cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Statistical Analysis of Fire Department Response Times and Effects on Fire Outcomes in the United States

Understanding the relationship between fire department response times and fire outcomes is critical for understanding the impact of a fire department in a community . This paper outlines a statistical analysis of United States fire department response times to fires in 1–2 family residential dwellings between the years 2002–2017. Using data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), it is shown that a log-normal distribution provides a reasonable approximation of the empirical distribution of response times. Furthermore, this paper investigates the effect of increasing response times on several different measures of fire severity, including the reported fire spread category, the estimated monetary property and contents losses, and the reported flame damage. It was found that all averaged measures of fire severity increase over the interval of 3–13 min of response time, which is primarily due to the increased likelihood of very severe fire incidents at longer response times. An analysis was conducted to assess the effect of meeting the first unit response time benchmarks outlined in NFPA 1710 on the severity of fire outcomes in a community. It was found that department response times were most strongly correlated with the fraction of fires that do “extreme” damage to at least one story and the fraction of the property value lost. It has been proposed that a power law distribution is appropriate for modeling the distribution the burned areas in urban fires. In order to assess whether this proposition is supported by United States data, a Monte-Carlo methodology has been developed to estimate the burned area indirectly from NFIRS data. Finally, several methods are presented for evaluating data consistency and quality from the NFIRS reports. One of the major findings of this study is the quantification of the effect of response time on various measures of fire loss.
Effect of manual compressive therapy on latent myofascial trigger point pressure pain thresholds.

Abstract Objective This study compared the effects of 90 s of manual compressive therapy (MCT) on latent myofascial trigger points (LTPs) for 3 sessions per week for 4 weeks to determine changes in individual pressure pain threshold (PPT). A total of 30 (15 males, 15 females; age = 22 ± 4 y/o, height = 175 ± 18 cm, weight = 162.5 ± 57.5 kg) symptomatic subjects with LTPs volunteered for the study. Methods PPT was measured at baseline and pre- and post-treatment for all 12 sessions with a pressure algometer across the 4-week treatment time frame. The MCT was applied to the control group on their LTP at pressure intended to provide a sham condition (1/10 on verbalized analog scale (VAS)). Two experimental groups had MCT applied either directly on the LTP (d-TP) or in close-proximity to their LTP (cp-TP) at moderate pressure (7/10 on VAS). Results There was a significant increase in PPT from the first through twelfth treatment sessions (p Conclusions PPT continued to increase after several weeks of MCT when applied directly on or within 2.5 cm of an identified LTP compared to control.
Embryo Culture: Cleavage Versus Blastocyst Stage

Since the first successful human in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy nearly 40 years ago, numerous approaches have been taken in attempts to improve IVF outcomes. A more robust understanding of embryologic development has driven innovation in not only the culture technologies but also the timing of embryo transfer. In this chapter, we will review embryo culture systems and the effectiveness of cleavage vs blastocyst stage transfer, embryo followed by the discussion of the optimal embryo culture and transfer strategy in diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) patients.
Hyperthermic Isolated Limb Perfusion for Melanoma

In-transit melanoma metastases arise from lymphatic spread and growth in relative proximity to the primary melanoma. When confined to an extremity, in-transit metastases are effectively treated with hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion. The technique, first described in the 1950s, involves an operation to place cannulas into the main source artery and draining vein of the extremity, with connection to a heart-lung bypass machine. When a tourniquet is applied to the extremity, isolated perfusion is achieved, and the circuit can also be warmed (hyperthermia). Specific details of the operative dissection, fluid and blood pressure management, patient positioning, and pump flow rates are important to minimize leakage between the isolated circuit and systemic circulation. The primary drug used to date is melphalan, which is taken up by the tissue rapidly and causes DNA damage by formation of cross-bridges. Several different regimens of drug dose, perfusion duration, and treatment temperature remain in use today; there is no uniformly agreed-upon treatment schedule. Published rates of response range from 60% to 90%, with complete responses observed in 25–66% of cases. Toxicities and complications of management include lymphedema, skin blistering, painful neuralgia, myopathy, and neutropenia. The frequency with which hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion is used for melanoma in-transit metastases in recent years has declined in favor of systemic therapies, which have become more effective. Nonetheless, hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion remains very effective and useful in selected patients.
If you don’t know how, just learn: Chinese housing and the transformation of Uyghur domestic space

