cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential Patterns of Growth in Reading and Math Skills during Elementary School.

This study investigated developmental trajectories of reading and math using latent-growth-curve analyses across multiple academic skills, measures, and multiple time periods within a single sample. Reading-related growth was marked by significant individual differences during the early elementary-school period and nonsignificant individual differences during the late elementary-school period. For math-related skills, nonsignificant individual differences were present for early math growth and significant individual differences were present in late elementary-school. No clear pattern of cumulative, compensatory, or stable development emerged for either reading-related or math skills. These differing growth patterns highlight developmental complexities and suggest domain-specific differences in achievement growth that are potentially associated with contextual factors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
C-Terminal Sequence of Proteins: Rapid Isolation and Edman Sequencing of C-Terminal Peptides from Digests

Methods for obtaining sequence information at the C-terminus of a protein, ideally as efficiently and conveniently as at the N-terminus using the Edman degradation, have been of perennial interest to protein chemists (see (2) for review). And now molecular geneticists would like information sufficient for construction of a probe, especially as the N-terminus is all too frequently blocked, and for verifying reading frames. The most popular current method for direct C-terminal sequencing is by carboxypeptidase, usually Y (3); besides the problems of phasing, widely varying residue- or sequence-specific rates, and unpredictable digestion conditions, the method apparently predicts a structure only rarely resembling the true sequence (in only 2 of 12 cases for cytochromes P-450 (4)). Of many chemical methods, only the 60-yr old thiocyanate degradation developed to practicality by Stark (5) has attained appreciable success, but even with repeated improvements (most recently, (6)) it seems not to have contributed any new sequence information. An alternative is the indirect “back door” approach of isolating from a digest of a protein that peptide(s) representing the C-terminal region, followed by Edman sequencing. This requires tagging the C-terminus before digestion and a convenient way of picking the tagged peptide from among the many others. For instance, all protein carboxyl groups, side-chain and C-terminal, could be reacted with an amine. Digestion restores one carboxyl group to each peptide except for the C-terminal one, thus permitting discrimination on the basis of this group (7), for instance by anion exchange chromatography; the unbound C-terminal peptide can be transferred directly to a reversed phase column for final purification. We have used an amidation procedure for several years that increases solubility and unfolds proteins to enzymatic digestion, and which gives peptides a definitive end-of-sequence signal (1,8), so our isolation of the C-terminal peptide extends this procedure.
Practical Strategies for Improving Men's Health: Maximizing the Patient-Provider Encounter

Inconsistent access to a healthcare provider (HCP), which can lead to advanced morbidity, is an oft-cited barrier to advancing health. Extensive review of the literature consistently suggests men are far less likely to engage within the healthcare system. This is particularly problematic pertaining to preventive services. As many health conditions are preventable and/or treatable in earlier stages, delay in screening and treatment often leads to long-term negative health outcomes. Lack of early and frequent preventive healthcare (e.g. primordial, primary, and secondary prevention) may even be perceived as “normative” where poorer health outcomes in males are expected.1 In fact, some evidence demonstrates a clear connection that seeking help via healthcare runs contrary to masculinity and dominant masculine principles, such as being strong/sturdy, working through pain, avoiding weakness or anything perceived as feminine, among other psychosocial phenomena.2,3 Changing healthcare “culture” concerning the care of men (i.e. gender-sensitive care) may provide a salient avenue to encourage more consistent and preventive contact or “touch points” in the patient-provider dynamic. There is a need to understand how social norms and practices in healthcare and medical settings can be effectively leveraged to address life-long male health outcomes versus focusing on late(r)-stage palliative care. The purpose of this article is to advance dialogue concerning practical considerations, such as resources (e.g. time, money) and methods (e.g. practitioners considering whether men respond best to immediate efforts to establish rapport versus a traditional power-based dynamic during the medical interaction) so as to inform gender-sensitive touchpoints in the healthcare of men. Location and types of facilities where men are willing to seek care (preventative or palliative) also need to be considered in a holistic, gender-sensitive patient-provider model of healthcare. Implications, policies, and evidence-based practical strategies for leveraging medical education, prevention programming, proper and improper recognition and management, and long-term treatment are presented and discussed with the practitioner in mind.
Co-distribution of Light At Night (LAN) and COVID-19 incidence in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Light at night (LAN) as a circadian disruption factor may affect the human immune system and consequently increase an individual's susceptibility to the severity of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. COVID-19 infections spread differently in each state in the United States (US). The current analysis aimed to test whether there is an association between LAN and COVID-19 cases in 4 selected US states: Connecticut, New York, California, and Texas. METHODS: We analyzed clustering patterns of COVID-19 cases in ArcMap and performed a multiple linear regression model using data of LAN and COVID-19 incidence with adjustment for confounding variables including population density, percent below poverty, and racial factors. RESULTS: Hotspots of LAN and COVID-19 cases are located in large cities or metro-centers for all 4 states. LAN intensity is associated with cases/1 k for overall and lockdown durations in New York and Connecticut (P < 0.001), but not in Texas and California. The overall case rates are significantly associated with LAN in New York (P < 0.001) and Connecticut (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We observed a significant positive correlation between LAN intensity and COVID-19 cases-rate/1 k, suggesting that circadian disruption of ambient light may increase the COVID-19 infection rate possibly by affecting an individual's immune functions. Furthermore, differences in the demographic structure and lockdown policies in different states play an important role in COVID-19 infections.
Intimate Strangeness: Gadamer on Celan, Dialogue, and the Other

