cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of cervical sagittal balance and cervical spine alignment on craniocervical junction motion: an analysis using upright multi-positional MRI

To evaluate the effect of cervical sagittal alignment on craniocervical junction kinematic. We retrospectively reviewed 359 patients (119 cervical lordosis, 38 cervical sagittal imbalances, 111 cervical straight, and 91 cervical kyphosis) who underwent cervical spine multi-positional magnetic resonance imaging (mMRI). The C2-7 angle, disc degeneration grading and cSVA were analyzed in neutral position. The C3-5 OCI, O-C2 angle, and OCD were analyzed in neutral, flexion, and extension position. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to detect difference among four groups. The post hoc analysis was performed by Mann–Whitney U test. The cervical sagittal imbalance, cervical straight, and cervical kyphosis groups had significantly more lordosis angle in C3 and C4 OCI and O-C2 angle than the cervical lordosis group (p < 0.0125). Head motion in relation to C2, C3, and C4 (O-C2 angle, C3-4 OCI) in the kyphosis group was significantly greater than in the cervical lordosis group (p < 0.0125). The cervical sagittal imbalance group showed significantly increased O-C2 angle than the cervical lordosis group (p = 0.008). Regression analysis showed that an increase in O-C2 angle by one unit had a relative risk of 4.3% and 3.5% for a patient to be in the cervical sagittal imbalance and cervical kyphosis groups, respectively. Cervical sagittal alignment affected craniocervical junction motion with the head exhibiting greater extension and motion in the cervical sagittal imbalance and cervical kyphosis groups. Motion of the head in relation to C2 can be used to predict the cervical sagittal alignment.
Vision is biased near handheld, but not remotely operated, tools

Previous studies have shown that after actively using a handheld tool for a period of time, participants show visual biases toward stimuli presented near the end of the tool. Research suggests this is driven by an incorporation of the tool into the observer’s body schema, extending peripersonal space to surround the tool. This study aims to investigate whether the same visual biases might be seen near remotely operated tools. Participants used tools—a handheld rake (Experiment 1), a remote-controlled drone (Experiment 2), a remote-controlled excavator (Experiment 3), or a handheld excavator (Experiment 4)—to rake sand for several minutes, then performed a target-detection task in which they made speeded responses to targets appearing near and far from the tool. In Experiment 1, participants detected targets appearing near the rake significantly faster than targets appearing far from the rake, replicating previous findings. We failed to find strong evidence of improved target detection near remotely operated tools in Experiments 2 and 3, but found clear evidence of near-tool facilitation in Experiment 4 when participants physically picked up the excavator and used it as a handheld tool. These results suggest that observers may not incorporate remotely operated tools into the body schema in the same manner as handheld tools. We discuss potential mechanisms that may drive these differences in embodiment between handheld and remote-controlled tools.
Do Managers Always Know Better? The Relative Accuracy of Management and Analyst Forecasts

We examine the relative accuracy of management and analyst forecasts of annual EPS. We predict and find that analysts’ information advantage resides at the macroeconomic level. They provide more accurate earnings forecasts than management when a firm's fortunes move in concert with macroeconomic factors such as Gross Domestic Product and energy costs. In contrast, we predict and find that management's information advantage resides at the firm level. Their forecasts are more accurate than analysts’ when management's actions, which affect reported earnings, are difficult to anticipate by outsiders, such as when the firm's inventories are abnormally high or the firm has excess capacity or is experiencing a loss. Although analysts are commonly viewed as industry specialists, we fail to find evidence that analysts have an information advantage over managers at the industry level. The two have comparable abilities to forecast earnings for firms with revenues or earnings that are more synchronous with their industries.
Anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescents and young adults with epilepsy: The role of illness beliefs and social factors.

Abstract Purpose This study examined (1) the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among adolescents and young adults (AYA) with epilepsy and (2) demographic and medical characteristics, illness beliefs, and social factors associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms to guide intervention development. Methods A community-based sample of AYA with epilepsy (n = 179, ages 13–24 years, 39% male) completed online questionnaires measuring anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), illness beliefs (helplessness; acceptance; perceived benefits), and social factors (family functioning; social stigma; connectedness). Participants also reported medical information (epilepsy type; years since diagnosis; time since last seizure; current medications). Results Prevalence of clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression, 36% and 35%, respectively, was high compared to population prevalence. In multivariable regression models, demographic and medical factors explained only 2% of the variance in depressive symptoms and 6% in anxiety symptoms. Illness beliefs and social factors accounted for a majority of the explanatory power of both models (partial R2 = 0.37 for anxiety; 0.44 for depression). Specifically, acceptance, family functioning, and social stigma accounted for the greatest variance (p’s Conclusions This study found a high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among AYA with epilepsy. Epilepsy variables (seizure type, medications, and years since diagnosis) were not associated with these psychological symptoms. Rather, the majority of variance in symptoms was accounted for by potentially modifiable beliefs and social factors. Interventions that promote illness acceptance, enhance family functioning, and reduce social stigma may ameliorate psychological distress among AYA with epilepsy.
Influence of delayed density and ultraviolet radiation on caterpillar granulovirus infection and mortality

