cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cardiac CT in 2015: Clinical Role According to Current Multi-Societal Guidelines

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid expansion in the use of cardiac CT as well as in the data supporting its application in a variety of clinical settings. This has led to an increasing inclusion of cardiac CT in the various guidelines, appropriate use criteria, and societal position statements. This article aims to review the use of CT in cardiovascular risk stratification, the diagnosis of coronary artery disease in various clinical settings including acute presentations, and the expanding role of CT in non-coronary indications with a focus on the guidelines and the data that impacts the clinical application of CT in these varied scenarios.
The Nirvana Fallacy in Law Firm Regulation Debates

Most commentators would agree that large law firms have outgrown collegial management and self-regulation. Yet lawyers generally have been slow to recognize the benefits of bureaucratic management, and traditionally have resisted and lamented the move toward more bureaucratic forms. Many lawyers view the infrastructure of bureaucratic management - that is, formal policies and procedures and specialized managerial personnel - as necessarily undermining professional ethics and individual accountability within firms. This article questions the empirical basis for such concerns. I argue that the fear that centralized management controls will undermine individual accountability rests on an implicit comparison to a nostalgic, collegial ideal, in which all partners engage in firm management and collective self-regulation. Since no large law firm can live up to this ideal, such a comparison inevitably leads to a critique of the proposed regulation. Economists refer to this type of comparison - between an idealized apple and an imperfect orange - as the "nirvana fallacy." The proper comparison, I argue, is between actual, more or less bureaucratic law firms, with and without the proposed controls. This type of comparison requires close attention to current conditions in law firms and lawyers' attitudes and behavior in different regulatory contexts. To the extent that such data are available, they suggest that some forms of centralized management, such as the appointment of law firm in-house counsel and other compliance specialists, may significantly improve individual accountability and compliance with professional rules.
Molecular Mediators of Angiogenesis in Bladder Cancer

Bladder tumors are characterized by markedly increased angiogenesis when compared to the normal urothelium (NU) from which they are derived. Here, we use both cultured cells and immunohistochemistry to demonstrate a primary regulatory role for thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis, in the development of bladder tumor angiogenesis. Secretions from bladder cancer (CA) cells stimulated endothelial cell migration and corneal neovascularization, whereas those from NU cells were inhibitory. The antiangiogenic activity of NU cells was primarily due to secreted TSP-1 because neutralizing antibodies completely relieved the inhibition. Neutralizing antibodies to several putative angiogenesis inducers identified vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and, to a lesser extent, basic fibroblast growth factor as the primary inducers secreted by bladder cancer cells. The secretion of TSP-1 by low- and high-grade cancer cells was reduced >94% when compared to NU cells, and this loss of inhibitory TSP-1 accounted for the development of an angiogenic phenotype because both NU cells and cancer cells secreted similar levels of total stimulatory activity and VEGF. Immunohistochemistry showed that TSP-1 was significantly reduced in all grades of bladder cancer when compared to NU, whereas VEGF staining remained relatively constant. Taken together, these data suggest that down-regulation of TSP-1 secretion is a key event in the switch from an antiangiogenic to an angiogenic phenotype, which occurs early in the development of bladder cancer.
The Fire Information Engine

ABSTRACT The recently established Center for Fire Research and Outreach at the University of California, Berkeley has developed a web-based toolkit, the Fire Information Engine Toolkit (FIET), for wildfire-related needs. The FIET is intended to meet the needs of diverse user groups (homeowners, decision-makers, including fire operations, and researchers) at a variety of scales (local, community, and regional levels) before, during, and after wildfires. During the initial phase of the FIET, we have focused on developing pre-fire tools for homeowners and decision-makers at the local and community levels. For example, we have developed a science-based, parcel-level structure vulnerability assessment and ranking approach that will help homeowners and communities to identify hazards and prioritize planning and mitigation activities. A version of this assessment can be completed anonymously by homeowners interested in decreasing their vulnerability to wildfire, and a similar version can be downloaded and used b...
Autonomous Cell Fate Specification: Overview

Autonomous cell fate specification is a form of embryonic specification in which a developing cell is able to differentiate (become a cell carrying out a specialised function) without receiving external signals. This property is enabled by cytoplasmic determinants (cytoplasmic regulatory factors necessary for specification) that are deposited in different regions of the ovum during oogenesis. These cytoplasmic determinants are partitioned into individual cells during embryonic cleavage, and thus endow these cells with the ability to form specific cell types. If an autonomously specified cell is removed from the embryo during early development and cultured in isolation, that cell will produce the descendants that it would have normally produced in the undisturbed embryo. Frequently, the embryo from which the cell was removed lacks the structures normally made by the missing cell. Autonomous cell fate specification is often used during patterning of invertebrate embryos such as ctenophores, annelids, molluscs, echinoderms and tunicates. Key Concepts: The cytoplasm of animal eggs is heterogeneous in composition due to the asymmetric deposition of key regulatory factors termed cytoplasmic determinants. In general, cytoplasmic determinants are asymmetrically distributed along the primordial axis of the ovum termed the animal–vegetal axis. Most cytoplasmic determinants are maternal (produced under the control of the mother's genome) ribonucleic acids (RNAs). Cytoplasmic determinants provide the necessary information for specifying embryonic cell fates. When inheritance of cytoplasmic determinants by a cell is sufficient for that cell to undergo its final differentiation, it is said to undergo autonomous cell fate specification. Autonomous cell fate specification is mostly seen in invertebrate embryos, but no embryo depends exclusively on this method of cell fate specification. Keywords: autonomous; specification; cytoplasmic determinants; cell fate; embryology; invertebrates
Bosutinib: a SRC–ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor for treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia

Bosutinib is one of five tyrosine kinase inhibitors commercially available in the United States for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. This review of bosutinib summarizes the mode of action, pharmacokinetics, efficacy and safety data, as well as the patient-focused perspective through quality-of-life data. Bosutinib has shown considerable and sustained efficacy in chronic myeloid leukemia, especially in the chronic phase, with resistance or intolerance to prior tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Bosutinib has distinct but manageable adverse events. In the absence of T315I and V299L mutations, there are no absolute contraindications for the use of bosutinib in this patient population.
Design of low sidelobe circular ring arrays by element radius optimization

There is a special class of antenna arrays, called 'minimum redundancy arrays', that seeks the optimal array geometry, with a limited number of antenna array elements. Optimization techniques include analytical techniques, computational methods such as linear/non-linear optimization and genetic algorithms. The authors expand the scope of their earlier synthesis method to design planar circular arrays with concentric rings of circular apertures.
Beam dump optics for the spallation neutron source

The Spallation Neutron Source accelerator complex will have three beam dumps for beam tuning and for the collection of controlled losses. The linac and extraction beam dumps will be used for beam tuning purposes and are designed for 7.5 kW of beam power. The optics issues for these dumps are i) the beam size at the vacuum window which is near the last quadrupole and ii) guaranteeing the beam size at the dump due to multiple scattering in the presence of potentially large variations in the linac and accumulator ring emittances. The injection dump will collect the partially stripped H0 ions as well as H- ions which have miss the foil and is designed to absorb up to 200 kW of beam power. The closed orbit for these ions are much different in the injection area and have to be collected in the injection beam dump with a certain beam size
Exposure Assessment for Carbon Dioxide Gas: Full Shift Average and Short-Term Measurement Approaches.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up a relatively small percentage of atmospheric gases, yet when used or produced in large quantities as a gas, a liquid, or a solid (dry ice), substantial airborne exposures may occur. Exposure to elevated CO2 concentrations may elicit toxicity, even with oxygen concentrations that are not considered dangerous per se. Full-shift sampling approaches to measure 8-hr time weighted average (TWA) CO2 exposures are used in many facilities where CO2 gas may be present. The need to assess rapidly fluctuating CO2 levels that may approach immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) conditions should also be a concern, and several methods for doing so using fast responding measurement tools are discussed in this paper. Colorimetric detector tubes, a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) detector, and a portable Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy instrument were evaluated in a laboratory environment using a flow-through standard generation system and were found to provide suitable a...
Intra-arterial cisplatin and FUDR in advanced malignancies confined to the head and neck

Twenty-seven patients with advanced malignancies confined to the head and neck region were treated with intra-arterial (IA) cisplatin and 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (FUDR) using implantable pumps or injection ports. Tumor histologies were: 16 squamous cell, one mucoepidermoid, one adenocarcinoma, one neuroendocrine, four adenoid cystic, two acinic cell, one fibrosarcoma, and one melanoma. All primaries originated from tissues in the head and neck area. Nineteen patients had received prior treatment, including chemotherapy in 13; eight were newly diagnosed. Responses in 26 evaluable patients were two complete (CR), ten partial (PR), six minor (MR), and eight progressions. The median duration of response was 5 months, with a range of 2 to 11 months. Sites of progression were within the infused volume in 13 patients and to uninfused local-regional or distant sites in eight. The response rate in the subset of 15 patients with squamous cell head and neck cancer was 47%. Toxicity in the 26 patients included stomatiti...
Comparisons between the TAO Buoy and NASA Scatterometer Wind Vectors

There was an opportunity to compare 10 months of collocated National Aeronautics and Space Administration scatterometer (NSCAT) wind vectors with those from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) buoy array, located in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Over 5500 data pairs, from nearly 70 buoys, were collocated in the calibration/ validation effort for NSCAT. These data showed that the wind speeds produced from the NSCAT-1 model function were low by about 7%‐8% compared with TAO buoy winds. The revised model function, NSCAT-2, produces wind speeds with a bias of about 1%. The scatterometer directions were within 208 (rms), meeting accuracy requirements, when compared to TAO data. The mean direction bias between the TAO and the NSCAT vectors (regardless of model function) is about 98 with the scatterometer winds to the right of the TAO winds, which may be due to swell. The statistics of the two datasets are discussed, using component biases in lieu of the speed bias, which is naturally skewed. Using ocean currents and buoy winds measured along the equator, it is shown that the scatterometer measures the wind relative to the moving ocean surface. In addition, a systematic effect of rain on the NSCAT wind retrievals is noted. In all analyses presented here, winds less than 3 m s 21 are removed, due to the difficulty in making accurate low wind measurements.
Bacillus subtilis RapA Phosphatase Domain Interaction with Its Substrate, Phosphorylated Spo0F, and Its Inhibitor, the PhrA Peptide

