cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conformational landscapes of nonplanar porphyrins: superstructure, ligation, binding pockets and oxidation effects in Cu(II) porphyrins

Abstract The crystal structure of the porphyrin π cation radical Cu(II)OETPP + pyl 3 − ·py is reported (OETPP = 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin; py = pyridine). The compound is readily prepared by oxidation of Cu(II)OETPP in CH 2 Cl 2 with excess I 2 in the presence of py. The structure exhibits the following features: (1) The porphyrin is oxidized, not the Cu(II). (2) The Cu(II) is pentacoordinated with one py as axial ligand. (3) The sterically crowded macrocycle is saddle shaped. This distortion and the peripheral substituents combine to form superstructural, orthogonal ‘trenches’ above and below the porphyrin plane. (4) The trenches impose a specific orientation on the ligated axial py along the NCuN axis of the porphyrin and also form a ‘distal’ binding pocket that traps a second molecule of py. (5) The Cu(II)OETPP + py radical is diamagnetic because of antiferromagnetic coupling between the unpaired electrons of the Cu d x 2 -v 2 and the porphyrin π orbitals which is favored by the nonplanarity of the macrocycle. (6) The radical is more distorted than its nonplanar parent and provides additional support for the thesis that nonplanar porphyrins can easily undergo additional structural excursions. Conformational changes of the type reported here may also influence the reactivities of the π cation radicals formed in the (photo)catalytic cycles of photosynthetic and hemoproteins also comprised of nonplanar porphyrins. Crystallographic data: Cc ( No. 9), a = 21.706(2) A , b = 16.077(2) A , c = 19.993(2) A , β = 103.34(1)°, V = 6789(1) A 3 , Z = 4 .
Vibrational CD study of the thermal denaturation of poly(rA).poly(rU)

The vibrational cd (VCD) of a double-stranded RNA, poly(rA) - poly(rU), at pH 7 and moderate added salt concentration (0.1M) has been measured in both the base-stretching and phosphate-stretching regions of the ir as a function of temperature. The data in both cases show two distinct phase transitions. The first is from double- to a triple-stranded form, and the second is from triple- to single-stranded forms, which still retain substantial local order even up to 80°C. The nature of these transitions has been identified by comparison of the VCD and ir absorption spectra of the initially double-stranded samples with those of single-stranded poly(rA) and poly(rU) and with triple-stranded poly-(rA) -poly-(rU) poly (rU). The large differences in the VCD band shapes allows positive identification of the intermediate and final states. Thus under VCD-concentration conditions, a simple helix-to-coil transition can be eliminated for poly (rA ) - poly (rU) while such a two-step transition can be seen at low salt conditions. All of these observations are consistent with previous studies of the phase transitions of poly (rA) - poly (rU) under various salt conditions. Additionally, the VCD is indicative of premelting for all the triple-, double-, and single-strand complexes studied. The triple-strand complex did not show disproportionation to double strand on heating under these added salt conditions. The unusual VCD pattern for low temperature poly (rA) - poly (rU), as compared to high GC content RNAs and DNAs, is qualitatively, but not quantitatively, explained using exciton coupling of localized dipolar transitions in each type of base within the strand. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Squalamine is not a proton ionophore.