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is eliminating and replacing (Wolfe, Patrick. 2006. “Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native.” Journal of Genocide Research 8 (4): 387-409) indigenou...
Risk factor control among Black and White adults with diabetes onset in older adulthood: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine whether attainment of clinical and lifestyle targets varied by race and sex among adults with diabetes onset in older adulthood. This study included 1420 black and white adults from the REGARDS study without diabetes at baseline (2003–07) but with diabetes onset at the follow-up exam (2013–16). Attainment of clinical targets (A1c The mean age was 71.5 years, 53.6% were female, and 46.1% were black. The majority were aware of their diabetes status (85.7%) and used oral or injectable hypoglycemic medications (64.8%). Overall, 39.4% met all 3 clinical targets and 18.8% met all 3 lifestyle targets. Meeting A1c and blood pressure targets were similar by race and sex. Statin use was more prevalent for men than women among white adults (PR = 1.13; 95% CI = 0.99–1.29) and black adults (PR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.06–1.43). For lifestyle factors, the non-smoking prevalence was similar by race and sex, while white men were more likely than white women to be physically active. Although the attainment of each clinical and lifestyle target separately was generally high among adults with diabetes onset in older adulthood, race and sex differences were apparent. Comprehensive management of clinical and lifestyle factors in people with diabetes remains suboptimal.
Production of Gaseous Olefins from Syngas over a Cobalt-HZSM-5 Catalyst

Light olefins (C2–C5) are high-value platform chemicals used to produce plastics, lubricants, coating material, and surfactants, and can be intermediates to produce transportation fuels. In this study we report on the development of a Co-based catalyst for direct conversion of fossil as well as biomass derived syngas into light olefins that enables high conversion and olefin/paraffin (O/P) product ratio, minimal selectivity to CO2 (< 1%) and wax formation (C14+ selectivity < 1%). Over a Co/HZSM-5 bi-functional catalyst 38% CO conversion with C2–C5 olefin selectivity of 48%, and O/P ratio of 4.0 was achieved at 240 °C, 17 bar, and 1.5 L/(g–h). In addition to a gaseous olefin-rich stream a C6–C13 mixed olefin/paraffin liquid byproduct was also produced with 25% selectivity. Both Co loading and the HZSM-5 acidity levels were optimized to maintain the balance between the hydrogenation and the cracking activity to generate high levels of C2–C4 olefins. A suite of catalyst characterization tools were used to correlate the physical and chemical property of the catalyst to the performance of the catalyst towards syngas conversion and C2–C4 olefin selectivity. Direct conversion of syngas into specialty chemicals (light/gaseous olefins) as well as liquid hydrocarbons over cobalt-HZSM-5 catalysts.
Selectivity in Bilingual Nonspeech Label Learning.

This research investigates selectivity in word learning for bilingual infants. Previous work demonstrated that bilingual infants show greater openness to non-native language sounds in object labels than monolinguals (Hay et al., 2015; Singh, 2018). It remains unclear whether bilingual openness extends to nonspeech sounds. We presented 14- and 19-month-old bilinguals with object labels consisting of nonspeech tones. Monolinguals recently displayed learning of the same labels at 14 months, but not 19 months (Graf Estes et al., 2018). In contrast, bilinguals failed to learn the labels. We propose that hearing phonological variation across two languages helps bilinguals reject nonspeech word forms.
Urinary metals and adipokines in midlife women: The Study of Women's Health Across the nation (SWAN).

Abstract Background Information on the associations between metal exposures and adipokines in human populations is limited and results are inconsistent. We evaluated the associations between metals and adipokines. Methods Urinary concentrations of 15 metals (arsenic, barium, cadmium, cobalt, cesium, copper, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead, antimony, tin, thallium, and zinc) were measured in 1999–2000 among 1228 women of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation Multi-Pollutant Study. Serum adipokines including high molecular weight (HMW)-adiponectin, leptin, and soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R) were measured at the follow-up visit (2002–2003). Linear regression models with adaptive elastic-net (AENET) were fit to identify metals associated with adipokines and to compute estimated percent changes in adipokines for one standard deviation increase in log-transformed urinary metal concentrations. Results After adjustment for confounders, urinary molybdenum was associated with a 5.54% higher level (95% CI: 1.36%, 9.90%), whereas cadmium was associated with a 4.53% lower level (95% CI: −8.17%, −0.76%) of HMW-adiponectin. Urinary molybdenum was also associated with a 5.95% lower leptin level (95% CI: −10.15%, −1.56%) and a 2.98% (95% CI: 0.69%, 5.32%) higher sOB-R level. Urinary cesium and lead were associated with a 3.58% (95% CI: −6.06%, −1.03%) and a 2.53% (95% CI: −4.80%, −0.21%) lower level of sOB-R, respectively. Conclusions Our findings suggest that molybdenum was associated with favorable profiles of HMW-adiponectin, leptin, and sOB-R. Exposures to cadmium, cesium, and lead were associated with adverse adipokine profiles.
Resource nationalism meets the market: Political risk and the value of petroleum reserves

