cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Soil surface strength and infiltration rate as affected by winter cover crops

Abstract Soil surface crusts greatly influence seedling emergence, water infiltration, and soil erosion. It has been hypothesized that cover crops may strongly influence crust strength and infiltration. Thus, studies were conducted at three sites within the Central Valley of California to investigate the effects of cumulative impact energy of simulated rainfall and of winter cover crops on surface soil strength and infiltration. Increasing levels of cumulative impact energy of rainfall resulted in an increase of up to five times in soil surface strength as measured by a micropenetrometer. Oat/vetch and vetch cover crops at the Davis site lowered the surface soil strength by 24–41% and improved cumulative water intake relative to the treatment without a cover crop. However, steady infiltration rate was not significantly affected. At another location (Ceres), the use of bromegrass, resident vegetation and strawberry clover as cover crops not only reduced surface soil strength by 38–41% but also increased steady infiltration rate and cumulative water intake by 37–41% and 20–101%, respectively.
Excess volumes for n-alkanols + n-alkanes I. Binary mixtures of methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol + n-heptane

Abstract Excess volumes VE measured at 298.15 K in a successive-dilution dilatometer are reported for binary mixtures of the n-alkanols C1 to C4 + n-heptane. For ethanol +, and n-butanol + n-heptane, the measurements were extended to high dilutions of alkanol. VE is positive for all of the mixtures but decreases rapidly in magnitude for increasing chain length of the n-alkanol. The results were used to estimate the excess partial molar volumes of the components.
Ecology of selected bacteria in a small intermittent sewage pond

Abstract A small 24 hr retention time sewage oxidation pond in Logan, Utah has been studied to determine if any relationship exists between the population levels of certain bacteria and selected physical factors of the environment. A high degree of relationship has been found between outlet water temperature and certain groups of special fecal indicators. Fecal enterococci (as measured by the KF method) proved to be the most sensitive to environmental conditions with a correlation coefficient to temperature cubed of −0.857. Fecal Escherichia coli was also highly sensitive with a correlation coefficient of −0.752. This last group proved to be more sensitive than the coliform group as a whole (−0.608).
Early aggressive responses in domestic chicks.

Abstract The frequency and persistence of early aggressive responses were studied in isolate and paired white leghorn chicks at 1 2 , 1 1 2 , 2 1 2 and 4 1 2 days of age, by presenting an inanimate stimulus object 44 times at consecutive two-min intervals. Initial threat frequencies were greater in the older chicks. With repeated presentation of the stimulus, there was an initial tendency for threats to increase, especially in the older age classes. In the 4 1 2 -day chicks, this initial increase in threats was associated with a corresponding decrease in competing withdrawal responses. With subsequent presentations, threats declined to low or negligible levels in all groups tested. Aggressive pecks declined at a rate similar to threats, whereas non-aggressive pecks increased. It is concluded that aggressive responses in domestic chicks increase during the first few days after hatching, and are subject to rapid reduction with repeated presentation of the stimulus. The possibility is discussed that the onset of aggression under natural conditions is delayed until the second week of age because repeated exposure to brood mates renders them less effective as eliciting stimuli and retards development of the underlying mechanisms.
Children's ideals: The role of real-life versus media figures

Abstract Results from a recent survey of children's ideals are contrasted with results from a pre-television study (Campbell, 1962). In 1956, 55–75% of children aged 12 and 15 years idealised people known personally (parents, parent surrogates, and young adults) while glamorous adults and media stars were relatively unimportant as ideals. In December 1988, 313 children from grades 5 to 9 were interviewed about the person they'd most like to be like. The majority of ideals (50–75%) were media figures of various types as opposed to people known personally to the child. Sporting heroes, pop stars, actors, and TV characters were most important for boys. Girls made comparatively more mention of friends, parents, and other relatives as ideals, but film stars, TV characters, and models were the most often cited ideals for secondary girls, and pop stars for primary girls. Responses to a question on the person children would least like to be like did not reveal the same predominance of media figures. Instead 50–66...
A Branch and Bound Algorithm for Assembly Line Balancing Problems with Formulation Irregularities

This paper describes a branch and bound algorithm which can solve assembly line balancing probems with nine modifications to the originally formulated problem of minimizing the required number of assembly stations, given a cycle time, a set of tasks with given deterministic performance times, and between-task precedence relationships. The first two formulation modifications are those of permitting planned imbalance in the total of task performance times at each assembly station, and allowing specific tasks to be assigned to specific types of assembly stations. Seven further problem modifications can be solved by the proposed algorithm, or by any algorithm or heuristic that can solve problems containing these first two modifications. They are: treatment of stochastic task performance times on unpaced lines; requirement of particular tasks to be assigned to particular stations; requirement of task groupings according to task skill levels; requirement of particular tasks to be assigned to only a left-of-line or right-of line station; required task separations; some mixed model situations; and where paralleling of a specified task into two or more stations is permitted. The algorithm is presented in both conceptual and detailed form. Computer computation times to solve a selected cross-sectional sample of problems are provided.
Direct comparison of equibiaxial elongational viscosity measurements from lubricated squeezing flow and the MultiAxiales Dehnrheometer

