cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling water demand when households have multiple sources of water

A significant portion of the world's population lives in areas where public water delivery systems are unreliable and/or deliver poor quality water. In response, people have developed important alternatives to publicly supplied water. To date, most water demand research has been based on single-equation models for a single source of water, with very few studies that have examined water demand from two sources of water (where all nonpublic system water sources have been aggregated into a single demand). This modeling approach leads to two outcomes. First, the demand models do not capture the full range of alternatives, so the true economic relationship among the alternatives is obscured. Second, and more seriously, economic theory predicts that demand for a good becomes more price-elastic as the number of close substitutes increases. If researchers artificially limit the number of alternatives studied to something less than the true number, the price elasticity estimate may be biased downward. This paper examines water demand in a region with near universal access to piped water, but where system reliability and quality is such that many alternative sources of water exist. In extending the demand analysis to four sources of water, we are able to (i) demonstrate why households choose the water sources they do, (ii) provide a richer description of the demand relationships among sources, and (iii) calculate own-price elasticity estimates that are more elastic than those generally found in the literature.
rAAV-mediated tumorigenesis: still unresolved after an AAV assault.

The risk of oncogenesis mediated by vector-induced insertional mutagenesis during therapeutic gene transfer has received much attention in recent years. Any nucleic acid, regardless of how it is delivered, can cause insertional mutagenesis if it integrates into the genome. The two parameters that define this risk are integration site preference and frequency of integration. Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors have been shown to be safe and efficacious in early gene therapy clinical trials,1,2,3,4 although such vectors do integrate into the genome at a low but measureable rate (0.1 to 1% of transduction events) in animal models.5,6 In this issue of Molecular Therapy, Rosas and colleagues test various conditions that are hypothesized to facilitate rAAV integration so as to determine whether these events can lead to an increased rate of oncogenesis.7
Medical coping modes questionnaire: Factor structure for adult transplant candidates

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire, a rationally and empirically constructed instrument that purports to measure 3 cognitive-behavioral, illness-related coping strategies. The original 3-factor solution as derived by Feifel et al. (1987a) was tested and compared to 2 additional theoretically derived 1- and 2-factor models using confirmatory factor analysis. Because goodness of fit criteria were not acceptable, and because transplant candidates may use different coping strategies than general medical patients, principal components factor analysis was performed. In addition, internal consistency and construct validity of revised scales and their relation to demographic variables were assessed. A sample of 372 liver, kidney, heart, lung, and bone marrow transplant patients was used. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 4 factors (with an acceptable number of items) that accounted for 45.81 % of the variance and consisted of 16 of the original 19 items. Generally, the Avoidance and Acceptance/Resignation subscales were replicated, and the Confrontation scale was split into 2 factors: Social Support Seeking and Information Seeking. Correlations between revised factors and measures of affective distress and quality of life were in the directions expected. Implications for the use of this measure with transplant candidates are discussed.
Distributed estimation of internal wave parameters via inter-drogue distances

This paper considers a group of drogues estimating the physical parameters of the ocean's linear internal waves. While underwater, individual drogues do not have access to position information and instead rely on inter-drogue distance measurements. We introduce the PARAMETER ESTIMATION BY ZERO-DERIVATIVE METHOD for determining the parameters of a horizontally propagating internal ocean wave and show that, for noiseless measurements, our strategy determines the parameters exactly. In the presence of additive Gaussian noise, we characterize precisely the robustness of our strategy and bound the error in the estimated parameters. Finally, we define two strategies for aggregating estimates obtained across multiple time instants. Several simulations illustrate our results.
Determination of primary adsorbed water in cotton fibers by drying techniques