This paper investigates the effect of resource nationalism on the value of petroleum (crude oil and natural gas) reserves. We develop a framework for treating resource nationalism as political risk, and utilize data on reserve transactions (from John S. Herold) and political risk ratings (from International Country Risk Guide and Institutional Investor) for the period 2000–2006. Controlling for other factors that affect reserve value, we demonstrate the value destruction of political risk, and estimate the political risk discount for 37 countries. The paper contributes to both the international business literature and practitioner approaches to political risk analysis in demonstrating use of publicly available market data from real-asset transactions to measure the cost of political risk. We also show that the discount depends on market conditions: the higher expected future petroleum prices are, the larger is the discount at any level of political risk. This insight adds a new dimension to analysis of political risk, which is typically measured and examined without regard to market conditions.
Association of body mass index with outcomes after thoracic endovascular aortic repair in the vascular quality initiative

Abstract Objective Although several studies have evaluated the impact of obesity on outcomes after abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, literature examining this association in thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is sparse. Here, we use a multi-institutional, international database to assess the role of body mass index (BMI) on adverse outcomes in patients who underwent TEVAR for descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (DTAA) and type B dissections (TBD). Methods A retrospective review of all patients who underwent TEVAR for DTAA or TBD from August 2014 to August 2020 was performed. Patients who were underweight (BMI Results A total of 3423 participants were included in the study, of whom 3.3% (n = 113) were underweight, 65.9% (n = 2253) had normal weight, and 30.8% (n = 1053) were obese. Compared with normal weight, there was no significant difference in 30-day mortality in underweight patients (odds ratio [OR], 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80-4.14; P = .156). Obese patients who underwent TEVAR for TBD had a 2.7-fold increase in the odds of 30-day mortality compared with normal weight (OR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.52-4.68; P = .001). Obese and normal weight patients with DTAA had equivalent odds of 30-day mortality (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.79-2.23; P = .292). The adjusted hazard of 1-year mortality was 2-fold higher in underweight patients compared with normal weight (hazard ratio, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.41-3.29; P Conclusions In this study, obese patients who underwent TEVAR for DTAA had comparable 30-day and 1-year mortality risk as normal weight individuals. Obese patients who underwent TEVAR for TBD demonstrated a 2.7-fold increase in the odds of 30-day mortality, but equivalent mortality risk as normal weight patients at 1 year. TEVAR represents a safe minimally invasive option for treatment of DTAA in obese patients. Future work should be directed toward minimizing perioperative mortality among patients with TBD to optimize TEVAR outcomes.
Somebody’s Watching Me: Visor Affect

In the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost of the dead king parades around the night watch in a suit of armor, terrifying Marcellus, Bernardo, and Horatio. The ghost walking around encased in what is recognized as the armor the king was buried in provokes curiosity and vain attempts to communicate with it. This is related to Hamlet who laments, “My father’s spirit in arms! All is not well.” The appearing of the ghost in armor as a harbinger of bad news (“murder most foul”) leads Hamlet to utter the hauntological phrase, “The time is out of joint.” This time aspect connects the kairotic aspect of spectral rhetoric and its affective quality. We sense something is off in the present moment.
Access by State Attorneys General to Federal Grand Jury Antitrust Investigative Materials

Section 4F(b) of the Clayton Act' requires the Attorney General of the United States to assist state enforcement of the antitrust laws by providing state attorneys general with federal investigative materials relevant to antitrust actions brought or being considered by the states. The Ninth Circuit recently became the first federal appellate court to consider the application of that provision to traditionally secret grand jury materials. In United States v. B.EF Goodrich Co.,2 the court ruled that section 4F(b) authorizes the release of such materials to state attorneys general without the ordinarily required showing of a compelling and particularized need for such access.3 B.F Goodrich was soon followed by the Fourth Circuit in United States v. Colonial Chevrolet Corp.4 Other courts, however, have reached contrary results.5 This Article addresses the issues raised by these conflicting decisions. Part I reviews the presumption of secrecy that attaches to grand jury proceedings and the extent to which disclosure has been permitted, principally for access under Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.6 Part II explores the merits of the argument that section
The Tradeoffs of Social Control and Innovation in Groups and Organizations

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the description of research on social influence that moves rather freely between laboratory settings and organizational contexts. The laboratory studies follow several well-developed research paradigms, with variations in conditions and resultant findings occurring in a cumulative fashion. The organizational studies of social influence have tended to draw on a wide variety of psychological and sociological theories, resulting in a more disparate set of findings that have rarely been drawn together. Whereas the social psychological work has typically been experimental, the organizational research ranges from quantitative experiments and surveys to more qualitative case studies. Thus, the integration of work on social control and innovation will necessitate mixing results with varying levels of internal and external validity. The chapter explains the discussion of social control and innovation that moves freely between the microscopic and the macroscopic. The chapter explores the way the studies of organizational behavior can profit from knowledge of more basic social influence processes and the way experimental group research can be enriched by an understanding of more complex organizational processes.
Optimize Your Electronic Medical Record to Increase Value: Reducing Laboratory Overutilization.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study is to decrease overutilization of laboratory testing by eliminating a feature of the electronic ordering system that allowed providers to order laboratory tests to occur daily without review. Methods We collected rates of utilization of a group of commonly ordered laboratory tests (number of tests per patient per day) throughout the entire hospital from June 10, 2013 through June 10, 2015. Our intervention, which eliminated the ability to order daily recurring tests, was implemented on June 11, 2014. We compared pre- and postintervention rates in order to assess the impact and surveyed providers about their experience with the intervention. Results We examined 1,296,742 laboratory tests performed on 92,799 unique patients over 434,059 patient days. Before the intervention, the target tests were ordered using this daily recurring mechanism 33% of the time. After the intervention we observed an 8.5% ( P P Conclusion A simple modification to the order entry system significantly and immediately altered provider practices throughout a large tertiary care academic center. This strategy is replicable by the many hospitals that use the same electronic health record system, and possibly, by users of other systems. Future areas of study include evaluating the additive effects of education and real-time decision support.
Role of vertical migration in biogenic ocean mixing