The poetry of Paul Celan, particularly his late work, offers a considerable challenge to hermeneutics.1 Stammering on the verge of silence, these poems expose understanding to its own limits.2 Yet,...
Impact of preoperative antibiotics and other variables on integrated microbiome-host transcriptomic data generated from colorectal cancer resections.

Background Integrative multi-omic approaches have been increasingly applied to discovery and functional studies of complex human diseases. Short-term preoperative antibiotics have been adopted to reduce site infections in colorectal cancer (CRC) resections. We hypothesize that the antibiotics will impact analysis of multi-omic datasets generated from resection samples to investigate biological CRC risk factors. Aim To assess the impact of preoperative antibiotics and other variables on integrated microbiome and human transcriptomic data generated from archived CRC resection samples. Methods Genomic DNA (gDNA) and RNA were extracted from prospectively collected 51 pairs of frozen sporadic CRC tumor and adjacent non-tumor mucosal samples from 50 CRC patients archived at a single medical center from 2010-2020. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V3V4 region, paired end, 300 bp) and confirmatory quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays were conducted on gDNA. RNA sequencing (IPE, 125 bp) was performed on parallel tumor and non-tumor RNA samples with RNA Integrity Numbers scores ≥ 6. Results PERMANOVA detected significant effects of tumor vs nontumor histology (P = 0.002) and antibiotics (P = 0.001) on microbial β-diversity, but CRC tumor location (left vs right), diabetes mellitus vs not diabetic and Black/African Ancestry (AA) vs not Black/AA, did not reach significance. Linear mixed models detected significant tumor vs nontumor histology*antibiotics interaction terms for 14 genus level taxa. QPCR confirmed increased Fusobacterium abundance in tumor vs nontumor groups, and detected significantly reduced bacterial load in the (+)antibiotics group. Principal coordinate analysis of the transcriptomic data showed a clear separation between tumor and nontumor samples. Differentially expressed genes obtained from separate analyses of tumor and nontumor samples, are presented for the antibiotics, CRC location, diabetes and Black/AA race groups. Conclusion Recent adoption of additional preoperative antibiotics as standard of care, has a measurable impact on -omics analysis of resected specimens. This study still confirmed increased Fusobacterium nucleatum in tumor.
Program Placement Optimization for Storage-constrained Mobile Edge Computing Systems: A Multi-armed Bandit Approach

Mobile edge computing (MEC) is a promising technology to support computationally intensive mobile applications with stringent delay requirements. As MEC applications become much more diverse and complex, it becomes more challenging for an edge node (EN) with limited storage to keep the program codes of all tasks. In this paper, we investigate the problem of program placement and user association in storage-limited MEC systems. Formulating the problem as a sequential decision-making problem, we first derive the solution for a single EN by transforming the formulation into a multi-armed bandit (MBA) problem and solving it via a Thompson sampling (TS) algorithm. We then propose a solution framework for the multi-EN scenario, where we decompose the original problem into three subproblems and solve them with low-complexity approaches. The first subproblem is to learn the task popularity, which we also formulate as a MAB problem and solve it via a TS algorithm. The second subproblem is optimizing program placement under a given user association and we propose a greedy algorithm to solve it. The last subproblem relates to user association, which is solved by a dual decomposition-based approach. Simulation results show that the average latency achieved by our proposed schemes is 30% to 100% lower than two benchmark schemes and is on average less than 10% higher than a lower bound.
Performance of the pro-FHH score in a delayed diagnosis of familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia type-1

Abstract We present a case of a 50-year-old woman with familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia type 1 (FHH-1) that was missed during an initial evaluation of hypercalcemia in the setting of normal serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), leading to unnecessary parathyroidectomy. She subsequently reported years later with an inappropriately elevated PTH in the setting of hypercalcemia. Sequencing of the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) gene revealed a known inactivating variant associated with FHH-1. We assessed the clinical utility of the recently reported pro-FHH (Probability of having familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia) score at the time of her surgery and subsequent re-evaluation years later. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges in differentiating familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia from primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT).
Association of hospital factors and socioeconomic status with the utilization of minimally invasive surgery for colorectal cancer over a decade