A number of techniques for the determination of nonsolvent, or hydrate, water upon the cellulose molecule have been advanced. The results have been expressed as both maximum and stoichiometric amounts of water as hydrate. The values determined have been limited, however, to a system in which the fiber was dried prior to reaction and determination of the adsorbed water. The existence of hydrate has been attributed to chemical combination of water at the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose. It is well known that during the drying of many materials two rates of drying are encountered, a constantrate period and a falling-rate period. The constant-rate period is devoted to the evaporation of free water and the falling-rate period to the removal of “bound” or capillary water. Since the moist fiber may contain two types of “bound” water, it was theorized that a second falling-rate period should be in evidence during the drying of a fibrous material. Experimentation showed a definite second falling-rate period, which was attributed to the evaporation of primary adsorbed or hydrate water. The method utilized in this work was a drying technique employing a convection type oven over which was mounted a torsion balance making it possible to take continual weight change readings while maintaining the sample in the conditioning atmosphere. The determinations were made at a temperature of 105°C. Six fiber–water systems were investigated which included combinations of drying and mercerizing of alcohol–benzene extracted cotton fibers. The data obtained were plotted as drying rate versus per cent dry fiber and the results were expressed as the molar ratio of H2O: C6H10O5 at the point of intersection of the two falling-rate lines. The molar ratio found for the several systems investigated were: extracted cotton 1.65; extracted, dried, cotton 0.52; extracted, mercerized cotton 2.12; extracted, mercerized, dried cotton 1.08; extracted, dried, mercerized cotton 1.04; and extracted, dried, mercerized, dried cotton 0.89. The values obtained agree closely with the known quantities advanced by other authors employing different techniques. From the values obtained it appears that drying greatly reduces the ability of cellulose to sorb water. Mercerization results in increased primary adsorbed water uptake. However, drying prior to mercerization reduces the number of hydroxyl groups available for hydrate formation over that of a fiber which is undried before mercerization. It seems that regardless of subsequent treatment in a fiber–water or fiber–water-NaOH system, prior drying reduces the water taken up as hydrate over that taken up by a fiber which has not been dried. The results indicate that this method permits a quantitative determination of primary adsorbed water in fiber–water systems which was impossible to determine by methods previously employed.
Valor crítico da citrulina para as complicações do enxerto no transplante de intestino

OBJECITIVE: A biochemical marker for detection of acute cellular rejection following small intestine transplantation has been sought. Citrulline, a non- protein amino acid synthesized mainly by functioning enterocytes, has been proposed. Trial sensitivity has been reportedly high but with low specificity. Thus, the goal was to determine, in a sufficiently large analysis, the significant value of citrulline level in the post-transplant setting, which would correlate with complications such as rejection and infection. METHODS: Since March, 2004 2,135 dried blood spot (DBS) citrulline samples were obtained from 57 small intestine transplant recipients three months or more after post-transplant, i.e., once the expected period of recovery in the citrulline levels had occurred. RESULTS: Using a 13 µmoles/L cut off point, sensitivity of DBS citrulline for the detection of moderate or severe ACR was extremely high (96.4%). Furthermore, specificity estimates (given the absence of ACR and these particular infections), while controlling for time-to-DBS sample were reasonably high (54%-74% in children and 83%-88% in adults), and the negative predictive value (NPV) was >99%. CONCLUSION: Citrulline is a non-invasive marker to evaluate problems of the intestinal graft after three months post-transplant. Due to the high NPV, a moderate or severe ACR can be ruled out, based exclusively on knowledge of a high value for DBS citrulline.
Guanine nucleotides and alpha1 adrenergic receptors in the heart

Abstract Guanine nucleotides such as GTP and Gpp(NH)p are known to regulate the affinity of beta and alpha 2 adrenergic receptors for agonists as assessed by radioligand binding techniques. Recent studies in the rat heart using the radioligand [ 3 H]WB4101, which reportedly labels alpha 1 adrenergic receptors, have suggested that the affinity of alpha 1 adrenergic receptors for epinephrine is altered by guanine nucleotides. To assess the possible role of guanine nucleotides in alpha 1 adrenergic function, we have constructed (−)epinephrine competition curves in the absence and presence of guanine nucleotides using the highly alpha 1 subtype selective agents [ 3 H]prazosin and [ 125 I]BE2254 in rat cardiac membranes. Epinephrine competition curves in the absence of guanine nucleotides were steep and uniphasic in character, and the addition of Gpp(NH)p (10 −4 M) had no effect on the ability of epinephrine to compete for either [ 3 H]prazosin or [ 125 I]BE2254 binding sites. In this same membrane preparation, the ability of (−)isoproterenol to compete with [ 3 H]dihydroalprenolol for beta adrenergic receptors binding sites was decreased significantly by Gpp(NH)p. These findings demonstrate that, under conditions where guanine nucleotide regulation of agonist-receptor binding in these membranes can be observed, no nucleotide regulation of agonist-alpha 1 receptor interactions was evidenced using subtype selective radioligands. These results suggest that previous reports of agonist-alpha 1 receptor regulation by guanine nucleotides may represent a manifestation of the anomalous binding characteristics of [ 3 H]WB4101 as compared with [ 3 H]prazosin and [ 125 I]BE2254.
Family processes and adolescent adjustment in intact and remarried families

This study examines whether family processes that predict positive and negative developmental outcomes are the same in intact and remarried families. Surveys were administered to 758 tenth graders from intact families and 95 from stepfather families. Measures of cohesion, democratic decision-making style, permissiveness, and conflict were used to predict self-rated depression, worry, and self-esteem. Remarried and intact families provide similar family environments for permissiveness and democratic decision making. Remarried families are more conflictual and less cohesive than intact families. In both family types, conflict had negative effects, and cohesion and democratic decision-making had positive effects on adolescents' adjustment. In remarried families, but not intact, permissiveness was related to higher self-esteem.
Active-space coupled-cluster methods