[1] Recent efforts to empirically measure and numerically simulate biogenic ocean mixing have consistently observed low mixing efficiency. This suggests that the buoyancy flux achieved by swimming animals in the ocean may be negligible in spite of the observed large kinetic energy dissipation rates. The present letter suggests that vertical migration across isopycnals may be necessary in order to generate overturning and subsequent mixing at length scales significantly larger than the individual animals. The animal-fluid interactions are simulated here using a simplified potential flow model of solid spheres migrating vertically in a stably stratified fluid. The interaction of successive solid bodies with each parcel of fluid is shown to lead, under certain conditions, to vertical displacement of the fluid parcels over distances much larger than the individual body size. These regions of displaced fluid are unstably stratified and, hence, amenable to large-scale overturning and efficient mixing.
Trunk stabilization training: an evidence basis for the current state of affairs.

Trunk stabilization training is one of a number of possible treatments to manage low back pain. While there are many approaches to treating low back pain, trunk stabilization has been quite popular over the past decade. This is especially the case with the focus of investigation on isolated transverse abdominis muscle activation and its contribution to trunk stability. The focus of such investigation has not only influenced the management of low back pain, but also has been touted for treatment of many other pathologies of the upper and lower extremities, as well as for injury prevention and performance enhancement [10,79,119]. These assertions, as well as those of altered transverse abdominis firing leading to poor trunk stability, are some of the concepts related to trunk instability and stabilization training that lack evidence. The concept of trunk or lumbar instability has become quite popular, although it also appears to lack sufficient literature support. The concept of lumbar instability is difficult to define and does not sufficiently describe the true mechanism of pain and related dysfunction. While several concepts related to trunk stability and trunk stabilization training have gained popularity in the current literature, the evidence supporting these
Regulation of cyclic electron flow in C3 plants: differential effects of limiting photosynthesis at ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase

Cyclic electron flow around photosystem I (CEF1) is thought to augment chloroplast ATP production to meet metabolic needs. Very little is known about the induction and regulation of CEF1. We investigated the effects on CEF1 of antisense suppression of the Calvin-Benson enzymes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapR), and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) small subunit (SSU), in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Wisconsin 38). The gapR, but not ssuR, mutants showed substantial increases in CEF1, demonstrating that specific intermediates, rather than slowing of assimilation, induce CEF1. Both types of mutant showed increases in steady-state transthylakoid proton motive force (pmf) and subsequent activation of the photoprotective q(E) response. With gapR, the increased pmf was caused both by up-regulation of CEF1 and down-regulation of the ATP synthase. In ssuR, the increased pmf was attributed entirely to a decrease in ATP synthase activity, as previously seen in wild-type plants when CO₂ levels were decreased. Comparison of major stromal metabolites in gapR, ssuR and hcef1, a mutant with decreased fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase activity, showed that neither the ATP/ADP ratio, nor major Calvin-Benson cycle intermediates can directly account for the activation of CEF1, suggesting that chloroplast redox status or reactive oxygen species regulate CEF1.
Band Depth Clustering for Nonstationary Time Series and Wind Speed Behavior

We explore the behavior of wind speed over time, using a subset of the Eastern Wind Dataset published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This dataset gives modeled wind speeds over three ...
Eradication of Pathogenic Bacteria by Remote Delivery of NO via Light Triggering of Nitrosyl-Containing Materials

Although nitric oxide (NO) delivery systems have been fabricated with sol−gel-based materials, remote control of such systems with light has not been achieved. In this work, a fiber optic-based NO delivery system is described in which the photoactive metal-nitrosyl, [Mn(PaPy3)(NO)]ClO4 (1), has been employed in a sol−gel material. The material (1·FO) contains the manganese-nitrosyl, which releases NO upon illumination with visible light. The NO-releasing capacity of 1·FO has been measured with an NO-sensitive electrode, and the spatial diffusion of NO in solution has been visualized using the Griess reaction. The utility of 1·FO has been demonstrated in effective reduction of bacterial loads of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus. The results suggest that a device that releases NO via illumination by optical fiber may have clinical applications in combating infections with both Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and to some degree antibiotic-resi...
Pyoderma gangrenosum: Successful treatment with intralesional steroids

