cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Habitat and soil associations of a fossorial toad in a Sonoran Desert riparian forest

Abstract Despite occupying small land areas, riparian systems provision a large number of vertebrates, including amphibians, one of the most threatened vertebrate taxa. We associated capture rates of a fossorial desert anuran (Scaphiopus couchii) to non-native plant invasion and shrub encroachment via soil traits and habitat physiognomy in native, invaded, and shrub-encroached riparian habitats in the Sonoran Desert. We measured habitat and anurans at 18 sites along the San Pedro and Gila Rivers in three stand types based on dominant trees, cottonwood-willow forest (Populus-Salix), mesquite woodland (Prosopis), and non-native saltcedar stands (Tamarix). Dominant tree species were useful descriptors of habitat physiognomy. Spadefoots were associated with xeroriparian habitat at Prosopis sites and nearly absent from Tamarix sites. Soil moisture and texture heavily influenced spadefoot partitioning across forest types. Altering in-stream flow has modified riparian areas by causing xerification, Prosopis expansion, and proliferation of non-native species. The effects of Prosopis encroachment on this fossorial anuran may be less than Tamarix invasion, which could be deleterious to many anurans. We suggest monitoring vulnerable amphibians and conservation measures to preserve native riparian habitat.
The Indivisibility of Human Dignity and Sustainability

The right to human dignity embodies the fundamental notion that all individuals in present and future generations are entitled to equal respect from others, to live life well, with choices, and free from arbitrary action by those in positions of power. This can only be done in conditions of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Dignity is not simply an aspiration or a wish; it is an actionable right that is being recognized by courts in thousands of cases around the world. Indeed, courts have applied the right and the value of human dignity in a wide variety of factual and legal settings that span the catalogues of both civil and political rights and socio-economic and cultural rights, that now include environmental rights. This chapter has four parts. Part I provides an introduction to the right to human dignity under law, a concept nearly as old as humanity and as fresh as the most recent cases. Part II then pivots to environmental rights, including domestic, regional, and emerging international means for recognition as a way of advancing environmental and social sustainability. Part III demonstrates the indivisibility of sustainability and the right to dignity as reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Part IV samples judicial decisions from around the globe that bridge these concepts. We conclude that it is instructive to recognize that advancing human dignity is sustainability’s core function.
Why I Didn’t Report: Reasons for Not Reporting Sexual Violence as Stated on Twitter

Though sexual violence is prevalent, formal reporting to police remains uncommon. Social media may provide a unique outlet for survivors of different forms of sexual violence, who might otherwise r...
Research on Layered Networking Protocol of Internet of Things for Power Transmission and Transformation Equipment

The important component of transmission and transformation equipment in the power grid is whether the power grid can maintain a safe operation state depends on the safety and reliability of the transmission and transformation equipment itself. The application of Internet of things technology plays an important role in the management of transmission and transformation equipment. Therefore, in order to improve the high efficiency of transmission and transformation equipment, it is necessary to introduce and apply Internet of things technology. In order to improve the high efficiency of transmission and transformation equipment, it is necessary to introduce and apply Internet of things technology in power transmission and transformation equipment In the management of power transmission and transformation equipment, the application of Internet of things technology can promote the effective improvement of the accuracy of the monitoring results of equipment operation status to a certain extent, thus improving the operation quality of the whole power grid and promoting the construction of intelligent management system of power grid units. This paper first briefly expounds the technical meaning of Internet of things, and then analyzes the main application scenarios of layered network routing protocol in the management of transmission and transformation equipment, which provides an effective theoretical reference for the safe operation and high-quality operation of power grid.
Validation of TMJ osteoarthritis synthetic defect database via non-rigid registration

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders are a group of conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and the muscles controlling jaw movement. However, diagnosis and treatment of these conditions remain controversial. To date, there is no single sign, symptom, or test that can clearly diagnose early stages of osteoarthritis (OA). Instead, the diagnosis is based on a consideration of several factors, including radiological evaluation. The current radiological diagnosis scores of TMJ pathology are subject to misdiagnosis. We believe these scores are limited by the acquisition procedures, such as oblique cuts of the CT and head positioning errors, and can lead to incorrect diagnoses of flattening of the head of the condyle, formation of osteophytes, or condylar pitting. This study consists of creating and validating a methodological framework to simulate defects in CBCT scans of known location and size, in order to create synthetic TMJ OA database. User-generated defects were created using a non-rigid deformation protocol in CBCT. All segmentation evaluation, surface distances and linear distances from the user-generated to the simulated defects showed our methodological framework to be very precise and within a voxel (0.5 mm) of magnitude. A TMJ OA synthetic database will be created next, and evaluated by expert radiologists, and this will serve to evaluate how sensitive the current radiological diagnosis tools are.
Thrombocytosis in Whipple's disease

