cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influenza virus pathophysiology and brain invasion in mice with functional and dysfunctional Mx1 genes

Mice with a dysfunctional myxovirus resistance-1 (dMx1) gene transport intranasally-instilled PR8 influenza virus to the olfactory bulb (OB) within 4 h post-infection. To determine if the presence of a functional Mx1 (fMx1) gene would influence this brain viral localization and/or disease, we infected mature C57BL/6 dMx1 and fMx1 mice under the same conditions and observed sickness behaviors, viral nucleoprotein (NP) RNA expression and innate immune mediator (IIM) mRNA expression in selected tissues at 15 and 96 h post-infection. Virus invaded the OB and lungs comparably in both sub-strains at 15 and 96 h as determined by nested PCR. In contrast, virus was present in blood and somatosensory cortex of dMx1, but not fMx1 mice at 96 h. At 15 h, sickness behaviors were comparable in both sub-strains. By 96 h dMx1, but not fMx1, were moribund. In both 15 and 96 h lungs, viral NP was significantly elevated in the dMx1 mice compared to the fMx1 mice, as determined by quantitative PCR. OB expression of most IIM mRNAs was similar at both time periods in both sub-strains. In contrast, lung IIM mRNAs were elevated in fMx1 at 15 h, but by 96 h were consistently reduced compared to dMx1 mice. In conclusion, functional Mx1 did not alter OB invasion by virus but attenuated illness compared to dMx1 mice. Inflammation was similar in OBs and lungs of both strains at 15 h but by 96 h it was suppressed in lungs, but not in OBs, of fMx1 mice.
Rhetorics and Revolutions: Or, Why Write About 1989?

Pragmatically, for most of us, “history” consists perhaps primarily of chronotopes, accumulations of symbols and shorthand associations that invest temporality with meaning: 1776, 1848, the 1960s, ...
A fast algorithm for training support vector regression via smoothed primal function minimization

The support vector regression (SVR) model is usually fitted by solving a quadratic programming problem, which is computationally expensive. To improve the computational efficiency, we propose to directly minimize the objective function in the primal form. However, the loss function used by SVR is not differentiable, which prevents the well-developed gradient based optimization methods from being applicable. As such, we introduce a smooth function to approximate the original loss function in the primal form of SVR, which transforms the original quadratic programming into a convex unconstrained minimization problem. The properties of the proposed smoothed objective function are discussed and we prove that the solution of the smoothly approximated model converges to the original SVR solution. A conjugate gradient algorithm is designed for minimizing the proposed smoothly approximated objective function in a sequential minimization manner. Extensive experiments on real-world datasets show that, compared to the quadratic programming based SVR, the proposed approach can achieve similar prediction accuracy with significantly improved computational efficiency, specifically, it is hundreds of times faster for linear SVR model and multiple times faster for nonlinear SVR model.
Changes in quality characteristics during peach (cv. Majestic ) maturation

Changes in the physical, chemical and sensory characteristics of peaches (cv. ‘Majestic’) were determined. Size, weight, ground color “a” values and SS/TA ratio increased significantly with increased degree of maturity; whereas, firmness, DLE, hue angle, titratable acidity, quinic acid, and citric acid decreased significantly. Malic acid increased significantly with maturity up to grade 5 then significantly decreased. In general sucrose content and total sugars increased through grade 6 and then decreased for tree ripe fruit. Sensory evaluation results showed no significant differences among maturity grades for sweet, sour, juice and overall peach flavor attributes. However, grade 1 and 2 fruit had lower scores for sweet and overall peach flavor attributes and tended to be more sour than grades 3–6 and tree ripe fruit. Correlation coefficients between maturity grade and all the selected quality parameters, except for the sour flavor attribute, were significant at the 1% level. DLE had the highest correlation with maturity grade followed by ground color “a” value, SS/TA ratio and firmness.
DEFECT STUDIES OF THIN LAYERS BY THE VIBRATING-REED TECHNIQUE

The vibrating-reed technique has been successfully adapted to internal friction studies of thin-layer materials. Three examples are described, related to the oxygen contamination of niobium films, grain-boundary sliding of aluminum films, and anelasticity due to hydrogen in metallic glasses. Emphasis is given to the use of thin high-Q substrates as a means of examining supported films down to 0.1µm thickness. It has been found that the behavior of films can be radically different from that of bulk samples. For example, two-stage grain-boundary sliding with an activation energy of only 0.55eV has been observed in aluminum films. In metallic glasses, a peak associated with the presence of hydrogen in small low-symmetry interstitial sites has been found in many different alloys, including Pd80Si20, Fe80B20, Nb40Ni60 and Cu57Zr43.
Refractive Properties of Barium Fluoride

Refractive properties of barium fluoride are discussed. The refractive index, n, was determined at 25°C for 46 measured wavelengths from 0.2652 μ in the ultraviolet to 10.346 in the infrared. The dispersion equation n2−1=0.643356λ2λ2−(0.057789)2+0.506762λ2λ2−(0.10968)2+3.8261λ2λ2−(46.3864)2,where λ is expressed in microns was found to fit the measured values with an average absolute residual of 1.91×10−5. A tentative average thermal coefficient of index dn/dt for the measured spectral range is −12×10−6/°C Dispersive quantities which indicate the expected relative dispersion, chromatic aberration, and the effect of index on resolution are graphically presented. A review of transmittance data from the literature is also presented.
Violent Crime, Residential Instability and Mobility: Does the Relationship Differ in Minority Neighborhoods?