We present the first direct comparisons of rheological data from the lubricated squeezing flow (LSF) technique and the MultiAxiales Dehnrheometer (MAD) instrument developed by Meissner and coworkers (J Rheol 47:989–1010, 2003). Comparisons of transient equibiaxial elongational viscosity are carried out at strain rates well into the nonlinear regime on low-density polyethylene and polystyrene melts. We find data obtained using LSF deviate from the MAD data when the Hencky strain reaches a value of approximately 1, which we interpret as a failure of the LSF technique. The strain at which the LSF technique fails is relatively insensitive to experimental parameters including strain rate. For Hencky strains larger than 1, LSF data display behavior that could easily be mistaken for the phenomenon of strain hardening.
The Differential Impact of Training Stress and Final Examination Stress on Herpesvirus Latency at the United States Military Academy at West Point

In this study, we searched for evidence for reactivation of three latent herpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1), and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), in West Point cadets experiencing two different stressors. Blood samples were obtained from cadets before and after a 6-week training period known as "Cadet Basic Training" (CBT), at a baseline prior to final examinations, and then once again during the week of final examinations. Antibody titers to latent HSV-1, EBV, and HHV-6 were determined as a measure of the steady-state expression of latent virus. EBV virus capsid antigen (VCA) IgG antibody titers were unchanged in blood samples obtained prior to and immediately after CBT. However, EBV antibody titers were significantly higher in the blood sample obtained during examination week than in the baseline period before examination; they were also higher than antibody titers before/after CBT. None of the serum samples were positive for EBV VCA IgM antibodies, indicating that the changes in antibody titers to EBV were not associated with recent EBV infections in the class. No significant changes in antibody titers to HSV-1 or HSV-6 were found over the identical time periods, including examination week. Academic stress but not CBT modulated the steady-state expression of latent EBV, resulting in the reactivation of latent virus. The same stressors, however, did not affect the steady-state expression of latent HSV-1 or HSV-6, at least as measured by changes in antibody titers. The data provide additional evidence of the impact of different psychological stressors on the steady-state expression of latent herpesviruses.
Superior Tarsal Muscle Resection to Correct Blepharoptosis

Resection of the superior tarsal muscle (STM) is effective in correcting congenital or acquired blepharoptosis in patients who have satisfactory elevation of the eyelid with a preoperative phenylephrine eye drops test. Advantages of this procedure are that only the STM is resected, the conjunctiva and basic lacrimal secretors are preserved, tarsal stability is maintained, no special instruments are required, and the preoperative phenylephrine eye drops test reliably predicts the postoperative result.
Does adjuvant radiotherapy have a role in the postmastectomy management of patients with operable breast cancer--revisited.

About 2 decades ago, "routine" adjunctive postmastectomy radiotherapy, especially for axillary node-positive patients, was the norm and uncriticized standard against which adequate treatment was measured in most centers. With the advent of cyclic, aggressive, multi-agent chemotherapy and anti-hormones used as adjuvants, especially within the last decade, there has been tremendous reduction in patients referred to the radiation oncologist for consideration of adjunctive postmastectomy radiotherapy. This presentation will attempt to define a role for radiotherapy in at least selected subsets of patients who undergo modified radical mastectomy, based upon published series in the literature. Breast cancer is a protean disease and deserves a multidisciplinary approach to evaluation and treatment. "Routine" adjunctive postmastectomy radiotherapy for all patients with operable breast cancer obviously is not indicated, but there appear to be groups of patients who benefit from radiotherapy, both from the standpoint of disease-free survival and improved quality of life, and . . . in very narrow subsets, absolute survival. In some of these subsets the benefit clinically may be greater than that resulting from chemotherapy or anti-hormone therapy, although, because of sample size, falling short of statistical verification. In response to the posed question, while this remains a controversial issue, there appears to be a role for selective adjunctive postmastectomy radiotherapy in specific subsets of patients, and physicians administering adjunctive breast cancer therapy with sweeping applications of chemotherapy or anti-hormones alone do not appear to be offering their patients optimal therapy.
Halimeda renschii revived, and Halimeda batanensis (Chlorophyta, Siphonales)