Rap proteins in Bacillus subtilis regulate the phosphorylation level or the DNA-binding activity of response regulators such as Spo0F, involved in sporulation initiation, or ComA, regulating competence development. Rap proteins can be inhibited by specific peptides generated by the export-import processing pathway of the Phr proteins. Rap proteins have a modular organization comprising an amino-terminal alpha-helical domain connected to a domain formed by six tetratricopeptide repeats (TPR). In this study, the molecular basis for the specificity of the RapA phosphatase for its substrate, phosphorylated Spo0F (Spo0F∼P), and its inhibitor pentapeptide, PhrA, was analyzed in part by generating chimeric proteins with RapC, which targets the DNA-binding domain of ComA, rather than Spo0F∼P, and is inhibited by the PhrC pentapeptide. In vivo analysis of sporulation efficiency or competence-induced gene expression, as well as in vitro biochemical assays, allowed the identification of the amino-terminal 60 amino acids as sufficient to determine Rap specificity for its substrate and the central TPR3 to TPR5 (TPR3-5) repeats as providing binding specificity toward the Phr peptide inhibitor. The results allowed the prediction and testing of key residues in RapA that are essential for PhrA binding and specificity, thus demonstrating how the widespread structural fold of the TPR is highly versatile, using a common interaction mechanism for a variety of functions in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms.
Evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck in the endangered Florida Keys silver rice rat (Oryzomys argentatus) revealed by microsatellite DNA analyses

Low levels of genetic variation are thought to contribute significantly to the higher extinction rates of endemic island populations compared to their mainland counterparts. We used six microsatellite loci to compare the genetic structure of the endangered silver rice rat (Oryzomys argentatus) population in Saddlebunch Key, Florida to the mainland population of the closely related marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris natator) in Everglades National Park. Allelic richness and gene diversity are significantly lower in Saddlebunch Key than in the larger mainland population, and the two populations are significantly differentiated as measured by both F-statistics and Bayesian clustering methods. These findings support the classification of the Keys population as a “distinct vertebrate population” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Current gene diversity (H E) is higher than expected under mutation-drift equilibrium in Saddlebunch Key, indicating a genetic bottleneck. The Keys population also exhibits a mode shift in its allele frequency distribution which suggests a very recent bottleneck has occurred and is consistent with reports of recent population declines. Although habitat loss and exotic species pose a more immediate and serious threat to silver rice rats, the continued loss of genetic variation may contribute to their long-term extinction risk due to inbreeding or by lowering the population’s ability to adapt to future environmental changes. The protection of habitat and the removal of introduced predators and competitors may help increase the population size of silver rice rats and lower their risk of extinction, both from a demographic and a genetic perspective.
Cliques and clustering: A combinatorial approach

We use column generation and a specialized branching technique for solving constrained clustering problems. We also develop and implement an innovative combinatorial method for solving the pricing subproblems. Computational experiments comparing the resulting branch-and-price method to competing methodologies in the literature are presented and suggest that our technique yields a significant improvement on the hard instances of this problem.
Using scotopic and photopic flicker to measure lens optical density

Many applications require knowledge of lens absorption. Measuring lens optical density (OD), however, is often difficult and time-consuming. For example, psychophysical measurement typically requires a long period of dark adaptation (e.g. about 40 min) and assessment of absolute scotopic thresholds. In this study, we examined efficient scotopic and photopic methods for measuring lens OD. In Experiment 1, 30 subjects were tested using a Maxwellian-view optical system. Relative scotopic thresholds were obtained after 15 min of dark adaptation using slow-rate (2 Hz) flicker photometry. A 3 degrees test stimulus, presented at 10 degrees nasal, was used that alternated between measuring wavelengths (420 and 460 nm) and a reference field (540 nm). The results showed that the relative scotopic method produces values that are consistent with published lens spectral curves. In Experiment 2, relative photopic measures (i.e. no dark adaptation period) were also obtained at 406 nm in natural view and compared with lens data obtained in Maxwellian view at 407 nm using the absolute scotopic method. The photopic method compared well with the absolute scotopic values obtained on the same subjects. Taken together, the two experiments showed that a relative method can yield valid lens density estimates. Using a relative rather than an absolute method reduces the time needed for dark adaptation and is an easier task for subjects to perform and may therefore be preferable when expeditious measures are desirable.
Butyrate, an HDAC inhibitor, stimulates interplay between different posttranslational modifications of histone H3 and differently alters G1-specific cell cycle proteins in vascular smooth muscle cells