Abstract Three men with Whipple's disease had platelet counts of 729,000–1,142,000 per mm 3 , which fell to normal as their illness responded to antibiotic therapy. Reports on Whipple's disease and hospital charts from the largest published series reveal thrombocytosis in 11 of the 24 patients whose counts were recorded. The prevalence of anemia, marrow infiltration, and classic manifestations of Whipple's disease did not differ between patients with and without thrombocytosis. The thrombocytosis of Whipple's disease is similar to that of celiac sprue, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
On board flight computers for flight testing small uninhabited aerial vehicles

This paper will discuss two systems that were developed to support UAV flight test efforts. The Flight Computer System (FCS) was based on the DS2250 embedded controller, an 8051 derivative. The FCS is small and lightweight, but it has limited I/O and computational capabilities, which were expanded by using a FCS network. The analog to digital converters on the FCS were a novel design, which would also generate a hybrid integration of the signal. The Linux In Flight Testing (LIFT) system is based on the use of COTS PC104-Plus cards using a Real-Time Linux operating system. The RT Linux provides the hard real-time capability required for quality data collection and control system implementation. The LIFT system provides for expansion to satisfy complex mission requirements.
Buddhist Debate in Medieval Japan

Buddhist debate was an oral exchange of questions and answers between two monks or nuns concerning issues of Buddhist doctrine. Although it has received considerable attention from scholars of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, its vitality in medieval Japan has only recently begun receiving scholarly attention. As recent scholarship has emphasized, not only was participating in debates where issues of Buddhist doctrine were intensely deliberated indispensable to educating scholar monks, but it was also an official requirement for promotion. Yet the debates' politicized and highly technical nature has led many critics, both medieval and modern, to dismiss them as merely a device for self-glorification or as tedious displays of pedantry. At the same time, the currently dominant historical paradigm of the ‘exoteric-esoteric system’ presumes that doctrinal learning and debate practice declined as esoteric Buddhist schools and their thaumaturgic rites performed for private, this-worldly purposes grew in popularity. Recent studies, however, have shown that debates in fact provided occasions for inter-sectarian dialogue while advancing Buddhist doctrinal studies in both exoteric and esoteric schools and remained crucial to both educating and promoting monks throughout the medieval period.
Abortion in rabbits fed a vitamin K deficient diet

E ARLY in the modern investigations of hypoprothromhinemia, Brinkhous, Smith, and Warner showed that the blood of the newborn infant contains only a fraction of the prothrombin present in the blood of t.he adult. This observation has been repca.tedly confirmed by all who have used the titration method of Warner, Brinkhous, and Smith for the determination of prothrombin (Javert and Moore, and Hellman and Shettles) . Tests by the technique of Quick do not show this neonatal deficiency (Quick and Grossman). Both procedures reveal a fall in the level of prothrombin during the neonatal period, starting from six to forty-eight hours after birth and continuing for several days (Owen, Hoffman, Ziffren, and Smith).
Geometric Universality in Brain Allosteric Protein Dynamics

Abstract : A relationship is derived between the thermodynamic entropy-enthalpy compensation of proteins and hyperbolic dynamics of their resting, signal-sensitive behavior. This formulation is then used to derive a hydrophobic sequence code which successfully predicts structure and function in a variety of polypeptide hormones.
Genetic rescue of a Toxoplasma gondii conditional cell cycle mutant

Summary Growth rate is a major pathogenesis factor in the parasite Toxoplasma gondii ; however, how cell division is controlled in this protozoan is poorly understood. Herein, we show that centrosomal duplication is an indicator of S phase entry while centrosome migration marks mitotic entry. Using the pattern of centrosomal replication, we confirmed that mutant ts 11C9 undergoes a bimodal cell cycle arrest that is characterized by two subpopulations containing either single or duplicated centrosomes which correlate with the bipartite genome distribution observed at the non-permissive temperature. Genetic rescue of ts 11C9 was performed using a parental RH strain cDNA library, and the cDNA responsible for conferring temperature resistance (growth at 40 ∞ C) was recovered by recombination cloning. A single T. gondii gene encoding the protein homologue of XPMC2 was responsible for genetic rescue of the temperature-sensitive defect in ts 11C9 parasites. This protein is a known suppressor of mitotic defects, and in tachyzoites, TgXPMC2‐YFP localized to the parasite nucleus and nucleolus which is consistent with the expected subcellular localization of critical mitotic factors. Altogether, these results demonstrate that ts 11C9 is a conditional mitotic mutant containing a single defect which influences two distinct control points in the T. gondii tachyzoite cell cycle.
Characterization of an extracellular lignin peroxidase of the lignocellulolytic actinomycete Streptomyces viridosporus