O_LIInfectious disease is an important potential driver of population cycles, but this must occur through delayed density-dependent infection and resulting fitness effects. Delayed density-dependent infection by baculoviruses can be caused by environmental persistence of viral occlusion bodies, which can be influenced by environmental factors. In particular, ultraviolet radiation is potentially important in reducing the environmental persistence of viruses by inactivating viral occlusion bodies. C_LIO_LIDelayed density-dependent viral infection has rarely been observed empirically at the population level although theory predicts that it is necessary for these pathogens to drive population cycles. Similarly, field studies have not examined the potential effects of ultraviolet radiation on viral infection rates in natural animal populations. We tested if viral infection is delayed density-dependent with the potential to drive cyclic dynamics and if ultraviolet radiation influences viral infection. C_LIO_LIWe censused 18 moth populations across nearly 9{degrees} of latitude over two years and quantified the effects of direct and delayed density and ultraviolet radiation on granulovirus infection rate, infection severity, and survival to adulthood. Caterpillars were collected from each population in the field and reared in the laboratory. C_LIO_LIWe found that infection rate, infection severity, and survival to adulthood exhibited delayed density-dependence. Ultraviolet radiation in the previous summer decreased infection severity, and increased survival probability of the virus. Structural equation modelling found that the effect of lagged density on moth survival was mediated through infection rate and infection severity, and was 2.5 fold stronger than the effect of ultraviolet radiation on survival through infection severity. C_LIO_LIOur findings provide clear evidence that delayed density dependence can arise through viral infection rate and severity in insects, which supports the role of viral disease as a potential mechanism, among others, that may drive insect population cycles. Furthermore, our findings support predictions that ultraviolet radiation can modify viral disease dynamics in insect populations, most likely through attenuating viral persistence in the environment. C_LI
Study on a kind of thermal source chip for the performance analysis of micro channel heat sink: Simulation and experimental validation

Micro channel cooling technology is one kind of forced heat exchange cooling technology, and has good potential applications in high power electronic devices and microsystem integration field. However, the performance analysis is a technical issue for the application of micro channel heat sink. A thermal source chip for analyzing the performance of micro channel heat sink accurately and conveniently is presented in this paper. In order to analyze the performance of thermal source chip, the thermodynamics simulation is carried out by using finite element software. Then, the thermal source chip is fabricated, and the thermal measuring experiment is performed to verify the simulation results. The simulation results indicate that the surface temperature of thermal source chip increases with the applied voltage, and the maximum heat flux of thermal source chip appeared at the 80 V applied voltage. The experiment results show good agreement with the simulation.
Apollo Command Module and LEM Guidance and Navigation Systems

Guidance and navigation equipment used by both Apollo service module and lunar excursion module
Maimonides on the Origin of the World: Nature, Miracles, and the End of the World

A ny discussion of the origin of the world raises the question of its end. For Philoponus, and in Jewish tradition Saadia, the two issues are closely linked. According to what Saadia calls the argument from finitude: (1) the world has a finite magnitude, (2) what has a finite magnitude can contain only finite power, (3) what contains finite power cannot maintain itself in existence indefinitely and therefore must have a beginning and end. Therefore, the world was created. As Wolfson notes, Saadia's argument contains a tacit premise derived from Aristotle: anything that is perishable must have been generated. It is worth noting, as Davidson does, that Saadia's argument differs from that of Philoponus in an important respect. For Saadia, although a finite body cannot maintain itself in existence indefinitely, an infinite power can maintain it in existence. So the universe may be created and yet eternal a parte post . Philoponus questions this, arguing that it is in the nature of every finite body to lose power over time. Given that the world is inherently destructible and that through infinite time everything that is possible will come to pass, it seems that a finite body cannot last forever even if it is maintained by an infinite one. Although Maimonides does not use a version of this argument to establish creation, we have seen that he accepts the claim that anything that is generated will pass away.
The preparative scale separation and the identification of constituents of anthraquinone-derived dye mixtures: Part 1. 1-methylaminoanthraquinone, 1,4-diamino-2,3-dihydroanthraquinone and 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone

Abstract Two colored smoke mixes, red and violet, were separated to isolate the major dye components from their impurities for both chemical characterization and biological testing. The red smoke mix was separated into three fractions by vacuum sublimation. The major dye component, 1-methylaminoanthraquinone (MAA) was isolated in fraction 2 at about 98% purity. Fraction 1 contained a number of impurities, including aminoanthraquinone, azobenzene, azoxybenzene, aminobiphenyl, and phenyldiazobenzene. The third fraction was a non-volatile black powder containing only C, H, and O with hydroxyl groups. The violet smoke mix was separated into four fractions by using differential solubilities, taking advantage of the solubility differences of the two main components, MAA and l,4-diamino-2,3-dihydroanthraquinone (DDA) in chloroform. Fraction 1 contained primarily MAA, with trace amounts of anthraquinone, DDA, aminonaphthalene, aminoanthraquinone, phenyldiazobenzene and 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone (DAA). Fraction 2 contained mostly DDA, along with some DAA and small amounts of MAA, aminoanthraquinone, aminonaphthalene and anthraquinone. Fraction 3 contained both DDA and DAA with a trace of aminonaphthalene. Fraction 4 was a gray chloroform-insoluble residue.
Protestantism and Patriotism: The Northern Rebellion and the reestablishment of Anglican Royalist consensus

Despite the uneasy peace of 1662, less than three years later English and Dutch navies would be fighting on the coast of Africa, the Mediterranean, and ultimately in the Channel. Why did this happen? Why had a government which in 1662 feared for its very existence, opted so quickly to test itself in the field of international conflict? Much of the answer lies in the changing domestic political scene. Although no great rising had materialized in 1662, the government did not emerge unscathed from the political maneuvers of 1662. The government, including the Earl of Clarendon as Charles's chief minister, was attacked for corruption. Clarendon was accused of having sold Dunkirk for personal profit, of having married Charles to a barren Portuguese princess to ensure the succession of his daughter Anne's children by the Duke of York, and having taken bribes variously from France, the United Provinces, and Portugal. Parliament, in the session of 1663, demonstrated a temper far different from that of the previous year. Factional strife rather than the ordered implementation of government legislation was the business of both houses. Sir Philip Warwick observed to Pepys “how obedient this Parliament was for a while; and the last sitting, how they begun to differ and to carp at the king's officers.” “Most of my time is taken up with the business of the Parliament in getting them to do what is best for us all,” Charles complained to his sister, “and keeping them from doing what they ought not to do.”
Information provenance in social media

Information appearing in social media provides a challenge for determining the provenance of the information. However, the same characteristics that make the social media environment challenging provide unique and untapped opportunities for solving the information provenance problem for social media. Current approaches for tracking provenance information do not scale for social media and consequently there is a gap in provenance methodologies and technologies providing exciting research opportunities for computer scientists and sociologists. This paper introduces a theoretical approach aimed guiding future efforts to realize a provenance capability for social media that is not available today. The guiding vision is the use of social media information itself to realize a useful amount provenance data for information in social media.
Memoirs: Observation on Protozoa: I. The Impermanence of the Contractile Vacuole in Amoeba Vespertilio. II. Structure and Mode of Food Ingestion of Peranema

1. In A. vespertilio Penard (1902) there is a continuous de novo formation of water vacuoles, each of which in turn increases to maximum size, acquires a stiffened wall, lags into the rear end of the amoeba, and discharges apparently through pressure from the gelating ectoplasm. No continuity exists between successive vacuoles. 2. The observations indicate that the contractile vacuole system serves to discharge water necessarily taken in in hypotonic medium. The more fluid the ectoplasm and the thinner the surface membrane, the less permanent is the vacuolar system of a protozoan. 3. In P. trichophorum Ehrb. the gullet opens and the flagellum passes inward at the anterior tip of the animal, not at the heads of the two pharyngeal rods. No evidence was found for the existence of a mouth at the rod-heads as maintained by Brown (1930), and the gullet entrance is believed to be the mouth. 4. In feeding on large objects Peranema applies the greatly expanded gullet lips to the object and sucks in the contents; smaller objects are swallowed whole. The pharyngeal rods are not used to pierce the food object, but serve as trichites to assist the upper or more protruding lip in grasping objects and to stiffen the food-ingesting parts. Food is swallowed by peristaltic contortions.
Child–Parent Violence: An Empirical Analysis of Offender, Victim, and Event Characteristics in a National Sample of Reported Incidents

Child–parent violence (CPV) is arguably the most under-researched form of family violence, despite an extremely high rate of occurrence and increasing prevalence. Prior research has been plagued by shortcomings including, but not limited to, a reliance on small clinical samples, age parameter restrictions, antiquated data, undefined parental relationships, and conflicting findings across studies. The current research examined a large cross-national sample of reported offenders (n = 17,957), collected as part of the 2002 National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Extrapolated from past literature, victim and offender demographics and incident characteristics are analyzed using chi-square tests and logistic regression to establish baseline findings from a more comprehensive sample of data than previously existed. Aggregate results suggest, in part, that white biological mothers older than 40 years of age are most likely to be victimized by their male children 14–17 years of age. Further, a majority of assaults involve personal weapons and tend to result in minor injury or no injury with very few offenders under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This work both corroborates and contrasts past finding of CPV research providing new insights into this complex crime and the baseline data needed to inform theory and test hypotheses.
Topographical Choroidal Thickness Change Following PDT for CSC: An OCT Case Report