Abstract Squalamine, an aminosterol antibiotic isolated from the dogfish shark, creates relatively large defects in phospholipid bilayers, allowing the unrestricted translocation of small molecules across these compromised membranes (B.S. Selinsky, Z. Zhou, K.G. Fotjik, S.R. Jones, N.R. Dollahon, A.E. Shinnar, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1370 (1998) 218–234). However, an aminosterol structurally similar to squalamine was found to act as a proton ionophore in anionic phospholipid vesicles. In contrast with squalamine, gross membrane disruption was not observed with this synthetic analog (G. Deng, T. Dewa, S.L. Regen, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 118 (1996) 8975–8976). In this report, the ionophoric activity of squalamine was tested in anionic and zwitterionic phospholipid vesicles. No ionophoric activity was observed for squalamine in vesicles comprised of phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylcholine (PC), or a mixture of the two lipids. Experiments using radiolabeled squalamine indicated that all of the squalamine added to PG vesicles remained with the vesicles, while approximately one-half of the squalamine added to PC vesicles was incorporated. We have synthesized the aminosterol analog of squalamine possessing ionophoric activity, and its ionophoric activity in PG vesicles was confirmed. The synthetic compound possessed no measurable lytic activity when added to preformed phospholipid vesicles. As both compounds possess significant antimicrobial activity, these results suggest that either multiple mechanisms for the antimicrobial activity of aminosterols exist, depending upon the aminosterol structure, or possibly an unrelated common mechanism for antimicrobial activity remains to be discovered.
Alcohol Use and Wages of Young Men: Whites vs. Nonwhites

According to the medical community a host of ills accompanies prolonged alcohol use including memory loss, motor dysfunction, and impaired judgement. While deduction suggests alcohol use would reduce wages, past empirical studies find differently. For example, Berger and Leigh (1988) find a 32% wage premium for drinkers. Our study differs in two ways. First, self-selection is corrected using observed variables and secondly, an adjustment for the income effect is incorporated. Our results suggest drinkers receive a wage penalty the size of which differs across races. Nonwhite drinkers (blacks and hispanics) face a 7.3% penalty while white drinkers receive a 3.2% penalty.
DYNAMIC PARTNERSHIP FORMATION FOR MULTI-ROVER COORDINATION

Coordinating multiagent systems to maximize global information collection is a key challenge in many real world applications such as planetary exploration, and search and rescue. In particular, in many domains where communication is expensive (e.g., in terms of energy), the coordination must be achieved in a passive manner, without agents explicitly informing other agents of their states and/or intended actions. In this work, we extend results on such multiagent coordination algorithms to domains where the agents cannot achieve the required tasks without forming teams. We investigate team formation in three types of domains, one where n agents need to perform a task for the team to receive credit, one where there is an optimal number of agents (n) required for the task, but where the agents receive a decaying reward if they form a team with membership other than n, and finally we investigate heterogeneous teams where individuals vary in construction. Our results show that encouraging agents to coordinate is more successful than strictly requiring coordination. We also show that devising agent objective functions that are aligned with the global objective and locally computable significantly outperform systems where agents directly use the global objective, and that the improvement increases with the complexity of the task.
An infinitely repeated rental model with incomplete information

Abstract In an infinitely repeated rental model with two types of buyer and no discounting, the set of all Nash equilibrium payoffs for the seller and the buyer is characterized.
Globalization of foreign trade zones: the case of the united states

Global business success is often measured based on the ability of multinational corporations to exports and a country's ability to secure a zone for storage, exhibition, repackaging, manufacturing, and distribution. The U.S. government promoted global business zones via enacting an amendment to the Trade Act in the early twentieth century. The focus of attention was then turned to the economic and social impact of zones and the regulatory status of U.S. trade under tariffs, quotas, and trade barriers. This study emphasizes the quantitative decision-making models to assess the use of U.S. foreign trade zones in a global business perspective. It also evaluates the potential savings of zone usage for reexport, and the drawbacks of import bonds in connection with tariff and nontariff trade barriers.
Explanatory Style and Health: Mechanisms Linking Pessimism to Illness1

This study tests the relationship between pessimistic explanatory style and illness with questionnaire data. Questionnaires were administered to 234 college students at a midsized Western university. Four variables were tested as potential mediators of the pessimistic explanatory style/illness relationship: symptoms of deprcssion, perceived stress, social support, and poor health practices. Results indicated that only the global dimension of pessimistic explanatory style was related to experiences of illness, and hence was the only dimension that could be mediated by the proposed variables. Results demonstrated that symptoms of depression mediated the relationship between global attributions for negative events and illness. Exploratory analyses also suggest that stress is implicated in this process such that it increases symptoms of depression, which in turn influence illness.
An Exploration of Teacher Acceptability of Treatment Plan Implementation: Monitoring and Feedback Methods