Previously we reported production of an extracellular lignin-inducible peroxidase by Streptomyces viridosporus (M. Ramachandra, D.L. Crawford, and A.L. Pometto III, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53:2754-2760, 1987). This peroxidase was shown to oxidize 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, 2,4-dichlorophenol, homoprotocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, and N,N,N',N'-tetramethylphenylenediamine and was found in higher than normal levels in strains enhanced for lignocellulose degradation. In the present study, we used a pure extracellular enzyme preparation with high peroxidase isoform P3 activity to oxidize lignin substructure model compounds of both the 1,2-diaryl propane and arylglycerol-beta-aryl ether types and containing C alpha-carbonyl and C alpha-hydroxyl groups. The reactions were monitored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-pressure liquid chromatography techniques. In the presence, but not the absence, of hydrogen peroxide, the enzyme preparation catalyzed C alpha-C beta bond cleavage in the side chains of the diaryl ethers 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)propane-1,3-diol (I) and 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)propan-1-one (II) and the diaryl ethane 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(phenyl)ethan-1-one (III). Rapid hydrogen peroxide consumption was observed when the enzyme preparation was added to either milled corn lignin or lignocellulose. Additional characterizations showed that this enzyme is a heme protein (Soret band, 408 nm) and a major component of the ligninolytic system of S. viridosporus T7A. This is the first report of a lignin peroxidase in a bacterium. We have designated this new lignin peroxidase as ALiP-P3.
Supporting Online Learning for Advanced Placement Students in Small Rural Schools: Conceptual Foundations and Intervention Components of the Facilitator Preparation Program

Note: This work was supported by a Research and Development Center grant (R305A04056) from the Institute of Education Sciences to the National Research Center on Rural Education Support. This paper examines the need for interventions to support students who are taking advanced placement courses in small rural districts and describes the Facilitator Preparation Program (FPP) as a strategy to address this need. Issues in the delivery of Online Distance Education (ODE) in small rural schools are summarized and the conceptual foundations and service delivery considerations of the FPP are outlined. Future research needs are also considered.
'White Collar Crime': Still Hazy After All These Years

With a seventy-five year history of sociological and later legal roots, the term “white collar crime” remains an ambiguous concept that academics, policy makers, law enforcement personnel and defense counsel are unable to adequately define. Yet the use of the term “white collar crime” skews statistical reporting and sentencing for this conduct. This Article provides a historical overview of its linear progression and then a methodology for a new architecture in examining this conduct. It separates statutes into clear-cut white collar offenses and hybrid statutory offenses, and then applies this approach with an empirical study that dissects cases prosecuted under hybrid white collar statutes of perjury, false statements, obstruction of justice, and RICO. The empirical analysis suggests the need for an individualized multivariate approach to categorizing white collar crime to guard against broad federal statutes providing either under-inclusive or over-inclusive examination of this form of criminality.
Unconditional government social cash transfer in Africa does not increase fertility

Among policymakers, a common perception surrounding the effects of cash transfer programmes, particularly unconditional programmes targeted to families with children, is that they induce increased fertility. We evaluate the Zambian Child Grant Programme, a government unconditional cash transfer targeted to families with a child under the age of 5 and examine impacts on fertility and household composition. The evaluation was a cluster randomized control trial, with data collected over 4 years from 2010 to 2014. Our results indicate that there are no programme impacts on overall fertility. Our results contribute to a small evidence base demonstrating that there are no unintended incentives related to fertility due to cash transfers.
Iliotibial Band Tightness and Medial Patellar Glide in Patients with Patellofemoral Dysfunction

This paper investigates the relationship between iliotibial band tightness and medial glide of the patella in patients with patellofemoral dysfunction. Stretching the iliotibial band has been advocated in the literature to treat patellofemoral dysfunction, but there is little written about the mechanism of its influence on the patella. Anatomy and biomechanics are reviewed, with emphasis on the lateral retinaculum of the knee and the attachment of the iliotibial band to the patella. A study is presented in which 17 patients with patellofemoral dysfunction were evaluated. All patients presented with lateral tracking of the patella on knee flexion and extension. Medial glide of the patella was tested manually, and Ober's Test was performed to test flexibility of the iliotibial band. Twelve of 17 patients exhibited a tight iliotibial band with hypomobility of medial glide of the patella. Three patients demonstrated normal patella mobility with a normal result on Ober's Test. Two patients had hypomobile patellae with a normal Ober's Test. This study demonstrates a strong relationship between iliotibial band tightness and decreased medial glide of the patella.
Principals' Perspectives on Inclusive Elementary Schools

A growing number of schools are engaged in efforts to become more inclusive in their service delivery and educational practices. To date, accounts of principals involved in reform efforts have largely been absent from the research literature. To address this need, this study examined the perspectives and experiences of eight principals who were involved in developing inclusive elementary schools in urban, suburban, and metropolitan communities. Quantitative indices of inclusiveness were combined with principal interview data to develop a deeper understanding of how inclusive education was viewed by these principals, their perspectives on implementation, and the challenges they encountered. Results revealed that despite being considered inclusive, schools varied markedly from one another in their level of implementation, and that level of implementation was unrelated to an index of inclusiveness or to a measure of program quality. Schools with stronger administrative support and commitment reported serving...
Substituted oxazolidinones as novel NPC1L1 ligands for the inhibition of cholesterol absorption.