Surgical resection is a mainstay of treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC). Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has been shown to have improved outcomes compared to open procedures for colorectal malignancy. While use of MIS has been increasing, there remains large variability in its implementation at the hospital and patient level. The purpose of this study was to identify disparities in sex, race, location, patient income status, insurance status, hospital region, bed size and teaching status for the use of MIS in the treatment of CRC. This was a retrospective cohort study using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database. Between 2008 and 2017, there were 412,292 hospitalizations of adult patients undergoing elective colectomy for CRC. The primary outcome was use of MIS during hospitalization. Overall, the frequency of open colectomies was higher than MIS (56.56% vs. 43.44%). Black patients were associated with decreased odds of MIS use during hospitalization compared to White patients (OR 0.921, p = 0.0011). As the county population where patients resided decreased, odds of MIS also significantly decreased as compared to central counties of metropolitan areas. As income decreased below the reference of $71,000, odds of MIS also significantly decreased. Medicaid and uninsured patients had decreased odds of MIS use during hospitalization compared to private insurance (OR 0.751, p < 0.0001 and OR 0.629, p < 0.0001 respectively). Rural and urban non-teaching hospitals were associated with decreased odds of MIS as compared to urban teaching hospitals (OR 0.523, p < 0.0001 and OR 0.837, p < 0.0001 respectively). Hospitals with a small bed size were also associated with decreased MIS during hospitalizations (OR 0.888, p < 0.0001). Marked hospital level and socioeconomic disparities exist for utilization of MIS for colorectal cancer. Strategies targeted at reducing these gaps have the potential to improve surgical outcomes and cancer survival.
Effectiveness and Safety of Dabigatran in Atrial Fibrillation Patients with Severe Obesity: a Real-World Retrospective Cohort Study.

Direct oral anticoagulants such as dabigatran are the preferred anticoagulant in treating atrial fibrillation (AF) patients due to their effectiveness and safety. Whether this applies to severely obese patients needs to be determined. To compare the effectiveness and safety of dabigatran with warfarin among AF patients with severe obesity. Retrospective cohort study. AF patients with a BMI >40kg/m2 or a weight >120kg receiving dabigatran or warfarin between 10/01/2010 and 12/31/2019 in a large integrated health system and followed through 08/01/2020. Not applicable. Primary effectiveness outcome was composite thromboembolism including transient ischemic attack, ischemic stroke, or systemic embolism. Primary safety outcome was composite bleeding including gastrointestinal bleeding, intracranial bleeding, or other bleeding. Secondary outcomes included the individual outcomes and all-cause mortality. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to create a 1:1 matched cohort and Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of each outcome for dabigatran users compared to warfarin users. A total of 6848 patients receiving either dabigatran or warfarin were identified. In a 1:1 matched cohort, dabigatran users had a HR of 0.71 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.56–0.91) for composite thromboembolism, a HR of 1.24 (95%CI: 1.07–1.42) for composite bleeding, and a HR of 0.57 (95% CI: 0.45–0.71) for all-cause mortality when compared to warfarin users. Among AF patients with a BMI >40kg/m2 or a weight >120kg in a real-world clinical setting, dabigatran was effective in reducing the risk of thromboembolism and mortality but was associated with an increased risk of bleeding when compared to warfarin. Dabigatran may be a reasonable option for AF patients with severe obesity.
Periodic Plasma Generation in Negative Permeability Spaces of Metamaterials Using Microwave Radiative Power Transfer

Three dimensional metamaterial creates periodic plasmas. An array of split ring resonators (SRR) is periodically aligned such that the size of metamaterial structure can be simply extended by adding to the SRR array. A typical implementation consists of SRRs in a 3x3x9 configuration. All 81 plasmas can be ignited in argon (0.6-20 Torr) and sustained by 50 W of microwave power radiated from a horn antenna into an anechoic vacuum chamber.
Concepts to Improve Air Traffic Management System Performance

Demand on the air traffic management system continues to grow. The Federal Aviation Administration is faced with the challenge of increasing capacity to meet the rising demand. Several concepts are...
Local Government Perceptions of Urban Forestry

The urban forest is a decidedly local issue. The size, impact, and benefits of the urban forest vary depending upon the local ecosystem, planning, and presence of a professional urban forester and staff, community commitment to an urban forest, and political understanding and political will to provide for and support a viable urban forest. Consistent with the vitality of the urban forest is political understanding of the importance of the urban forest, and a knowledge gap often exists between urban foresters and their local government leaders that is often large. For example, Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the potential disparity between urban foresters and political leaders views of the urban forest.
Origin of the Surface Sensitivity in Surface X-Ray Diffraction

The first half of this paper explains how X-ray dliffraction can be sensitive to surface structure and morphology, even though X-rays interact only weakly with matter and hence penetrate deeply into the bulk medium. The basis of the crystal truncation rod construction is given, which demonstrates this sensitivity in a formal way. This is then illustrated with details of two problems of current interest which have been studied with synclrotron radiation at the National Synchrotron Light Source in New York. The structure of the Si(111)7 x 7 reconstructed surface, as determined in the vertical direction by X-ray reflectivity, is presented as a straightforward application of crystal truncation rods. Then we discuss alkali adsorption on Ag(110) surfaces whicl induces a "missing row" reconstruction. We measured tle trends in the induced structural parameters as a function of Cs coverage on Ag(110), but found the greatest changes were associated with the location of the Cs instead. At high coverage this is ordered only in a one-dimensional sense, but as the coverage is reduced it becomes partially registered in the second direction and, surprisingly, occupies a site higher above the surface.
Behavioral Teratology and Toxicology