Abstract The Halimeda species renschii, described by Hauck in 1886 was considered a form of H. opuntia by Barton in her 1901 monograph of the genus. Since then there has been little apparent reference to the type description or collection of H. renschii, with the result that much of the material in herbaria assigned to H. opuntia f. renschii is not this taxon. During my continuing study of the genus Halimeda I examined the type collection of H. renschii. A comparison with typical H. opuntia revealed differences in habit, ecology and microscopic characteristics such that H. renschii should be considered a distinct species rather than a form. Rijksherbarium specimen 937,277–154 is designated the lectotype. New H. renschii material includes collections from the International Indian Ocean Expedition. The new species Halimeda batanensis W. R. Taylor was included in this study. No significant differences were found between it and H. renschii, and since the name H. renschii has priority, H. batanensis is placed ...
Geographical differences in seasonality of CZCS-derived phytoplankton pigment in the Arabian Sea for 1978–1986

Abstract In situ measurements of phytoplankton chlorophyll in the Arabian Sea were taken largely along temporally and spatially unevenly distributed sections, scarce especially prior to the operation of NASA's Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS). Herein, the CZCS pigment observations between late 1978 and mid-1986 north of 10°N, including the outer Gulf of Oman, are depicted for 14 subregions beyond the continental shelves as daily means, often only five days apart. To eliminate bias from electronic overshoot, the data were reprocessed with a more conservative cloud screen than used for NASA's Global Data Set. The pattern, derived from the older in situ observations, of one period with elevated chlorophyll almost everywhere during the Southwest Monsoon (SWM) and one additional late-winter bloom in the north, is confirmed. The differing nitrate silicate ratios in freshly entrained water in the central and northern Arabian Sea seem to lead to different succession and perhaps to differing vertical fluxes, and during winter favor blooms only in the north. The spatial pigment pattern in the outer Gulf of Oman is not an extension of that of the northwestern Arabian Sea. The seasonal physical forcing explains much of the timing of pigment concentration changes, but not the levels maintained over long periods. From the CZCS observations it is unclear whether the period of high phytoplankton productivity expected during the SWM in the open Arabian Sea lasts for about two or four months. During this entire season, chlorophyll values in the upper layers rarely exceed 1–2 mg m −3 outside the zone influenced by the Arabian upwelling. Near 15°N, however, fluxes into sediment traps at 3 km depth indicate an onset of high primary production very soon after the arrival of the SWM and suggest a long period of high production in the open sea. The partial temporal disconnect during the SWM between pigment changes in the upper part of the euphotic zone and of fluxes into the traps is disconcerting. For future modeling of plankton production in the open Arabian Sea, the use of two size classes of phytoplankton is recommended. The utility of satellite-derived pigment concentrations (as opposed to temporal changes of pigment) for testing such models is questioned.
Codling moth: control on pears with diflubenzuron and effects on nontarget pest and beneficial species.

Diflubenzuron was evaluated in southern Oregon pear orchards for control of the codling moth, Laspeyresia pomonella (L.), and for effects on nontarget species. Diflubenzuron was most effective when the 1st summer treatment was timed to coincide with 1st moth flight in the late spring. Increased rates of diflubenzuron improved codling moth control but were more disruptive than lower rates to natural enemies of the pear psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerster. Diflubenzuron used at 0.14 kg AI/ha caused no reduction in psylla natural enemies compared to densities in untreated checks. Pear psylla levels were 3- to 4-fold higher in standard treatments with azinphosmethyl or phosmet compared to those in diflubenzuron plots. This was attributed to the reduction in natural enemies found in the organophosphate control program. No increase in two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, densities was noted following diflubenzuron treatments compared to the untreated check plot.
Voluntary information programs and environmental regulation: Evidence from ‘Spare the Air’

Abstract This paper assesses whether individuals change their transportation choices in response to ‘Spare the Air’ (STA) advisories, a public voluntary information program in the San Francisco Bay Area that elicits reductions in ozone-producing activities. Since STAs are issued when ozone levels are predicted to exceed a particular threshold, we use a regression discontinuity design to identify the effect of STAs. We also use traffic conditions in Southern California, an area without STAs, to estimate difference-in-differences models. The results suggest that STAs reduce traffic volume and slightly increase the use of public transit, supporting a potential role for voluntary information programs that directly target individuals as a means for improving local air quality.
A Simulation Administrator's Perspective:

The ABSEL simulation competition revealed a variety of readily identifiable team-playing styles. These types seemed to be associated with various levels of performance and may provide some insights...
Acute Myeloid Leukemia Response Measures Other Than Complete Remission

identifying minimal residual disease (MRD) and complete remission (CR) with incomplete platelet recovery or incomplete blood count recovery (CRp/CRi) as independent prognostic factors for inferior long-term outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Ourunderstandingoftheirresultswouldbenefitfromclarificationof two points. First, given that the majority of the MRD-positive patients were in the CRp/CRi group and accounted for approximately one half of that group, we wondered whether the outcomes for CRp/CRi MRDnegativepatientsapproximatedthoseforpatientsinCRorwereinter
The use of controlled surface topography and flow-induced shear stress to influence renal epithelial cell function

Physiologically-representative and well-controlled in vitro models of human tissue provide a means to safely, accurately, and rapidly develop therapies for disease. Current in vitro models do not possess appropriate levels of cell function, resulting in an inaccurate representation of in vivo physiology. Mechanical parameters, such as sub-micron topography and flow-induced shear stress (FSS), influence cell functions such as alignment, migration, differentiation and phenotypic expression. Combining, and independently controlling, biomaterial surface topography and FSS in a cell culture device would provide a means to control cell function resulting in more physiologically-representative in vitro models of human tissue. Here we develop the Microscale Tissue Modeling Device (MTMD) which couples a topographically-patterned substrate with a microfluidic chamber to control both topographic and FSS cues to cells. Cells from the human renal proximal tubule cell line HK-2 were cultured in the MTMD and exposed to topographic patterns and several levels of FSS simultaneously. Results show that the biomaterial property of surface topography and FSS work in concert to elicit cell alignment and influence tight junction (TJ) formation, with topography enhancing cell response to FSS. By administering independently-controlled mechanical parameters to cell populations, the MTMD creates a more realistic in vitro model of human renal tissue.
Gender and risk behaviors for HIV and sexually transmitted infections among recently released inmates: A prospective cohort study

Women in prison have a higher prevalence of HIV than men. After release from prison, former inmates have the opportunity to engage in risk behaviors for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We sought to assess change in risk behaviors over time and the association of gender with risk behavior in the postrelease period. In this prospective cohort study, we interviewed 200 former inmates (51 women) approximately two weeks (baseline) and three months (follow-up) after release and tested them for HIV infection at follow-up. We examined the association of gender with unprotected vaginal or anal sex in the last seven days using chi-square and Fisher's exact tests and multivariable logistic regression. At baseline, 22% of men and 41% of women reported unprotected vaginal sex (p < 0.01) and 5% of men and 8% of women reported unprotected anal sex (p = 0.51). Being younger (OR for each decade increase 0.48, 95% CI = 0.29-0.80), being gay/lesbian or being bisexual (compared with being heterosexual, OR = 4.74, 95% CI = 1.01-22.17 and OR = 3.98, 95% CI = 1.41-11.26, respectively), or reporting a drug of choice of heroin/speedballs or cocaine/crack (compared with marijuana/no drug of choice, OR = 24.00, 95% CI = 5.15-111.81 and OR = 3.49, 95% CI = 1.20-10.18, respectively) was associated with unprotected vaginal or anal sex after adjusting for race, homelessness, and hazardous drinking. At follow-up, 21% of men and 44% of women reported unprotected sex (p = 0.005), and female gender (OR = 4.42, 95% CI = 1.79-10.94) and hazardous drinking (compared with not meeting criteria for hazardous drinking, OR = 3.64, 95% CI = 1.34-9.86) were associated with unprotected sex, adjusting for race and homelessness. In this population with a high prevalence of HIV, we demonstrated persistent engagement in sexual risk behavior during the postrelease period. Enhanced efforts to promote sexual health and reduced risk behavior among both male and female current and former prison inmates are needed, including improved access to preventive care and HIV and STI screening, testing, and treatment.
Mobile Very Long Baseline Interferometry and Global Positioning System measurement of vertical crustal motion

Mobile Very Long Base Interferometry (VLBI) and Global Positioning System (GPS) geodetic measurements have many error sources in common. Calibration of the effects of water vapor on signal transmission through the atmosphere, however, remains the primary limitation to the accuracy of vertical crustal motion measurements made by either technique. The two primary methods of water vapor calibration currently in use for mobile VLBI baseline measurements were evaluated: radiometric measurements of the sky brightness near the 22 GHz emission line of free water molecules and surface meteorological measurements used as input to an atmospheric model. Based upon a limited set of 9 baselines, it is shown that calibrating VLBI data with water vapor radiometer measurements provides a significantly better fit to the theoretical decay model than calibrating the same data with surface meteorological measurements. The effect of estimating a systematic error in the surface meteorological calibration is shown to improve the consistency of the vertical baseline components obtained by the two calibration methods. A detailed error model for the vertical baseline components obtained indicates current mobile VLBI technology should allow accuracies of order 3 cm with WVR calibration and 10 cm when surface meteorological calibration is used.
Effects of Curvature and Composition on α-Synuclein Binding to Lipid Vesicles