Active-space coupled-cluster (CC) methods, including their origin and recent developments, are reviewed, and further challenges in this area are briefly discussed. The focus is on the significance of the paper by Professors Stanislaw A. Kucharski and Rodney J. Bartlett, and the author of the present article [J. Chem. Phys. 110, 6103 (1999)], written when the author of the present article was a member of Professor Rodney J. Bartlett's research group at Quantum Theory Project. It is argued that that paper has played an important role in bringing the idea of selecting higher-than-double excitations within the single-reference CC framework to mimic multi-reference theories, proposed earlier [N. Oliphant and L. Adamowicz, J. Chem. Phys. 94, 1229 (1991); P. Piecuch et al., J. Chem. Phys. 99, 1875 (1993)], to the forefront of quantum chemistry development work, while inspiring extensions of such methods to electronically excited states and valence systems around closed shells via the equation-of-motion CC theory.
Coagulation, fibrinolysis, and fibrin deposition in acute lung injury.

ObjectivesTo review: a) the role of extravascular fibrin deposition in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury; b) the abnormalities in the coagulation and fibrinolysis pathways that promote fibrin deposition in the acutely injured lung; and c) the pathways that contribute to the regulation of the fib
Core models, coordinators, and connectors in the dynamic modeling and simulation of multiphase systems

The dynamic modeling and simulation of large-scale multiphase systems can be very time-consuming given the large number of equipment models that may be required. An approach is presented in which complex equipment models involving two or more phases are assembled by combining core models for each of the individual phases through the use of a coordinator. The main function of a coordinator is to determine the fraction of the total volume occupied by each phase. Connectors are used to handle such tasks as the transfer of mass and energy between the phases as well as heterogeneous kinetics. The efficacy of this approach is demonstrated for three types of equipment: liquid-liquid mixers, multi-fluid heat exchangers, and a fluidized-bed coal gasifier. The work to date indicates that a large variety of equipment models can be constructed from a relatively small set of core models and connectors.
A model for evaluating the fire resistance of contour-protected steel columns

A numerical model, in the form of a computer program, for evaluating the fire resistance of insulated wide-flange steel columns is presented. The three stages associated with the thermal and structural analysis in the calculation of fire resistance of columns is explained. The use of the computer program for tracing the response of an insulated steel column from the initial pre-loading stage to collapse, due to fire, is demonstrated. The validity of the numerical model used in the program is established by comparing the predictions from the computer program with results from full-scale fire tests. Details of fire tests carried out on wide-flange steel columns protected with ceramic fibre insulation, together with results, are presented. The computer program can be used to evaluate the fire resistance of protected wide-flange steel columns for any value of the significant parameters, such as load, section dimensions, column length, type of insulation, and thickness of insulation without the necessity of testing.
Structural design criteria for anion hosts: strategies for achieving anion shape recognition through the complementary placement of urea donor groups.

The arrangement of urea ligands about different shaped anions has been evaluated with electronic structure calculations. Geometries and binding energies are reported for urea complexes with Cl-, NO3-, and ClO4-. The results yield new insight into the nature of urea−anion interactions and provide structural criteria for the deliberate design of anion selective receptors containing two or more urea donor groups.
A new condition for the existence of optimal stationary policies in average cost Markov decision processes

Discrete time countable state Markov decision processes with finite decision sets and bounded costs are considered. Conditions are given under which an unbounded solution to the average cost optimality equation exists and yields an optimal stationary policy. A new form of the optimality equation is derived for the case in which every stationary policy gives rise to an ergodic Markov chain.
TURBULENCE AND SHEARING STRESSES MEASURED OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN BY AN AIRPLANE-ACCELERATION TECHNIQUE

Abstract A method of measuring the horizontal and vertical turbulent components of the wind has been developed to meet the need for these measurements over the open ocean. An anemometer, a vertical accelerometer, and a gyroscope mounted in an airplane (U. S. Navy PRY-6A) yield simultaneous records of the total airspeed, vertical accelerations, and the attitude of the airplane. From these records, and from airplane-lift theory and the characteristics of the particular type of aircraft, the vertical and horizontal fluctuations of the wind, the root-mean-square deviation velocities, and the shearing stress can be computed. The method allows the phugoid oscillations of the airplane to contribute nearly periodic velocity terms to both components; these must be eliminated by a computational step. A different reduction method can give phugoid-free vertical velocities, but an additional instrument will be required for phugoid-free horizontal velocities. The airplane lift has a response of from 80 to 100 per cent ...
Theorem on nonclassical states.