Today researchers and clinicians are seeking the most sensitive means to indicate potential toxicity of chemicals in an attempt to prevent harmful human effects. Behavioral measurements may serve as the earliest indicators that some, as yet covert, toxic action has occurred—perhaps at a time when the process can still be reversed. A key concept is that toxic effects may be manifest as subtle disturbances of behavior long before any classical symptoms of poisoning become apparent.
Software Modeling for Open Distributed Network Monitoring Systems

As computer networks grow in size, both physically and geographically, more scalable solutions to network administration are becoming necessary. This need is amplified by the spread of faster and more devastating computer viruses. Furthermore, when dealing with partial and intermittent systems, the need for accompanying network mapping and monitoring with efficient mapping visualization becomes even more important. This paper presents the Open Distributed Network Monitoring (ODNM) package, a software tool that proposes a novel solution for dealing with these issues. Emphasizing the value of well defined software requirements, the package addresses the need for scalability and speed by utilizing a distributed scanning capability that divides the network to be scanned into multiple parallel scans. Excerpts from ODNM’s software model, including functional and non-functional requirements, use cases, class diagram and prototype screenshots are presented in the paper and the package’s goals, progress, and future development are discussed.
The efficacy of KidQuest : a nutrition and physical activity curriculum for 5th and 6th grade youth

KidQuest is a nutrition and physical activity curriculum for 5th to 6th grade youth engaging participants in goal setting, self-monitoring, and reinforcement. Evaluation of the program over the 2005-2006 school year involved a nonrandom sample of 98 intervention and 38 control group participants in rural South Dakota using baseline and ending surveys. Self-reported improvements in breakfast frequency, dairy intake, increased frequency of looking at the food label, and increased food label knowledge were observed in the intervention group, with no significant change in the control group.
Finite Element Model for Cohesive Sediment Transport

A mathematical model that simulates erosion, transport and deposition of cohesive sediments in a two-dimensional flow field is presented. The governing equations are solved by the finite element method using the Galerkin formulation. The domain is subdivided into a series of triangular elements in which a quadratic approximation is made for the suspended sediment concentration. Expressions used for the rate and conditions under which erosion and deposition occur are from previous experimental studies. Continuing aggregation is accounted for by specifying the settling velocity of the flocs in each element. The model is verified by comparison with analytic solutions and the results of a flume test.
Aminoglutethimide: Review of Pharmacology and Clinical Use

Aminoglutethimide blocks several cytochrome P-450 mediated steroid hydroxylation steps, including those required for conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone and for the aromatization of androgens to estrogens. Through these actions it blocks adrenal steroidogenesis and the production of estrogens in extraglandular tissues. Aminoglutethimide is indicated for treatment of certain patients with Cushing's syndrome and breast cancer. Other potential uses (prostate carcinoma, low renin hypertension, etc.) remain investigational. For treatment of Cushing's syndrome, aminoglutethimide is usually given alone or in combination with metyrapone. In women with breast carcinoma, replacement hydrocortisone must be administered with aminoglutethimide to prevent reflex ACTH hypersecretion from overcoming adrenal inhibition. Administration of aminoglutethimide to patients with Cushing's syndrome results in improvement in clinical status in 56% of cases. Results are most favorable in patients with adrenal tumors and patients with ectopic ACTH production. Aminoglutethimide and replacement glucocorticoid produce objective disease regression in 32% of unselected postmenopausal patients with metastatic breast carcinoma and in 52% of women whose tumors are estrogen receptor positive. Responses are similar in duration and frequency to those produced by surgical adrenalectomy and hypophysectomy and the antiestrogen, tamoxifen.
Unbundling the intellectual joint venture process:The case of multinational, multifunctional interdisciplinary research consortia

Intellectual joint ventures can be very useful vehicles for conducting cross‐cultural, international human resource management research as witnessed by the proliferation of these alliances. Challenges to the successful development, operation and goal attainment of intellectual joint ventures inhibit the ability to reap all of the benefits promised from these collaborative efforts. This article identifies and elaborates on challenges or inhibitors to intellectual joint venture success. By focusing on challenges driven by career stage and career anchor asymmetry this article extends earlier research on intellectual joint ventures. In conclusion, recommendations for overcoming or attenuating the effects of these success inhibitors are offered. The dramatic increase in use of intellectual joint ventures in applied social science research is noteworthy. Previous research has identified an intellectual joint venture as a team of researchers from several countries and/or disciplines who jointly conduct research. Current examples of intellectual joint ventures in the field of human resource management include the best international human resource management project, the Cranfield Network on European Human Resource Management Project, the Lund Project on Learning and Training in Organisations (LATIO), the European Managerial Decision‐making Project, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) project, and the European Union Copernicus/Oxford project
Light scattering by linear macromolecules oriented in laminar flow : IV. Depolarization by a perfectly flexible coil with no hydrodynamic interaction