Purpose. To describe topographical changes in choroidal thickness as measured by optical coherence tomography following photodynamic therapy (PDT) for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Methods. Case report. Results. By 1 month following PDT, mean (SD) choroidal thickness decreased from 562 microns (24) to 424 microns (27) ( P 0.01 ) at 3 mm temporal to fovea, 483 microns (9) to 341 microns (21) ( P 0.01 ) at 1.5 mm temporal to fovea, 576 microns (52) to 370 microns (81) ( P 0.01 ) under the fovea, 442 microns (30) to 331 microns (54) ( P 0.04 ) at 1.5 mm nasal to fovea, and 274 microns (39) to 171 microns (17) ( P 0.01 ) at 3 mm nasal to fovea. The Location of greatest choroidal thickness (648 microns) prior to treatment was at point of leakage on fluorescein angiogram (FA). This region decreased to 504 microns following treatment. Conclusion. A decrease in choroidal thickness can be seen following PDT for CSC as far as 3 mm temporal and 3 mm nasal to fovea. The Location of greatest choroidal thickness may be at point of leakage on FA.
Sabadilla Alkaloids VIII: Isolation of Sabadillines I, II, and III

The techniques of partition and adsorption chromatography as well as counter-current distribution have been applied to alkaloidal concentrates from both sabadilla and veratrine. Whereas sabadilline previously was considered to consist of a single alkaloidal constituent, the present work has resulted in the isolation of three different materials which possess the characteristic ultraviolet absorption maximum at 238 mμ. These materials have been named sabadilline I, II, and III. Only sabadilline II was obtained in crystalline form. Attempts to establish a relationship between the three compounds were unsuccessful. Only sabadilline II yielded an alkaline isomerization product and this was not similar to either sabadillines I or III.
PACS system design, implementation, and evaluation in a trauma center

Although trauma has been recognized as the third leading cause of death overall in the United States, it is the leading cause of death in persons less than 40 years of age. There are approximately 150,000 trauma deaths per year. About 50,000 of these occur on the highway, with victims suffering severe multiple system injury. For every death, 2-3 patients suffer major long-term disability. An important estimate states that one in four of these deaths could be prevented1. With this unfortunate fact in mind, trauma systems have been developed across the country over the past decade. A trauma system consists of 1) a sophisticated prehospital system with paramedics initiating resuscitation and rapid transport; 2) on-line communication networks linking prehospital personnel with physicians in trauma centers who provide medical control; and 3) the trauma center, which acts as the hub of the system by coordinating the prehospital efforts and providing definitive trauma care. The trauma center concept has been developed and defmed by the American College of Surgeons, which established three tiers: Levels I, II, and III, with the most severely injured patients being triaged to Level I institutions. Since death and major disability occur within a short time following injury in those patients, diagnosis and therapy must be both simultaneous and expeditious. This is accomplished by having surgeons--trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and anesthesiologists--and operating room teams present in the hospital at all times. A level I trauma center recreates, in part or in whole, a hospital environment focused on a limited spectrum of disease. All the problems in medical care related to imaging that are experienced in the trauma center also exist throughout the remainder of the hospital system. However, due to the speed of health care delivery and the concentrated focus of multiple surgical subspecialists and radiologists on the same small number of medical images the problems become severely exacerbated. Virtually all of the most serious problems related to imaging in a level I trauma center can be resolved with digital acquisition and storage of conventional images combined with transmission of already digital images (CT scans) to a central display location. Additional benefits can be expected with the provision of remote access to images from intensive care units and operating rooms and rapid transmission of images to the ShockfTrauma section where the earliest and most intense medical care is administered. Consequently, a PACS system was installed at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Installation was completed in the first week of December, 1989 and the system is currently being phased into operation, and evaluated.
Expression of neuron-specific beta-III tubulin during olfactory neurogenesis in the embryonic and adult rat

The olfactory neuroepithelium retains the unique capacity to produce a new set of mature neurons every three to four weeks from a precursor population situated at the base of the epithelium. It is not known however, whether developing olfactory neurons in the adult rat follow the same program that is initiated embryonically. By tracking the expression of beta-III tubulin (by immunoreactivity to TuJ-1, an isoform-specific antibody) throughout embryogenesis, we have demonstrated a commitment to the olfactory neuron lineage in a subset of cells in the embryonic olfactory placode and followed their development into adulthood. We have also shown that this developmental pattern of beta-III tubulin expression is recapitulated in neurons undergoing a synchronized neurogenic response to either physical or chemical lesion in the adult neuroepithelium. The embryonic expression pattern reported here is similar to, but earlier than that reported for other markers of developing neurons, such as growth-associated protein-43 and neural cell adhesion molecule. The results of these studies suggest the retention of a conserved neurogenic program from embryonic to adult life in the olfactory neuron and, in addition, support the use of a readily accessible system such as the regenerating olfactory neuroepithelium as an alternative means of studying genes which may be crucial to normal neuronal development.
The formation of stars by gravitational collapse rather than competitive accretion.