HDACs and HATs regulate histone acetylation, an epigenetic modification that controls chromatin structure and through it, gene expression. Butyrate, a dietary HDAC inhibitor, inhibits VSMC proliferation, a crucial factor in atherogenesis, and the principle mechanism in arterial and in-stent restenosis. Here, the link between antiproliferation action of butyrate and the portraits of global covalent modifications of histone H3 that it induces are characterized to understand the mechanics of butyrate-arrested VSMC proliferation. Analysis of histone H3 modifications specific to butyrate arrested VSMC proliferation display induction of histone H3-Lysine9 acetylation, inhibition of histone H3-Serine10 phosphorylation, reduction of histone H3-Lysine9 dimethylation and stimulation of histone H3-Lysine4 di-methylation, which is linked to transcriptional activation, cell cycle/mitosis, transcriptional suppression and activation, respectively. Conversely, untreated VSMCs exhibit inhibition of H3-Lysine9 acetylation, induction of H3-Serine10 phosphorylation, stimulation of H3-Lysine9 di-methylation and reduction in H3-Lysine4 di-methylation. Butyrate's cooperative effects on H3-Lysine9 acetylation and H3-Serine10 phosphorylation, and contrasting effects on di-methylation of H3-Lysine9 and H3-Lysine4 suggests that the interplay between these site-specific modifications cause distinct chromatin alterations that allow cyclin D1 and D3 induction, G1-specific cdk4, cdk6 and cdk2 downregulation, and upregulation of cdk inhibitors, p15INK4b and p21Cip1. Regardless of butyrate's effect on D-type cyclins, downregulation of G1-specific cdks and upregulation of cdk inhibitors by butyrate prevents cell cycle progression by failing to inactivate Rb. Overall, through chromatin remodeling, butyrate appears to differentially alter G1-specific cell cycle proteins to ensure proliferation arrest of VSMCs, a crucial cellular component of blood vessel wall.
Kinetics of 57Co‐bleomycin in mice after intravenous, subcutaneous and intratumoral injection

In tumor-free and tumor-bearing mice the body clearance and organ distribution of 57Co-BLM was measured in different time intervals after iv, sc, and it administration of the drug. No significant differences could be demonstrated in body clearances following different doses and routes of application of labeled BLM in tumor-free and tumor-bearing mice. The organ distribution studies showed higher concentrations following iv compared to sc or it application of 57Co-BLM; however, the activity in the ipsilateral injection sites were significantly increased after sc and it injection. In tumor-bearing mice the activity in the draining lymph nodes of the injection site were as high as that seen in draining lymph nodes following iv injection. However, on the contralateral side, the lymph node concentration was significantly reduced after it injection. These results indicate on the basis of organ distribution of 57Co-BLM a rational basis for it treatment of malignant tumors.
Accurate solar 'constant' determinations by cavity pyrheliometers

Total solar irradiance was observed outside the earth's atmosphere by three types of absolute cavity pyrheliometer in a June 1976 sounding-rocket experiment. The 1367-W/sq m average solar 'constant' result is uncertain by less than + or - 0.5%, the most accurate determination to date. Nearly simultaneous observations by the Nimbus 6 earth-radiation-budget total-irradiance detector of 1389-W/sq m exceeded the rocket result by 1.6%. These recent results are discussed in the context of a summary of solar-constant determinations made above the troposphere by cavity pyrheliometers.
A modified technique for the assay of progesterone in blood using celite column chromatography

Abstract A modified technique for the assay of progesterone in blood is presented. The procedure consists of three main steps: 1) ether extraction, 2) rapid and complete separation of progesterone from more polar steroids by the use of celite column chromatography, and 3) radioassay of progesterone by competitive protein binding. This assay method has a sensitivity of 0.1 ng and excellent specificity with low values for blank samples. The precision of this assay technique is comparable with other reported methods. This method offers two main advantages in comparison with previously described procedures. First, the celite column chromatography provides a rapid technique of separation of progesterone from other cross reacting steroids with a recovery of greater than 75 per cent. Secondly, the more polar steroids can be eluted subsequently and assayed separately. Thus, the assay of other steroids can be easily performed using the same serum extract.
Blood sugar formation due to abnormally elevated gluconeogenesis: aberrant regulation in a parasitized insect, Manduca sexta Linnaeus