Abstract For a linearly polarized primary beam parallel to the z axis, the scattering intensities Vv, Vh, Hv, and Hh are calculated as functions of gradient and of the angle ω between flow (y axis) and observation direction in the flow plane (xy plane). With an increasing number of statistically independent chain segments the scattering intensities can be better approximated by the product of the orientation functiuons hh, hv, vh and the interference factor P. The functions hh, hv and vh are derived from segement pair orientation and depend on the average orientation of all the segment pairs. The interference factor P depends on all the average intersegmental distances. Minima of Hh, Hv, and Vh are located nearly at the extinction angle χ. Maxima of these quantities occur almost 90° from χ. In the x direction Hh is constant, whereas Hv and Vh increase with the square of the gradient.
Budget 2001: “We won't fund your tax cuts,” Rock warns provinces.

Tough new packaging and labelling requirements for consumer products such as cleansers are expected to reduce the number of chemical-related mishaps in Canada and save the health care system about $10 million a year. The Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulations, which were approved Oct. 1,
Uma libra de carne: a leitura lacaniana d’O visível e o invisível

Trata-se de reconstruir o lugar e os usos que Jacques Lacan faz, no seu seminario sobre Os quatro conceitos fundamentais da psicanalise, de O visivel e o invisivel , de Merleau-Ponty. Isto implica, fundamentalmente, em compreender como Lacan procura repensar o conceito psicanalitico de pulsao a partir de certas consideracoes de Merleau-Ponty a respeito da estrutura do olhar.
Why nanotubes grow chiral

Carbon nanotubes have promising applications in new technologies, but a practical control of their chirality is challenging. Here, Artyukhov et al. show that the chirality is determined by a trade-off between faster growth of chiral nanotubes and preference for achiral tubes during nucleation.
Diurnal to annual changes in latent, sensible heat, and CO2 fluxes over a Laurentian Great Lake: A case study in Western Lake Erie

To understand the carbon and energy exchange between the lake surface and the atmosphere, direct measurements of latent, sensible heat, and CO2 fluxes were taken using the eddy covariance (EC) technique in Western Lake Erie during October 2011 to September 2013. We found that the latent heat flux (LE) had a marked one-peak seasonal change in both years that differed from the diurnal course and lacked a sinusoidal dynamic common in terrestrial ecosystems. Daily mean LE was 4.8 ± 0.1 and 4.3 ± 0.2 MJ m−2 d−1 in Year 1 and Year 2, respectively. The sensible heat flux (H) remained much lower than the LE, with a daily mean of 0.9 ± 0.1 and 1.1 ± 0.1 MJ m−2 d−1 in Year 1 and Year 2, respectively. As a result, the Bowen ratio was <1 during most of the 2 year period, with the lowest summer value at 0.14. The vapor pressure deficit explained 35% of the variation in half hourly LE, while the temperature difference between the water surface and air explained 65% of the variation in half hourly H. Western Lake Erie acted as a small carbon sink holding −19.0 ± 5.4 and −40.2 ± 13.3 g C m−2 in the first and second summers (May–September) but as an annual source of 77.7 ± 18.6 and 49.5 ± 17.9 g C m−2 yr−1 in Year 1 and Year 2, respectively. The CO2 flux ( FCO2) rate varied from −0.45 g C m−2 d−1 to 0.98 g C m−2 d−1. Similar to LE, FCO2 had noticeable diurnal changes during the months that had high chlorophyll a months but not during other months. A significantly negative correlation (P < 0.05) was found between FCO2 and chlorophyll a on monthly fluxes. Three gap-filling methods, including marginal distribution sampling, mean diurnal variation, and monthly mean, were quantitatively assessed, yielding an uncertainty of 4%, 6%, and 10% in LE, H, and FCO2, respectively.
Defect-less trench filling of epitaxial Si growth by H/sub 2/ annealing

A new trench filling epitaxial Si growth process is proposed for the high aspect ratio doped region. Pre-H/sub 2/-annealing treatment before filling epitaxial growth realizes the prevention of the crystal defects in the filling epitaxial layer. After filling epitaxial growth, the sequential processes, i.e., HCl etching, refilling epitaxial growth and post-H/sub 2/-annealing, make a trench filling. The fabricated doped region has a high aspect shape (width: 3.0 /spl mu/m, depth: 32 /spl mu/m, aspect ratio: 10.7), which has been investigated by the cross-sectional SCM observation.
Pathways In and Out of Substance Use Among Homeless-Emerging Adults

Although high rates of alcohol and drug use have been found among homeless young people, less is known about who is responsible for their initiation, the reasons for their continued use, and why so...
Determination of the explosive 2,4,6-trinitrophenylmethylnitramine (tetryl) and its transformation products in soil

