter will diverge. The authors are not able to comput e the actual value of this critical probability for general linear systems, but provide upper and lower bounds. They are able to show that for special cases, i.e. C invertible, such critical value coincides with the lower bo und. This paper computes the value of the critical arrival probability, under minimally restrictive conditions on the matrices A and C.
Reproductive aging in the Brown Norway rat is characterized by accelerated germ cell apoptosis and is not altered by luteinizing hormone replacement.

Reproductive aging in the male Brown Norway (BN) rat is characterized by decreased Leydig cell steroidogenesis associated with seminiferous tubule dysfunction. This could be a result of a combination of a primary testicular defect and a secondary hypothalamic pituitary dysfunction. In the present study, we determined in the BN rat whether germ cell loss occurred via apoptosis. We then defined the age of onset of Leydig cell dysfunction and germ cell loss and examined whether chronic luteinizing hormone (LH) replacement would delay or prevent reproductive aging. Plasma hormone levels, testicular sperm concentrations, and germ cell apoptosis were studied in 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21-month-old BN rats. Beginning at 15 months, testicular weight, sperm concentration, total sperm counts, plasma testosterone, LH, and inhibin decreased, whereas the proportion of regressed testes and plasma follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels increased with aging. Accelerated germ cell apoptosis involving spermatogonia, preleptotene and pachytene spermatocytes, and spermatids was evident in some tubules of the relatively normal testes from 21-month-old rats. In the regressed testes, complete cessation of spermatogenesis occurred. The apoptotic index was higher in the testes of old (21-month-old) rats in particular at stages XII-XIV when compared with younger animals. Chronic LH replacement (0.5 microg i.p. twice per day) administered to 15-month-old BN rats for 6 months did not alter plasma hormone levels, testes weight, sperm concentration or content, or the germ cell apoptotic index. In the control group, 3 out of 10 testes were regressed, whereas in the LH-replaced group, only 1 out of 12 testes was regressed. We show in this study that early reproductive aging in the BN rat began at around 15 months. Germ cell loss associated with aging occurs via apoptosis. Replacement therapy with LH for 6 months does not decrease or delay the testicular dysfunction associated with aging. It is unlikely that hypothalamic-pituitary dysregulation is the major cause of testicular aging.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents Adapted for Self-injury (IPT-ASI): Rationale, Overview, and Case Summary

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), the intentional destruction of one's own body tissue without the conscious intent to die, is a significant health concern among adolescents, however, there are few psychosocial interventions designed to treat NSSI. The current paper describes an adaptation of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A) to be used with adolescents who have symptoms of depression and are engaging in NSSI. Specifically, we describe the rationale for the adaptations made to IPT-A for self-injury (IPT-ASI), and a case vignette to illustrate the implementation of IPT-ASI. Non-suicidal self-injury is often triggered by interpersonal stressors, and IPT-ASI directly aims to help clients to improve their interpersonal relationships by increasing emotional awareness and understanding, and teaching communication and problem solving skills via supportive and didactic techniques. The case vignette demonstrates the successes and challenges of using IPT-ASI for an adolescent with moderate depression and NSSI behaviors who began treatment with much difficulty expressing her emotions.
Avalanches and plasticity for colloids in a time dependent optical trap

With the use of optical traps it is possible to confine assemblies of colloidal particles in two-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional arrays. Here we examine how colloidal particles rearrange in a quasi-one-dimensional trap with a time dependent confining potential. The particle motion occurs both through slow elastic uniaxial distortions as well as through abrupt large-scale two-dimensional avalanches associated with plastic rearrangements. During the avalanches the particle velocity distributions extend over a broad range and can be fit to a power law consistent with other studies of plastic events mediated by dislocations.
CD22 Is a Recycling Receptor That Can Shuttle Cargo between the Cell Surface and Endosomal Compartments of B Cells