This study examines the reciprocal relationship between violent crime and residential stability in neighborhoods. We test whether the form of stability matters by comparing two different measures of stability: a traditional index of residential stability and a novel approach focusing specifically on the stability of homeowners. We also examine whether the racial/ethnic composition of the neighborhood in which this stability occurs affects the instability—violent crime relationship. To test the simultaneous relationship between residential mobility and crime we estimate a dual multivariate latent curve model of the change in the violent crime rate and the change in the rate of home sales while controlling for neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic characteristics using data from Los Angeles between 1992 and 1997. Results indicate that the initial level of violent crime increases the trajectory of residential instability in subsequent years, whether the instability is measured as homeowner turnover specifically, or based on an index of all residents. However, the effect of instability on violent crime is only apparent when measuring instability based on an index of general residential turnover and not when including the presence of owners in this measure, or when measuring it based on homeowner turnover. We consistently find that stable highly Latino communities exhibit a protective effect against violence.
Prediction and assignment of function for a divergent N -succinyl amino acid racemase

The protein databases contain many proteins with unknown function. A computational approach for predicting ligand specificity that requires only the sequence of the unknown protein would be valuable for directing experiment-based assignment of function. We focused on a family of unknown proteins in the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily and used two approaches to assign function: (i) enzymatic assays using libraries of potential substrates, and (ii) in silico docking of the same libraries using a homology model based on the most similar (35% sequence identity) characterized protein. The results matched closely; an experimentally determined structure confirmed the predicted structure of the substrate-liganded complex. We assigned the N-succinyl arginine/lysine racemase function to the family, correcting the annotation (L-Ala-D/L-Glu epimerase) based on the function of the most similar characterized homolog. These studies establish that ligand docking to a homology model can facilitate functional assignment of unknown proteins by restricting the identities of the possible substrates that must be experimentally tested.
A Dual Differentiable Exact Penalty Function.

A new penalty function is associated with an inequality constrained nonlinear programming problem via its dual. This penalty function is globally differentiable if the functions defining the original problem are twice globally differentiable. In addition, the penalty parameter remains finite. This approach reduces the original problem to a simple problem of maximizing a globally differentiable function on the product space of a Euclidean space and the nonnegative orthant of another Euclidean space. Many efficient algorithms exist for solving this problem. For the case of quadratic programming, the penalty function problem can be solved effectively by successive overrelaxation (SOR) methods which can handle huge problems while preserving sparsity features.
Issues in the laboratory study of human sexual response: A synthesis for the nontechnical sexologist

Laboratory‐based research on sexual response constitutes a significant component in the current overall effort to understand human sexuality, and therefore it behooves the contemporary sexologist t...
Kinematics of the stationary helical vortex mode in Taylor-Couette-Poiseuille flow

We reconstruct a kinematically admissible (volume-preserving) three-dimensional velocity field corresponding to the stationary helical vortex (SHV) mode which is observed in the Taylor–Couette–Poiseuille (TCP) system with a ratio of inner to outer cylinder radii of 0.5 and a length to annulus gap ratio of 16, starting from experimental data obtained via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for $\Rey \,{=}\, 11.14$ and $\Ta^{1/2} \,{=}\, 170$ in water. The goal of the present work is to provide a complete kinematic representation of a strongly nonlinear duct flow that is of importance in the fields of mixing and segregation, as well as in the study of the kinematic structure of three-dimensional flows. By a judicious choice of a set of global basis functions that exploit the helical symmetry of SHV, an analytical approximation of the streamfunction is obtained despite the coarse MRI data and the non-uniform distribution of measurement error. This approximation is given in terms of a truncated series of smooth functions that converges weakly in L $_2$ , and the reconstruction method is directly applicable to three-dimensional incompressible flows that possess a continuous volume-preserving symmetry. The SHV flow structure consists of a pair of asymmetric counter-rotating helical cells in a double helix structure, foliated with invariant helically symmetric surfaces containing fibre-like fluid particle orbits wrapped around the inner cylinder. Imposing general topological constraints, juxtaposing SHV with neighbouring hydrodynamic modes such as the propagating Taylor vortex flow and direct numerical simulation help corroborate the validity of the reconstruction of the SHV flow field. The kinematically admissible flow field obeys the Navier–Stokes equations with 10% accuracy, which is consistent with experimental error, and has the same flow portrait as the numerically computed flow. Global analysis of the SHV mode indicates that it corresponds to a minimum in dissipation and mixing in comparison with a wide class of perturbed neighbouring modes; hence it is a candidate for the study of particle segregation. To our knowledge, the present study reports the first synthesis of a physically realizable complex open flow that can be represented by an integrable Hamiltonian system starting from point-wise experimental data and using solely kinematic constraints.
Transverse collective instability excited by a non-uniform v-shift in intense beams