Abstract Soils amended with uniformly ring-labeled [14C]-2,4,6-trinitrophenylmethylnitramine (tetryl) were subjected to exhaustive Soxhlet extraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis immediately after amendment and at 11, 30, and 60 days post-amendment. Transformation of tetryl was found to be extremely rapid. Tetryl was below the detection limit in soil extracts by 30 days post-amendment. Radiochromatographic profiles revealed the presence of a variety of transformation products. The primary transformation product appeared in soil extracts immediately after amendment and was subsequently identified as N-methyl-2,4,6-trinitroaniline. A minor transformation pathway was identified that involved direct ring nitro reduction of tetryl, resulting in the production of an aminodinitrophenylmethylnitramine isomer. The mass balance of the soil system was greater than 79% over the 60-day study, with 43% of the amended radiolabeled found to be non-extractable at the conclusion of the study.
Effect of α adrenergic agents and phorbol esters on phosphorylation of sarcolemmal proteins in beating guinea pig hearts

Study objective — The aim was to determine whether activation of protein kinase C by α adrenergic agonists or phorbol esters would be associated with increased phosphorylation of the 15 kDa sarcolemmal protein in guinea pig hearts. Design — Intact, beating guinea pig hearts were perfused with modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing [32P]Pi and freeze clamped in a control condition or at the peak of the inotropic response to noradrenaline. Membrane vesicles enriched in sarcolemma were isolated and then subjected to SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Phosphorylated proteins were identified and 32P incorporation was quantitated. In some cases, hearts were perfused with phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate, or dioctanoyl-glycerol, which are known to be potent activators of protein kinase C. Experimental preparations — Whole hearts from 55 anaesthetised guinea pigs weighing 500-600 g were used. Measurements and main results — Perfusion of guinea pig hearts with noradrenaline resulted in increases in contractility and tissue inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate levels, but there were no increases in the phosphorylation of the 15 kDa sarcolemmal protein observed. Furthermore, perfusion with phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate, or dioctanoyl-glycerol failed to stimulate the phosphorylation of the 15 kDa sarcolemmal protein. Conclusions — These data indicate that the 15 kDa sarcolemmal protein, which may be phosphorylated by protein kinase C in vitro, is not a substrate for the same enzyme in beating guinea pig hearts.
Complex Sociotechnical Joint Cognitive Work Systems

This essay continues a tradition in this department: deconstructing the meanings of various buzz phrases. It calls out a cluster of phrases that use the word system. Notions of emergence and complexity are meaningfully related with regard to systems in general, and related in turn to notions of resilience, agility, and robustness. This is arguably true for engineered work systems and for biological systems. But a path to sorting all this out remains hidden by brambles. We are hostages to our language and especially to our fondness for Cartesian dualisms. We need to say that something is both a "structure" and a "dynamic." So far, the word "system" may be our best option even though the search for a definition continues. The editors of this department invite definitions of the word "system" and its modifiers.
Automated contact calling visual aid using sequential mathematical processes: Using textural analysis for mine-like contact detection

This paper presents an automated process for finding mine-like contacts by incorporating sequential mathematical processes: textural analysis, polygon discrimination, and dimensional filtering. These processes define a methodology that requires a minimal amount of user input to visually aid the side scan interpreter. The initial focus of this project was to find mine-like objects in high clutter density areas while maintaining a high probability of detection. In order to meet this requirement, a methodology had to be established to combine multiple analytic algorithms. There was also a concerted effort to create a methodology that could be used on a variety of side scan sonar systems. However, in order to discriminate contacts on multiple sonar systems, certain system specifications would have to be incorporated into the process. The key differences between side scan sonar systems necessary for this study are the optimum operating altitude and the along and across track resolutions of the imagery. Since altitude dictates the pixel area encompassed by contacts and resolution determines distortion of the contacts in the imagery, the iterating texture measurement window was built around these two concepts. Implementing a polygon discrimination algorithm became necessary to locate and find the centroid of polygons in the imagery that met textural analysis threshold requirements for a mine-like contact. The application of these methods has shown the potential for an automated process capable of ingesting different types of side scan sonar data with minimal user input.
A proof technique for communicating sequential processes

Proof rules are presented for an extension of Hoare's Communicating Sequential Processes. The rules deal with total correctness; all programs terminate in the absence of deadlock. The commands send and receive are treated symmetrically, simplifying the rules and allowing send to appear in guards. Also given are sufficient conditions for showing that a program is deadlock-free. An extended example illustrates the use of the technique.
Preface for a solo by Miles Davis

Taste Dissonance Flavor Escape seeks to establish and explain the following assertions: that there is an irreducible relationship between blackness, criminality and the aesthetic; that escape-in-confinement is a fundamental audio-visual motif for black expressive culture; that this motif is essential to modernity and to modernism in their broadest conceptions insofar as it instantiates a relationship between the history of race and the history of cinema. This complex of assertions revolves around the stilled, fugitive performance of a little girl.
Image retrieval using query by contextual example

