cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From Wirtinger to Fisher Information Inequalities on Spheres and Rotation Groups

The concepts of Fisher Information matrix and covariance are generalized to the setting of probability densities on spheres and rotation groups, and inequalities relating these quantities are derived. Probability density functions on these spaces arise in various scenarios in the fields of structural biology, robotics, and computer vision. The approach taken is to first derive matrix generalizations of Wirtinger's inequality for tori and spheres and generalize these to rotation groups. Then new inequalities are derived that relate the covariances of probability density functions on spheres and rotation groups with their Fisher information. These inequalities are different than the Cramer-Rao bound, and can be used to estimate the rate of increase of the entropy of a diffusion process.
Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World. By Joshua B. Freeman. (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2018. Pp. xviii, 427. $27.95.)

This interesting book focuses on the emergence and global spread of factories—and most particularly, fairly large factories—from the British Industrial Revolution up to the present day. The author ...
A short report: parents HPV vaccine knowledge in rural South Florida.

An exploratory pilot descriptive research study was conducted in the rural counties of Hendry and Glades Florida exploring parental knowledge and hesitancy of HPV vaccination. Participants included...
Real-time energy visualization system for light commercial businesses

Abstract Several real-time Energy Visualization (EV) systems have emerged in the market in recent years with specific applications for large industrial and commercial facilities and residential buildings. However, light commercial businesses have been neglected with only a few attempts for EV solutions. In this study a framework for an economical, flexible, and plug and play EV system for the light commercial businesses is presented. It was hypothesized that the proposed framework will provide flexible yet cost effective energy efficiency solutions. Our specific contributions are (1) critical evaluation of existing EV systems, (2) development of framework with respect to operational, technical and budgetary challenges that are specific to light commercial businesses, (3) a computerized program to guide business owners through a step-by-step process involved in the development and installation of the EV system. To test the hypothesis, a field study was conducted by performing energy audits at 15 light commercial businesses. On average, the cost of the EV system was found to be 5% of the annual energy cost. Overall, the findings from our field study conclude that the proposed EV system is economical and flexible enough to address “varied and unique” energy efficiency requirements of light commercial businesses.
War Tourism: Second World War France from Defeat and Occupation to the Creation of Heritage

Bertram M. Gordon is a career-long specialist in the history of France during the Second World War. After publishing Collaborationism in France during the Second World War (Cornell University Press...
Gold(III) Chloride-Catalyzed 6-endo-trig Oxa-Michael Addition Reactions for Diastereoselective Synthesis of Fused Tetrahydropyranones.

The AuCl3-catalyzed 6-endo-trig oxa-Michael addition of cyclic β-iodoallenoates is developed to give a diverse range of polycyclic tetrahydropyranones.
Mimesis, Murakami and Multimedia Art: Parallel Worlds in Performance

The artistic techniques of mimesis—the representation of reality in art—make it possible to “render the unreal familiar or the real strangely unfamiliar.” The author, a composer and intermedia arti...
RTL bug localization through LTL specification mining (WIP)

As the complexity of contemporary hardware designs continues to grow, functional verification demands more effort and resources in the design cycle than ever. As a result, manually debugging RTL designs is extremely challenging even with full signal traces after detecting errors in chip-level software simulation or FPGA emulation. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the burden of verification by automating RTL debugging processes.In this paper, we propose a novel approach for debugging with the use of LTL specification mining. In this approach, we extract fine-grained assertions that are implicitly encoded in the RTL design, representing the designer's assumptions, to localize bugs that are only detected when high-level properties are violated from long-running full-system simulations. We employ template-based RTL spec mining to infer both safety and bounded liveness properties. We propose strategies to convert multi-bit signals to atomic propositions based on common RTL design idioms such as ready-valid handshakes and specific state transitions using automatic static analysis.Our initial results with a tiny RISC-V core design show that this methodology is promising for localizing bugs in time and space by demonstrating that the mined fine-grained LTL properties are violated before a high-level test failure condition occurs, such as a timeout or hanging, and can point to specific lines of suspect RTL.
Bulletin board

It was my great pleasure to welcome colleagues and experts from all over the world to the 2019 Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (CEIDP) that was held in Richland, Washington, USA, from October 20 to 23, 2019. We were delighted to be hosted at ‘Discovery Hall,’ the recently-opened conference facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and are grateful to the Energy and Environment Directorate of PNNL for their partial sponsorship of CEIDP 2019. The CEIDP was established within the Division of Engineering and Industrial Research of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council in 1920 and is now in its 99th year. We look forward with excitement to special celebrations of the 100th year of CEIDP that will take place in New York City in October 2020. The conference is fully sponsored by the Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society of the IEEE and continues to provide opportunity for specialists from around the world to meet annually for exchange of expertise relevant to the properties of insulation materials. This year we registered 213 participants from 14 countries, 100 of whom were students.
Disseminated Endometriosis and Low-Grade Endometrioid Stromal Sarcoma in a Patient with a History of Uterine Morcellation for Adenomyosis