Parkinson's disease is characterized by the presence of intracellular aggregates composed primarily of the neuronal protein α-synuclein (αS). Interactions between αS and various cellular membranes are thought to be important to its native function as well as relevant to its role in disease. We use fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to investigate binding of αS to lipid vesicles as a function of the lipid composition and membrane curvature. We determine how these parameters affect the molar partition coefficient of αS, providing a quantitative measure of the binding energy, and calculate the number of lipids required to bind a single protein. Specific anionic lipids have a large effect on the free energy of binding. Lipid chain saturation influences the binding interaction to a lesser extent, with larger partition coefficients measured for gel-phase vesicles than for fluid-phase vesicles, even in the absence of anionic lipid components. Although we observe variability in the binding of the mutant proteins, differences in the free energies of partitioning are less dramatic than with varied lipid compositions. Vesicle curvature has a strong effect on the binding affinity, with a >15-fold increase in affinity for small unilamellar vesicles over large unilamellar vesicles, suggesting that αS may be a curvature-sensing protein. Our findings provide insight into how physical properties of the membrane may modulate interactions of αS with cellular membranes.
Identifying operons and untranslated regions of transcripts using Escherichia coli RNA expression analysis

Microarrays traditionally have been used to assay the transcript expression of coding regions of genes. Here, we use Escherichia coli oligonucleotide microarrays to assay transcript expression of both open reading frames (ORFs) and intergenic regions. We then use hidden Markov models to analyse this expression data and estimate transcription boundaries of genes. This approach allows us to identify 5 � untranslated regions (5 � UTRs) of transcripts as well as genes that are likely to be operon members. The operon elements we identify correspond to documented operons with 99% specificity and 63% sensitivity. Similarly we find that our 5 � UTR results accurately coincide with experimentally verified promoter regions for most genes.
Instruction fetch characteristics of media processing

This paper presents the results of a quantitative evaluation of the instruction fetch characteristics for media processing. It is commonly known that multimedia applications typically exhibit a significant degree of processing regularity. Prior studies have examined this processing regularity and qualitatively noted that in contrast with general-purpose applications, which tend to retain their data on-chip and stream program instructions in from off-chip, media processing applications are exactly the opposite, retaining their instruction code on-chip and commonly streaming data in from off-chip. This study expounds on this prior work and quantitatively validates their conclusions, while also providing recommendations on architectural methods that can enable more effective and affordable support for instruction fetching in media processing.
Treatment Activity Preferences of Occupational Therapists in Adult Physical Dysfunction Settings

OBJECTIVES Research has suggested that using an adaptive approach to provide direct training in occupational behaviors is more effective than using a remedial approach to retrain component skills. This survey was done to see whether occupational therapy practice in physical dysfunction reflects that research. METHOD Surveys from a convenience sample of 269 (70.2% response rate) occupational therapy directors in adult physical rehabilitation facilities throughout the United States were analyzed to determine the relative rankings of remedial and adaptive activities by therapists in those settings. RESULTS For all facilities combined, the four most frequently used types of activities, in order of frequency, were self-care, upper extremity exercise, functional mobility, and neuromuscular training. Facilities using multiple formal methods to assess client priorities used functional activities more frequently than other facilities. CONCLUSION Occupational therapists in adult physical dysfunction settings are not routinely providing client training in the full spectrum of occupational behaviors.
Calculating and Achieving Capacity on the Unknown Fading MIMO Channel

This paper calculates both an upper bound and a constructive lower bound on the capacity of an N transmitter, K receiver MIMO fading network. The channel between the transmitters and the receivers is Rayleigh flat fading with fading coefficients unknown to both transmitters and receivers. The lower bound is derived from a practicable successive decoding scheme, and when N is significantly larger than K, it approaches the upper bound with increasing coherence length of the fading process. Obviously, in the limit of large coherence lengths, the system becomes coherent and so is trivial. However, the lower and upper bounds of this paper are close to the MIMO capacity even when the system is highly non-coherent. For example, with N = 50, K = 15 and a coherence length of 200, the achievable rate of the successive decoding scheme diverges from the upper bound by just 6%, even when it is only 40% of coherent capacity. At this design point, the scheme achieves a rate of 13 bits/sec/Hz, significantly greater than any current cellular standards.
A simulation‐optimization framework for research and development pipeline management