Abstract A model which describes the effect of a non-uniform space charge v-shift on the resistive wall instability associated with transverse collective oscillations of a beam of particles is proposed. It successfully predicts the overall characteristics of the instability as observed at the CERN ISR: (1) the observation of a current limitation in spite of the proportionate increase in v-spread as charge is stacked; and (2) the fact that the onset of instability, beam losses occur at a particular edge of the beam. The model consists simply of the original model of the resistive wall instability, augmented with the effect on the zero-order betatron tune of the equilibrium space-charge forces. It is shown that, under certain circumstances, the space charge distortion of the equilibrium betatron tune distribution function can permit the instability. An important result is that the stable region in W-space (W is a complex quantity depending on the beam characteristics and its environment) is not diminished by the distortion, but rather shifted. A consequence of this result is that an optimization of design should allow stability, even as the beam intensifies and distortion increases.
The State Leadership Conference: A History and Appreciation

The American Psychological Association (APA) has held a State Leadership Conference every year since 1984. Organized and run by the Practice Directorate, the State Leadership Conference has grown more than tenfold during this time. Its growth and maturation reflect the growth and maturation of the advocacy agenda for the practice community, which has expanded from legislative advocacy and legal initiatives to include a variety of efforts to shape the evolving health care marketplace. The State Leadership Conference accomplishes multiple purposes, including the facilitation of successful working partnerships between APA and its 60 affiliated state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations. It has become a primary instrument of advocacy successes such as mental health parity laws, prescriptive authority laws, and the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards program.
Metal-free, efficient hydrazination of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine with diethyl azodicarboxylate in neutral media

The first example of metal-free regioselective hydrazination of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine with diethyl azodicarboxylate is accomplished. This procedure is chemically appealing due to the high degree of functional group tolerance and efficiency in expanding the molecular diversity.
Evaluation of N-phenyl homopiperazine analogs as potential dopamine D3 receptor selective ligands

Abstract A series of N -(2-methoxyphenyl)homopiperazine analogs was prepared and their affinities for dopamine D 2 , D 3 , and D 4 receptors were measured using competitive radioligand binding assays. Several ligands exhibited high binding affinity and selectivity for the D 3 dopamine receptor compared to the D 2 receptor subtype. Compounds 11a , 11b , 11c , 11f , 11j and 11k had K i values ranging from 0.7 to 3.9 nM for the D 3 receptor with 30- to 170-fold selectivity for the D 3 versus D 2 receptor. Calculated log P values (log P = 2.6–3.6) are within the desired range for passive transport across the blood–brain barrier. When the binding and the intrinsic efficacy of these phenylhomopiperazines was compared to those of previously published phenylpiperazine analogues, it was found that (a) affinity at D 2 and D 3 dopamine receptors generally decreased, (b) the D 3 receptor binding selectivity (D 2 :D 3 K i value ratio) decreased and, (c) the intrinsic efficacy, measured using a forskolin-dependent adenylyl cyclase inhibition assay, generally increased.
Permanent Budget Deficits and Inflation

Abstract The issue of whether permanent primary budget deficits have to be monetized is re-examined in a simple monetary model, hybrid of the Sidrauski and overlapping-generations frameworks, in which intergenerational effects are generated by the arrival of new infinitely-lived cohorts. The presence of intergenerational effects enlarges, for a given fiscal policy, the set of admissible monetary policies and weakens the need to monetize the deficit. Comparisons between the growth and interest rates are in general insufficient to predict whether increased deficit must be monetized, because of the existence of both bond and money seigniorage Laffer curves.
Targeting human prostatic carcinoma through basic fibroblast growth factor receptors in an animal model: characterizing and circumventing mechanisms of tumor resistance.

BACKGROUND Basic fibroblast growth factor receptors on DU145 human prostatic carcinoma xenografts serve as targets for the delivery of a growth factor-toxin chimera, basic fibroblast growth factor-saporin (bFGF-SAP), which produces significant antitumor activity in a nude mouse model. However, DU145 tumors often become resistant to prolonged treatment. METHODS Nude mice bearing DU145 xenografts were intravenously administered bFGF-SAP (0.05 μg/kg weekly for 4 weeks), and a panel of eight tumors was isolated from the treated animals and established in monolayer culture. RESULTS In cell-survival assays, sensitivity of the treated tumor-derived cell lines to bFGF-SAP (IC50 = 12–100 nM) varied widely from cells derived from a vehicle-treated control tumor (IC50 = 10 nM). A significant inverse correlation was observed between increased IC50 values in vitro and increased tumor growth delay in vivo. Pretreatment of tumor cells with suramin or neutralizing antibodies to bFGF or keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) circumvented resistance in one of the tumor lines, confirming autocrine-mediated resistance. In another tumor subline, a 3-fold decrease in bFGF high-affinity receptor sites, which concurred with a 4-fold decrease in ability to internalize the bFGF ligand, was consistent with a decrease in total cellular expression of the FGF2 receptor (Bek). Resistance was circumvented by alternatively targeting FGF1 receptor (Flg) on these cells with a saporin immunotoxin. CONCLUSIONS These studies identify alterations in the ligand-targeted receptor as a frequent contributor to resistance arising in DU145 tumors to in vivo treatment with a bFGF receptor-directed-toxin chimera, and provide the basis for designing methods to circumvent resistance for the purpose of enhancing efficacy of receptor-directed therapies in the treatment of prostate cancer. Prostate 40:178–191, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Utilization of amino acid analogues in diets of young turkeys.