Morcellation of benign uterine tumors allows for removal of the tumors via minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures. However, in rare cases, morcellation has been associated with upstaging of unexpected malignancies. Morcellation has also been associated with dissemination of benign pathologic processes such as endometriosis and leiomyomas. Endometrial stromal sarcoma typically arises in the uterine cavity, although cases of extrauterine endometrioid stromal sarcoma arising out of foci of endometriosis have been reported. Dissemination of endometrial stromal sarcomas can be an unintended consequence of morcellation procedures, as can dissemination of endometriosis, from which endometrioid stromal sarcomas can arise. Herein, we report a case of a 55-year-old woman who was found to have disseminated endometriosis and low-grade endometrioid stromal sarcoma, with bowel and liver parenchymal metastasis, 7 years after undergoing supracervical hysterectomy with unconfined uterine morcellation for adenomyosis. Our case highlights the potential for malignant transformation of disseminated adenomyosis/endometriosis and the importance of patient counseling and shared decision-making prior to morcellation procedures.
Mapping cannabis potency in medical and recreational programs in the United States

Cannabis related online searches are associated with positive attitudes toward medical cannabis, particularly when information is obtained from dispensaries. Since pain is the main reason for medicinal cannabis use, information from dispensary websites has the potential to shape the attitude of pain patients towards cannabis. This is relevant because cannabis has demonstrated efficacy in neuropathic pain with low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations ( 15% THC), which is highly rewarded in the recreational realm. The role of CBD in pain is not clear, however it has gained popularity. Thus, we hypothesize that the potency of medical cannabis that is advertised online is similar to the cannabis advertised for recreational purposes, which would potentially create a misconception towards medical cannabis. The current lack of knowledge surrounding advertised potencies in the legal cannabis market limits the ability to generate clear policies regarding online advertising to protect patients that are willing to use cannabis for their condition. Thus, we evaluated the advertised THC and CBD content of cannabis products offered online in dispensaries in the United States to determine products’ suitability to medicinal use and compare the strength of products offered in legal medical and recreational programs. We recorded THC and CBD concentrations for all herb cannabis products provided by dispensary websites and compared them between or within states. Four Western states (CA, CO, NM, WA) and five Northeastern states (ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) were included. A total of 8,505 cannabis products across 653 dispensaries were sampled. Despite the clear differences between medicinal and recreational uses of cannabis, the average THC concentration advertised online in medicinal programs was similar (19.2% ±6.2) to recreational programs (21.5% ±6.0) when compared between states with different programs, or between medicinal and recreational programs within the same states (CO or WA). Lower CBD concentrations accompanied higher THC products. The majority of products, regardless of medicinal or recreational programs, were advertised to have >15% THC (70.3% - 91.4% of products). These stated concentrations seem unsuitable for medicinal purposes, particularly for patients with chronic neuropathic pain. Therefore, this information could induce the misconception that high potency cannabis is safe to treat pain. This data is consistent with reports in which THC and CBD in products from legal dispensaries or in nationwide products from the illegal market were actually measured, which indicates that patients consuming these products may be at risk of acute intoxication or long-term side effects. Our study offers grounds to develop policies that help prevent misconceptions toward cannabis and reduce risks in pain patients.
Attitude control of Mariner Jupiter-Saturn spacecraft

A major challenge of the Mariner Jupiter-Saturn '77 spacecraft was devising a suboptimal attitude controller that could meet the demanding mission requirements. The challenge was met by implementing a discrete stochastic controller for a specially designed onboard computer. The paper describes the design and operation of the controller, based on a simple model of spacecraft dynamics. Two types of cruising modes are considered: inertial cruise, where spacecraft attitude is determined from gyro position outputs, and celestial cruise, where position information is obtained from sun sensors and a star tracker. These two cruise modes under conditions of disturbances were simulated on computer, and the results showed that the controller maintained the spacecraft attitude with low rates. An appendix gives details on the single-step predictor.
Anonymizing Machine Learning Models.