Abstract Cholesterol absorption inhibition (CAI) represents an important treatment option for hypercholesterolemia. Herein, we report the design and evaluation of a series of substituted oxazolidinones as ligands for the Niemann Pick C1 Like 1 (NPC1L1) protein, a key mediator of cholesterol transport. Novel analogs were initially evaluated in a brush border membrane NPC1L1 binding assay; subsequently, promising compounds were evaluated in vivo for acute inhibition of cholesterol absorption. These studies identified analogs with low micromolar NPC1L1 binding affinity and acute in vivo efficacy of >50% absorption inhibition at 3 mg/kg.
Cloning and restriction enzyme mapping of ribosomal DNA of Giardia duodenalis, Giardia ardeae and Giardia muris.

Abstract In an attempt to study Giardia at the DNA sequence level, the rRNA genes of three species, Giardia duodenalis, Giardia ardeae and Giardia muris were cloned and restriction enzyme maps were constructed. The rDNA repeats of these Giardia show completely different restriction enzyme recognition patterns. The size of the rDNA repeat ranges from approximately 5.6 kb in G. duodenalis to 7.6 kb in both G. muris and G. ardeae . These size differences are mainly attributable to the variation in length of the spacer. Minor differences exist among these Giardia in the sizes of their small subunit rRNA and the internal transcribed spacer between small and large subunit rRNA. The genetic maps were constructed by sequence analysis of the DNA around the 5′ and 3′ ends of the mature rRNA genes and between the rRNA covering the 5.8S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer. Comparison of the 5.8S rDNA and 3′ end of large subunit rDNA from these three Giardia species showed considerable sequence variation, but the rDNA sequences of G. duodenalis and G. ardeae appear more closely related to each other than to G. muris .
Patterns of distubance in behaviorally maladjusted children and adolescents

Factorally-based dimensions of disturbance in children vary markedly across adjusted and maladjusted subpopulations; hence, maladjusted children's behavior patterns must be assessed against dimensions of disturbance found among other maladjusted children. Within this context, 510 3- to 15-year-old children (viz., 307 boys and 203 girls) were identified as the significantly maladjusted segment of the random normative population for the revised Bristol Social Adjustment Guides (BSAG). Teachers' behavioral ratings of these children on the BSAG's core syndromes and associated item groupings were subjected to principal-components factor analysis with varimiax ro- tation. Two dimensions emerged: The first, a unique bipolar continuum of generally overreactive vs. unforthcoming behavior; the second, a dimension of constricted socioemotional reactions. Tests for significance of exclusive syndromic variation further revealed that several of the BSAG's syndromes carry enough stable and distinct variance to warrant their consideration as specific qualities of disturbance among maladjusted children and adolescents.
Determination of the components of stormflow using water chemistry and environmental isotopes, Mattole River basin, California

Abstract The chemical and isotopic composition of rainfall and stream water was monitored during a storm in the Mattole River basin of northwestern California. About 250 mm of rain fell during 6 days (∼80% within a 42 h period) in late January, 1972, following 24 days of little or no precipitation. River discharge near Petrolia increased from 22 m3 s−1 to a maximum of 1300 m3 s−1 while chloride and silica concentrations decreased only from 3.2 to 2.1 and 11.5 to 8.6 mgl−1, respectively. Meanwhile, the isotopic composition of the river changed from δD = − 42‰ , δ 18 0 = − 6.8‰ and 40 tritium units (T.U.) to extreme values at highest flow of δD = − 35‰ , δ 18 0 = − 5.9‰ and 25 T.U. in response to volume-weighted rainfall averaging δD = − 19.5‰ , δ 18 0 = − 3.1‰ and 18 T.U. Despite much rainfall of a composition quite different from that of the prestorm river water, “buffering” processes in the watershed greatly restricted changes in the chemical and isotopic content of the river during storm runoff. Because of the physical and hydrologic characteristics of the watershed, major contributions of groundwater to stormflow are very unlikely. The large increase in dissolved chemical load observed at maximum river discharge required that extensive interaction with, and presumably penetration of, soils occurred within a few hours time. Such a large increase in chemical load also required subsurface stormflow throughout a high proportion of the watershed. Chemical and isotopic stabilization of stormflow is believed to be due mainly to displacement of prestorm soil water, with some effects on river chemistry due to rapid rain-soil interactions. The isotopic and chemical composition of prestorm soil moisture cannot readily be predicted a priori because of possible variability in rainfall composition, evaporation, and exchange with atmospheric moisture, nor can it be assumed that baseflow has a predictable relation to the chemical or isotopic composition of water displaced from soils during storms. Therefore, it seems inappropriate to draw conclusions as to the relative proportions of groundwater and rainfall in runoff from a particular storm based only on the average compositions of rainfall, stormflow, and prestorm river water, as has been done in most previous isotope hydrograph studies. Given the great variation in hydrology, topography, soil characteristics, rainfall intensity and quantity, etc. from place to place, the relative amount of overland flow, subsurface flow from the unsaturated zone and of groundwater in stormflow can vary greatly in time and space.
Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) Curves