1. The relative potencies of three lysine, one tryptophan and six methionine analogues to their corresponding L-amino acids were determined. 2. Male poults, 9 d of age, were used in five 14 d experiments. Experimental diets were formed by adding increasing levels of an amino acid (L-isomer) or its analogues to a basal diet deficient in the test amino acid. Multiple-regression analyses of body-weight gain v . level of added or amount of consumed amino acid supplement were computed. Relative potencies of the analogues were calculated using the slope-ratio technique. 3. Type of independent variable used in the regression analyses did not significantly affect relative potency values. 4. From regression analyses with level of added amino acid supplement as the independent variable, relative potencies (with 95% confidence intervals) on a molar basis of each analogue as a percentage of the respective amino acid were: hydroxymethyl-L-tryptophan monohydrate 9 (−12, 22), DL-methionine sulphone 3 (−68, 36), DL-methionine hydantoin −10 (−63, 29), L-cystine 8 (−31. 40), DL-methionine sulphoxide 59 (24, 95) and 46 (18, 74), oleoyl-DL-methionine 77 (37, 138), methionine hydroxy analogue calcium 93 (65, 128), dicocoyl-L-lysine 23 (5, 41). bis-hydroxymethyl-L-lysine-calcium 69 (54, 82) and 41 (−1, 80), mono-hydroxymethyl-L-lysine-calcium 89(77, 101) and 99(65, 134). 5. The first four analogues appeared to have little or no amino acid activity. DL-methionine sulphoxide, dicocoyl-L-lysine, and bis-hydroxymethyl-L-lysine-calcium were partially active. Relative potencies of oleoyl-DL-methionine, methionine hydroxy analogue calcium, and mono-hydroxytmethyl-L-lysine-calcium were not significantly different from those of their corresponding amino acids.
Perturbative calculation of the electromagnetic form factors of the deuteron

Making use of the effective field theory expansion recently developed by the authors, we compute the electromagnetic form factors of the deuteron analytically to next-to-leading order. The computation is rather simple, and involves calculating several Feynman diagrams, using dimensional regularization. The results agree well with data and indicate that the expansion is converging. They do not suffer from any ambiguities arising from off-shell versus on-shell amplitudes.
Subjective Social Status and Well-Being: The Role of Referent Abstraction

Subjective social status (SSS) has been shown to predict well-being and mental health, above and beyond objective social status (OSS). However, little is known about the factors that moderate this relationship. Two studies explored whether the link between SSS and well-being varied depending upon the referent used for comparison in SSS judgments. Participants judged their well-being and SSS in comparison to referents that varied in abstraction. A confirmatory factor analysis on SSS judgments yielded two factors: (a) SSS perceptions toward global referents and (b) SSS perceptions toward local referents. SSS relative to a global referent was a better predictor of depression (Studies 1 and 2), life satisfaction (Studies 1 and 2), and self-esteem (Study 2) than SSS relative to a local referent. These findings have theoretical implications for understanding how people differentiate between local vs. global referents and practical implications for status-related health disparities.
Mesh adaptation using a four-noded quadrilateral plate bending element

Abstract This paper uses a four-noded quadrilateral Reissner-Mindlin plate bending element for mesh adaptation. To overcome the problems of “locking” in the thin plate limit and zero energy modes the transverse shear strains are not evaluated from the displacements and rotations but are separately interpolated. The element is used in a hierarchical mesh adaptation which uses a node-averaging-based energy norm error estimator. Several examples illustrate the use of the adaptive algorithm.
Combustion-Thermoelectric Tube

In direct combustion-thermoelectric energy conversion, direct fuel injection and reciprocation of the air flowing in a solid matrix are combined with the solid-gas interfacial heat transfer and the solid conduction to allow for obtaining superadiabatic temperatures at the hot junctions. While the solid conductivity is necessary, the relatively large thermal conductivity of the available high-temperature thermoelectric materials (e.g., Si-Ge alloys) results in a large conduction loss from the hot junctions and deteriorates the performance. Here, a combustion-thermoelectric tube is introduced and analyzed. Radially averaged temperatures are used for the fluid and solid phases. A combination of external cooling of the cold junctions, and direct injection of the fuel, has been used to increase the energy conversion efficiency for low thermal conductivity, high-melting temperature thermoelectric materials, The parametric study (geometry, flow, stoichiometry, materials) shows that with the current high figure of merit, high temperature Si 0.7 Ge 0.3 properties, a conversion efficiency of about 11 percent is achievable. With lower thermal conductivities for these high-temperature materials, efficiencies about 25 percent appear possible. This places this energy conversion in line with the other high efficiency, direct, electric power generation methods.
Short-stay laparoscopic adrenalectomy