There is a known tension between the need to analyze personal data to drive business and privacy concerns. Many data protection regulations, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), set out strict restrictions and obligations on companies that collect or process personal data. Moreover, machine learning models themselves can be used to derive personal information, as demonstrated by recent membership and attribute inference attacks. Anonymized data, however, is exempt from data protection principles and obligations. Thus, models built on anonymized data are also exempt from any privacy obligations, in addition to providing better protection against such attacks on the training data. Learning on anonymized data typically results in a significant degradation in accuracy. We address this challenge by guiding our anonymization using the knowledge encoded within the model, and targeting it to minimize the impact on the model's accuracy, a process we call accuracy-guided anonymization. We demonstrate that by focusing on the model's accuracy rather than information loss, our method outperforms state of the art k-anonymity methods in terms of the achieved utility, in particular with high values of k and large numbers of quasi-identifiers. We also demonstrate that our approach achieves similar results in its ability to prevent membership inference attacks as alternative approaches based on differential privacy. This shows that model-guided anonymization can, in some cases, be a legitimate substitute for such methods, while averting some of their inherent drawbacks such as complexity, performance overhead and being fitted to specific model types. As opposed to methods that rely on adding noise during training, our approach does not rely on making any modifications to the training algorithm itself.
Hybrid Boolean Systems Models for Cyberattacks, Faults, and Human Operators

We introduce a hybrid model for linear systems subject to Boolean controlled switching. The Boolean switching is controlled by a linear Boolean system that can represent human control, faults, or cyberattacks. Conditions for the stability, controllability, and observability of the hybrid system are presented. We present examples that use the new model to represent human control, faults or cyberattack.
Characterizing students’ conceptual difficulties with mathematical induction using visual proofs

This paper describes a study that used a novel method to investigate conceptual difficulties with mathematical induction among two groups of undergraduate students: students who had received university-level instruction in formal mathematical induction, and students who had not been exposed to formal mathematical induction at the university level. The method used a ‘visual proof by induction’ – a simple image that is designed to demonstrate a theorem that would be formally proven using mathematical induction – to investigate students’ conceptualizations of mathematical induction. We report two major findings: first, the majority of students who were familiar with formal mathematical induction had difficulty using the image to justify the theorem, suggesting that their knowledge of the proof method was intimately linked to the algebraic method and thus largely procedural in nature. Second, students who had not studied formal mathematical induction generally used the image as the basis of a standard inductive generalization and did not recognize that the image could be used to establish the necessity of the theorem. Surprisingly, these students often expressed conceptualizations of natural number that were inconsistent with the formal characterization that forms the basis of formal mathematical induction. Implications for education are discussed.
The politics of saving Muslim women in India: Gendered geolegality, security, and territorialization

Abstract In this paper, we critically approach the idea of “saving Muslim women” by examining two prominent judgments by the Supreme Court of India and their attendant debates: Mohammad Ahmed Khan vs. Shah Bano Begum and Others 1985 AIR 945, popularly known as the Shah Bano judgment and Shayara Bano vs. Union of India And Others WP(C) No.118 of 2016, popularly known as the Triple Talaq (divorce) judgment. Using the frameworks of feminist geopolitics, femonationalism, and feminist geolegality, we analyze the debates around the Shah Bano and Triple Talaq judgments, looking at how the state employs and often usurps the narrative of gender equality and women's rights for its own purposes. We highlight how laws ostensibly for the protection of Muslim women (and the discourses that surround them) have the effect of strengthening the Hindu nationalist state, and furthering masculinist state building and territory making. By focusing debates on the categories of Muslim men and women, the law becomes a means to resolve the “problem” of Muslims in India.
Petrographic and isotopic investigations of two unusual Ca-Al-rich inclusions from primitive CO3 chondrites

Abstract We performed high-precision SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) 26Al-26Mg and oxygen isotope analyses of two unique CAIs, “Mesquite” and “Y24”, found in the CO3.05 chondrites Northwest Africa 7892 and Yamato-81020, respectively. Mesquite is unusually large (∼5 × 3 mm) for a CAI from any CO chondrite and exhibits a layered texture comprising a melilite-rich core surrounded by hibonite- and spinel-rich mantle layers and a semi-continuous spinel-dominated rim. The CAI Y24 stands out because of its distinct mineralogy: grossite, hibonite, and spinel are accompanied by abundant ultra-refractory-element-rich phases such as warkite, kangite, and perovskite. Silicates are absent in Y24. Negatively fractionated δ25Mg values of phases in the core and mantle layers of Mesquite suggest that the inclusion as a whole was never molten and, hence, represents an aggregate of condensates. The relatively large grain sizes of melilite in the core (up to ∼300 µm) most likely are the result of solid-state recrystallization and coarsening of melilite in the course of a heating event occurring in the solar nebula. This heating event, however, did not disturb the Al-Mg systematics of Mesquite. Regardless of their position within Mesquite and the phases analyzed, spots analyzed for Al-Mg plot on a single isochron characterized by an initial 26Al/27Al of (4.95 ± 0.08) × 10–5 and a δ26Mg*0 of –0.14 ± 0.05‰. We suggest that this initial 26Al/27Al ratio corresponds to the formation of Mesquite in the solar nebula that was slightly heterogeneous with respect to Mg isotopes. Spinel in the rim is uniform in Δ17O (∼–25‰); in contrast, hibonite in the core and mantle layers, albeit also 16O-rich, show variable oxygen isotope ratios (Δ17O ∼ –15‰ to –23‰), which would be consistent with hibonite condensation in a gas with quickly-changing oxygen isotope compositions. The 16O-poor composition of melilite (Δ17O ∼ –1‰ to 0‰) in the core could be the result of isotope exchange with an 16O-poor gas, perhaps during the heating event that caused the solid-state recrystallization and coarsening of melilite or the result of oxygen isotope exchange with a fluid on the parent body. Abundant calcite, phyllosilicates, and sodalite are witnesses to late-stage and low-temperature alteration of the Mesquite CAI; calcite and phyllosilicates most likely are of terrestrial origin, but sodalite could have formed in the parent body. Inclusion Y24 is irregularly-shaped, indicating a condensation origin. Completely enclosing other phases, warkite forms the matrix of Y24, which could be the result of simultaneous condensation and growth of warkite, grossite, and hibonite. Possibly, spinel formed by replacing grossite or hibonite or both minerals in a gradually cooling gas before any silicates condensed. SIMS analyses indicate that condensation occurred in an 16O-rich gas when 26Al/27Al was (5.4 ± 1.0) × 10–5. Oxygen isotope exchange with an 16O-poor fluid in the parent body or with an 16O-poor gas in a nebular setting caused the 16O-poor compositions in grossite and kangite.
Longitudinal changes on the Independent Living Scale in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