A case of pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) responsive to intralesional injection of corticosteroid is reported. Improvement was detected by 48 hours, and complete healing had occurred by 6 weeks. The association with various underlying systemic diseases, pathogenesis, and modalities of therapy are discussed.
Laboratory observations of a gravity current on a sloping bottom: the generation of shelf waves

On considere, dans une experience, une source d'eau legere s'ecoulant le long de la paroi verticale exterieure d'un recipient cylindrique en rotation. Il y a formation de «nez» (au bord avant) qui detraine les tourbillons a mesure qu'il progresse; il y a detrainement car les tourbillons se detachent du courant et s'arretent par rapport a ce dernier, contrairement a ce qui se passe dans la non-rotation. Le courant de gravite (appele aussi courant de densite) se retrouve ensuite sur un fond incline, avec les effets suivants: il devient plus laminaire, le detrainement des tourbillons cesse; il devient plus large; il ralentit brusquement puis continue a accelerer; lorsqu'il est plus lent que le 1er mode de l'onde barotrope de plateau, il se produit une radiation d'onde de plateau devant le courant; la deceleration est plus importante que celle du courant situe au voisinage de la paroi verticale. Ceci serait probablement du a la trainee de radiation de l'onde, aux effets de viscosite et au fait que la source d'energie soit finie. L'importance relative de chacun de ces facteurs reste une question ouverte. Exemple concret: ecoulement de la Baltique hors du Skagerrak le long des cotes de la Norvege
Modeling and analysis of closed loop manufacturing systems using parameter coupling

Abstract Closed loop manufacturing systems (CLMSs) with recirculating material handling devices are extensively used in various industrial environments. The performance of such systems is impacted by many factors such as the total capacity of pallets, the actual number of pallets in the system, the machine reliability and processing time, the pallet index speed, and the positions of loading/unloading points. These factors make the accurate analysis and optimization of complex CLMSs very difficult and challenging. This paper presents a new parameter coupling technique to model and analyze a wide range of CLMSs. It is an enhancement based on the existing open production line analysis with unreliable assembly machines and finite buffers. Virtual assembly machines are introduced to represent the specific phenomena of CLMSs such as the recirculation of empty pallets and the sharing of conveyor space. Two types of parameter coupling patterns, the machine parameter coupling, and the buffer capacity coupling, are introduced to reflect the characteristics of the CLMSs. The parameter coupling technique is simple and effective for analyzing a broad range of CLMSs. Comparisons between this analytic method and simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed parameter coupling technique is fast, accurate and robust.
Some Implications of Variety Seeking for Advertising and Advertisers

Abstract Empirical research and various behavioral theories support the proposition that some people seek variety in the stimulation they receive. Sources of stimulation may include products, advertisements, mass media and so forth. This paper discusses some of the major implications of variety seeking for advertisers. It is believed that variety seeking by consumers can affect several aspects of advertising, including consumer brand loyalty, the willingness of consumers to try new products they may learn about through advertising and the time period required for advertising campaign wearout. These potential effects of variety seeking can be incorporated into strategic planning by advertisers to minimize negative consequences and maximize positive consequences of variety seeking behaviors by consumers.
Somali Immigrant New Mothers' Childbirth Experiences in Minnesota.

Purpose: To explore Somali immigrant new mothers’ experience of childbirth in Minnesota. Design: The ethnonursing research method was used. Semistructured interviews with 12 immigrant Somali mother...
Evidence of a photon echo-nuclear double resonance in ruby

We report the degradation of stimulated photon echoes in ruby by the application of an rf field at frequencies corresponding to nuclear spin transitions of Al neighbors of a Cr3+ ion.
A multilevel approach to the assessment of communication positiveness in distressed marital couples

Abstract Although the improvement of communication tends to be a foremost objective of behavioral marital counseling (Jacobson and Martin, 1976), guidelines by which to define or measure “good communication” are lacking. The development of such guidelines has been hampered by the lack of empirical evidence on: 1. which communication skills contribute to successful marital functioning; 2. who is the best judge of those skills; and 3. what is the most appropriate method for examining communication processes between marital partners.
Linking the distribution of an invasive amphibian (Rana catesbeiana) to habitat conditions in a managed river system in Northern California.