Background: We performed a consecutive series of unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomies (LA) with the expectation of short (less than 24 h) hospital stay. Results were compared with those from laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and unilateral open adrenalectomy (OA).
Comparative Development of Queen Nests of Four Species of Yellowjackets (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Reared under Identical Conditions

Queen nest growth rates and immature stage durations were compared for nests initiated in a controlled environment chamber by four yellowjacket species: Vespula maculifrons (Buysson), V. germanica (F.), V. vulgaris (L.), and V. vidua (Saussure). Nests of the first two species averaged a daily increase of 1.90 and 2.76 cells, respectively. The single nests of V. vulgaris and V. vidua grew more slowly. Average size of the queen nest at first worker emergence was 62.2 cells for V. maculifrons and 71.3 cells for V. germanica. Immatures of V. germanica averaged the fastest total development (27.4 days), but all four species showed considerable variation in duration of all life stages. Percentages of brood composition at the time of first worker emergence were in reasonably close agreement with percentages estimated by M. E. Archer for nests of V. vulgaris at the same stage. However, relative percentages of brood composition in queen nests changed over time. Ways are discussed in which the data from this study can be applied to models simulating colony population growth. Possible reasons for the apparent larger size of laboratory-grown queen nests in comparison with field-collected nests, and for the lack of extensive envelope construction by V. maculifrons queens, are also considered.
Field and laboratory fish tissue accumulation of the anti-convulsant drug carbamazepine

Understanding the potential for human and veterinary pharmaceuticals to accumulate in the tissues of biota is a topic of increasing importance in the pharmaceutical risk assessment process. However, few data are available in the literature that compare the ability of laboratory bioconcentration studies to predict field tissue concentrations. To begin to address this data gap, bioconcentration factors (BCF) for carbamazepine (CBZ), a human anticonvulsant that modulates Na+ channels, were determined using laboratory experiments with Pimephales notatus and Ictalurus punctatus. These data were compared to field derived bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) for Oreochromis niloticus from the Denton, Texas Wastewater Treatment Plant. The 42 d kinetic BCFs (BCFk) for white muscle and liver of P. notatus were 1.9 and 4.6, respectively, while the white muscle, liver, brain, and plasma BCFk's of I. punctatus were 1.8, 1.5, 1.6, and 7.1, respectively. Field derived BAF values (2.5-3.8) for O. niloticus were similar to those derived in laboratory studies. Partitioning values between blood plasma and individual tissues were calculated for I. punctatus and O. niloticus, with the values indicating that tissue levels of carbamazepine are similar or slightly higher than plasma concentrations. Collectively these data suggest that the fish laboratory BCF and field derived BCF/BAF values for carbamazepine are similar and much lower than the European Union regulatory threshold of 2000 for designation of a "B" substance.
Proton-transfer mechanism for dispersed decay kinetics of single molecules isolated in potassium hydrogen phthalate.

The excited-state decay kinetics of single 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein (DCF) molecules oriented and overgrown within crystals of potassium acid phthalate (KAP) are reported. Time-correlated single-photon counting measurements (TCSPC) of 56 DCF molecules in KAP reveal that single-exponential decay is exhibited by roughly half of the molecules. The remainder demonstrates complex excited-state decay kinetics that are well fit by a stretched exponential function consistent with dispersed kinetics. Histograms of single-molecule luminescence energies revealed environmental fluctuations and distinct chemical species. The TCSPC results are compared to Monte Carlo simulations employing a first-passage model for excited-state decay. Agreement between experiment and theory, on both bulk and single-molecule levels, suggests that a subset of the DCF molecules in KAP experience fluctuations in the surrounding environment that modify the energy barrier to proton transfer leading to dispersed kinetics.
Asymptotic Adaptive Neural Network Tracking Control of Nonholonomic Mobile Robot Formations

In this paper, asymptotically stable control laws are developed for leader---follower based formation control using backstepping in order to accommodate the dynamics of the robots and the formation. First, a kinematic controller is developed around control strategies for single mobile robots and the idea of virtual leaders. The virtual leader is replaced with a physical mobile robot leader, and an auxiliary velocity control law is developed in order to prove the global asymptotic stability of the followers which in turn allows the local asymptotic stability of the entire formation. A novel approach is taken in the development of the dynamical controller such that the torque control inputs for the follower robots include the dynamics of the follower robot as well as the dynamics of its leader, and two cases are considered--the case when the robot dynamics are known and the case when they are unknown. In the first case, a robust adaptive control term is utilized to account for unmodeled dynamics. For the latter, a robust adaptive term is augmented with a NN control law to achieve asymptotic tracking performance in contrast with most NN controllers where a bounded tracking error result is shown. Additionally, the NN approximation error is assumed to be a function of tracking errors instead of a constant upper bound, which is commonly found in the literature. The stability of the follower robots as well as the entire formation is demonstrated in each case using Lyapunov methods and numerical results are provided.
Epidermal stem cells: Properties, markers, and location