The Independent Living Scales (ILS) is an objective measure of day-to-day functioning, which can be used to aid in diagnosing dementia in older adults with cognitive impairments. However, no studie...
Animal Interaction Affecting Core Deficit Domains Among Children with Autism: A Meta-Analysis

Animal-assisted intervention (AAI) has garnered public interest and has been implemented for youth with autism spectrum disorders—a practice supported by anecdotal evidence. While investigations of AAI for children with autism have been conducted, the extant literature is characterized by significant variability in methodology and practice. The present meta-analysis examines the aggregated effects of equine AAI on adaptive functioning among children with autism. Results indicated that interacting with an equine specifically during AAI produced small-to-medium effects (g = 0.40) on the adaptive functioning of children with autism. Recommendations are made for future research on this topic.
Strengths of plasmon satellites in XPS: Real-time cumulant approach

Plasmon satellites observed in x-ray photoemission spectra (XPS) reflect many-body effects beyond the single-electron approximation. However, theoretical calculations are challenging and simplified theories based on electron gas models are not always satisfactory. Here, a cumulant Green’s function approach with a real-time time-dependent density functional theory calculation of the cumulant is described for calculations of these effects, without the need for adjustable parameters. The approach yields good agreement with experimental XPS results, as illustrated for Ge and Al. Corrections due to extrinsic losses and interference are also briefly discussed.
A Zone-based Dynamic Queueing Model and Maximum-stability Dispatch Policy for Shared Autonomous Vehicles

Shared autonomous vehicle services (SAVs) is a fleet of the autonomous taxi that provide point-to-point transportation services for travelers, which may reshape the transportation market. However, the number of waiting passengers could become arbitrarily large when the feet size is too small for travel demand, which causes an unstable network. This study designs a dynamic queuing model for waiting passengers and provides a maximum stability dispatch policy for SAVs which can stabilize the network when the average waiting passenger is bounded in expectation.
A Fuzzy Set Model of Learning Disability: Identification from Clinical Data

Publisher Summary This chapter describes a fuzzy set model of learning disability. The conventional quantitative techniques of system analysis are intrinsically unsuited for dealing with humanistic systems or any system whose complexity is comparable to that of humanistic systems. The basis for this contention rests on the principle of incompatibility. The essence of this principle is that as the complexity of system increases, the ability to make precise and yet significant statements about its behavior diminishes until a threshold is reached beyond which precision and significance become almost mutually exclusive characteristics. Precision is sacrificed for relevance in humanistic systems because the complexity of the real world forces humans to think not in numbers or sets, but by manipulating classes of objects in which the transition from membership to nonmembership may be gradual rather than abrupt. Human thought is characterized by both precisely defined logic and variables which may or may not be precisely defined. These variables may take a numeric or linguistic form, depending on the complexity and the importance of the task involved.
Functional domains of human TIMP-1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases).