Let the density matrix of an arbitrary state be expressed in terms of number states as \ensuremath{\rho}^=${\ensuremath{\sum}}_{\mathit{n}=0}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\infty}}}$${\ensuremath{\sum}}_{\mathit{m}=0}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\infty}}}$\ensuremath{\rho}(n,m)\ensuremath{\Vert}n〉〈m mU. We prove the following theorem: If \ensuremath{\rho}(0,0)=0, then the state is as nonclassical as possible according to the measure introduced by Lee [Phys. Rev. A 44, R2775 (1991)].
Fracture networks and hydrate distribution at Hydrate Ridge, Oregon

Abstract Analysis of resistivity-at-the-bit (RAB) images acquired during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 204 to southern Hydrate Ridge, Oregon reveals changes in the distribution and orientation of resistive fractures between the different hydrologic provinces sampled. Fractures on the ridge crest at Sites 1247, 1248, and 1250, are typically high-angle (> 60°) with isotropically distributed strikes, while those on the ridge flanks at Sites 1244–1246 have lower dips (20–60°) and strike parallel to the trend of the ridge. The eastern slope basin, Site 1251, lacks significant fracturing. These differences indicate that the minimum principal stress ( σ 3 ) direction rotates to horizontal at the ridge crest as a result of topographically-driven extension and gravitational collapse of the ridge. Chaotic fracturing on the ridge crest results from the interaction of the stress state and free gas migration, which is confined to high permeability sediments and fracture zones by capillary pressure constraints. In contrast, on the ridge flanks well ordered fractures that agree with stress orientations determined from borehole breakouts result from an obliquely dipping σ 3 and the predominance of aqueous, rather than gaseous, flow.
Lives on File: A Critical Assessment of the Career Portfolio Genre.

This article examines the ideological dimensions of the career portfolio. This genre, an increasingly common part of high school and post-secondary school curricula, invites students to collect items from multiple domains and to reflect upon what these items say about who they are and where they are going. Through a critical analysis of the primary instructional form used in one school's career portfolio program, this article describes how the genre calls students to present themselves as certain kinds of people inhabiting certain kinds of worlds. More specifically, it is argued the genre prompts students to individualize themselves and endorse in their portfolios a middle-class ideology of self-cultivation and self-promotion.
Stereotactic radiosurgery for glioblastoma multiforme: Report of a prospective study evaluating prognostic factors and analyzing long-term survival advantage

Abstract Purpose: Prospective evaluation of the toxicity and efficacy of radiosurgery with external beam radiotherapy in the management of newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Methods and Materials: From 5/89 to 12/92, 31 out of 51 patients with glioblastoma multiforme underwent radiosurgery, in addition to 54 Gy in 1.8 Gy/fraction following biopsy ( n = 12) or resection ( n = 19). Eligibility required supratentorial glioblastoma, tumor not > 4 cm in > 1 axis, age > 18 years, and location > 1 cm from optic chiasm. Patient characteristics were: age 20–78 years (median = 57); 22 male, 9 female; Karnofsky score 20–90 (m = 70), and volume of 2.3–59.7 c.c. (m = 17.4). Eighteen patients were treated with 1 collimator, 5 with 2, 7 with 3, and 1 with 4; peripheral isodoses were 40–90% (m = 72.5) and minimum and maximum tumor dose ranges were 10–20 (m = 12) and 15–35 Gy (m = 18.75). Patients were followed clinically and radiographically every 8–12 weeks to analyze survival, quality of life, and toxicity. Results: With a follow-up of 12–171 weeks, 8 out of 31 (26%) patients are alive. Median survival is 42 weeks. Twelve and 24-month actuarial survival are 38 and 28%. Comparison of the 2-year survival with previous Radiation Therapy Oncology Group patients was carried out using a nonparametric recursive partitioning technique and the observed vs. expected values are 28 vs. 9.7% ( p Conclusion: The improvement in median survival in broadly selected glioblastoma patients treated with radiosurgery is difficult to determine, but the 2-year survival may be superior. Future randomized trials of radiosurgery are recommended, and ad hoc use of this modality should be discouraged.
PERIOPERATIVE MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY OF HIGH-DOSE-RATE GYNECOLOGIC BRACHYTHERAPY