Alterations of carbohydrate metabolism associated with parasitism were examined in an insect, Manduca sexta L. In insect larvae maintained on a low carbohydrate diet gluconeogenesis from [3-13C]alanine was established from the fractional 13C enrichment in trehalose, a disaccharide of glucose and the blood sugar of insects and other invertebrates. After transamination of the isotopically substituted substrate to [3-13C]pyruvate, the latter was carboxylated to oxaloacetate ultimately leading to de novo glucose synthesis and trehalose formation. Trehalose was selectively enriched with 13C at C1 and C6 followed by C2 and C5. 13C enrichment of blood sugar in insects parasitized by Cotesia congregata (Say) was significantly greater than was observed in normal animals. The relative contributions of pyruvate carboxylation and decarboxylation to trehalose labeling were determined from the 13C distribution in glutamine, synthesized as a byproduct of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The relative contribution of carboxylation was significantly greater in parasitized larvae than in normal insects providing additional evidence of elevated gluconeogenesis due to parasitism. Despite the increased gluconeogenesis in parasitized insects the level of blood sugar was the same in all animals. Because de novo glucose synthesis does not normally maintain blood sugar level in insects maintained under these dietary conditions the findings suggest an aberrant regulation over gluconeogenesis. The 13C labeling in trehalose was nearly symmetric in all insects but the mean C1/C6 13C ratio was higher in parasitized animals suggesting a lower activity of the pentose phosphate pathway that brings about a redistribution of 13C in trehalose following de novo glucose synthesis. Additional studies with insects maintained on a high carbohydrate diet and administered [1,2-13C2]glucose confirmed a decreased level of pentose cycling during parasitism consistent with a lower level of lipogenesis. It is suggested, however, that the pentose pathway may facilitate the synthesis of trehalose from dietary carbohydrate by directing hexose phosphate cycled through the pathway to the production of energy.
Iterative Optical Processor (10P) For Adaptive Phased Array Radar Processing

A non-coherent vector-matrix multiplication system (using a linear LED input array, a covariance matrix mask and a linear photodiode detector array) is described. The system has been modified to perform complex multiplications and by feedback to be an iterative optical processor (I0P) to solve the adaptive phased array radar processing problem.
Economic Analysis of Sequestering Carbon in Green Ash Forests in the Lower Mississippi River Valley

Since the U.S. is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), it has become crucial to develop options that are both cost effective and supportive of sustainable development to reduce atmospheric CO2. Electric utility companies have the options of reducing their use of fossil fuels, switching to alternative energy sources, increasing efficiency, or offsetting carbon emissions. This study determined the cost and profitability of sequestering carbon in green ash plantations, and the number of tons of carbon that can be sequestered. The profitability of green ash is $2,342 and $3,645 per acre on site indices (measurement of soil quality) 65 and 105 land, respectively, calculated with a 2.5% alternative rate of return (ARR). These figures shift to –$248 and –$240 calculated with a 15.0% ARR. If landowners who have an ARR of 2.5% can sell carbon credits for $10 per ton of carbon, profits will increase by $107 per acre on poor sites and $242 on good sites. Over one rotation (cutting cycle), 38.56 net tons of carbon can be sequestered on an acre of poor quality land and 51.35 tons on good quality land. The cost of sequestering carbon, without including revenues from timber production and carbon credits, ranges from a high of $15.20 per ton on poor sites to $14.41 on good sites, calculated with a 2.5% ARR; to a high of $8.51 per ton on poor sites to $7.63 on good sites, calculated with a 15.0% ARR. The cost of storing carbon can be reduced significantly if the trees can be sold for wood products.
Modelling a CNTFET with Undeposited CNT Defects

The Carbon NanoTube Field Effect Transistor (CNTFET) is a promising device to supersede the MOSFET at the end of the technology roadmap of CMOS. When designing and manufacturing a CNTFET, additional features such as pitch, number and position of the CNTs must be considered to assess its performance. One of the defect types that can occur when fabricating a CNTFET, is the absence of some CNTs following the deposition/growth step. As result of this type of defect, a CNTFET will show a change in operational characteristics because drain current, gate capacitance, and delay will be affected due to the lower number of CNTs present in the channel of the transistor. This paper presents a new model by which the drain current, the gate capacitance and the delay can be found when not all CNTs are deposited on the substrate. This results in an uneven CNT spacing, new equations are derived and shown to be applicable to both defective and defect-free CNTFETs. The proposed model has been implemented in MATLAB and has been extensively simulated to show that defects due to undeposited CNTs have a significant impact on the operation of a CNTFET. Degradation in performance is related to both the number and position of the defects.
Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer for the Keck Telescope

The Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer is designed for use at the Cassegrain focus of the Keck 10-m telescope. It provides the capability of acquiring low resolution (R equals 1000 to 5000) digital spectra, as well as 6 X 8 arc-minute moderately high spatial resolution (4.65 pixels/arc-second) direct images. Spectroscopy can be carried out with single slits which are 3 arc-minutes long. In addition punched multi-slits can also be employed which allow for the acquisition of at least forty spectra simultaneously. Since the instrument is designed to be as efficient as possible, it is a double spectrograph, with a dichroic splitting the blue and red light into separate optical paths after the collimator. Only the red side has been constructed thus far. With a 2048 by 2048 thinned Tektronix CCD as the detector the total efficiency of the red side at the peak of the grating blaze is predicted to be nearly 40%. Results of the commissioning observing runs will be described.
Journal use per monetary unit: A reanalysis of use data