Recent data indicate that stem cells exist in many tissues, including skeletal muscle, liver, and the central nervous system, some of them not known classically as having stem cells. The unexpected plasticity and the tremendous disease implications of these findings have created a lot of excitement (1, 2). However, a major obstacle in these areas has been a lack of molecular markers and of the precise in vivo localization of the putative stem cells. Because epidermis is an excellent example of a self-renewing tissue containing stem cells, it is of interest to examine the current status of this field. Like stem cells of other tissues, epidermal stem cells are important because they not only play a central role in homeostasis and wound repair, but also represent a major target of tumor initiation and gene therapy.
Surging and plunging oscillations of an airfoil at low Reynolds number

We investigate the forces and unsteady flow structures associated with harmonic oscillations of an airfoil in the streamwise (surging) and transverse (plunging) directions in two-dimensional simulations at low Reynolds number. For the surging case, we show that there are specific frequencies where the wake instability synchronizes with the unsteady motion of the airfoil, leading to significant changes in the mean forces. Resonant behaviour of the time-averaged forces is observed near the vortex shedding frequency and its subharmonic; the behaviour is reminiscent of the dynamics of the generic nonlinear oscillator known as the Arnol’d tongue or the resonance horn. Below the wake instability frequency, there are two regimes where the fluctuating forces are amplified and attenuated, respectively. A detailed study of the flow structures associated with leading-edge vortex (LEV) growth and detachment are used to relate this behaviour with the LEV acting either in phase with the quasi-steady component of the forces for the amplification case, or out of phase for the attenuation case. Comparisons with wind tunnel measurements show that phenomenologically similar dynamics occur at higher Reynolds number. Finally, we show that qualitatively similar phenomena occur during both surging and plunging.
Theory of the effect of pH and ionic strength on the nucleation of protein crystals

Abstract Proteins can be crystallized from pH buffered aqueous solutions of inert strong electrolytes. The appearance of crystals is preceded by the formation of crystal nuclei which are oligomers of protein molecules bound by non-covalent forces. Being amphoteric, individual protein molecules in solution are macro-ions whose charge depends upon pH. As it is unlikely that these macro-ions agglomerate to form oligomers with complete retention of charge, we suggest, and confirm by experiment, that the formation of crystal nuclei is accompanied by H + exchange with the buffer. The rate of agglomeration of like-charged macro-ions to form nuclei will also be affected by Coulomb repulsion. The strength of the bare Coulomb force will be reduced and the rate of agglomeration accelerated, however, by the plasma screening produced by the ions of the strong electrolyte. Using a theory incorporating these effects, we show that nucleation rates generally increase as the size of the critical nucleus decreases toward its lower bound set by the size of a dimer. The nucleation rates at low pH and also near pH=pI, where the protein molecules are neutral, are very large and represent sets of conditions particularly favorable to crystal production.
Quantification and classification of locational effects on cotton cultivar testing programs.

(...) This paper presents a method by which locational effects can be quantified and classified. Lint yield data of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) obtained from the U.S. Regional Cotton Variety Tests between the years 1981 and 1986 were used to quantify four characteristics of the locations which were used in testing cultivars. The four characteristics of the locations are: the ability to discriminate differences among cultivars, consistency in discrimination over years, relative potential productivity, and repeatability of the potential productivity. (...)
Good Instruction is Good for Everyone—Or Is It? English Language Learners in a Balanced Literacy Approach

Prior research suggests that many of the elements of effective instruction for native speakers are beneficial for English learners as well. But are specific strategies that appear effective for native speakers equally so for nonnative speakers? Are other companion efforts necessary? This article explores these questions by examining the comparative effects of selected literacy instructional practices on reading comprehension for English learners and non-English learners, using data from a 3-year study of the implementation and effects of a balanced literacy approach in San Diego City Schools. Then, using qualitative data gathered over 2 years from 133 teachers, as well as school administrators and instructional coaches in 9 case study elementary schools, the article considers what might have been missing in the district's approach to its over 24,000 elementary English learner students and how the strengths that were developed during the district's literacy reforms might be used to address continuing weakn...
The physics of the quark-gluon plasma

This paper is based on a series of eleven lectures that were presented at a workshop on The Physics of the Quark-Gluon Plasma held at Hua-Zhong Normal University in Wuhan, People's Republic of China, in September 1983. The lectures were updated for publication in November 1985. They cover perturbation theory of the plasma at high temperature, as well as the nonperturbative methods and results of lattice gauge theory computations. Physical models of the confinement-deconfinement phase transition and the modes of chiral symmetry breaking are presented. The possibility that a quark-gluon plasma might be produced in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions is briefly discussed in the introductory lecture.
The B11(He3, α)B10 reaction between 2.2 and 5.5 MeV