Abstract Purpose: To determine the 30-day morbidity and mortality rates for patients with an intact uterus undergoing high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, and to assess risk factors which may predict for these potentially life-threatening complications. Methods and Materials: From August 1989 to December 1994, 128 cervical and 41 medically inoperable endometrial cancer patients were treated with 5 outpatient weekly HDR brachytherapy insertions. Patients with cervical cancer also were treated with external beam radiotherapy. Acute events that resulted in either hospitalization (morbidity) or death (mortality) within 30 days of the implant were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors. Results: Overall there were 16 acute events in 169 patients (9.5%). The overall morbidity and mortality rates for the cervical and endometrial patients were 5.5%, 1.6%, 7.3%, and 9.8%, respectively. The following factors were significant by univariate analysis: age per decade, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), significant medical history, diagnosis of cervical vs. endometrial cancer, and mean time exceeding 160 minutes for the procedure. Since age was the most significant predictive factor ( p = 0.0003), bivariate analyses were performed by adjusting for age. In these analyses only ASA and KPS maintained significance, while a positive medical history was of borderline significance ( p = 0.07). Conclusion: The morbidity and mortality rates observed in gynecologic patients selected for HDR brachytherapy were similar to low-dose-rate, but higher than other HDR reports. Reasons for this include a higher risk population, especially those with medically inoperable endometrial cancer. In the cervical cancer patients, some of the complications may have also been a result of the external beam portion of the radiation. In order to minimize the acute complications observed in the present HDR brachytherapy system, the following changes have been implemented: appropriate patient selection, anesthesiology involvement to monitor conscious sedation for high-risk patients, external beam radiotherapy alone in patients at extremely high risk, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis, use of intraoperative ultrasound, shorter duration in the brachytherapy suite, and preradiation treatment plans (plans executed prior to the insertion) if applicable. Finally, this analysis suggests that these procedures should be performed in a hospital-based setting where appropriate support is available.
Imaging of group velocity surfaces in a cuspidal region of zinc by laser-generated ultrasonic waves

Abstract An image of group velocity surfaces within and outside a cuspidal region of a (0001) oriented zinc crystal is obtained with a pointlike scanning laser source and a fixed longitudinal (L) mode piezoelectric detector. Because of axisymmetric excitation and sensing, the group velocity surface of the pure transverse (PT) mode, being shear horizontally (SH) polarized, is absent in the obtained image. In the cuspidal region the quasi transverse (QT) mode has three group velocity branches in a given direction: the fast QT (FQT) branch, the intermediate speed QT (IQT) branch, and the slow QT (SQT) branch. The laser imaging clearly shows the wave fronts of the quasi longitudinal (QL), IQT, and SQT rays in the cuspidal region. Near the epicentral [0001] direction, the arrivals of the head wave (HW) and SQT rays are almost simultaneous and their wave fronts are not distinct. However, farther from the epicentral direction, they separate and outside the cuspidal region the imaging shows the group velocity surfaces of the QL, HW, and SQT rays.
Lineage interests and nonreproductive strategies

The nonreproductive role of religious women in the European Middle Ages presents the ideal forum for the discussion of elite family strategies within a historical context. I apply the evolutionary concept of kin selection to this group of women in order to explain how a social formation in which religious women failed to reproduce benefited medieval noble lineages. After a brief review of the roles of noble women in the later Middle Ages, I identify two benefits that nonreproductive women provided within a patrilineal inheritance system. First, spatial segregation and Christian ideology together served to curtail the production of offspring who could pose a threat to lineage interests. Second, cloistered noble women served as a strong political and economic bloc that could further lineage interests within a religious context. Finally, I discuss the evolutionary basis for the formation of groups of nonreproductive women. Using the foundation provided by animal behavioral studies, I apply the twin concepts of cooperative breeding and parental manipulation to noble lineages of the medieval period.
A mechanism for the formation of equiaxed grains in welds of aluminum–lithium alloy 2090

Abstract In this technical note, the formation and presence of a zone of equiaxed grains (EQZ) along the fusion boundary of welded aluminum–lithium alloy 2090 using filler metals containing zirconium and lithium is presented and discussed. However, no EQZ was evident in welded joints of alloy 2090 using the commercial filler metals: aluminum alloy 2319 and 4145. Under identical conditions, aluminum–lithium alloy 2090 was fusion welded using several new filler metals containing various amounts of zirconium and lithium. Results reveal an increase in the width of the zone of equiaxed grains with an increase in zirconium and lithium content in the filler metal. A viable mechanism for the formation of equiaxed grains and its relationship to filler metal composition is highlighted.
Help Seeking: Effects of Visibility of Task Performance and Seeking Help

This study manipulated independently whether help seeking and task performance were public or private, since in public settings persons may lose esteem by seeking help or by demonstrating unsuccessful performance. Subjects were given false feedback that they were doing poorly on a task involving judging levels of neuroticism in others, and were given all opportunity to seek help by consulting a set of guidelines. The main result was an interaction with help seeking most likely when task performance was public and help seeking was private.
Inhibition by beraprost sodium of thrombin-induced increase in endothelial macromolecular permeability