Star formation is central to many phenomena in astrophysics, from galactic evolution to the formation of planets. So a lot depends on the fate of the two competing theories that seek to explain it. In the gravitational collapse theory, giant molecular clumps, with masses hundreds of thousands of times greater than that of the Sun, break up into gaseous fragments that then collapse to form stars. The competitive accretion theory involves the creation of small stars, about half the mass of the Sun, that then grow by accumulating unbound gas. A new numerical simulation comes down firmly in favour of gravitational collapse as the dominant mechanism, on the grounds that in real star forming clouds, the initial mass of a star is all the mass that it will ever have; the conditions are simply not conducive to it collecting any more. There are two dominant models of how stars form. Under gravitational collapse, star-forming molecular clumps, of typically hundreds to thousands of solar masses (M⊙), fragment into gaseous cores that subsequently collapse to make individual stars or small multiple systems1,2,3. In contrast, competitive accretion theory suggests that at birth all stars are much smaller than the typical stellar mass (∼0.5M⊙), and that final stellar masses are determined by the subsequent accretion of unbound gas from the clump4,5,6,7,8. Competitive accretion models interpret brown dwarfs and free-floating planets as protostars ejected from star-forming clumps before they have accreted much mass; key predictions of this model are that such objects should lack disks, have high velocity dispersions, form more frequently in denser clumps9,10,11, and that the mean stellar mass should vary within the Galaxy8. Here we derive the rate of competitive accretion as a function of the star-forming environment, based partly on simulation12, and determine in what types of environments competitive accretion can occur. We show that no observed star-forming region can undergo significant competitive accretion, and that the simulations that show competitive accretion do so because the assumed properties differ from those determined by observation. Our result shows that stars form by gravitational collapse, and explains why observations have failed to confirm predictions of the competitive accretion model.
Raman studies of Al coordination in silica-rich sodium aluminosilicate glasses and some related minerals

Abstract Polarized Raman spectra have been obtained for a series of sodium aluminosilicate glasses and selected minerals, in order to investigate changes in the glass structure with composition. Particular attention is paid to characterization of the Al coordination, and to test Lacy's hypothesis concerning the role of “triclusters” in Al-rich glasses (Al/Na = R > 1.0). A comparison of five glasses ranging from nearly sodium trisilicate composition glass (R = 0.03) to albite composition glass (R = 1), and beyond to a glass of R = 1.61, leads to the following observations with increasing R: the polarized bands previously assigned to T-O (non-bridging) vibrations (950, 1110 cm−1) decrease in intensity, while those assigned to T-O (bridging) vibrations (485, 980 cm−1) either remain the same or increase in intensity. The narrow band at 495 cm−1 and a somewhat wider one at 595 cm−1, may be related to Raman active “defects” that have been observed in vitreous SiO2 at essentially the same frequencies. Our observations indicate a general increase in tetrahedral polymerization and random incorporation of Al into tetrahedral sites. Comparison of the Raman spectra of mullite (which contains (Si, Al)3O10 triclusters) with sillimanite (which contains no triclusters) shows that the bands at 418 and 1200 cm−1 in mullite are absent for sillimanite. Assuming that these “extra” bands are due to the triclusters in mullite, we have to conclude that similar triclusters do not exist in any of the glasses we examined. If these “extra” bands in mullite are not due to triclusters, we can draw no such conclusion. Our study indicates that observed changes in physical properties of sodium aluminosilicate glasses as R increases are not due to an Al coordination change.
MicroRNA signatures differentiate uterine cancer tumor subtypes.

Abstract Objective Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy. Type I EC has a favorable prognosis, while type II ECs account for half of all treatment failures. Little knowledge of the biological differences is available to predict EC outcomes besides their pathological distinctions. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a family of non-translated RNAs important in regulating oncogenic pathways. Mis-expression patterns of miRNAs in EC, as well as differences in miRNA expression patterns between the subtypes of EC, has not been previously evaluated. Our purpose was to identify miRNA profiles of EC subtypes, and to identify miRNAs associated with these subtypes to ultimately understand the different biological behavior between these subtypes. Methods Ninety-five fresh/frozen and paraffin-embedded samples of endometrial type I and II cancer, carcinosarcomas and benign endometrial samples were collected. MiRNA expression profiles were evaluated by microarray analysis. Statistical analysis was performed. Results Distinct miRNA signatures in tumor versus normal samples and in endometrioid vs. uterine papillary serous carcinomas exist. Additionally, carcinosarcomas have a unique miRNA signature from either the type I or II epithelial tumors. Conclusions We hypothesize that further understanding the miRNAs that separate these subtypes of EC will lead to biological insights into the different behavior of these tumors.
Libby North Corridor Study: Implementation of 23 Code of Federal Regulations Part 450, Appendix A: Planning Assistance and Standards, Linking Transportation Planning and National Environmental Policy Act Processes