Abstract The differential cross sections for the B11(He3, α)B10 reactions leading to the ground state of B10 and to excited states at 0.72, 1.74 and 2.15 MeV have been measured as a function of bombarding energy between 2.2 and 5.5 MeV at laboratory angles of 15°, 90° and 165°. Angular distributions have been measured at bombarding energies of 2.35, 2.86, 3.42, 3.93, 4.50, 5.02 and 5.51 MeV. The total cross sections for these reactions have been obtained by integration of the angular distributions. The small variation of the angular distributions with energy and the strong forward peaking at the higher energies suggest that a direct interaction mechanism predominates. A comparison with the B11(p, d)B10 and B11(d, t)B10 reactions indicate that this mechanism is probably pick-up. There is some evidence for a compound nucleus contribution in the case of the reaction which leaves B10 in its second excited state at 1.74 MeV.
Should all women with PCOS be treated for insulin resistance

PRO —A large majority of women with PCOS have insulin resistance, compensatory hyperinsulinemia with consequent reproductive and metabolic abnormalities. Metformin has been shown to be effective therapy and could be used more widely in obese adolescents with hyperandrogenemia, a forerunner of PCOS. CON —The severity of insulin resistance is highly variable in women with PCOS and may not be clinically relevant in milder phenotypes. Treatment should be directed at specific metabolic or reproductive problems and insulin sensitizing drugs are not always the optimum therapy.
A Vector-space Model for Parallel Workload Characterization

Software parallelism is a key factor in performance of parallel systems. In this paper we discuss a parallel-instruction vector space model for workload representation and comparison. This model will be compared with the parallelism-matrix technique, which is based on the Frobenius matrix norm. The latter compares two workloads based on identical parallel instructions only, whereas the former compares two workloads based on all parallel instructions. It will be shown that the parallel-instruction vector space method outperforms the parallelism-matrix method in time and space, as well as in accuracy. Further, it will be shown that this model provides a useful framework for the design and analysis of benchmarks. This will be demonstrated by analyzing some of the NASA/NAS Parallel Benchmark workloads and their performance measurements in the context of the model.
Conservation of gRNA gene cassette structure in African trypanosomes despite divergence in the defining flanking repeats.

The mitochondrial (kinetoplast) DNA of kinetoplastid parasites is composed of two types of unrelated circular molecules: maxicircles, which are the equivalent of mitochondrial DNA of other organisms, and minicircles, which are 0.9-2.5 kb (depending on species) circular molecules present in 5000-10000 copies per kinetoplast [1]. Minicircles encode guide RNAs (gRNAs), small RNAs that contain sequence information for editing of maxicircle transcripts [2-4]. In Trypanosoma brucei, minicircle gRNA genes are almost always present within cassettes bounded by 18-bp inverted repeats, each minicircle containing 3 or 4 such cassettes (refs. 3-5; and R.A. Corell, P.J. Myler, and K. Stuart, unpublished). T. congolense minicircles lack the 18-bp inverted repeats found in T. brucei [6], but we have identified a related sequence that occurs as pairs of 19-bp inverted repeats in these minicircles. These repeats define a minicircle cassette organization which is similar to that in T. brucei, and a putative gRNA gene is encoded within one of these cassettes. Both reported T. congolense minicircles contain 3 pairs of imperfect 19-bp repeats. The location of the repeats relative to the
The role of electrostatic interactions in the assembly of the factor X activating complex on both activated platelets and negatively-charged phospholipid vesicles.

Factor X was activated by factor IXa on the surface of either activated platelets or artificial lipid vesicles in the presence of different NaCl concentrations. The Vmax of reactions using platelets was optimal at physiologic [NaCl] both in the absence and in the presence of factor VIIIa. In contrast, the Vmax of reactions using vesicles decreased with increasing [NaCl] in the absence of factor VIIIa, and increased with increasing [NaCl] when cofactor was present. In the absence of factor VIIIa, the EC50FIXa, although stable to changes in [NaCl] in platelet-supported reactions, was found to increase significantly as [NaCl] increased in vesicle-supported reactions and correlated with the decreased Vmax. Thus, in contrast to platelet-supported reactions, enzyme interaction with negatively-charged vesicles was highly dependent upon electrostatic interactions. In the presence of factor VIIIa, the EC50FIXa of vesicle-supported reactions decreased with increasing [NaCl], indicating that interactions between FIX...
Mammalian cell sorting using ∞FACS

K562 mammalian cells are sorted using a highly integrated microfabricated fluorescence-activated cell sorter (µFACS). The sample cells are purified with an enrichment factor of 230 at a high throughput (>1,000 cells/sec)
Interracial and intraracial romantic relationships: The search for differences in satisfaction, conflict, and attachment style