Current image retrieval techniques have difficulties to retrieve images which exhibit distinct visual patterns but belong to the class of the query image. Previous attempts to improve generalization have shown that the introduction of semantic representations can mitigate this problem. We extend the existing query-by-semantic example (QBSE) retrieval paradigm by adding a second layer of semantic representation. At the first level, the representation is driven by patch-based visual features. Semantic concepts, from a predefined vocabulary, are modeled as Gaussian mixtures on a visual feature space, and images as vectors of posterior probabilities of containing each of the semantic concepts. At the second level, the representation is purely semantic. Semantic concepts are modeled as Dirichlet mixtures on the semantic feature space of QBSE, and images are again represented as vectors of posterior concept probabilities. It is shown that the proposed retrieval strategy, referred to as query-by-contextual-example (QBCE), is able to cope with the ambiguities of patch-based classification, exhibiting significantly better generalization than previous methods. An experimental evaluation on benchmark datasets shows that QBCE retrieval systems can substantially outperform their QBVE and QBSE counterparts, achieving high precision at most levels of recall.
The Fruitful Error: Reconsidering Millennial Enthusiasm

Apocalyptic hopes for an imminent millenial “new age” have taken a wide variety of forms in European history, from the earlier religious manifestations to the more secular and, hence, more activist ones of the modern world. Although none of these apocalyptic expectations has been accurate, and many have had disastrous immediate consequences for those involved, they have set in motion powerful social dynamics. Western science and technology, revolutionary politics, dreams of global peace, and the realities of world wars all derive peculiar inspiration from the terrible hopes of the millennial vision.
Neural network architectures for real time detection and localization of multiple targets

Summary form only given. The authors present a number of neural network architectures for the detection and localization of multiple targets in a scene corrupted by background noise and clutter. This scene may be obtained as the output of a staring or a scanning sensor array. The problem is to detect the presence and fix the location of multiple targets in the scene. The architectures considered are being called fully connected, replicated subnets, difference processor subnets, and disjoint subnets. Each of the subnets may be considered a multilayer perceptron network using a backward error propagation training algorithm. One of the problems using neural networks is that the training time is a function of the size of the training set and the number of weights to be learned. In the fully connected network the whole scene is used as input to a single large multiple-layer neural network. The other architectures consist of an interconnection of a number of neural subnetworks of some type. These architectures differ in the way the subnetworks are interconnected and how the final decisions are made. One advantage of the proposed interconnected architectures is that the weights calculated for one subnet can be used for many other subnetworks. This feature will reduce the training time for the overall network. >
Thrombospondin-1 and thrombospondin-2 mRNA and TSP-1 and TSP-2 protein expression in uterine fibroids and correlation to the genes COL1A1 and COL3A1 and to the collagen cross-link hydroxyproline.

Uterine fibroids are composed of altered collagen fibrils and represent an arrested response to injury-initiating fibrosis. In many tissues, TSP-1 is secreted by adult macrophages and monocytes upon wounding and is involved in the activation of transforming growth factor β. In the absence of TSP-1, the orchestrated process of wound healing is impaired. The authors obtained tissue from the edge and center of fibroids at the time of hysterectomy and compared them with adjacent myometrium. The pattern of TSP-1 and TSP-2 expression was correlated to that of COL1A1 and COL3A1. Collagen and hydroxyproline were increased in fibroids. Thrombospondin-1 was consistently underexpressed in both the edge and center of the fibroids, while COL1A1 and COL3A1 were consistently overexpressed. However, TSP-2 was inconsistently expressed. These findings lead to the conclusion that the underexpression of TSP-1 may contribute to the overall development of uterine fibroids.
A Mechanism for the Induction of Symmetries Among the Strong Interactions

A model is constructed in which there are N equally massive vector mesons, which are seif-consistent bound states of pairs of these same vector mesons. It is shown that N must be equal to the number of parameters of some compact, semisimple Lie group, and that the renormalized coupling constants nrust be proportional to the structure constants of the group. (auth)
Bovine Pulmonary Blastomas: Histomorphologic Description and Immunohistochemistry:

Three adult female dairy cattle with pulmonary blastomas were evaluated. The gross lesions at postmortem were described as multiple white circumscribed masses throughout the lungs, with pleural involvement in one cow and lymph node metastasis in the other two cows. Histologically, the tumors contained a dual population of mesenchymal and epithelial neoplastic cells. Epithelial cells formed nests, tubules, and formations resembling bronchioles of normal lung. Mesenchymal cells were spindle shaped with oval nuclei and fibrillar eosinophilic cytoplasm, were large rounded cells with multiple round nuclei and granular eosinophilic cytoplasm, or appeared blast-like, with large hyperchromatic nuclei and amphophilic cytoplasm. The tumors varied greatly in appearance from one field to another within the same tumor. Epithelial cells stained positively with anii-cytokeratin antibodies. Some spindle-shaped mesenchymal cells exhibited smooth muscle cell differentiation with positive staining with anti-vimentin, anti-m...
Chemical modification of iron- and manganese-containing superoxide dismutases from Escherichia coli