A common criticism of journal citation and library use studies is that they are of limited practical value to persons making acquisition/collection development decisions regarding journals. Using the suggestion that a valid determinant might be the number of uses each journal provides per monetary unit, the author reanalyzes data from a previous study with an eye toward evoking further discussion on how to design use studies that are truly of practical value.
The Sociopolitical Context of Philosophical Beliefs: A Transhistorical Causal Analysis

This paper applies a quasi-experimental design to the problem of the causal relation between intellectual and political movements. A sample of 122 consecutive "generations" (or 20-year periods) was drawn from European history (540 B.C. to 1900 A.D.). A cross-lagged correlation analysis indicated the following intergenerational influences: (1) political fragmentation has a positive impact on the emergence of empiricism, skepticism-criticismfideism, materialism, temporalism, nominalism, singularism, and the ethics of happiness; (2) war has a negative impact on the appearance of most of these just mentioned beliefs; (3) skepticism-criticism-fideism and perhaps materialism have a positive influence on the appearance of war; and (4) civil disturbances tend to polarize beliefs on all major philosophical issues. Psychologists frequently prefer to think that individual motives, thoughts, and behaviors have significant repercussions in larger human affairs (e.g., Donley and Winter; Osgood; Simonton, a; cf. Wood). One of the most conspicuous illustrations of this orientation may be McClelland's The Achieving Society where economic prosperity-indeed the very ascent and decline of civilizations-is explained in terms of personal needs and values (also see DeCharms and Moeller). Sociologists, anthropologists, and historians, by comparison, often adopt the position that the causal relation between individual and society operates in the contrary direction-that human dispositions and intentions are the product of sociocultural influences (cf. Sorokin). The most commonplace example of this different orientation is the effort on the part of many social scientists to show how even individual genius or creativity is but an epiphenomenon of larger sociocultural movements (e.g., Gray, a, b; Kroeber; Kuhn; Ogbum; Schmookler; Simonton, c, e; Toynbee; White). But probably the single most persuasive and systematic effort in this vein is found in Pitirim A. Sorokin's Social and Cultural Dynamics (a). Sorokin views personal beliefs as a response or reaction to prevailing political and cultural events (also see Sorokin, b, c). As an example, whenever major social upheavals, calamities, and crises appear, he argues (a) that skepticism and singularism (individualism) tend to increase: particularly interesting is Sorokin's (c: 487-88) "law of polarization" which holds that extreme beliefs and attitudes tend to emerge in times of severe sociopolitical unrest and crisis. Thus, the attempts to demonstrate how both temporalism (belief that reality is in constant flux) and eternalism (belief that reality is fundamentally changeless) tend to flare up in times of sociocultural turmoil and *The political data for the present study were collected as part of the author's doctoral dissertation in Social Psychology for the Department of Psychology and Social Relations, with David A. Kenny thesis advisor.
Children do not like arsenic in their food

In the last Exposure Science Digest, Landrigan and Goldman emphasized the importance of the first US environmental statute (the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act) in regulating the use of pesticides in order to protect children from their exposure.1 Although the FQPA and the past inspiring report from the National Academy of Science (NAS) focused on infants and children exposure to pesticides, the four principles characterizing children's vulnerability may concern the exposure to other xenobiotics as well. For example, the NAS-guiding principles should be kept in mind especially in those countries where the maximum tolerable limit for a carcinogenic xenobiotic, such as inorganic arsenic (iAs), is not regulated by law.
Laurent—Hermite—Gauss quadrature

Abstract This paper exends the results presented in Gustafson and Hagler (in press) by explicating the (2n)-point Laurent-Hermite-Gauss quadrature formula of parameters γ, λ > 0: ʃ −∞ ∞ f(x)e −[ 1 λ (x− y x )] 2 dx = ∑ j=±1 ∑ k=1 n f(h γ,λ n,k,j )H γ,λ n,k,j + E γ,λ 2n [f(x)], where the abscissas hn, k, j(γ, λ) and weights Hn, k, j(γ, λ) are given in terms of the abscissas and weights associated with the classical Hermite-Gauss Quadrature, as prescribed in Gustafson and Hagler (J. Comput. Appl. Math. 105 (1999) to appear). By standard numerical methods, it is shown in the present work that, for fixed γ, λ > 0, E γ,λ 2n [f(x)] = g (4n) (v) n! (4n)! 2 n πλ 2n+1 for some v in (−∞, ∞), provided g(x):=x 2n ƒ(x) has a continuous (4n)-th derivative. The resolution as γ → 0+, with λ=1, of the transformed quadratures introduced in Gustafson and Hagler (in press) to the corresponding classical quadratures is presented here for the first time, with the (2n)-point Laurent-Hermite-Gauss quadrature providing an example, displayed graphically in a figure. Error comparisons displayed in another figure indicate the advantage in speed of convergence, as the number of nodes tends to infinity, of the Laurent-Hermite-Gauss quadrature over the corresponding classical quadrature for certain integrands.
Corrosive surface reactions in the field ion microscope