To date, treatment plan implementation (TPI) monitoring and feedback methods have increased teacher TPI levels in single-subject designs and a randomized field trial. However, when innovative procedures such as these require significant changes in teachers' daily practice, acceptability becomes an important variable, and the extent to which teachers view various TPI monitoring and feedback methods as acceptable is unknown. The purposes of this exploratory research thus were to document teachers' acceptability ratings of these methods, differences in acceptability ratings between teachers having differential characteristics, and other TPI support methods that teachers identify. Respondents completed a survey that assesses acceptability of monitoring and feedback methods, gathers information on demographics, and provides an opportunity to supply other potential methods of TPI support. Results indicated significant differences between acceptability ratings regarding the personnel involved, frequency, communi...
System reduction via truncated Hankel matrices

The problem of approximating Hankel operators of finite or infinite rank by lower-rank Hankel operators is considered. For efficiency, truncated Hankel matrices are used as the intermediate step before other existing algorithms such as theCF algorithms are applied to yield the desirable approximants. If the Hankel operator to be approximated is of finite rank, the order of approximation by truncated Hankel operators is obtained. It is also shown that when themths-number is simple, then rational symbols of the best rank-m Hankel approximants of thenth truncated Hankel matrices converge uniformly to the corresponding rational symbol of the best rank-m Hankel approximant of the original Hankel operator asn tends to infinity.
COMMON FACTORS IN SEX AND RACE DISCRIMINATION

St/mmary.-The attitudes of white males, white females, black males, and black females toward changing roles for women and blacks were determined using a Likert scale. Principal components factor analysis wich varimax rotations was used to identify items that loaded at lest .40 on the factors. Significant differences at the .001 level (df = 3/82) were found for the total instrument. Factor I, Factor 11, and the subscales on role change for blacks and females. The strongest bias was expressed by blacks on the total scale and Factor I (Changes in the Status Quo) and by white females on role change for blacks and Factor I1 (Strategies for Equalization). Legislative mandates as well as group efforts for reform are focusing attention on the economic rights of minorities, particularly of blacks and women. This increased competition from minorities for society's benefits may result in greater prejudice by other groups in society. Prior research, however, has not investigated attitudes toward the changing economic roles of minorities. Rather, studies have investigated either racial prejudice or sex bias with reference to specific situations. Typical examples include sex-role stereotyping (Bern, 1974), attitudes toward women managers (Peters, Torberg, & Trynor, 1974), the degree of sex attribution (Zeldow 8: Greenberg, 1975), cognitive differences between blacks and whites (Hurh, 1972), and the dimensions of verbalized racial actitudes (Brigham, Woodmansee, & Cook, 1976). In contrast, the purpose of the present srudy was to determine attitudes toward new roles for both blacks and women. The hypothesis was that there are significant differences between white males, white females, black males, and black females in their responses to new roles for blacks and women.
Beyond religious fundamentalisms: An analysis of resistance in the Kanwar pilgrimage in India

This article undertakes a conceptual analysis of the notion of ‘resistance’ in the context of ethnographic research on an expanding mass religious movement in contemporary India. Sociologists usually see such growing religious phenomena as ‘fundamentalist’ and ‘reactionary’ and are skeptical of the component of social resistance to them. I argue that this reflects a flawed framing of ‘resistance’, in a teleological, modernist paradigm. Instead, this article advances an alternate understanding of ‘resistance’ in a hermeneutic that interweaves the phenomenological critiques of Hegelian philosophy, Kant’s connections between ethics and freedom, and the pairing of resistance with transference in Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Bringing the lessons of psychoanalytic practice with critical ethnography, I argue that such re-articulation of ‘resistance’ is indispensable for a radical epistemology that can encounter the infectious certitudes and new, global infrastructures of repressive power and violence.
Abstract only: Solving linear recurrence relations