The Research and Development Pipeline management problem has far-reaching economic implications for new-product-development-driven industries, such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agrochemical industries. Effective decision-making is required with respect to portfolio selection and project task scheduling in the face of significant uncertainty and an ever-constrained resource pool. The here-and-now stochastic optimization problem inherent to the management of an R&D Pipeline is described in its most general form, as well as a computing architecture, Sim-Opt, that combines mathematical programming and discrete event system simulation to assess the uncertainty and control the risk present in the pipeline. The R&D Pipeline management problem is viewed in Sim-Opt as the control problem of a performance-oriented, resource-constrained, stochastic, discrete-event, dynamic system. The concept of time lines is used to study multiple unique realizations of the controlled evolution of the discrete-event pipeline system. Four approaches using various degrees of rigor were investigated for the optimization module in Sim-Opt, and their relative performance is explored through an industrially motivated case study. Methods are presented to efficiently integrate information across the time lines from this framework. This integration of information demonstrated in a case study was used to infer a creative operational policy for the corresponding here-and-now stochastic optimization problem.
Participatory photography: A tool for empowerment or surveillance?

Based on a case study of a participatory photography project with a Salvadoran adult literacy program, this article explores some of the challenges and risks that arise when people use cameras to d...
Gender and the Deconstruction nf the Race Concept

Consensus over the utility and validity of the race concept no longer exists in anthropology. More anthropologists today reject the concept than accept it. Women have played a significant role in the concept's deconstruction. Factors that have contributed to this change include the discipline's concepts, traditions, and domain; new data; new research paradigms; feminist viewpoints; biographical histories; and the external social milieu.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) associated polymorphisms regulate expression of adjacent transcripts in transformed lymphocytes, adipose, and muscle from Caucasian and African-American subjects.

Some type 2 diabetes-associated SNPs identified by genome-wide association scans may act as cis-eQTL and increase disease susceptibility by modulating expression of nearby transcripts in human tissues.
Development of Monozygotic Twin Mouse Embryos from the Time of Blastomere Separation at the Two-Cell Stage to Blastocyst

The development of blastomeres separated from two-cell stage murine embryos has been compared. Blastomeres were removed from the zona pellucida (ZP) and cultured individually; the twin embryos were compared during their progression to blastocyst in terms of development rate, cell number, morphology, conformation at the four-cell stage, and CDX2 and POU5F1 (also known as OCT4) expression. In general, twin embryos, whether obtained from superovulated or normally bred dams, displayed comparable cell numbers as they advanced. They formed morulae and blastocysts more or less synchronously with each other and with control embryos, although possessing about half of the latter's cell number. Despite this apparent synchrony, the majority of twin blastocysts differed in terms of their relative complements of POU5F1+/CDX2− cells, which represent inner cell mass (ICM), and POU5F1+/CDX2+ cells, which identify trophectoderm (TE). Many, but not all, exhibited a disproportionately small ICM. By contrast, demiembryos retained within their ZP and created by randomly damaging one of the two blastomeres in two-cell stage embryos exhibited a more normal ratio of ICM to TE cells at blastocyst and significantly less variance in ICM cell number. One possible explanation is that ZP-free demiembryos only infrequently adopt the same conformation as their partners, including the favorable tetrahedral form, at the four-cell stage, suggesting that such embryos exhibit a high degree of plasticity with regard to the orientation of their first two cleavage planes and that a significant number likely deviate from paths that provide an optimal geometric progression to blastocyst. These data could explain the difficulty of creating monozygotic twins from two-cell stage embryos.
Relocation of mitochondria to the prospective dorsal marginal zone during Xenopus embryogenesis

Dorsal-ventral axis formation in Xenopus laevis begins with a cytoplasmic rotation during the first cell cycle and culminates in a series of cell interactions and movements during gastrulation and neurulation that lead to the formation of dorsal-anterior structures. Evidence reported here indicates that mitochondria are differentially redistributed along the prospective dorsal-ventral axis as a consequence of the cortical-cytoplasmic rotation during the first cell cycle. This finding reinvigorates a possibility that has been considered for many years: asymmetries in cytoplasmic components and metabolic activities contribute to the development of morphological asymmetries.
Synthesis and application of water-soluble hyperbranched poly(ester)s from maleic anhydride and glycerol

A water-soluble hyperbranched polyester with a considerable number of hydroxyl terminal groups was synthesized by reacting maleic anhydride and glycerol in the absence of a solvent. The synthesized intermediate product was converted to the hyperbranched polyester by condensation polymerization, and the water by-product produced during the esterification reaction may be removed by vacuum distillation. In the synthesis process, the crosslinking reaction occurs readily if maleic anhydride is in excess. The result shows that the product synthesized by this one-step method is insoluble in water at room temperature, whereas the product of a quasi one-step method, in which pentaerythritol was added as a core molecule, has good water solubility when pentaerythritol and the raw material have a molar ratio of 1 : 100 or 1 : 150. The resulting hyperbranched polyester was purified by column chromatography and characterized by infrared spectrometry. The synthetic hyperbranched polyester was used at 0.5% as a crosslinking agent for acrylic ester to inform acrylic ester latex film; the water absorption of the film was decreased significantly, the viscosity was increased, and some mechanical properties were improved. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
SPECTRAL THEORY OF AUTOMORPHIC FORMS: A VERY BRIEF INTRODUCTION