Extensive modifications of river systems have left floodplains some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world and made restoration of these systems a priority. Modified river ecosystems frequently support invasive species to the detriment of native species. Rana catesbeiana (American bullfrog) is an invasive amphibian that thrives in modified aquatic habitats. In 2004–2005 we studied the distribution of bullfrogs along a 98-km reach of the Trinity River below the Lewiston Dam to identify habitat characteristics associated with bullfrogs and to recommend actions to reduce their prevalence in the system. We also examined native amphibian distributions relative to bullfrogs and disturbance regimes. We used regression techniques to model the distribution of bullfrogs in relation to environmental conditions. Models assessing breeding habitat outperformed models assessing bullfrog presence. Top-ranked predictor variables of bullfrog distribution included water depth, percent rooted floating vegetation, and river km. Most breeding sites of bullfrogs were relict mine tailing ponds or inactive side channels created during restoration activities in the 1990s. Native species were more common in the lower reach where habitats were less modified, in contrast to the distribution of bullfrogs that dominated the upper, more modified reach. To control bullfrogs along a managed river, we suggest reducing the suitability of breeding sites by decreasing depth or reducing hydroperiod and increasing connection with the active river channel. Current management goals of restoring salmonid habitat and returning the river to a more natural hydrologic condition should aid in control of bullfrogs and improve conditions for native amphibians.
Asian rice economy changes and implications for sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract Despite significant increases in rice production, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still procures about one third of its rice needs through imports, mainly from Asia. Improving the competitiveness of local rice production will be economically sustainable only if production in SSA remains cost-competitive with Asia. Realizing this goal depends not only on conditions in SSA but also on how the rice economy in Asia evolves. Several factors are likely to affect the major Asian rice economies strongly in the coming years: (i) increased diversification of diets as a result of changing age structures and rapid economic growth; (ii) changes in production patterns; and (iii) evolving costs of production in response to higher energy and water costs, and technological change. The aim of the article is to assess the changes in rice-system dynamics of both SSA and Asia and derive their implications for the development of the rice subsector in SSA.
Brief Set-valued methods for linear parameter varying systems

We consider stability analysis and state feedback synthesis for Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) systems. LPV systems are defined as linear systems whose dynamics depend on exogenous time-varying parameters. Stability analysis of LPV systems involves testing the stability of a family of possible parameter trajectories. Similarly, stabilization and optimal control of LPV systems involves constructing feedback for a family of possible parameter trajectories. A further constraint is that the feedback depends on parameter trajectories in a causal manner. Previous work has considered LPV systems with unconstrained (i.e., arbitrarily fast) parameter variations. We consider the utilization of known constraints on the parameter variations, such as rate constraints. For discrete-time LPV systems whose parameters take on a finite set of values, we provide constructive computational algorithms which nonconservatively assess stabilizability. These algorithms lead to parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions for stability and parameter-dependent nonlinear state-feedback for stabilization. We further provide algorithms to construct, whenever possible, nonlinear feedback to achieve a specified level of disturbance rejection as measured by signal magnitude. We also consider the dynamic game of minimizing a transient response as measured by a norm summation and provide algorithms to construct the optimal cost and near optimal nonlinear feedback.
Some magnetic and crystallographic properties of the system Li+xNi++1−2xni+++xO

Crystallographic and magnetic measurements of the system Li+xNi++1−2xNi+++xO for the entire range 0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.5 are reported. For values ofx ⩽ 0.3, the lattice appears to be antiferro-magnetic and is cubic above the Curie temperature. For the range of compositions 0.3 < x < 0.5, the lattice is rhombohedral and ferrimagnetic, a maximum magnetic moment pet gram of 31 c.g.s. cm3g being observed at x = 0.46. A maximum ferrimagnetic Curie temperature of 241°K was observed for the composition x = 0.41. These properties are interpreted in terms of a partial ordering of lithium and nickel ions into alternate sets of (111) planes which couple antiparallel to one another, the moments within any set being either ferromagnetically coupled or paramagnetic, depending upon the number of non-magnetic near neighbors in the neighboring planes. This system is compared to the ordered rock-salt-type compound Cu0.25Co0.75O. The lack of ferrimagnetism and the tetragonal distortion to c/a < 1 in Cu0.25Co0.75O are explained.
Expression of homeobox genes, including an insulin promoting factor, in the murine yolk sac at the time of hematopoietic initiation

The visceral yolk sac (YS), a simple bilayer structure formed during gastrulation, supplies blood cells and intestine- and liver-like functions to support embryonic growth. To better understand gene regulation in extraembryonic tissues, we examined the early murine YS for expression of the homeobox family of developmental transcription regulators. We identified a subset of known homeobox sequences (Hox 1l, b1, a9, c9, a7, b7, b8, a10, cdx-1, and PDX-1), as well as two novel homeodomains consisting of a fourth labial class Hox genes and one that matches the Antennapedia class on the amino acid level. The two most frequently isolated YS Hox genes, a9 and c9, are initially expressed only in the YS (E.5) and subsequently expressed in both the embryo and YS (E8.5). Another of the identified genes, PDX-1, is involved in pancreatic development and insulin regulation. Whereas the4 rodent YS is known to produce insulin from mid to late gestation, YS insulin expression had not been examined earlier in development . We detected insulin mRNA in the YS at both E7.5 and E8.5, prior to expression in the embryo proper or formation of the pancreas. However, other pancreatic products, such as glucagon, somatostatin, and carboxypeptidase A, are not expressed in the YS. In situ analysis indicates insulin is produced in YS mesothelial cells and endoderm cells, but not in blood cells. We hypothesize the early expression of insulin in the YS is required for the expansion of insulin responsive cells including primitive erythroblasts.
Recent progress in alpha1-adrenergic receptor research.