Abstract The manganese-containing (MnSOD) and iron-containing (FeSOD) superoxide dismutases from Escherichia coli are extensively (>95%) inactivated by treatment with phenylglyoxal. The relatively high concentrations of phenylglyoxal and high pH required for optimal inactivation suggest that inactivation may be due to modification of an arginine with a “normal” elevated p K a , i.e., one not in an active site cavity where the p K a is likely to be lowered because of lower solvent accessibility and decreased polarity of the local environment. Treatment of either enzyme with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide, m -chloroperoxybenzoate, or tetranitromethane causes no inactivation, while 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonate, N -acetylimidazole, or diethyl pyrocarbonate cause 55–75% inactivation of each enzyme. Failure of hydroxylamine to reverse inactivation by the latter two suggests that in each instance loss of activity is due to lysine modification. The previously reported inactivation of FeSOD by H 2 O 2 was further investigated, and no evidence was found for an affinity mechanism, i.e., a reversible binding of peroxide that precedes inactivation.
PBA: Percentage Based Allocation for acquisitions

Abstract A simplified approach to the allocation of the library materials budget is proposed that is based on the formula allocations to universities by their fiscal governing bodies. Theoretically, this approach reflects most of the elements of previously proposed formulas, although in an indirect way. The validity of this method is discussed in the context of certain assumptions, along with its advantages and disadvantages. This method would be most applicable where audiovisual materials and books are combined in one budget, such as in a community college or learning resource center.
Effect of Restricted Feeding During the Growing Period on Reproductive Performance of Large Type White Turkeys

Abstract CONSIDERABLE interest in recent years has centered around feeding systems which bring about a decrease in the plane of nutrition either through the restriction of a “complete” ration or the full feeding of an “incomplete” ration at some interval during the growing period. The value of these systems in feeding replacement chickens and their secondary effects on subsequent production and reproduction has been explored by several groups of investigators (Schneider et al., 1955; Sunde et al., 1954; Milby and Sherwood, 1956; Isaacks et al., 1960; and Hollands and Gowe, 1961). In general it has been demonstrated that the body weight of growing pullets is reduced, the onset of sexual maturity delayed from two to four weeks and laying house mortality reduced as a result of lowering total feed intake. These studies do not indicate consistent effects of restrictive feeding on final body weight, total feed consumption, total eggs produced, egg …
Suppressing the Oblivious RAM timing channel while making information leakage and program efficiency trade-offs

Oblivious RAM (ORAM) is an established cryptographic technique to hide a program's address pattern to an untrusted storage system. More recently, ORAM schemes have been proposed to replace conventional memory controllers in secure processor settings to protect against information leakage in external memory and the processor I/O bus.
The Relationship Between Water Level, Prey Availability and Reproductive Success in Roseate Spoonbills Foraging in a Seasonally-Flooded Wetland While Nesting in Florida Bay

The coastal wetlands of northeastern Florida Bay are seasonally-inundated dwarf mangrove habitat and serve as a primary foraging ground for wading birds nesting in Florida Bay. A common paradigm in pulse-inundated wetlands is that prey base fishes increase in abundance while the wetland is flooded and then become highly concentrated in deeper water refuges as water levels recede, becoming highly available to wading birds whose nesting success depends on these concentrations. Although widely accepted, the relationship between water levels, prey availability and nesting success has rarely been quantified. I examine this paradigm using Roseate Spoonbills that nest on the islands in northeastern Florida Bay and forage on the mainland. Spoonbill nesting success and water levels on their foraging grounds have been monitored since 1987 and prey base fishes have been systematically sampled at as many as 10 known spoonbill foraging sites since 1990. Results demonstrated that the relationship between water level and prey abundance was not linear but rather there is likely a threshold, or series of thresholds, in water level that result in concentrated prey. Furthermore, the study indicates that spoonbills require water level-induced prey concentrations in order to have enough food available to successfully raise young.
Infrared spectroscopic studies of the effect of elevated temperature on the association of pyroglutamic acid with clay and other minerals.

Fourier transform i.r. measurements of L-pyroglutamic acid dispersed in a matrix of a clay, silica or alumina have been obtained at various temperatures between 25 and 220 degrees C. The i.r. spectrum of L-pyroglutamic acid varies in a manner dependent upon the matrix material and shows considerable change as the temperature of the mixtures is increased. The differences in the spectrum at elevated temperatures are explained in terms of a chemical reaction between hydroxyl groups in the matrix and the carboxylic acid. The i.r. spectra of trimethylsilyl derivatives of L-pyroglutamic acid and aluminum pyroglutamate were also measured to assist the understanding of spectra and interpretation of the spectral changes dependent upon increasing temperature.