The goal of diagnostic testing is to identify patients with a particular disease. Often, it is just as important that the test not mistakenly identify healthy persons as having disease. For example, a new test for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) might identify 99.99% of all patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, if the test is positive in large numbers of persons who are not infected, its usefulness may be overshadowed by the harm caused by false positive results.
Pulmonary function abnormalities in children treated with whole lung irradiation.

Background. We sought to determine the prevalence of abnormal pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in a cohort of children who had received whole lung irradiation (WLI) for treat- ment of metastatic disease. Procedure. This was a retrospective (1988-2003) chart review that included all children treated at our institution with WLI who had undergone PFT. Data abstracted included oncologic diagnosis, radia- tion dose and fractionation, spirometry (FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF25%-75%), plethysmography (TLC, FRC, RV, RV/TLC), diffusing capacity (DLCO), and respiratory muscle strength (MIP, MEP). PFTs were normalized according to standard deviation (Z) scores. Results. Thirty patients were identified who had one or more PFT. The incidence of mild, moderate, or severe reductions in FEV1 was 30%, 10%, and 10%, respectively, with 50% having normal FEV1. Seventeen percent of patients had mild reduc- tion in total lung capacity (TLC), while 13% and 30% had moderate or severe reductions. Thirty- eight percent had mild reductions in diffusing capacity, while 29% and 14% had moderate or severe reductions. Conclusions. Pulmonary function abnormalities were common in this cohort of children treated with WLI, and may be progressive in nature. Further studies are war- ranted to identify patients at highest risk. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2006;46:222-227. 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Dynamic performance of integral buckle arrestors for offshore pipelines. Part I: Experiments

Abstract A design methodology for integral buckle arrestors for deepwater pipelines was presented in a previous study (Park TD, and Kyriakides S., International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 1997;39:643–69). It was based on experiments and analyses in which buckles engaged the arrestors quasi-statically. In this two-part paper series, the performance of the same arrestors is reevaluated under the more realistic dynamic buckle propagation conditions encountered in the sea. The experimental program described in Part I involves tubes with D/t=27.9 and arrestors with L a /D=0.5 . The quasi-static arresting efficiency of buckle arrestors is first established experimentally as a function of the arrestor thickness. The same arrestor designs are then tested again in constant pressure environments where buckles propagate at velocities of 400–1100 ft/s. Experiments are conducted using both water and air as pressurizing media. A typical test specimen involves a relatively long upstream section of tube welded to an arrestor and to a downstream tube. The buckle is initiated in the upstream tube, accelerates to steady-state propagation, engages the arrestor and is either arrested or crosses over. For each arrestor design several such tests are required in order to bracket the dynamic crossover pressure. For all cases considered, the dynamic crossover pressure was found to exceed the corresponding quasi-static value. The reasons for this enhancement in performance are discussed in Part II in the light of results from numerical simulations of this process.
1980 Topical Meeting on Infrared Lasers

The 1980 Topical Meeting on Infrared Lasers was held December 3--5 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California. Approximately 100 people registered for the meeting, 43 papers were presented, and there were two panel discussions. The meeting was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
Sensory gating in patients with Alzheimer's disease and their biological children.

Research has shown that sensory gating is largely modualted by acetylcholine. Diminished levels of acetylcholine and sensory gating deficits have been reported in research involving Alzheimer’s dis...
Pressure vessel integrity and weld inspection procedure