alpha 1 -Adrenergic receptors (AR) play an important role in the regulation of physiological responses mediated by norepinephrine and epinephrine, particularly in the cardiovascular system. The three cloned alpha1-AR subtypes (alpha 1A , alpha 1B , and alpha 1D ) are G protein-coupled receptors that signal through the G q /11 signaling pathway, each showing distinct pharmacological properties and tissue distributions. However, due to the lack of highly subtype-selective drugs, the functional roles of individual subtypes are still not clear. Development of new subtype-specific drugs will greatly facilitate the identification of the functions of each subtype. Conopeptide p-TIA has been found to be a new alpha 1B -AR selective antagonist with different modes of inhibition at alpha 1 -AR subtypes. In addition, recent studies using genetically engineered mice have shed some light on alpha 1 -AR functions in vivo , especially in the cardiovascular system and brain. Several proteins have been shown to interact directly with particular alpha 1 -AR, and may be important in regulating receptor function. Receptor heterodimerization has been shown to be important for cell surface expression, signaling and internalization. These new observations are likely to help elucidate the functional roles of individual alpha 1 -AR subtypes.
Radiation Loss From A Dielectric Channel Waveguide Bend

The primary objective of this investigation was to analytically determine the effect of a plane dielectric interface upon the radiation loss of a curved channel dielectric wave-guide embedded in a dense substrate as commonly encountered in millimeter and optical integrated circuits. Results of our study indicate that in contrast to the case of a bent channel guide embedded in a homogeneous medium with an algebraic behavior of R0-1/2 (R0 is the radius of curvature of the bent channel guide), the radiation of a bent channel guide embedded below a plane dielectric interface exhibits an R0-3/2 dependence. This altered algebraic dependence can result in significant reductions in radiation loss.
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID POLYMERASE ACTIVITY DURING AZO DYE CARCINOGENESIS.

SummaryDNA polymerase activity was measured in extracts of liver prepared from rats fed a carcinogenic azo dye. Groups of rats were sacrificed during the period of carcinogenic transformation in the liver, i.e., the first 8 weeks of dye-feeding, and the DNA polymerase activities in the soluble ultracen-trifugal supernatant fraction of liver homo-genates were assayed. A doubling of the rather low enzyme activity of normal rat liver was found at 6 days, the earliest time point, after initiation of dye feeding. Activity continued to increase through the third week of dye feeding to almost 3 times the normal value, then it gradually dropped to values slightly above normal at the end of the eighth week.
Strategic implications of Darwinian economics for selling efficiency and choice of integrated or independent sales forces

Most managers, when confronted with a difficult strategic decision, would like to know what is the prevailing practice in their industry. Prevailing practice interests managers, in part, because it may indicate which decisions are good, even "best." The rationale is "Darwinian economics," which proposes that competitive markets operate to force at least an approximation of optimal behavior, because "wrong" decisions are extinguished by the market mechanism. If so, the bulk of survivors make good business decisions and their collective practice is worth knowing, meaning it should be difficult to improve upon. This paper tests whether prevailing practice represents "good" decisions. The context is the decision whether to fill a sales district with a company integrated sales force or with outside agents independents. The outcome of the choice is the ratio of sales to the cost of running the sales force, i.e., selling efficiency. A model is described which summarizes industry decisions, and two propositions are developed. Proposition 1, a simple version, states that efficiency declines as firms depart from the industry rule as to when they should integrate. Proposition 2, a contingent version, states that efficiency declines as firms depart from the industry rule in unpredictable selling environments but that conforming to the rule has no impact in predictable environments. The rationale is that firms learn the environment well enough to know when to depart from the rule in predictable settings but not otherwise. The relationship between efficiency and conformity to prevailing practice is examined for 93 sales districts of 11 recognized electronic component manufacturers. The results support proposition 2: the most efficient sales forces conform to prevailing practice and the least efficient deviate, but only in uncertain environments. In more certain environments, conformity and efficiency are unrelated. Implications such as when it pays to be different and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Maximum Force Development in Cardiac Muscle