We will present an implementation of several algorithms for solving second order linear recurrence relations. The algorithms are described in two papers accepted at ISSAC 2010. Our implementation can find Liouvillian solutions, as well as solutions written in terms of values of special functions such as the 2F1 hypergeometric function, Bessel, Whittaker, Legendre, Laguerre, etc.We have done an automated search in Sloane's online encyclopedia of integer sequences, to find sequences that satisfy a second order recurrence. Our implementation solves a large majority of such recurrence relations. The papers and implementation are available at http://www.math.fsu.edu/~glevy/implementation.
Exploring the utility of general strain theory in explaining problematic alcohol consumption by police officers

Research has shown a link between police officer stress and negative coping strategies, particularly problematic alcohol consumption. Unfortunately, most research on this topic has not been theoretically informed. Agnew's general strain theory (GST) offers a potential theoretical explanation for this relationship. Furthermore, few studies of GST had been conducted on samples other than school-aged adolescents or college students. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, the authors examined whether GST could explain drinking prevalence and problematic alcohol consumption among police officers. Second, the generalizability of GST to a sample of police officers was examined. Using data collected from a large sample of Baltimore, Maryland police officers, support for GST was found. Consistent with theoretical expectations, multivariate logit and ordinal logit regression models showed that the relationship between work-related strain and drinking prevalence and problematic alcohol consumption was mediated through anxiety/depression. Ideas for future research are discussed.
Genetic Interaction Between NRAS and BRAF Mutations and PTEN/MMAC1 Inactivation in Melanoma

Extant evidence implicates growth factor signaling in the pathogenesis of many tumor types, including cutaneous melanoma. Recently, reciprocal activating mutations of NRAS and BRAF were found in benign melanocytic nevi and cutaneous melanomas. We had previously reported a similar epistatic relationship between activating NRAS mutations and inactivating PTEN/MMAC1 alterations. We thus hypothesized that BRAF and PTEN/MMAC1 mutations may cooperate to promote melanoma tumorigenesis. Overall, 40 of 47 (85%) melanoma cell lines and 11 of 16 (69%) uncultured melanoma metastases had mutations in NRAS, BRAF, or PTEN/MMAC1. NRAS was exclusively mutated in nine of 47 (19%) cell lines and two of 16 (13%) metastases, whereas BRAF was solely mutated in 28 of 47 (60%) cell lines and nine of 16 (56%) metastases. In the 12 of 15 melanoma cell lines (80%) and two of two melanoma metastases with PTEN alterations, BRAF was also mutated. These findings suggest the existence of possible cooperation between BRAF activation and PTEN loss in melanoma development.
The Geography of Displacement and Replacement in Charlotte Smith’s The Emigrants

This essay argues that The Emigrants reveals the contradictions and shortcomings inherent in dominant late‐eighteenth‐century English and French geographical self‐representations as well as in the material realities of England and France. The poem shows how the actual uses of inhabited spaces, along with geographical self‐representations in maps, newspapers and magazines, alienated and displaced many of the people who constituted the two nations. Through both negative and positive examples, the poem offers a preferable self‐representation that might replace the existing ones. Smith and many of her contemporaries recognized what postmodern geographers like Edward Soja have only recently reasserted: that “the organization and meaning of space is a product of social translation, transformation, and experience.” Smith’s Emigrants challenges the dominant organizations and meanings of British and French spaces, offering instead a peaceful, egalitarian replacement—a replacement that, she indicates, is immanent i...
DRAM-based FPGA enabled by three-dimensional (3d) memory stacking (abstract only)