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) developed the corridor-planning process to bridge the gap between its statewide longrange transportation policy plan and project-level National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes. MDT cooperated with Lincoln County, Montana; the USDA Forest Service; and FHWA to complete the Libby North Corridor Study. The approach used new rules and regulations: 23 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 450, Appendix A: Linking the Transportation Planning and NEPA Processes. Corridor planning complements NEPA and ensures that decisions are made at the appropriate level with consideration of low-cost alternatives and available funding. Environmentally complex issues in the Pipe Creek area, north of Libby, prompted the study. It was uncertain whether any project was possible on this secondary highway (MT-567) because of its environmentally challenging location: parallel to Pipe Creek (Bull Trout Critical Habitat), within the Kootenai National Forest and grizzly bear habitat d...
Embedded electronics for a mussel-based biological sensor

Previous researchers have used freshwater mussels as biological sensors by monitoring the rhythmic opening and closing of their valve (gape). However, these mussels were tethered. Our goal is to use mussels as untethered sensors. Here we describe the Hall-effect sensing, and wireless communication electronics that are housed in a mussel backpack. We present experimental results demonstrating that one can measure untethered mussels' gape for extended periods.
μ-Opioid receptors are located postsynaptically and endomorphin-1 inhibits voltage-gated calcium currents in premotor cardiac parasympathetic neurons in the rat nucleus ambiguus

Activation of opioid receptors in the CNS evokes a dramatic decrease in heart rate which is mediated by increases in inhibitory parasympathetic activity to the heart. Injection of opiates into the nucleus ambiguus, where premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons are located elicits an increase in parasympathetic cardiac activity and bradycardia. However, the mechanisms responsible for altering the activity of premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons is unknown. This study examined at the electron microscopic level whether premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons possess postsynaptic opioid receptors and whether mu-opioid receptor agonists alter voltage-gated calcium currents in these neurons. Premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons were identified in the rat using retrograde fluorescent tracers. One series of experiments utilized dual-labeling immunocytochemical methods combined with electron microscopic analysis to determine if premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons contain mu-opioid receptors. In a second series of experiments whole cell patch clamp methodologies were used to determine whether activation of postsynaptic opioid receptors altered voltage-gated calcium currents in premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons in brainstem slices. The perikarya and 78% of the dendrites of premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons contain mu-opioid receptors. Voltage-gated calcium currents in premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons were comprised nearly entirely of omega-agatoxin-sensitive P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium currents. Activation of mu-opioid receptors inhibited these voltage-gated calcium currents and this inhibition was blocked by pretreatment with pertusis toxin. The mu-opioid receptor agonist endomorphin-1, but not the mu-opioid receptor agonist endomorphin-2, inhibited the calcium currents. In summary, mu-opioid receptors are located postsynaptically on premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons. The mu-opioid receptor agonist endomorphin1 inhibited the omega-agatoxin-sensitive P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium currents in premotor cardiac vagal nucleus ambiguus neurons. This inhibition is mediated via a G-protein mediated pathway which was blocked by pretreatment with pertusis toxin. It is possible that the inhibition of calcium currents may act to indirectly facilitate the activity of premotor cardiac parasympathetic nucleus ambiguus neurons by disinhibition, such as by a reduction in inhibitory calcium activated potassium currents.
Chromatic polynomials of generalized trees

Abstract This paper is a survey of results on chromatic polynomials of graphs which are generalizations of trees. In particular, chromatic polynomials of q -trees will be discussed. The smallest q -tree ( q ≥1) is the complete graph K q on q vertices. A q -tree on n +1 vertices where n ≥ q , is obtained by adding a new vertex adjacent to each of q arbitrarily selected, mutually adjacent vertices in a q -tree on n vertices. Another generalization of trees is the n -gon-trees. The smallest n -gon-tree ( n ≥3) is the n -gon which is a cycle of n vertices. A n -gon-tree with k +1 n -gons is obtained from a n -gon-tree with k n -gons by adding a new n -gon which has exactly one edge in common with any n -gon of a n -gon-tree with k n -gons.
Addressing the requirements for RF photonics

This paper address the relationship between system requirements and device specifications and figures of merit for RF photonic application
Effective stiffness of a periodically cracked 3-D solid

This paper studies the effective elastic stiffness of 3-D periodically cracked solids. A direct approach is used to solve the transition problem to obtain the effective stiffness from the details of the microstructure. A specific class of periodically cracked solids is then considered. The crack opening volume for these periodic configurations were obtained using a specialized Boundary Element Method (BEM). The BEM involves special techniques for evaluating finite-part integrals and for approximating the periodic Green function. Finally, results for the effective stiffness of particular configurations of periodically cracked 3-D solids are presented and compared with approximate methods. These results indicate that, in general, the crack density parameter is not sufficient to characterize a damaged solid.
Interactive digital photomontage