These are the notes to accompany some lectures delivered at the 2005 Nato ASI summer school in Montreal. They constitute an introduction to the spectral theory of automorphic forms. The viewpoint is slightly nonstandard, in that we present first the “group representation” viewpoint and later descend to the upper-half plane. The notes reflect quite faithfully the content of the lectures. However I have added references for proofs, which are almost entirely omitted. A major omission is of any form of trace formula: we cover neither the Selberg trace formula, nor the Kuznetsov or Petersson formulae.
Effects of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce on Academic Engagement and Disruptive Behavior.

This study assessed the effectiveness of prevent-teach-reinforce (P-T-R), a functional behavioral assessment-based intervention for students with behavior problems, using an A-B-A-B design with follow-up. Participants included three students in kindergarten, fourth grade, and fifth grade in a rural Midwestern school district. P-T-R interventions were implemented with fidelity by all teachers and P-T-R was associated with mean decreases in disruptive behavior for all participants with Tau-U effect sizes ranging from minimal to strong. All three participants demonstrated mean increases in academic engagement with strong effect sizes. P-T-R interventions were associated with moderate to high levels of perceived social validity. Implications for consistent and efficient FBA-based interventions in schools are discussed.
Efficient approximate ML decoding units for polar list decoders

Polar codes are of great interest since they are the first provably capacity-achieving forward error correction codes. To improve throughput of polar decoders, maximum likelihood (ML) decoding units are used by successive cancellation list (SCL) decoders as well as successive cancellation (SC) decoders. In this paper, an approximate ML (AML) decoding unit with reduced complexity for SCL decoders is proposed. In particular, we investigate the distribution of frozen bits of polar codes designed for the binary erasure channel and additive white Gaussian noise channel, and take advantage of the distribution to reduce the complexity of the AML decoding unit. Simulation and synthesis results show that the proposed AML decoding unit has much lower complexity.
Stretching Your Energetic Budget: How Tendon Compliance Affects the Metabolic Cost of Running.

Muscles attach to bones via tendons that stretch and recoil, affecting muscle force generation and metabolic energy consumption. In this study, we investigated the effect of tendon compliance on the metabolic cost of running using a full-body musculoskeletal model with a detailed model of muscle energetics. We performed muscle-driven simulations of running at 2–5 m/s with tendon force–strain curves that produced between 1 and 10% strain when the muscles were developing maximum isometric force. We computed the average metabolic power consumed by each muscle when running at each speed and with each tendon compliance. Average whole-body metabolic power consumption increased as running speed increased, regardless of tendon compliance, and was lowest at each speed when tendon strain reached 2–3% as muscles were developing maximum isometric force. When running at 2 m/s, the soleus muscle consumed less metabolic power at high tendon compliance because the strain of the tendon allowed the muscle fibers to operate nearly isometrically during stance. In contrast, the medial and lateral gastrocnemii consumed less metabolic power at low tendon compliance because less compliant tendons allowed the muscle fibers to operate closer to their optimal lengths during stance. The software and simulations used in this study are freely available at simtk.org and enable examination of muscle energetics with unprecedented detail.
Am I My Sister’s Keeper? Linking Domestic Violence Attitudes to Black Racial Identity

This exploratory online investigation sought to examine the links between African American college women’s gender role attitudes, Black racial identity attitudes, and domestic violence attitudes to...
Enhancing domain specific language implementations through ontology

Domain specific languages (DSLs) offer an attractive path to program large-scale, heterogeneous parallel computers since application developers can leverage high-level annotations defined by DSLs to efficiently express algorithms without being distracted by low-level hardware details. However, performance of DSL programs heavily relies on how well a DSL implementation, including compilers and runtime systems, can exploit knowledge across multiple layers of software/hardware environments for optimizations. The knowledge ranges from domain assumptions, high-level DSL semantics, to low-level hardware features. Traditionally, such knowledge is either implicitly assumed or represented using ad-hoc approaches, including narrative text, source-level annotations, or customized software and hardware specifications in high performance computing (HPC). The lack of a formal, uniform, extensible, reusable and scalable knowledge management approach is becoming a major obstacle to efficient DSLs implementations targeting fast-changing parallel architectures.In this paper, we present a novel DSL implementation paradigm using an ontology-based knowledge base to formally and uniformly exploit the knowledge needed for optimizations. An ontology is a formal and explicit knowledge representation to describe concepts, properties, and individuals in a domain. During the past decades, a wide range of ontology standards and tools have been developed to help users capture, share, utilize and reason domain knowledge. Using modern ontology techniques, we design a knowledge base capturing concepts and properties of a problem domain, DSL programs, and hardware architectures. Compiler interfaces are also defined to allow interactions with the knowledge base to assist program analysis, optimization and code generation. Our preliminary evaluation using stencil computation shows the feasibility and benefits of our approach.
Studies on thiobacillus denitrificans