CARDIAC muscle has less strength in comparison with skeletal muscle. It has therefore been suggested that there may be fundamental differences in their processes of force generating1–3. While skeletal muscle can develop isometric forces ranging from 17 to 40 g/mm2 (refs. 4–9), maximum forces of only 2 to 7 g/mm2 are reported2,10–15 for heart muscle. Certain functional differences should be considered, however, before intrinsic differences in the mechanism of contraction of cardiac and skeletal muscle are suggested. Thus the lower isometric tension of cardiac muscle could result from any or all of the following: (1) cardiac muscle cannot be tetanized, and maximum force might be limited by the finite duration of active state during the twitch contraction2; (2) the contractile state of heart muscle is variable and generally less than maxima12,11, whereas the contractile state of skeletal muscle is essentially constant3; and (3) a large proportion of myocardium consists of non-contractile structures such as mitochondria and nuclei, unlike skeletal muscle16. It is not known whether correction for these factors would explain discrepancies in force development. Accordingly, the maximum contractile force of cardiac muscle has been examined during maximum potentiation of contractile state, and corrected for non-contractile muscle mass. These corrections permit more meaningful comparisons of the maximum capacity for contraction of cardiac and skeletal muscle.
5 Gut hormones in gastric function

This chapter has focused on many of the gut hormones that regulate gastric function. Gastrin remains the principal, and only, gastric hormone controlling gastric acid secretion during the cephalic, gastric and intestinal phases of secretion. Several other hormones, including cholecystokinin, peptide YY and secretin, released from intestinal endocrine cells in response to food substrates, have significant inhibitory effects on gastric acid secretion. Many of these hormones, including enteroglucagon and glucagon-like peptide, may act through paracrine release of somatostatin, which in turn acts as the final mediator of acid inhibition. In addition, several peptides contained in nerves, including gastrin releasing peptide and vasoactive intestinal peptide, have been shown to regulate gastric acid secretion and motor function. With the creation of specific monoclonal antibodies for use in in vivo immunoneutralization studies, and the development of selective chemical antagonists for use in receptor blockade experiments, the specific contributions of the different gut hormones in the regulation of gastric function, can be assessed.
Natural-abundance 13C dynamic nuclear polarization experiments on chemical vapor deposited diamond film

13C cross-polarization (CP) and direct-polarization (DP) spectra of an 83 mg sample of a chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond film (combined from 12 separate depositions) have been obtained via dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) combined with magic-angle spinning (MAS). With DNP, the presence of unpaired electron spins in the sample, measured to be 2 × 1018 spins/g, provides a way to enhance the 13C or the “residual” 1H signal by irradiating the sample with microwaves at or near the electron spin resonance (ESR) Larmor frequency; the interactions between the unpaired electrons and protons or 13C spins lead to a transfer of polarization from the electron spin system to the 1H and/or 13C spin systems. No signal for sp2 hybridized carbons could be observed. The DNP-CP-MAS spectrum, obtained in an experiment in which the DNP-enhanced proton polarization is in turn transferred via CP to the 13C spin system, differs significantly from the DNP-DP-MAS spectrum, in which the 13C spins are directly enhanced.
Synchronization and load imbalance effects in distributed memory multi‐processor systems

Synchronization is a major cause of wasted computing cycles and of diminished performance in parallel computing. This paper investigates the effects of synchronization upon the performance of iterative methods on distributed memory MIMD machines. A quantitative analysis of the effects of the communication latency and of the load imbalance due to the non-deterministic execution times for iterative methods is presented. This analysis explains the rather poor performance observed often in actual implementations of such methods and suggests better ways to achieve convergence without frequent synchronization.
III. A method for distinguishing specific from nonspecific hemolysins

Abstract 1. A wide variety of surface-active and/or lipid-soluble substances (vitamin A alcohol, lysolecithin, lecithin, stearic acid, sodium taurocholate, lithocholic acid and other steroids, butanol and other alcohols, prochlorperazine ethane disulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, and Triton X-100) in low concentrations will protect or stabilize human erythrocytes against hypotonic hemolysis; high concentrations of most of these compounds cause direct hemolysis. None of these hemolysins, therefore, may be considered specific in eliciting this biphasic effect. 2. Specific hemolysins (digitonin, holothurin A, saponin, filipin), which may be considered as specific in the sense that they have a very high affinity for cholesterol and presumably hemolyze by binding to or extracting the membrane cholesterol, do not cause erythrocyte stabilization at any concentration. 3. The nonspecific stabilization has a long duration (3 hr) without any diminution in the degree of stabilization. 4. Two polyene antibiotics, amphotericin B and nystatin (whose cholesterol affinity is not so high as that of filipin), in low concentrations produce a stabilization lasting only a few minutes, the concentration-hemolysis curve soon approaching the monophasic pattern of the four specific hemolysins. 5. Two other polyene antibiotics, pimaricin and ascosin, also cause a transient stabilization. Ascosin has the longest period of transient stabilization (1 hr). 6. Whether a membrane lysin does or does not in low concentrations cause a prolonged and steady membrane stabilization may therefore be a simple possible criterion for distinguishing between specific and nonspecific lysins. On this basis tyrocidine B would be considered a specific hemolysin.