We describe an interactive, computer-assisted framework for combining parts of a set of photographs into a single composite picture, a process we call "digital photomontage." Our framework makes use of two techniques primarily: graph-cut optimization, to choose good seams within the constituent images so that they can be combined as seamlessly as possible; and gradient-domain fusion, a process based on Poisson equations, to further reduce any remaining visible artifacts in the composite. Also central to the framework is a suite of interactive tools that allow the user to specify a variety of high-level image objectives, either globally across the image, or locally through a painting-style interface. Image objectives are applied independently at each pixel location and generally involve a function of the pixel values (such as "maximum contrast") drawn from that same location in the set of source images. Typically, a user applies a series of image objectives iteratively in order to create a finished composite. The power of this framework lies in its generality; we show how it can be used for a wide variety of applications, including "selective composites" (for instance, group photos in which everyone looks their best), relighting, extended depth of field, panoramic stitching, clean-plate production, stroboscopic visualization of movement, and time-lapse mosaics.
Determining research priorities in pediatric nursing: A delphi study

A two-round Delphi study was performed in Pediatric Nursing at a large midwestern teaching hospital. The purpose of the study was to identify research priorities for the Pediatric Research committee for future projects. The initial survey was sent to all pediatric nursing staff. Sixty-two staff (19%) responded to the first round. Forty-five separate research topics/themes of interest were identified. The second round survey was sent to the 62 staff who responded to Round 1. Forty-eight staff (76%) responded. Participants were given a list of the 45 topics identified in Round 1, and asked to identify their top five priorities. Results were analyzed by unit and by Division. The identified priorities for the Division are described here.
Navigating the Worldly and the Divine: Jewish American Artists on Judaism and their Art

The history of American art boasts a large number of prominent artists with Jewish backgrounds, including artists as diverse as Richard Avedon, Audrey Flack, Robert Frank, and Lee Krasner. Whether or not these artists’ religiocultural inheritance influence(d) their art has been of recent interest. This article presents some Jewish American artists’ own thoughts on the Jewishness of their art or the spiritual dimensions that shape their artistic conceptions. Several rich sources have supplied this important primary material, including the artists’ personal writings, notably an impressive body of autobiographical books and comments, and the author’s oral interviews and written correspondence with many of the living artists. By offering some Jewish American artists’ perceptions of their background and work, not only can we see the diversity of the artists’ Jewish identifications but these new perspectives will invigorate subsequent discussions of both their Jewish and non-Jewish themed work.
Functional Analysis of Concatenated Heterotetrameric hERG1 Channels Reveals Requirement for Binding to Four Identical Sites to Achieve Full Activation by hERG1 Agonists

Recently, several small molecule activators of hERG1 K+ channels have been discovered, including PD-118057 (PD) and ICA-105574 (ICA). The putative binding sites for these two activators overlap and are located in a hydrophobic pocket between the S5 and S6 segments of adjacent hERG1 subunits. Thus, a homotetrameric hERG1 channel has potentially four identical binding sites. However, it is unclear whether drug binding to more than one site is required for full channel activation. Concatenated hERG1 tetramers containing wild-type and mutant subunits, heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes, were employed to determine the binding stoichiometry of hERG1 agonists. We previously found single mutation (L646E in S6 or F557L in S5) abolished the effects of PD and ICA, respectively. Concatenated tetramers were therefore constructed to contain a variable number (0 to 4) of the mutant subunits.PD increases hERG1 current by multiple effects, including a shift of inactivation to a more positive voltage, slowing of deactivation and an increase in single channel open probability. The efficacy of PD was increased in proportion to the WT:L646E subunit ratio. The Hill coefficient was 1.40 - 1.55 for all the heteromeric concatamers, suggesting a weak positive cooperativity for PD binding. At a fully effective concentration of PD (10μM), each WT binding site contributes ∼20% towards the maximum response of 80% enhancement of current.ICA increases hERG1 current by a profound attenuation of inactivation. An increase in the WT:F557L subunit ratio enhanced the agonist activity of ICA (10μM and 30μM) in a synergistic fashion. For 2WT/2F557L concatenated channels, synergy required adjacent (as opposed to diagonal) WT subunits. In summary, four intact binding sites per channel are required to fully activate hERG1 by PD or ICA.
A Cis-acting A-U Sequence Element Induces Kinetoplastid U-insertions