Effect of beraprost sodium (BPS), a long-acting and orally active stable analogue of PGI2, on the macromolecular permeability of cultured vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC) was detected by the transport of FITC-albumin. Thrombin treatment resulted in induction of FITC-albumin transport across the endothelial cell monolayer. The albumin transport induced by thrombin was not accompanied by any damage to the cells. BPS had no effect on the permeability of resting endothelial monolayers, while BPS inhibited the thrombin-induced increase in the albumin permeability in a dose-dependent manner (30-1000 nM). Treatment of the cells with PGI2 or dibutyryl cAMP caused a significant inhibition of the thrombin-induced increase in the albumin permeability. These results strongly suggested that BPS suppressed the thrombin-induced macromolecular permeability in HUVEC through the elevation of its intracellular cAMP, and that BPS was a suppressor against inflammatory vascular changes such as exudation.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ALLANTOIC AND AMNIOTIC FLUIDS OF THE CHICK I. SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE

1. The specific conductance of the allantoic and amniotic fluids of the developing chick has been determined over the period of incubation between the 7th and 19th days. 2. Changes in this property have been related to changes in the chemical composition of these two fluids. 3. These conductance values are of importance in that they show the relation between ionized and un-ionized materials present in the two fluids.
Distributed parameter system models for damage detection and location in smart material structures

ABSTRACT Nondestructive damage detection is an important issue in aging civil engineering, aerospace structures, and several other areas. This study presents an attempt to use parameterized partial differential equations and Galerkin approximation techniques to detect and locate damage. Dynamical analysis is carried out using structurebonded piezoceramic patches as both sensors and actuators. Our presentation will demonstrate the flexibility and accuracy of this approach. It is mode independent and can sense the presence of damage and locate certain damages to a satisfactory precision. As an example, a beam with a pair of piezoceramic patches bonded to it isused as the test structure; several computational examples with holes of different size, shape, and location in thebeam are investigated. 1. INTRODUCTION It is well known that damage such as cracks, corrosion, and delaminations in a structure produces changesin mass, stiffness, damping and other characteristics and material parameters in dynamic response models for thestructure. In this note we focus on the development of vibration response techniques for piezoceramic based smartmaterial structures in which self-testing nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques may be employed. Thereare several ways to formulate and analyze concepts and questions in this regard. We could consider the so-called"method-of-maps" as done in the thermal based tomography techniques of [7, 8, 10] wherein the damaged physicaldomain (the damaged beam, plate, elastic structure) is mapped into a regular domain on which dynamic equationswith damage dependent coefficients must hold. An alternative approach involves direct estimation of the irregulardamaged domain (i.e., structures with holes, cracks, corrosion, etc.) on which the usual dynamic equations hold.
Uveitis in the elderly: epidemiological data from the National Long-term Care Survey Medicare Cohort.

Purpose There is a paucity of population-based data on the epidemiology of uveitis in the elderly. In the past 40 years, only 2 U.S. population-based studies have examined the epidemiology of uveitis. The conclusions of these studies on the burden of uveitis in the elderly differ greatly. In this analysis, we use Medicare claims data to define the population-based incidence and prevalence of uveitis in the United States elderly population. Design Cohort study. Participants A cohort of 21644 Medicare beneficiaries drawn for the National Long-term Care Survey, a random sample of U.S. adults 65 years and older, was followed up from 1991 through 1999. Methods The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes specific to uveitis were queried. To decrease the inclusion of uveitis caused by surgery, diagnoses occurring within 3 months of intraocular surgery were excluded. The incidence and prevalence of uveitis by anatomic location was calculated for each year in the study. Main Outcome Measures The onset of uveitis during a given year and its presence in subsequent years. Results The cumulative yearly incidence of uveitis ranged from 302/100000 to 424/100000 persons per year and averaged 340.9/100000 persons per year. Anterior uveitis was the most common form of uveitis in this population, with a mean incidence of 243.6 cases per 100000 persons per year. The incidence of posterior uveitis averaged 76.6/100000 and the incidence of panuveitis/endophthalmitis averaged 41.7/100000. Only 2 cases of intermediate uveitis occurred during the study period. The cumulative prevalence of uveitis doubled from 511/100000 in 1991 to 1231/100000 in 1999, with anterior uveitis accounting for most prevalent cases in every year. Conclusions The burden of uveitis in the elderly is substantial and is higher than previously thought. Longitudinal analysis of Medicare claims data may provide a useful tool for monitoring uncommon diseases, such as uveitis, in the elderly population.
Teratogen update: vitamin A congeners.