Abstract To define domains of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP-1) that are important to its ability to inhibit fibroblast-type collagenase (FIB-CL), two different approaches were used: (i) competition with synthetic peptides modeled after the human TIMP-1 sequence and (ii) localization of epitopes of blocking antibodies. TIMP-1 consists of six loops, held in place by six disulfide bonds arranged in three knotlike structures. Several long peptides (n = 20-34), together covering three-fourths of the human TIMP-1 sequence, were able to block inhibition of human FIB-CL by TIMP-1. While most of these peptides were modeled after sequences in the NH2-terminal domain of the molecule (loops 1, 2, and 3), they also included two-thirds of the residues of the COOH-terminal domain including loops 4 and 5 and the COOH-terminal tail but not loop 6. Refinement by competition with shorter peptides (7-10 residues) showed that the region surrounding the second "disulfide knot" (Cys13-Cys124, Cys127-Cys174) plays a major role in the inhibition of FIB-CL. This region consists of two strands, residues 10-25 and 121-129, connected through Cys13-Cys124. Peptides from this region also directly inhibited FIB-CL in the absence of TIMP-1. Additional competing peptides included T2-11 of the NH2-terminal domain and T34-42, a highly conserved region in the middle of loop 1. Among a series of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies (mAbs and pAbs) to TIMP-1, we identified two, one mAb and one pAb, that neutralized the activity of TIMP-1 against FIB-CL. Both recognized epitopes in loop 3. The epitope for the mAb was located in the sequence that marks the transition between loops 3 and 4, GCEEC127, a region also identified as important by peptide competition experiments. By contrast, the epitope for a nonblocking mAb was located in a short 9-residue segment of loop 4, and a nonblocking pAb recognized epitopes in loop 1, loop 6, and the COOH-terminal tail. Our findings suggest that the FIB-CL-TIMP-1 complex possesses multiple contact sites that involve several different subdomains of the inhibitor.
CPD: The patient with daily headaches.

The term "chronic daily headache" (CDH) describes a variety of headache types, of which chronic migraine is the most common. Daily headaches often are disabling and may be challenging to diagnose and treat. Medication overuse, or drug rebound headache, is the most treatable cause of refractory daily headache. A pathologic underlying cause should be considered in patients with recent-onset daily headache, a change from a previous headache pattern, or associated neurological or systemic symptoms. Treatment of CDH focuses on reduction of headache triggers and use of preventive medication, most commonly antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, and beta blockers. Medication overuse must be treatedwith discontinuation of symptomatic medicines, a transitional therapy, and long-term prophylaxis. Anxiety and depression are common in patients with CDH and should be identified and treated. Although the condition is challenging, appropriate treatment of patients with CDH can bring about significant improvement in the patient's quality-of-life. For full text, click here: SA Fam Pract 2005;47(10).
Seasonal and long-term dynamics of the upper ocean carbon cycle at Station ALOHA near Hawaii

[1] Long-term trends and average seasonal variability in the upper ocean carbon cycle are investigated at Station ALOHA, the site of the U.S. JGOFS Hawaii Ocean Time series program (HOT), on the basis of a 14-year time series (1988–2002) of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), alkalinity, and 13C/12C ratio of DIC data. Salinity-normalized DIC (sDIC) and computed oceanic pCO2 show distinct upward trends of 1.2 ± 0.1 μmol kg−1 yr−1 and 2.5 ± 0.1 μatm yr−1, respectively, while the 13C/12C isotopic ratio of DIC (expressed as δ13Coc) decreases at a mean rate of −0.027 ± 0.001‰ yr−1. More than half of the rates of change in sDIC and oceanic pCO2, and most of the change in 13C/12C, are attributed to the uptake of isotopically light anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere. The residual trends appear to be caused mainly by a regional change in the net freshwater budget, perhaps associated with a regime change of the North Pacific climate system near 1997. Computed oceanic pCO2 is below atmospheric pCO2 for nearly the entire year, leading to an annual mean surface ocean pCO2 undersaturation of about 18 μatm, and to an annual uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere, which we compute to be 1.0 ± 0.1 mol m−2 yr−1. We estimate that about 30% of this flux relates to the uptake of anthropogenic CO2, and the remainder to biologically mediated export of organic carbon. Using a modified version of the diagnostic model of Gruber et al. [1998], constrained by δ13Coc, we infer net community production of organic carbon (NCP) to be the dominant process generating the observed seasonal variability in sDIC. The annual integral of NCP, 2.3 ± 0.8 mol m−2 yr−1, is comparable to previous estimates of biological production in the subtropical North Pacific. Annually integrated fluxes of air-sea gas exchange and NCP at Station ALOHA are each about two thirds of those computed for the upper ocean near Bermuda using similar methods of estimation [Gruber et al., 1998, 2002]. However, the seasonal amplitudes of sDIC and δ13Coc near Hawaii are only half as large as near Bermuda, because air-sea gas exchange and NCP tend to oppose each other near Hawaii, but reinforce each other near Bermuda.
Splice: Aspects That Analyze Programs

This paper describes Splice, a system for writing aspects that perform static program analyses to direct program modifications. The power of an inter-procedural data-flow analysis enables an aspect to examine the flow of data around a program execution point when it determines what code to add or change at that point. For example, an aspect can change the target set of an iteration based on how elements are skipped during the iteration. Splice aspects are written in a rule-based logic programming language with features that help aspect programmers express analyses. We show how a prototype of Splice is used to write two useful aspects in the areas of domain-specific optimization and synchronization.
Caregiver reports of sleep problems in non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, and African American patients with Alzheimer dementia.