Experiments with T. denitrificans have shown that this bacterium cannot develop in media devoid of ammonium salts, and that iron is required for growth. Pure cultures have been isolated by means of a modified medium which permits rapid growth in serial transfers. The organism has been characterized as an obligatory chemoautotroph which can oxidize a number of inorganic sulfur compounds (elementary sulfur, thiosulfate, tetrathionate) either aerobically with O2, or anaerobically with nitrate as oxidant.
Heazlewoodite, Ni3S2: A Potent Catalyst for Oxygen Reduction to Water under Benign Conditions

Electrodeposited thin films and nanoparticles of Ni3S2 are highly active, poison- and corrosion-resistant catalysts for oxygen reduction to water at neutral pH. In pH 7 phosphate buffer, Ni3S2 displays catalytic onset at 0.8 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, a Tafel slope of 109 mV decade(-1), and high faradaic efficiency for four-electron reduction of O2 to water. Under these conditions, the activity and stability of Ni3S2 exceeds that of polycrystalline platinum and manganese, nickel, and cobalt oxides, illustrating the catalytic potential of pairing labile first-row transition metal active sites with a more covalent sulfide host lattice.
Recurrent Early Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis Caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae Subspecies equisimilis.

Streptococcus dysgalactiae ssp. equisimilis (SDSE) is a beta-hemolytic streptococcus belonging to Lancefield group G or C. Early prosthetic valve endocarditis is rare, and mostly due to staphlylococcus. Here we describe a rare cause of a malignant infective endocarditis, and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of recurrent (early) PVE caused by this microorganism. We are attempting to bring home the point that SDSE seldom causes endocarditis. But when it does occur it can be severe, and often recurrent and destructive in nature and unless the treating clinician is aware, this can potentially lead to an unfavorable outcome. During our research and literature review we found that there is under representation of the importance of SDSE endocarditis, arguably due to its rarity.
Development, discrimination, and domestic terrorism: Looking beyond a linear relationship

This study relates economic development to one of the well-observed predictors of domestic terrorism—minority discrimination—and revisits the relationship between terrorism and economic development. We argue that terrorism may be a rational choice when minorities’ exclusion from political power and relative deprivation from public goods increases and the unsettling forces in the initial phases of economic development provide aggrieved people with opportunities for mobilization. We find that economic development has a curvilinear relationship with terrorism. Highly developed countries are less likely to experience domestic terrorism than less-developed ones and the least developed countries have few targets. However, both rich and middle-income countries are vulnerable to domestic terrorism in the presence of minority discrimination.
Controller Synthesis for Maximizing Disturbance Bounds in Linear Uncertain Systems

Abstract A recently developed design methodology [1]-[4] for maximizing the disturbance bound for SISO systems with no uncertainty is extended to SISO systems with structured uncertainty. In particular, we consider systems of the form Y s = G u s , α U s + G w s , α W s where U(s) is the control input, W(s) is the disturbance, Y(s) is the output and a is a vector characterizing the bounded uncertain parameters. The objective is to synthesize a controller Gc(s) to (i) maximize the disturbance bound (ii) simultaneously satisfy hard magnitude constraints on the control, output and intermediate states and (iii) satisfy bandwidth constraints. The methodology proposed is based on pointwise design in the frequency domain. The plant uncertainty is characterized by templates that depend on the frequency. Since the magnitude and phase vary with both frequency and the uncertain parameters, a Nichols chart is utilized to represent the plant templates. These templates are generated by bounding the uncertain plant by the so-called Kharitonov polynomials. Controller synthesis is accomplished by loop shaping so that the nominal loop transfer function stays within the acceptable boundaries in the Nichols chart corresponding to each frequency. In order to generate the allowable design regions, the state/control constraints and bandwidth limitations are incorporated into a set of target transfer functions. These target transfer functions are chosen on the basis of a unit step distrubance. Selecting the targets is particularly easy if only disturbance rejection is considered. The entire design process utilizes classical control theory and has much in common with QFT [5]. The design procedure is illustrated by an example.