Despite animal vitamin A congener teratogenicity in animal studies since 1954, striking human findings only arose in 1983 following isotretinoin (ITR) marketing for oral treatment of severe acne. By November 1985, 44 outcomes with central nervous system (CNS), cardioaortic (CV), microtia, facial palsy, micrognathia, cleft palate, and/or thymic aplasia defects, and 33 spontaneous abortions have been reported. The critical period for exposure appears to be two to five weeks postconception, although this is clinically inexact. ITR half life is less than a day, although a teratogenic metabolite, 4-oxo-isoretinoin, has a half life of several days. Seven defect outcomes and one stillbirth have been reported with another congener, etretinate (ETR), used for psoriasis. Three of these had meningomyeloceles. Half life of several months makes levels cumulative. Only one additional defect, which may have occurred by chance, is reported with use stopped before conception (4 months). Other discontinuations 1 to 6 months before conception had 11 normal outcomes and two spontaneous abortions. ITR and ETR dose ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 mg/kg. Normal outcomes are reported both with ITR and ETR, but some of these appear not to have been exposed during the critical period. Less striking defects, abortions, and normal outcomes are less well reported. Because vitamin A analogs are therapeutically important and unplanned outcome not always avoidable, further animal research is needed for better risk/benefits. Megadose vitamin A (retinol) use is widespread, but experience poorly observed. Eighteen suspicious birth defect outcomes have been reported from pregnancies with high dose exposure. Twelve had findings similar to those seen in animals and in human retinoid syndromes, e.g., CNS, CV, microtia, and clefts. Epidemiological controls are lacking to establish human teratogenicity, but based on animal studies and experience with ITR and ETR, avoiding long term megadose Vitamin A use in fertile women is warranted.
Entropy reduction in Bayesian analysis of measurements

Baye's theorem, when applied to the interpretation of a set of measurements with assumed multivariate Gaussian a priori distributions of the physical quantities to be determined, leads to explicit formulas for the most likely interpretation and the corresponding reduction in entropy. We point out an interesting complementarity in two equivalent expressions for the entropy decrease, one of which involves the determinant of a matrix connecting points in physical space, while the other involves the determinant of a matrix connecting the individual measurements. Off-diagonal elements of the latter matrix indicate the degree of redundancy of the information obtained from the corresponding pairs of measurements. Techniques for evaluating the Bayesian expressions for the most likely interpretation are briefly outlined.
Localization of Click Trains and Speech by Cats: the Negative Level Effect

Although localization of sound in elevation is believed to depend on spectral cues, it has been shown with human listeners that the temporal features of sound can also greatly affect localization performance. Of particular interest is a phenomenon known as the negative level effect, which describes the deterioration of localization ability in elevation with increasing sound level and is observed only with impulsive or short-duration sound. The present study uses the gaze positions of domestic cats as measures of perceived locations of sound targets varying in azimuth and elevation. The effects of sound level on localization in terms of accuracy, precision, and response latency were tested for sound with different temporal features, such as a click train, a single click, a continuous sound that had the same frequency spectrum of the click train, and speech segments. In agreement with previous human studies, negative level effects were only observed with click-like stimuli and only in elevation. In fact, localization of speech sounds in elevation benefited significantly when the sound level increased. Our findings indicate that the temporal continuity of a sound can affect the frequency analysis performed by the auditory system, and the variation in the frequency spectrum contained in speech sound does not interfere much with the spectral coding for its location in elevation.
An English language question answering system for a large relational database

By typing requests in English, casual users will be able to obtain explicit answers from a large relational database of aircraft flight and maintenance data using a system called PLANES. The design and implementation of this system is described and illustrated with detailed examples of the operation of system components and examples of overall system operation. The language processing portion of the system uses a number of augmented transition networks, each of which matches phrases with a specific meaning, along with context registers (history keepers) and concept case frames; these are used for judging meaningfulness of questions, generating dialogue for clarifying partially understood questions, and resolving ellipsis and pronoun reference problems. Other system components construct a formal query for the relational database, and optimize the order of searching relations. Methods are discussed for handling vague or complex questions and for providing browsing ability. Also included are discussions of important issues in programming natural language systems for limited domains, and the relationship of this system to others.
Mining spam email to identify common origins for forensic application

In recent years, spam email has become a major tool for criminals to conduct illegal business on the Internet. Therefore, in this paper we describe a new research approach that uses data mining techniques to study spam emails with the focus on law enforcement forensic analysis. After we retrieve useful attributes from spam emails, we use a connected components clustering algorithm to form relationships between messages. These initial clusters are then refined by using a weighted edges model where membership in the cluster requires the weight to exceed a chosen threshold. The results of the cluster membership are validated by WHOIS data, by the IP address of the computer hosting the advertised sites, and through comparison of graphical images of website fetches. This technique has been successful in identifying relationships between spam campaigns that were not identified by human researchers, enabling additional data to be brought into a single investigation.
Influence of some parameters on grating structure and diffraction efficiency in red-sensitive dichromated gelatin (DCG)

Dichromated gelatin with methylene blue is red sensitive. Tetramethylguanidine intensifies this red sensitivity. Such an emulsion was used to produce holographic plates to inscribe a transmission grating with a Kr+-laser and to investigate some procedure and development parameters on the structure and diffraction efficiency. Ratio and concentration of prehardener, fixer, sensitizing solution, and pH-dependence were investigated. For the development, a six-step development process gave the best results. Influence of room humidity and storage time are important. The optimized process needs 3 hours from the first step to the finished hologram grating. More than 70% diffraction efficiency is possible. The coating method allows for the making of layers of different thickness and therefore volume effects can be observed.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Dephosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinases by type 2C protein phosphatases.