Abstract Surface defects, like recessed areas and apparent cracks as observed on some metals in the field ion microscope, are attributed to irregular field evaporation due to a chemisorbed layer on the metal surface. The cases of Co, Fe, and Ni are described. Methods to remove the contaminant and to develop perfect surfaces are discussed.
Preferential selection of MnSOD transcripts in proliferating normal and cancer cells

Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is a nuclear encoded and mitochondrial matrix localized redox enzyme that is known to regulate cellular redox environment. Cellular redox environment changes during transitions between quiescent and proliferative cycles. Human MnSOD has two poly(A) sites resulting in two transcripts: 1.5 and 4.2 kb. The present study investigates if the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of MnSOD regulates its expression during transitions between quiescent and proliferating cycles, and in response to radiation. A preferential increase in the 1.5 kb MnSOD transcript levels was observed in quiescent cells, while the abundance of the longer transcript showed a direct correlation with the percentage of S-phase cells. Log transformed expression ratio of the longer to shorter transcript was also higher in proliferating normal and cancer cells. Deletion and reporter assays showed a significant decrease in reporter activity in constructs carrying multiple AU-rich sequence that are present in the 3'-UTR of the longer MnSOD transcript. Overexpression of the MnSOD 3'-UTR representing the longer transcript enhanced endogenous MnSOD mRNA levels, which was associated with an increase in MnSOD protein levels and a decrease in the percentage of S-phase cells. Irradiation increases the mRNA levels of the 1.5 kb MnSOD transcript, which was consistent with a significant increase in reporter activity of the construct carrying the 3'-UTR of the shorter transcript. We conclude that the 3'-UTR of MnSOD regulates MnSOD expression in response to different growth states and radiation.
Long-term reduction in implicit race bias: A prejudice habit-breaking intervention☆

We developed a multi-faceted prejudice habit-breaking intervention to produce long-term reductions in implicit race bias. The intervention is based on the premise that implicit bias is like a habit that can be reduced through a combination of awareness of implicit bias, concern about the effects of that bias, and the application of strategies to reduce bias. In a 12-week longitudinal study, people who received the intervention showed dramatic reductions in implicit race bias. People who were concerned about discrimination or who reported using the strategies showed the greatest reductions. The intervention also led to increases in concern about discrimination and personal awareness of bias over the duration of the study. People in the control group showed none of the above effects. Our results raise the hope of reducing persistent and unintentional forms of discrimination that arise from implicit bias.
Potentiation of morphine analgesia by BQ123, an endothelin antagonist

Abstract Several neurotransmitter mechanisms have been proposed to play a role in the actions of morphine. The present study is the first to provide evidence that central endothelin (ET) mechanisms are involved in the modulation of pharmacological actions of morphine. The effect of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of endothelin-A (ETA) antagonist, BQ123, on morphine-induced analgesia, hyperthermia, and catalepsy was determined in the rat. Morphine produced a significant increase in tail-flick latency as compared to control group. Pretreatment with BQ123 significantly potentiated the effect and duration of morphine (2 and 8 mg/kg, s.c.)-induced analgesia as compared to vehicle-pretreated control rats. The hyperthermic effect of morphine was not only significantly greater in BQ123-pretreated rats but also lasted for more than 6 h. ET antagonist, BQ123, did not affect the pharmacological effect of morphine on cataleptic behavior. These studies demonstrate that BQ123, a specific ETA receptor antagonist, significantly potentiated morphine-induced analgesia and hyperthermia in rats without affecting morphine-induced cataleptic behavior. [ 3 H ]-Naloxone binding was carried out to determine the possibility of BQ123 acting on opiate receptors. It was found that morphine could displace [ 3 H ]-naloxone but BQ123 did not affect [ 3 H ]-naloxone binding even at 1000 nM concentration. Therefore, it can be concluded that BQ123 does not act on opioid receptors. This is the first report suggesting that an ETA antagonist, BQ123, significantly potentiates the analgesic effect of morphine, possibly through a nonopioid mechanism.
Unsteady Acoustic Forcing on an Impeller Due to Coupled Blade Row Interactions

This article contains an investigation of the unsteady acoustic forcing on a centrifugal impeller due to coupled blade row interactions. Selected results from an aeromechanical test campaign on a GE Oil and Gas centrifugal compressor stage with a vaneless diffuser are presented. The most commonly encountered sources of impeller excitation due to upstream wake interaction were identified and observed in the testing campaign. A 30/rev excitation corresponding to the sum of upstream and downstream vane counts caused significant trailing edge vibratory stress amplitudes. Due to the large spacing between the impeller and the return channel vanes, this 30/rev excitation was suspected to be caused by an aero-acoustic excitation rather than a potential disturbance. The origin of this aero-acoustic excitation was deduced from an acoustic analysis of the unsteady compressor flow derived from CFD. The analysis revealed a complex excitation mechanism caused by impeller interaction with the upstream vane row wakes and subsequent acoustic wave reflection from the downstream return channel vanes. The findings show it is important to account for aero-acoustic forcing in the aeromechanical design of low pressure ratio centrifugal compressor stages.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Subsurface structure affects landslide susceptibility