Abstract A 34-nucleotide A-U sequence located immediately upstream of the editing sites of the Leishmania tarentolaecytochrome b mRNA induces a mitochondrial extract to insert U nucleotides independent of guide RNA. Insertions are localized to positions immediately 5′ and 3′ of the A-U sequence. When placed within an unedited mammalian transcript, the A-U sequence is sufficient to induce U-insertions. The sequence has a high degree of similarity with the templating nucleotides of a cytochrome b guide RNA and with a sequence adjacent to the editing sites in ND7 mRNA, the other characterized kinetoplastid mRNA supporting guide RNA-independent U-insertions. At least one protein specifically interacts with the A-U sequence. The reaction is consistent with a mechanism proposed for guide RNA-directed editing.
Speciation and local structure in alkali and alkaline earth silicate glasses: Constraints from 29Si NMR spectroscopy

29 Si NMR spectroscopy provides important contributions to the understanding of silicate glass structure, as the resonance frequency is sensitive to several aspects of the local chemical environment (including intertetrahedral bond angles, bond distances, and number of bridging oxygens per silicon atom). New data on a series of binary alkali and alkaline earth glasses are presented which highlight the effects of composition, as well as the complications that can arise in the interpretation of spectra. In binary alkali silicate glasses, two partially resolved peaks may be observed, which are attributable to Si in sites with different numbers of bridging oxygens. These are present even in glasses which are almost certainly single, homogeneous phases. In alkaline earth and in aluminosilicate glasses, single, broad, often asymmetric resonances are found, whose linewidths span the frequency ranges of three or more structural species. Using a combination of slow sample spinning and non-spinning techniques, NMR spectra also provide data on local electronic symmetry, and indicate that silicon sites in glasses can be more symmetrical than those in crystalline materials.
BENZYLIC CARBONIUM IONS AS ULTIMATE CARCINOGENS OF POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS

Abstract Perturbational molecular orbital calculations were applied to a series of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to assess the energetics involved in generating electrophilic carbonium ions of two types, triol and benzylic carbonium ions. ΔE β , an index of carbonium ion formation and stability, was nearly always higher for benzylic carbonium ions attached to mesoanthracenic positions of PAHs than for terminal ring triol carbonium ions. Furthermore, the reactivity index N t for substitution reactions leading to benzylic carbonium ions was lowest in each molecule at the site corresponding to the most favorable ΔE β value. No similar relationship existed for ortholocalization energies of bonds at which addition reactions generate triol carbonium ions. Statistical analysis revealed that Iball indices for carcinogenicity showed higher correlation with both benzylic-relevant ΔE β and N t values than with triol carbonium ion ΔE β or ortholocalization energies. Various authors claim correlation between the energetics of triol carbonium ion generation and carcinogenicity, yet our observations along similar lines of reasoning demonstrate even stronger correlation and more favorable energetics for benzylic carbonium ions that require initial methylation at an exceptionally reactive center. Based on our calculations, we predict that animal tests, such as repeated application to mouse skin or repeated subcutaneous injection in mice or rats, should reveal benzylic carbonium ions arising from hydroxymethyl sulfate ester metabolites to be endowed with more complete carcinogenic potency than triol carbonium ions arising from dihydrodiol epoxide metabolites.
Collective Order and Economic Coordination in Industrial Agglomerations: The Technopoles of Southern California:

We begin by remarking upon the pervasiveness of nonmarket institutional arrangements in capitalist economic systems. We then sketch out some typical generalized forms of collective order and economic coordination in industrial agglomerations—quasi-integration, voluntary associations, informal business cultures, and governmental institutions. With the aid of simple statistics we describe the growth of the high-technology industrial agglomerations (technopoles) of Southern California since the 1950s. The specific regulatory tasks and institutions engendered by this growth are reviewed in detail with special reference to transactional economies, innovation and technology transfer, labor supply, land development, and lobbying and local economic growth. We conclude with a brief discussion of some of the problems and predicaments experienced by high-technology industry in Southern California and in the USA in the current (neoconservative) policy environment.
Phosphorylation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from Crassula argentea.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC; EC 4.1.1.31) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from Crassula argentea leaves according to established methods incorporating DEAE, hydroxylapatite, and Mono Q chromatography. The purified enzyme had a specific activity of 20-25 units/ mg of protein. Purified PEPC was further processed by blue agarose affinity chromatography and gel filtration to help ensure the removal of potential contaminating kinases. Autoradiography revealed that phosphorylation of PEPC occurred when the purified enzyme was incubated with [γ- 32 P]ATP-Mg 2+ . Radiolabel was not incorporated when [α- 32 P]ATP-Mg 2+ was utilized as substrate. Phosphorylation of the PEPC culminated in its activation: the K i for L-malate increased 2.5-fold while the maximum inhibition dropped from 73 to 39% and the K m for magnesium phosphoenolpyruvate dropped from 69 to 53 μM. These data are consistent with phosphorylation sensitive PEPC from C. argentea possessing an auto-kinase function or, alternatively, the copurification of a kinase that possesses a high specific activity and tightly associates with PEPC.