Interracial relationships are increasingly frequent, yet understudied. This article presents two studies of the commonly held belief that the relationship quality of interracial couples is lower in comparison to intraracial romantic couples. In Study 1, partners in interracial relationships reported significantly higher relationship satisfaction compared to those in intraracial relationships. No differences were found for reported conflict or attachment style. In Study 2, no differences were found between interracial and intraracial relationships in relationship quality, conflict patterns, relationship efficacy, coping style, and attachment. This investigation casts doubt on the belief that interracial relationships are burdened with more problems than intraracial relationships.
Harvest of Violence

Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatamalan Crisis. Robert M. Carmack, (ed.). Norma and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. 334 pp. $21.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8061-2131-7
Repair Versus Reconstruction of the Fibular Collateral Ligament and Posterolateral Corner in the Multiligament-Injured Knee

BackgroundTreatment of the multiligament-injured knee remains controversial.PurposeTo compare clinical and functional outcomes of a consecutive series of multiligament-injured knees that underwent repair of the fibular collateral ligament (FCL) and posterolateral corner (PLC), followed by delayed cruciate ligament reconstructions, with those that had single-stage multiligament reconstruction.Study DesignCohort study; Level of evidence, 3.MethodsPatients with multiligament knee injury treated by a single surgeon were identified in our prospective database. Between February 2004 and May 2005, patients underwent repair of medial- and lateral-sided injuries, followed by delayed cruciate ligament reconstructions. Between May 2005 and February 2007, patients underwent single-stage multiligament knee reconstruction. All patients followed a standard rehabilitation protocol. Inclusion criteria were minimum 2-year follow-up and multiligament knee injury including the FCL/PLC. International Knee Documentation Commit...
An Assessment of the Applicability of Particle Light Scattering Theories to Birefringent Polycrystalline Ceramics

The applicability of particle light scattering theories to light attenuation in birefringent polycrystalline ceramics was investigated by measuring light transmittance in a model two-phase system. The system consisted of microspheres of silica dispersed in a solution of glycerol in water. The composition of the liquid medium was chosen to produce a mismatch between the refractive index of the particles (np) and of the medium (nm) equal to the root mean square of the refractive index variation in polycrystalline magnesium fluoride. The variations of the scattering coefficients (γ) with volume fraction of silica microspheres for three different particle diameters (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 μm) were compared with theoretical predictions based on scattering efficiency of single particles (K) and linear extrapolation to multiparticle dispersed systems. The measured scattering coefficients were significantly greater than the theoretical values for particle volume fractions greater than 0.2. These results suggest that application of particle scattering theories to a birefringent polycrystalline ceramic, an intrinsically high volume fraction system, is tenuous at best.
Involvement of the α3 Subunit in Central Nicotinic Binding Populations

The α3 subunit gene was one of the first neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits to be cloned (Boulter et al., 1986), but direct evidence of α3 subunit contributions to mammalian central nAChR populations has not been presented. The studies reported here used mice engineered to contain a null mutation in the α3 nAChR subunit gene (Xu et al., 1999) to examine the involvement of the α3 subunit in central nAChR populations. Heterologously expressed α3β2 and α3β4 nAChRs are pharmacologically similar to native [ 125 I]α-conotoxin MII (α-CtxMII)-binding and 3-(2( S )-azetidinylmethoxy)pyridine dihydrochloride (A85380)-resistant [ 125 I]epibatidine-binding nAChR subtypes, respectively. The hypothesis that both native sites are α3-subtype nAChRs was tested using quantitative autoradiography in α3-null mutant mice. Somewhat surprisingly, deletion of the α3 nAChR subunit gene did not affect expression of the great majority of [ 125 I]α-CtxMII-binding sites, indicating that they do not correspond to heterologously expressed α3β2 nAChRs. The only exception to this was observed in the habenulointerpeduncular tract, where α3-dependent [ 125 I]α-CtxMII binding was observed. This finding may suggest the presence of an additional, minor nicotinic population in this pathway. In contrast, most A85380-resistant [ 125 I]epibatidine-binding nAChRs were dependent on α3 gene expression, suggesting that they do indeed correspond to an α3 nAChR subtype. However, widespread but lower levels of α3-independent A85380-resistant [ 125 I]epibatidine binding were also seen. Again, this may indicate the existence of an additional, minor population of non-α3 A85380-resistant sites.
Card Sorting, Information Architecture And Usability: Adding in Our Users' Perspective to Re-Design the Census Bureau Web Site

Previous research shows that one of the major problems for users of the information rich Census Bureau Web site was in locating or navigating to desired content. This knowledge motivated Bureau staff to begin thinking of how to reorganize the site to attain a more usable information architecture. The team determined that bringing in user-centered design practices into the process could benefit. Thus, in the initial stages of redesigning the Web site, Census Bureau staff in the usability lab conducted two rounds of card sorting. These studies were intended to reveal a better understanding of the content, and the organization of the content that should be on the Census Bureau main page and on the lower-level target pages of the site. This paper looks at how the card sorting studies identified ways that users organize site content and shows how bringing in users to help organize and understand site content gave a better basis for our Web site content development.