The likelihood of landslides on an exposed bedrock hill is dependent on the strength of the bedrock as well as the slope of the hill. In general, stronger rocks provide increased resilience against landslides and are capable of supporting steeper slopes. But for the hills of Fiordland and the Southern Alps in New Zealand that experience repeated landslides, these simple proxy measures do not tell the whole story. The hills in these two regions have similar slopes, despite the fact that they are formed from rocks with significantly different inherent strengths, and the landslides in the Southern Alps are both more powerful and more common than those in Fiordland.
Reproductive behavior of Biosteres arisanus (Sonan) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), an egg-larval parasitoid of the Oriental fruit fly.

The egg-larval parasitoid Biosteres arisanus (Sonan) is a candidate for classical and augmentative biological control programs directed against seven tephritid pest species in many tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Aspects of its reproductive behavior were examined in the laboratory to facilitate its mass production. Mean longevity (±SEM) of host-deprived and ovipositing females was 15.3 ± 0.2 and 18.6 ± 0.2 days, respectively, when reared in groups of 200 ♀♀. However, when reared individually, ovipositing females lived for 21.4 ± 2.1 days. Ovarian maturation peaked at an average of 121.1 ± 5.5 mature eggs per female on the sixth posteclosion day and declined thereafter as the females aged. Mean number of eggs deposited per day was 16.5 ± 1.3 and mean fecundity was 88.4 ± 11.3 eggs per female. Mean potential fecundity (eggs deposited and eggs remaining in ovaries at death) was 133.4 ± 12.8 eggs. When host clutch size increased, B. arisanus female increased its oviposition activity per day. However, percentage parasitism of host eggs remained <50% and, as a result, superparasitism was minimized to <1%. No oviposition preference was detected when Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) eggs were presented to B. arisanus females. Size of cage provided for mating and light intensity each had a significant influence on the number of inseminated B. arisanus females. With an exposure period of 6 diurnal h, mean percentage of inseminated females was 77.4 ± 4.3 and 3.0 ± 3.0% when mating occurred in 8.3 and 0.02-m3 outdoor screened cages, respectively. Progeny of B. arisanus was exclusively males when females mated indoors. Increasing the number of inseminated females in the rearing cages significantly increased female oviposition activity.
Growth and metal accumulation of forage grasses at various clipping dates on acid mine spoils

Abstract Dry matter yield, heavy metals and Al accumulation by seven forage grasses, bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon). Kentuckty 31‐tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), oat (Avena sativa), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) were investigated on three different Alabama acid mine spoils. The objective was to study the growth response (dry matter basis) and metal accumulation at different clipping dates to determine which grasses may be effectively used to lower metal levels in the acid spoils during reclamation. The grasses were clipped at 47, 58, 68 and 83 days after planting and dry matter yield and tissue levels of metals determined. Bermudagrass grew best on all spoils and clipping intervals did not generally influence dry matter yield and metal accumulation. The other grasses had late (oat only) or early restricted growth and were not considered effective for use in reclamation of spoils studied ...
A simple method for preparing single cell suspensions of heart and smooth muscle for radioreceptor labeling studies

Abstract A simple method of preparing single cell suspensions for radioligand binding studies is described. The method involves incubating tissues in the presence of collagenase and elastase for 90 min in physiological solution with 1 mM calcium chloride and the mechanical disruption of the tissue by pipetting. The tissues examined were atria, ventricle, bladder, uterus, and taenia coli removed from mature guinea pigs. Viability of the cells by trypan blue exclusion showed 60–88% viable cells and receptor binding studies using [ 3 H]-1-quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) yield K D values of ≅ 0.1 nM. The receptor numbers for each tissue were (receptors/cell): atria, 5700; ventricle, 11,000; uterus, 31,000; bladder, 44,000; taenia coli, 68,000.
Approximately rational consumer demand

We define measures of violations of Slutsky symmetry and negative semidefiniteness and relate them to measures of revealed preference inconsistencies exhibited by nonoptimizing demand behavior. The degree of Slutsky asymmetry is shown to restrict the rate at which real income can rise everywhere along smooth loops in income and price space. The largest eigenvalue of the quadratic form of the Slutsky matrix is used to bound violations of the weak axiom. The sizes of the violations of either Slutsky condition are used to bound the distance between the given demand function and approximating functions that satisfy that Slutsky condition exactly.
A Research Note on Discrimination in Mortgage Lending

This paper examines the hypothesis that mortgage lenders rank applications from better to worst and encourage the better ones to apply. A second ranking occurs when the application is ranked by the loan committee and funds are approved from the top of the list until exhausted. A theoretically correct procedure for analyzing the resulting multivariate ordinal data is the little known rank multiple discriminant analysis. Preliminary results have revealed that this technique produces a “best” model with fewer variables and a higher classification rate than the commonly known multiple discriminant analysis, logit, or probit.