Activating phosphorylation of cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs) is necessary for their kinase activity and cell cycle progression. This phosphorylation is carried out by the Cdk-activating kinase (CAK); in contrast, little is known about the corresponding protein phosphatase. We show that type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs) are responsible for this dephosphorylation of Cdc28p, the major budding yeast CDK. Two yeast PP2Cs, Ptc2p and Ptc3p, display Cdc28p phosphatase activity in vitro and in vivo, and account for ~90% of Cdc28p phosphatase activity in yeast extracts. Overexpression of PTC2 or PTC3 results in synthetic lethality in strains temperature-sensitive for yeast CAK1, and disruptions of PTC2 and PTC3 suppress the growth defect of a cak1 mutant. Furthermore, PP2C-like enzymes are the predominant phosphatases toward human Cdk2 in HeLa cell extracts, indicating that the substrate specificity of PP2Cs toward CDKs is evolutionarily conserved.
The impact of information explosion on middle management

The information explosion can be viewed as a change in generating, collecting, processing and storing information in a number of ways that make information readily accessible to the user. This explosion has been a result of tremendous achievements through electronic devices, telecommunication networks, computers and transportation. The change is having a great impact on middle management personnel whose work in many cases is being taken over by office robots. Information is vital to any type of organizational activity as an instrument of communication. An organization requires information about prices, competition, technology, and the market situation in order to formulate decisions and execute strategy. Hence, there is need for management to develop, encourage and maintain sophisticated information systems in their organizations for the following reasons (Koontz et aI., 1982): (i) to establish goals for the enterprise; (ii) to develop plans for the achievement of the goals; (iii) to organize human and other resources in the most effective and efficient way; (iv) to select, develop and appraise members of the organization; (v) to lead, direct, motivate and create an environment in which people want to contribute. In gathering information, the following factors should be taken into consideration: (a) the type of information required; (b) the quality of that information; (c) the quantity of information; (d) t~e t~me involved in collecting, storing, retrIevmg and disseminating the information; (e) the accuracy of information; (f) the cost of collecting, storing, retrieving and disseminating the information. The growth of information in technologically advanced societies is exponential. The acceleration curve of Fig. 1 shows how this revolution has been brought about by a number of technological advances. from this curve, one can see that innovations in communications technology during the past century have been extremely efficacious. The networks of telephones, telex, computers and satellites have exponentially increased the density of human contact. Ever since the dawn of the modern electronics communications era, after World War II, more people have been put into contact with one another, more knowledge has been accumulated and recorded, and more people have access to that knowledge than ever before in history (Williams, 1982).
The development of anoxia following occlusion

Following arteriolar occlusion, tissue oxygen concentration decreases and anoxic tissue eventually develops. Although anoxia first appears in the region most distal to the capillary at the venous end, it eventually spreads throughout the entire region of supply. In this paper the changing oxygen concentration, from the time of occlusion until the tissue is entirely anoxic, is examined mathematically. The equations governing oxygen transport to tissue are solved by iterating a nonlinear integral equation. This solution is valid until anoxia first appears. After anoxia develops it is necessary to solve a moving boundary problem. This is done using the method of matched asymptotic expansions, and accurate solutions are obtained for a wide range of physiological conditions.
Observing Animal Behavior at the Zoo: A Learning Laboratory

Undergraduate students in a learning laboratory course initially chose a species to study; researched that species' physical and behavioral characteristics; then learned skills necessary to select, operationalize, observe, and record animal behavior accurately. After their classroom preparation, students went to a local zoo to observe the behavior of the animal they chose in both normal (nonenriched) and enriched environments and developed animal data cards for zookeepers to use in educational programs. Results showed that after participating in the zoo laboratory, students reported significant attitude changes, including more positive attitudes toward studying animals and increased confidence in their observational abilities. The laboratory provides a foundation for more extensive animal research and internship projects.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting nine years after ileal-pouch ileoanal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis

Non-hodgkin's lymphoma presenting nine years after ileal-pouch ileoanal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis
3-D Edge Preserving Smoothing For Seismic Edge Detection

We have developed a new algorithm that detects discontinuities or “edges” in seismic data to reveal seismic discontinuities such as faults and channels. The new algorithm is based on an edge-preserving smoothing method. Edge detection based on edge-preserving smoothing (EPS-edge) is a robust algorithm that combines the strength of edge preserving smoothing method to suppress noise and the differencing method of detection faults and channels. We have successfully applied the new method to synthetic and real data and we find that it can detect edges while it also can suppress noise.