Study Objectives:Sleep problems are common in persons with dementing illnesses and among the most stressful patient behaviors for caregivers. Although studies have shown differences in sleep across...
N,N‐Diethylaminosulfur Trifluoride

[38078-09-0] C4H10F3NS (MW 161.18) (mild reagent for converting primary, secondary, tertiary, allylic, and benzylic alcohols to the corresponding fluorides,1 aldehydes and ketones to difluorides,1a,15, 19 carboxylic acids to acyl fluorides,22 and sulfoxides to α-fluoro sulfides23) Alternate Name: DAST. Physical Data: bp 30–32 °C/3 mmHg; d 1.220 g cm−3. Solubility: sol ethereal, chlorinated, and hydrocarbon solvents; reacts violently with water and rapidly with hydroxylic solvents. Form Supplied in: amber yellow oil; widely available. Purification: discolored (brown) samples give increasingly lower yields of fluorinated products. Freshly distilled oil is satisfactory for use. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: can be stored for extended periods of time in the freezer under inert atmosphere. Use in a fume hood.
Rhizosphere Response as a Factor in Competition Among Three Serogroups of Indigenous Rhizobium japonicum for Nodulation of Field-Grown Soybeans.

Rhizosphere response was studied as a factor in competition among indigenous Rhizobium japonicum serogroups for the nodulation of soybeans under field conditions. R. japonicum serogroups 110, 123, and 138 were found to coexist in a Waukegan field soil where they were determined to be the major nodulating rhizobia in soybean nodules. Competitive relationships among the three serogroups in that soil and in rhizospheres were examined during two growing seasons with several host cultivars with and without inoculation and with a nonlegume. Enumeration of each of the three competitors was carried out on inner rhizosphere and nonrhizosphere soil by immunofluorescence with serogroup-specific fluorescent antibodies. Rhizobia present in early- and late-season nodules were identified by fluorescent antibody analysis. Populations of each serogroup increased gradually in host rhizospheres, not exceeding 106/g of rhizosphere soil during the first few weeks after planting, whereas numbers in fallow soil remained at initial levels (104 to 105/g). The rhizosphere effects were minor in host plants during this period of nodule initiation and were about the same for all three serogroups. Although serogroup 123 gave no evidence of dominance in early host rhizospheres, it clearly dominated in nodule composition, occupying 60 to 100% of the nodules. High densities of all three serogroups were observed in host rhizospheres during flowering. Rhizosphere populations, especially of serogroup 123, were still high during pod fill and seed maturation. The rhizosphere responses of the R. japonicum serogroups were much greater with the soybean cultivars than with oats, but even in host rhizospheres the R. japonicum populations were greatly outnumbered by other bacteria. The success of serogroup 123 in achieving nodulation does not appear to be due to superior colonization of the host rhizosphere.
The Lymphopoietic Microenvironment in Bone Marrow

Publisher Summary Various components of the lymphopoietic microenvironment can be grown in culture, where they can be dissected, characterized, and independently manipulated. Dexter cultures favor survival of multipotential stem cells and active production of granulocytes and macrophages. Formation of B cells is a continuum of differentiation steps that progressively limits the options of multipotential hematopoietic stem cells to become first lymphocytes, then B lymphocytes, and finally individual B-cell clones. Close interactions between lymphoid progenitor cells and other components of the bone marrow favor the emergence of B cells in short term cultures. Atleast two prominent cell types are present in the adherent layer, which is critical for the long-term lymphocyte growth. Macrophages are easily identified on the basis of phagocytosis, pinocytosis, expression of nonspecific esterase, absence of alkaline phosphatase, uptake of acetylated low-density lipoprotein (aLDL). This suggests that macrophages and their products contribute to the final stages of B-lymphocyte maturation.
Appetite regulation in response to sitting and energy imbalance.