Abstract The primary objective of this study is to develop a simple methodology which, when coupled with existing observations on pressure vessel behavior, provides an interrelation between nuclear pressure vessel weld integrity and the parameters of the in-service inspection program, including inspection sample size, frequency and efficiency. The basic input information on rate of generation and development of weld flaws of different sizes and types is drawn primarily from published British and German studies taken almost exclusively from welds of non-nuclear pressure vessels. The input information is varied to reflect differences in weld quality and uncertainty of input data. A modified Markov process is employed and a computer code written to obtain numerical results. If it is assumed that the quality of nuclear reactor welds are the same as the quality of non-nuclear welds (i.e. the data base), then, based on the limitations of the model, the predicted critically sized defect concentration is about 50 × 10−7 per weld at the end of weld life for welds under both high and low stress if ASME, Section XI, In-Service Inspection Requirements are applied. Based on the British data and the less stringent inspection standards (compared to Section XI) the estimated number of critically sized defects per weld at the end of weld life is 250 × 10−7 and 170 × 10−7 per weld for high and low stressed welds, respectively. If it is assumed that the nuclear reactor pressure vessel welds have superior quality to the non-nuclear welds, then the model predicts an appropriately lower probability of critical defects at the end of weld life. A variety of other sensitivity studies are included in the report. Also, a simple methodology to provide an optimal weld inspection program which is consistent with a minimum cost criteria is outlined. It should be noted that the results of this study are based on the limitations of the simple model that was used and on a variety of corresponding assumptions.
SYNTHESIS AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A NEW Pb URANYL OXIDE HYDRATE WITH A FRAMEWORK STRUCTURE THAT CONTAINS CHANNELS

Using lead oxide, uranyl nitrate and ultrapure water, seven hydrothermal synthesis experiments were performed with Pb:U molar ratios ranging from 1:1 to 1:10. Reaction products were characterized by powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Two novel Pb uranyl oxide hydrates were found, with structural formulae Pb 2(H2O)[(UO2)10UO12(OH)6(H2O)2] and Pb0.5[(UO2)4O2(OH)5](H2O)4 (Pb-poor fourmarierite). The synthesis products are related to the Pb:U molar ratio of the solution, and indicate a trend from curite, Pb 3+x(H2O)2[(UO2)4O4+x(OH)3–x]2, to Pb2(H2O)[(UO2)10UO12(OH)6(H2O)2], then to Pb0.5[(UO2)4O2(OH)5](H2O)4 with decreasing Pb in the solution. The structure of Pb 2(H2O)[(UO2)10UO12(OH)6(H2O)2], Z = 4, monoclinic, space group C2/c, a 13.281(5), b 10.223(4), c 26.10(1) A, � 103.202(6)°, V 3450(2) A 3 , was solved by direct methods and refined on the basis of F 2 using 4065 unique reflections. The agreement index ( R1) was 6.38%, calculated for 1306 unique observed reflections (| Fo| ≥ 4� F). The structure contains complex chains of edge- and vertex-sharing uranyl pentagonal and square bipyramids, as well as distorted U 6+ O6 octahedra, along both the [110] and [ ¯directions. The chains in the two orientations are linked at z ≈ 0.25 and z ≈ 0.75, forming a framework that contains elongate open channels. The Pb 2+ cations occur in the channels between adjacent chains.
Primary Mesenteric Vein Thrombosis Associated With Antithrombin III Deficiency

PRIMARY mesenteric vein thrombosis associated with hereditary antithrombin III (AT III) deficiency has recently been reported as a new clinical entity.1Primary mesenteric vein thrombosis is a result of abnormal coagulation, whereas most cases of mesenteric vein occlusions are secondary to some other disease process. This case report of a patient who had segmental infarction, recurrent infarction, postresection morbidity, and clinical evidence of hypercoagulability depicts and reemphasizes the diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties encountered by the surgeon who must deal with this problem. Report of a Case A 47-year-old man was first seen with a six-day history of midepigastric pain and nausea. Pain was strikingly intensified by food ingestion. History disclosed deep-vein thrombosis in the left leg, for which the patient had received anticoagulant therapy three years previously. Family history disclosed that the patient's father died of peritonitis, which, according to the patient, was secondary to a "blood clot to
The automatic creation of lexical entries for a multilingual MT system

In this paper, we describe a method of extracting information from an on-line resource for the construction of lexical entries for a multi-lingual, interlingual MT system (ULTRA). We have been able to automatically generate lexical entries for interlingual concepts corresponding to nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Although several features of these entries continue to be supplied manually we have greatly decreased the time required to generate each entry and see this as a promising method for the creation of large-scale lexicons.
Eye and gaze tracking for interactive graphic display

This paper describes preliminary results we have obtained in developing a computer vision system based on active IR illumination for real time gaze tracking for interactive graphic display. Unlike most of the existing gaze tracking techniques, which often require assuming a static head to work well and require a cumbersome calibration process for each person, our gaze tracker can perform robust and accurate gaze estimation without calibration and under rather significant head movement. This is made possible by a new gaze calibration procedure that identifies the mapping from pupil parameters to screen coordinates using the Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN). With GRNN, the mapping does not have to be an analytical function and head movement is explicitly accounted for by the gaze mapping function. Furthermore, the mapping function can generalize to other individuals not used in the training. The effectiveness of our gaze tracker is demonstrated by preliminary experiments that involve gaze-contingent interactive graphic display.
Polycystic ovaries in leprechaunism.