CD22 is a member of the sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin (Siglec) family that is known to be a regulator of B cell signaling. Its B cell-specific expression makes it an attractive target for immunotoxin-mediated B cell depletion therapy for the treatment of B cell lymphomas and autoimmune diseases. Although CD22 is well documented to be an endocytic receptor, it is believed that after internalization, it is targeted for degradation. We show in this study that CD22 is instead constitutively recycled to the cell surface. We also find that glycan ligand-based cargo is released from CD22 and accumulates intracellularly as CD22 recycles between the cell surface and endosomal compartments. In contrast, Abs to CD22 do not accumulate but remain bound to CD22 and recycle to the cell surface. The results have implications for development of agents that target CD22 as an endocytic receptor for delivery of cytotoxic cargo to B cells.
Adaptation of VOR to Coriolis Stimulation

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is normally characterized by the gain and phase of slow-phase velocity (SPV) relative to the stimulus velocity. Although this is perfectly satisfactory for steady-state sinusoidal oscillations about a single axis, it is less useful when applied to transient responses. The well-known decay of nystagmus following a step change of head velocity approximately follows a double exponential, with an initial amplitude (A), a long time constant (tau), and an adaptation time constant (tau(a)). We have developed a means of representing the transient response for a complex head velocity stimulus as experienced during high-speed artificial gravity (AG) experiments. When a subject, lying supine on a rotating horizontal platform, makes a yaw head movement of amplitude theta, the vertical semicircular canals experience a step in angular velocity. The pitch stimulus is equal to the change in the component of the centrifuge angular velocity (omega(c)) aligned with the interaural axis, and gives rise to a vertical VOR. The magnitude of the step change is omega(c) sin theta. The SPV is approximated by an exponential decay of amplitude A and single time constant tau, and then normalized relative to this stimulus step. MATLAB scripts filter the raw eye position data to remove noise, blinks, and saccades, differentiate the signal, and remove fast phases to obtain SPV. The amplitude of the fitted SPV exponential is divided by omega(c) sin theta to obtain the normalized SPV. A and tau are shown to behave differently as subjects adapt to repeated head movements of different amplitudes.
The potential usefulness of catalog access points other than author, title, and subject

Library patrons who wish to obtain a known document with which they have had prior personal contact often cannot remember the standard author-title-subject information about it with sufficient accuracy to be able to look it up easily in present-day card catalogs. However, they may remember a surprising amount of such “nonstandard” information as the color of the document's cover or its approximate length. Could this type of “nonstandard” information be profitably exploited in computerized catalogs of the future? Such facilities, if available, would surely be used, for according to catalog usage surveys a majority of today's library patrons seek known documents, and of these, a substantial minority possess nonstandard information. In this report, the results of a memory experiment to test the memorability of various types of nonstandard information are described and analyzed. A ranking according to relative memorability and potential retrieval usefulness of various nonstandard book features is given. It is estimated that if the average patron's nonstandard information were exploited by appropriate retrieval strategies, he would only have to search through roughly one five-hundredth as many documents as in a random search. This reduction factor is great enough to make nonstandard information potentially useful in many situations.
Organic electrochemical mechanisms—I. Polarography of some allyl systems

Abstract The polarograms of allyl chloride, bromide and p -toluenesulphonate as well as their 2-carbethoxy derivatives were determined in aqueous and non-aqueous solvents. In non-aqueous media the reaction of the polarographic reduction product with unreduced depolarizer is demonstrated; this reaction, which complicates the interpretation of the polarogram, can be eliminated by the addition of phenol. The implications of these results for the mechanism of the electrolytic reduction of activated olefins are discussed.
On the Shoulders of Giants

This paper discusses the history of IEEE since the formation of American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) in 1884 to the formation of Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE). There are always new frontiers opening up to be explored, and IEEE, with a wealth of resources in its volunteers and staff and its international membership, will be there to promote technology and support its advancement.
Monoclonal antibody MT2 identifies an extracellular matrix glycoprotein that is co-localized with tenascin during adult newt limb regeneration.