The impact of sitting and energy imbalance on appetite and appetite-regulating hormones (acylated ghrelin and leptin) was assessed in response to 1 day of sitting, with and without changes in energy intake. Fourteen men and women completed each of three 24-h conditions: high energy expenditure (standing) with energy balance (STAND), low energy expenditure (sitting) with energy surplus (SIT), and sitting with energy balance (SIT-BAL). Ghrelin, leptin, and appetite were measured in the fasted state and following a standardized meal. In the fasted state, there were no differences among conditions. Following the meal, ghrelin was lower in SIT than in STAND, with no change in appetite. When intake was reduced (SIT-BAL), the decrease in ghrelin when sitting was attenuated, hunger increased, and fullness decreased. SIT led to lower ghrelin concentrations in the men, whereas in the women, leptin increased. SIT-BAL led to an increase in ghrelin in the men but attenuated the leptin response, reduced ghrelin, increa...
Treatment effects of the mandibular anterior repositioning appliance on patients with Class II malocclusion

The mandibular anterior repositioning appliance (MARA) is a tooth-borne functional appliance for use in patients with Class II malocclusions; it positions the mandible forward into a Class I occlusion. The aim of this study was to investigate the MARA's dental and skeletal effects on anterior, posterior, and vertical changes in 30 Class II patients. The treatment group consisted of 12 boys with an average age of 11.2 years and 18 girls with an average age of 11.3 years. A pretreatment cephalometric radiograph was taken 2 weeks before treatment, and a posttreatment cephalometric radiograph was taken 6 weeks after removal of the MARA, with an average treatment time of 10.7 months. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for each cephalometric variable, and Student t tests were performed to determine the statistical significance of the changes. The results of the study showed that the MARA produced measurable treatment effects on the skeletal and dental elements of the craniofacial complex. These effects included a considerable distalization of the maxillary molar, a measurable forward movement of the mandibular molar and incisor, a significant increase in mandibular length, and an increase in posterior face height. The effects of the MARA treatment were then compared with those of the Herbst and Frankel appliances. The treatment results of the MARA were very similar to those produced by the Herbst appliance but with less headgear effect on the maxilla and less mandibular incisor proclination than observed in the Herbst treatment group.
A survey of classroom management practices

Abstract Two studies documented methods used by elementary school teachers to manage classroom behavior. Study 1, using a self-report format, examined the proportion of teachers endorsing specific management techniques, as well as the extent to which those practices were reportedly used. Distinctions were made between teachers' responses to children's inappropriate and appropriate behavior, as well as responses to academic and social behavior. The results of Study 1 indicated that more teachers reported using management techniques to control inappropriate social behavior than inappropriate academic behavior. With the exception of a few techniques having more academic relevance, the percentage of teachers reporting implementation of management techniques addressing appropriate social behavior was equivalent to the percentage reporting use of that same technique for appropriate academic behavior. Also, verbal management techniques were more commonly endorsed than management techniques involving concrete consequences. Study 2 provided preliminary data through classroom observation and verified that the teachers did, in fact, use more verbal than concrete management techniques. In addition, these teachers used more positive than negative management techniques. Most of the interactions that teachers had with their students, however, were neutral interactions not intended to directly control or manage behavior. The implications of those results are discussed.
Inflammation and/or necrosis of tumors cannot account for fever in most febrile patients with Hodgkin's disease

Inflammation and/or necrosis (I/N) of the tumor are generally believed to be a cause of fever in patients with Hodgkin's disease. However, there have been few studies in the literature which can corroborate this common belief. Inflammation and/or necrosis were studied in biopsy specimens of 140 untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease (57 febrile and 83 afebrile). In 37 of the 140 tumors I/N were readily observed; 18 were from febrile patients, and 19 from afebrile. Thus, it is evident that I/N cannot account for fever in the majority of febrile patients, necessitating an alternative explanation. Among the patients with I/N of their tumor, fever occurred most often in male patients and in virtually all patients who had histologic types other than nodular sclerosis. However, it was peculiarly absent in the great majority of patients whose tumors were of the nodular sclerosis type. This paradoxic inverse correlation of fever with I/N of tumors in patients with the nodular sclerosing histologic type has not been described previously.
Clinical benefit in NSCLC: the evidence for gefitinib (‘Iressa’, ZD1839)

Abstract In recent years it has become widely recognised that clinical benefit in cancer patients depends on factors such as symptom improvement, symptom-free survival and low toxicity, as well as the more conventional measures of tumour regression and improved overall survival. Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a debilitating disease, the prognosis for which has improved very little over the past few decades. There is therefore a clear need for alternative options for the treatment of advanced NSCLC. The epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (‘Iressa’, ZD1839) has been in used in clinical trials for several years. The clinical benefit it provides in patients with advanced NSCLC is a product of the notable antitumour activity, high rates of symptom improvement and favourable tolerability profile.
Body mass index is not a risk factor for unstable angina and myocardial infarction in veteran patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease.