Motivated by the emerging three-dimensional (3D integration technologies, this paper studies the potential of applying 3D memory stacking to enable FPGA devices use on-chip DRAM cells to store configuration data. In current design practice, FPGAs do not use on-chip DRAM cells for configuration data storage mainly because on-chip DRAM self-refreshing involves destructive DRAM read operations. This problem can be solved if we use a 3D stacked memory as primary FPGA configuration data storage and externally refresh on-chip DRAM cells. Since the 3D stacked memory can easily store multiple sets of configuration data, it can meanwhile enable high-speed FPGA dynamic reconfiguration. In this paper, we study such DRAM-based FPGA design enabled by 3D memory stacking and investigate potential design issues, and employ the VPR tool set to demonstrate that DRAM-based FPGAs can noticeably reduce FPGA die area and hence improve speed and energy consumption performance, compared their SRAM-based counterparts.
Removal of a Gunther Tulip retrievable inferior vena cava filter after 147 days in a pediatric patient

A Gunther Tulip retrievable inferior vena cava filter was placed in a 9-year-old boy with T-cell ALL who had both iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and acute intracranial hemorrhage. The filter was removed 147 days after placement, when the patient was no longer at increased risk for DVT or pulmonary embolus. Removal of the filter did not compromise flow through the vena cava.
ULTRASTRUCTURAL AND PALEOBIOCHEMICAL CORRELATIONS AMONG FOSSIL LEAF TISSUES FROM THE ST. MARIES RIVER (CLARKIA) AREA, NORTHERN IDAHO, USA'

Miocene angiosperm leaf tissues of Betula, Hydrangea, Platanus, and Quercus, and of Castanea, Persea, and gymnospermous tissues from offshore and onshore lacustrine sediments, respectively, reveal various states of ultrastructural detail in preservation which correlate with their paleobiochemical profiles. Excellent cytologic preservation of membrane-bound organelles in offshore tissue samples is correlated with relatively mild chlorophyll and fatty acid degradation (chlorins, unsaturated hydrocarbons), while progressive deterioration of ultrastructure seen in onshore specimens is concomitant with extensive chlorophyll degradation and saturation of hydrocarbons. Comparative studies between fossils found in pyroclastic (Succor Creek Flora, Miocene) and lacustrine (Clarkia Flora) environments indicate that the degree of pre- and postdepositional hydration of tissues is a less significant factor in determining preservation than redox potential and secondary metabolites (tannic acids, chlorophyll derivatives). A sequence of organelle degradation in leaf tissues is given, and it is suggested that chloroplasts and cell walls are the most stable cellular constituents, while the endoplasmic reticulum, nuclei, and mitochondria are the most labile. THE PRESERVATION of fossil tissues may, in principle, be assessed by the analysis of their cytology and biochemistry, which reflect the two major physical manifestations of the fossilization process. Studies of fossil plant tissues indicate that the excellent preservation of subcellular features such as organelles is more widespread than formerly thought (cf. Mamay, 1957; Millay and Eggert, 1974; Niklas,
Scale-invariance in brightness illusions implicates object-level visual processing.

Brightness illusions demonstrate that an object's perceived brightness depends on its visual context, leading to theoretical explanations ranging from simple lateral inhibition to those based on the influence of knowledge of and experience with the world. We measure the relative brightness of mid-luminance test disks embedded in gray-scale images and show that rankings of test disk brightness are independent of viewing distance, implying that the rankings depend on the physical object size, not the size of disks subtended on the retina. A single filter that removes low spatial frequency content, adjusted to the diameters of the test disks, can account for the relative brightness of the disks. We note that the removal of low spatial frequency content is a principle common to many different approaches to brightness/lightness phenomena; furthermore, object-size representations--as opposed to retinal-size representations--inherently remove low spatial frequency content, therefore, any process that creates object representations should also produce brightness illusions.
Asymptotic behavior of the expected optimal value of the multidimensional assignment problem

The Multidimensional Assignment Problem (MAP) is a higher-dimensional version of the Linear Assignment Problem that arises in the areas of data association, target tracking, resource allocation, etc. This paper elucidates the question of asymptotical behavior of the expected optimal value of the large-scale MAP whose assignment costs are independent identically distributed random variables with a prescribed probability distribution. We demonstrate that for a broad class of continuous distributions the limiting value of the expected optimal cost of the MAP is determined by the location of the left endpoint of the support set of the distribution, and construct asymptotical bounds for the expected optimal cost.
PATTERN AND PROCESS IN INSECT FEEDING BEHAVIOUR: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE, EPILACHNA VARIVESTIS