A 2-month-old girl presented with increasing abdominal girth and failure to thrive. Pelvic US showed an enlarged right ovary containing multiple cysts (Fig. 1). The left ovary appeared the same. A slightly enlarged uterus with pubertal configuration and prominent endometrium is also shown (Fig. 2, arrows). Dr. William Donohue of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto first reported leprechaunism (also known as Donohue syndrome) in 1954. Physical features included growth retardation, lipoatrophy, acanthosis nigricans, hypertrichosis, abnormal facies, breast tissue hyperplasia, and enlarged genitalia. Endocrine dysfunction was suggested by abnormal glucose levels and profound insulin resistance. Autopsies revealed pancreatic islet cell hyperplasia and cystic ovaries [1].
The Nebular Shock Wave Model for Chondrule Formation: Shock Processing in a Particle–Gas Suspension

Abstract We present numerical simulations of the thermal and dynamical histories of solid particles (chondrules and their precursors—treated as 1-mm silicate spheres) during passage of an adiabatic shock wave through a particle–gas suspension in a minimum-mass solar nebula. The steady-state equations of energy, momentum, and mass conservation are derived and integrated for both solids and gas under a variety of shock conditions and particle number densities using the free-molecular-flow approximation. These simulations allow us to investigate both the heating and cooling of particles in a shock wave and to compare the time and distance scales associated with their processing to those expected for natural chondrules. The interactions with the particles cause the gas to achieve higher temperatures and pressures both upstream and downstream of the shock than would be reached otherwise. The cooling rates of the particles are found to be nonlinear but agree approximately with the cooling rates inferred for chondrules by laboratory simulations. The initial concentration of solids upstream of the shock controls the cooling rates and the distances over which they are processed: Lower concentrations cool more slowly and over longer distances. These simulations are consistent with the hypothesis that large-scale shocks, e.g., those due to density waves or gravitational instabilities, were the dominant mechanism for chondrule formation in the nebula.
On decomposing a uniform random variable into its integer and decimal parts

This note illustrates an affiliation and link between a discrete uniform distribution and a continuous one.
Comparison of image segmentation methods in simulated 2D and 3D microtomographic images of soil aggregates

Advances in X-ray microtomography (μCT) are opening new opportunities for examining soil pore structures. However, usefulness of μCT data for pore structure characterization depends on how accurately the grayscale images are segmented into pore and solid components. Multiple segmentation algorithms have been developed; however, one of the difficulties in comparing the accuracy of segmentation algorithms is the lack of ground-truth information in the soil samples subjected to μCT. This means that only the criteria that do not depend on the availability of the ground-truth data can be used in assessing accuracy of the segmentation methods, yet the reliability of such criteria in soil images is unclear. In this study, we simulated 2D and 3D soil images to resolve the problem of the lack of ground-truth information. The objectives of the study were (i) to explore optimal parameter selection for indicator kriging (IK) segmentation; (ii) to compare the accuracy of several commonly used segmentation methods, namely, entropy based method, iterative method, Otsu's method, and IK method; and (iii) to evaluate performance of the region non-uniformity measure (NU), the criterion that does not depend on presence of the ground-truth image, in segmentation method selection for soil images. We found that though there was no single segmentation method that preserved pore characteristics in all the cases, IK method yielded segmented images most similar to the ground-truth in most of the cases when the histogram of image grayscale values had clearly distinguishable peaks. For the image with poorly distinguishable histogram peaks, IK did not perform well, while Otsu's method produced acceptable segmentation results. The results indicated that selecting the segmentation method based on NU did not always produce optimal representation of pore characteristics. However, overall, the NU was found to be an acceptable criterion for segmentation method selection in μCT soil images.
Building Policy-Related Technical Communities

The development of valid and useful social science requires social structures different from those of basic disciplines and departments. One such structure is a "technical community"; whereas a basic scientific community ideally looks only to its own members for definitions of problems, a technical community also looks to laymen. In planning to build or strengthen policy-related technical communities, we must systematically examine various aspects in which they differfrom scientific communities and may vary among themselves. These include the ways in which knowledge and expertise are relevant to policy; the boundaries between the expert knowledge of a particular technical community and other available knowledge; the balance between general and specific knowledge; the systems of careers and quality control needed; the types of organizations in which research and analysis are to be done; and the ways in which knowledge producers can be linked with users and practitioners. Although government policies can fo...
Tissue vitamin C levels of guinea pig offspring are influenced by maternal vitamin C intake during pregnancy