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Wolk et al,1 which reported a correlation between body mass index (BMI) and unstable coronary artery disease (CAD) in a cross-sectional analysis of 382 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. To test this correlation in a different population, we examined our database of prospectively collected data from a study examining the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and the risk of cardiovascular events. Our population consisted of 368 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography at the Miami VA Medical Center. Patients with coronary artery stenosis of >10% were included in further analyses (n=336; BMI 28.6±5.0 m/kg2; age 63.1±10.4 years). In cross sectional analysis, the BMI was not predictive of unstable CAD (odds ratio [OR] per SD increase in BMI: 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.74 to 1.17; P =0.57). Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship between BMI and the risk of reaching the combined endpoint (CE) of acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, or death during 3-year follow-up using the Cox regression method. BMI was not correlated with the risk of the CE (hazard ratio [HR] per SD increase in BMI: 1.05; 95% CI: 0.82 to 1.34; P =0.65). Correction for age and conditions associated with an increased BMI (hypertension [HTN], diabetes mellitus …
A Regional Examination of the Foreign Language Situation from the University Viewpoint

Author's Summary— A study conducted under several topic heads, followed by a summary of significant facts and their implications [the last topic head], q.v.
Alterations in kappa opioid receptor mRNA levels in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus by stress and sex steroids

In this study, the levels of kappa opioid receptor (kOR) mRNA were determined using in situ hybridization following two types of stress (i.p. injection of hypertonic saline or novelty). In addition, we examined the possibility that estrogen or androgen would modify kOR mRNA. Gonadectomized male rats treated with estrogen or dihydrotestosterone were sacrificed 45 min after spending 15 min in a novel open field, or 60 min following hypertonic saline injection. Two-way ANOVA revealed that estrogen and novelty increased the levels of kOR mRNA in the ventral zone of the medial parvocellular part of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), but not in the lateral parvocellular part of the PVN, claustrum, nucleus accumbens or the nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract. Furthermore, novelty increased kOR mRNA in gonadectomized (GDX) and GDX rats treated with dihydrotestosterone (DHTP), but not in sham-operated or estrogen-treated animals. Taken together, these data indicate that kOR mRNA levels are under estrogenic control and up-regulated in a stressor specific fashion.
Morphology of Single-Component Particles Produced by Spray Pyrolysis

ABSTRACT This work is a review of the experimental results from the literature for single-component metal and simple metal-oxide particles. Criteria for correlating particle morphology, i.e., whether the particles are solid or hollow, with process parameters and material properties during spray pyrolysis are presented and compared with the data available in the literature. The materials were classified into two categories for which the precursor: (1) melts and (2) does not melt before chemical reaction takes place, and separate criteria were used for each category based on the work of Jayanthi et al. (1993) J. Aerosol Sci. 19:478. In systems where the precursor melts before chemical reaction occurs, e.g., decomposition of nitrates of Mg, Al, Fe, Zn, Pb, Ni, Co, Pd, Mn, Cu, Sr, and Ag, the particle morphology is determined primarily by the densities and formula weights of the reactant and product compounds unless high temperature densification or puffing up of the particles due to gases evolved during the ...
Reasons for Abstaining or Limiting Drinking: A Developmental Perspective

The cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between reasons for abstaining or limiting drinking (RALD) and abstention were examined in a 16-year longitudinal study (N = 489) of college students with and without a family history of alcohol problems. Results indicated that RALD based upon upbringing or religiosity were associated with increased rates of abstention, whereas RALD based upon perceived or experienced negative consequences of drinking were associated with lower rates of abstention and increased alcohol consumption among drinkers. In addition, changes in RALD over time coincided with alcohol consumption transitions. Abstainers who began drinking after turning 21 reported a decrease in the importance of RALD associated with loss of control and upbringing or religiosity compared to abstainers who continued to abstain after turning 21. Conversely, drinkers who began abstaining after leaving college reported an increase in the importance of RALD associated with loss of control and upbringing or religiosity compared to drinkers who continued to drink after leaving college. Examining the reciprocal influences of RALD on drinking outcomes extends previous research and may inform prevention and intervention programs among college drinkers.
Heterodimeric DNA methyltransferases as a platform for creating designer zinc finger methyltransferases for targeted DNA methylation in cells

The ability to target methylation to specific genomic sites would further the study of DNA methylation’s biological role and potentially offer a tool for silencing gene expression and for treating diseases involving abnormal hypomethylation. The end-to-end fusion of DNA methyltransferases to zinc fingers has been shown to bias methylation to desired regions. However, the strategy is inherently limited because the methyltransferase domain remains active regardless of whether the zinc finger domain is bound at its cognate site and can methylate non-target sites. We demonstrate an alternative strategy in which fragments of a DNA methyltransferase, compromised in their ability to methylate DNA, are fused to two zinc fingers designed to bind 9 bp sites flanking a methylation target site. Using the naturally heterodimeric DNA methyltransferase M.EcoHK31I, which methylates the inner cytosine of 5′-YGGCCR-3′, we demonstrate that this strategy can yield a methyltransferase capable of significant levels of methylation at the target site with undetectable levels of methylation at non-target sites in Escherichia coli. However, some non-target methylation could be detected at higher expression levels of the zinc finger methyltransferase indicating that further improvements will be necessary to attain the desired exclusive target specificity.