Abstract Using immunohistochemical techniques and mAb MT2, we describe here a novel extracellular matrix (ECM) molecule that is developmentally regulated during limb regeneration in adult newts. The MT2 antigen appears during preblastema stages, is most abundant during blastema stages, and persists, near undifferentiat-ed cells, until digit stages. The MT2 antigen is located in an acellular layer under the wound epithelium and throughout the ECM of the undifferentiated mesen-chyme as a thick, cord-like component. In unamputated limbs mAb MT2 reactivity is restricted to tendons, myo-tendinous junctions, periosteum and to a layer of material beneath the epidermis. In both unamputated limbs and regenerating limbs, the reactivity to mAb MT2 colo-calizes closely with urodele tenascin. Immunoblot analysis of blastema extracts showed that the unreduced form of the MT2 antigen is a large, polydispersed protein of approximately the same size as tenascin. However, based upon (a) molecular weights of reduced subunits, (b) competition experiments on tissue sections, and (c) analysis of molecules immunopreci-pitated by mAb MT2, we conclude that the MT2 substance is unrelated biochemically to tenascin. The results from immunoblots, enzyme digestions and DEAE-Se-phacell binding studies suggest that the unreduced MT2 antigen is a large protein composed of subunits which are connected by disulfide bonds. Reduction of the MT2 antigen results in three components recognized by mAb MT2. The largest of these reduced components is a chondroitin sulfate-like glycoprotein with a molecular weight (Mr) of 310–325 × 103. A second component (Mr, 285–300 × 103) is the core protein of the 310–325 × 103 glycoprotein. The smallest reduced component, which may be a degradation product of the two larger components, has a Mr of 250–275 × 103.
Quality-control issues on high-resolution diagnostic monitors.

Previous literature indicates a need for more data collection in the area of quality control of high-resolution diagnostic monitors. Throughout acceptance testing, which began in June 2000, stability of monitor calibration was analyzed. Although image quality on all monitors was found to be acceptable upon initial acceptance testing using VeriLUM software by Image Smiths, Inc (Germantown, MD), it was determined to be unacceptable during the clinical phase of acceptance testing. High-resolution monitors were evaluated for quality assurance on a weekly basis from installation through acceptance testing and beyond. During clinical utilization determination (CUD), monitor calibration was identified as a problem and the manufacturer returned and recalibrated all work-stations. From that time through final acceptance testing, high-resolution monitor calibration and monitor failure rate remained a problem. The monitor vendor then returned to the site to address these areas. Monitor defocus was still noticeable and calibration checks were increased to three times per week. White and black level drift on medium-resolution monitors had been attributed to raster size settings. Measurements of white and black level at several different size settings were taken to determine the effect of size on white and black level settings. Black level remained steady with size change. White level appeared to increase by 2.0 cd/m2 for every 0.1 inches decrease in horizontal raster size. This was determined not to be the cause of the observed brightness drift. Frequency of calibration/testing is an issue in a clinical environment. The increased frequency required at our site cannot be sustained. The medical physics division cannot provide dedicated personnel to conduct the quality-assurance testing on all monitors at this interval due to other physics commitments throughout the hospital. Monitor access is also an issue due to radiologists’ need to read images. Some workstations are in use 7 AM to 11 PM daily. An appropriate monitor calibration frequency must be established during acceptance testing to ensure unacceptable drift is not masked by excessive calibration frequency. Standards for acceptable black level and white level drift also need to be determined. The monitor vendor and hospital staff agree that currently, very small printed text is an acceptable method of determining monitor blur, however, a better method of determining monitor blur is being pursued. Although monitors may show acceptable quality during initial acceptance testing, they need to show sustained quality during the clinical acceptance testing phase. Defocus, black level, and white level are image quality concerns, which need to be evaluated during the clinical phase of acceptance testing. Image quality deficiencies can have a negative impact on patient care and raise serious medical-legal concerns. The attention to quality control required of the hospital staff needs to be realistic and not have a significant impact on radiology workflow.