Abstract The effect of a low to excessive maternal vitamin C intake during pregnancy on the vitamin C concentration of plasma and tissues of guinea pig dams and their pups was evaluated on the day of birth of the litter. Dams were provided low (0.15 g/kg diet) ( n = 7 litters), normal (0.50 g/kg) ( n = 2 litters), or excess (10 g/kg) ( n = 8 litters) dietary vitamin C levels. Maternal weight gain during pregnancy, gestational length, and weight and crown-rump length of pups were similar among vitamin C groups. For plasma, vitamin C values were 5 fold higher for pups and dams of the excess vitamin C group, compared with pups and dams of the low vitamin C group ( P P P P P P P
Response to Is Creatine Kinase the Intrinsic Factor of Smooth Muscle Enhancing Vascular Contractility in Subjects of African Ancestry

Dr Karamat et al1 raise the interesting hypothesis that increased vascular smooth muscle reactivity in subjects of African ancestry may be related to greater activity of the enzyme creatine kinase in vascular muscle cells. Our study was not designed to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms of ethnic differences in vascular reactivity, but it is nevertheless interesting to consider our findings with the creatine kinase hypothesis in mind. If increased creatine kinase activity …
Survival of men with clinically localized prostate cancer treated with prostatectomy, brachytherapy, or no definitive treatment: impact of age at diagnosis.

BACKGROUND. The optimal treatment for men with early stage prostate cancer remains undefined. Survival of such patients after surgery, brachytherapy, or no definitive therapy was investigated specifically to determine the impact of age at diagnosis. METHODS. In all, 60,290 men diagnosed with organ-confined, low and moderate grade prostate cancer between 1988 and 2002 were retrospectively identified from centers participating in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) and any-cause mortality (ACM) were determined. Outcomes for patients treated by brachytherapy, surgery, or receiving no definitive treatment were compared using the Wilcoxon test, stratified by T-stage and grade, and using multivariate analysis. RESULTS. The median follow-up time was 46 months (range, 0–189 months). For men under age 60 at diagnosis, PCSM at 10 years was 1.3%, 0.5%, and 3.7% for surgery, brachytherapy, and no definitive therapy, respectively. For men age 60 and older the PCSM was 3.8%, 5.3%, and 8.4%, respectively. On univariate and multivariate analysis, surgery and brachytherapy resulted in statistically equivalent PCSM and ACM, and both had a significantly lower PCSM and ACM versus no definitive therapy. CONCLUSIONS. A better survival was observed in men treated with a definitive therapy. The magnitude of the benefit on PCSM or ACM was similar for both definitive therapies irrespective of age. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Interval Anisotropic Parameter Estimation Using Velocity-independent Layer Stripping

Moveout analysis of long-spread P-wave data is widely used to estimate the key time-processing parameter η in layered VTI media. Inversion for interval η values, however, suffers from instability caused by the tradeoff between the effective moveout parameters and by the subsequent error amplification during Dix-type layer stripping. Here, we propose an alternative approach to interval parameter estimation based on the velocity-independent layer-stripping method of Dewangan & Tsvankin (2006). This method makes it possible to compute the interval moveout in a layer of interest without knowledge of the medium parameters in the overburden. Then the interval traveltimes are inverted for the normal-moveout velocity (Vnmo) and η using the single-layer nonhyperbolic moveout equation. Thus, the layer stripping of η in the conventional method is replaced by the much more stable stripping of reflection traveltimes. We also develop the 3D version of the layer-stripping method and apply it to interval parameter estimation for orthorhombic media using wide-azimuth P-wave data. The superior accuracy and stability of our algorithm is illustrated on ray-traced synthetic data for typical layered VTI and orthorhombic models. Even small correlated noise in reflection traveltimes produces substantial distortions in the effective η, and for some models, even in the effective Vnmo. As a result, the inter val η values estimated by the conventional Dix-type method may be highly inaccurate. In contrast, the output of our layer-stripping algorithm proves to be insensitive to mild correlated traveltime errors. The algorithm is also tested on wide-azimuth P-wave reflection data recorded above a fractured reservoir at Rulison field in Colorado. The interval moveout parameters estimated by the velocity-independent layer stripping in the shale layer above the reservoir are more plausible and stable than those obtained by the Dix-type method.
Environmental Education for Sustainable Development

(1990). Environmental Education for Sustainable Development? The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 3-6.
Second law analysis of active magnetic regenerative hydrogen liquefiers

Abstract Recent published work in the area of magnetic refrigeration reports on its potential for greater efficiency and high reliability. This paper presents an exergy analysis of a three-stage active magnetic regenerative (AMR) hydrogen liquefier which cools a hydrogen gas stream at 77 K and 1 atm to hydrogen liquid at 20 K. Ortho - para conversion of hydrogen is accomplished in a heat exchanger employing a 10 atm helium fluid that cycles in the refrigerator. The performance of the system is described in terms of the cooling capacity and exergy losses as functions of the magnetic material type, magnetic bed size and temperature, helium mass flow rate, ratio of isofield and adiabatic process times, and the operating frequency.