No-choice feeding trials and automatic feeding detector studies were used in a quantitative analysis of the feeding behaviour of adult Mexican bean beetles on their host-plant. Different chemical stimuli and physiological factors gave clearly distinguishable patterns in the feeding process. Compared to controls: age had no marked effect; starvation synchronised and reduced the time of initiating feeding, increased consumption rates, increased feeding duration, but did not alter the number of meals; sucrose increased consumption rates over the same feeding duration as controls, and reduced the number of meals; phenolic compounds decreased consumption rates, feeding durations and number of meals. The methodology produces quantitative indices of specific feeding behaviours from the measurement of cumulative consumption/time data, while being sufficiently rapid for screening plant materials and chemicals. The methods are considered generally applicable to laboratory bioassays with phytophagous insects, and are being used to generate a predictive model for the Mexican bean beetle. RESUME Caracteristiques et deroulement du comportement alimentaire des insectes: une analyse quantitative d'Epilachna varivestis Des experiences sans choix et des etudes avec un enregistreur automatique de l'alimentation ont ete utilisees pour une analyse quantitative du comportement alimentaire des adultes d'Epilachna varivestis sur leur plante hote. La consommation cumulee a partir de donnees temporelles d'insectes isoles a permis de determiner les courbes temporellement cumulees de la consommation moyenne, les surfaces recouvertes par ces courbes, un rapport entre les aires des courbes experimentales et temoin, le moment du debut du repas, le nombre et la duree des periodes de jeune et de repas et les taux de consommation pendant les repas. Les temoins ont ete compares aux resultats avec des stimuli physiologiques et chimiques varies. L'âge n'a pas d'effet sensible, peut etre parce qu'il s'agit d'un insecte a longevite elevee. La privation d'aliment synchronise et reduit le temps de latence avant le repas, accroit les taux de consommation et les periodes de repas, mais augmente les taux de consommation pour les periodes d'alimentation identiques par rapport aux temoins; le nombre de periodes de repas et le nombre et la duree des periodes de jeune diminuent. Quelques composes phenologes augmentent le temps avant le repas tandis que d'autres ne le font pas. Beaucoup de composes phenologes diminuent les taux de consommation, les durees et le nombre de repas, tandis qu'ils augmentent la duree des periodes de jeune et diminuent leur nombre. Cette methodologie fournit des indices quantitatifs des comportements alimentaires specifiques et est suffisamment rapide pour tester des vegetaux et des substances chimiques. Ces methodes paraissent applicables a la majorite des essais en laboratoire avec des insectes phytophages, et ont ete utilisees pour construire un modele predictif sur Epilachna varivestis.
Music perception and cognition following bilateral lesions of auditory cortex

We present experimental and anatomical data from a case study of impaired auditory perception following bilateral hemispheric strokes. To consider the cortical representation of sensory, perceptual, and cognitive functions mediating tonal information processing in music, pure tone sensation thresholds, spectral intonation judgments, and the associative priming of spectral intonation judgments by harmonic context were examined, and lesion localization was analyzed quantitatively using straight-line two-dimensional maps of the cortical surface reconstructed from magnetic resonance images. Despite normal pure tone sensation thresholds at 250--8000 Hz, the perception of tonal spectra was severely impaired, such that harmonic structures (major triads) were almost uniformly judged to sound dissonant; yet, the associative priming of spectral intonation judgments by harmonic context was preserved, indicating that cognitive representations of tonal hierarchies in music remained intact and accessible. Brainprints demonstrated complete bilateral lesions of the transverse gyri of Heschl and partial lesions of the right and left superior temporal gyri involving 98 and 20% of their surface areas, respectively. In the right hemisphere, there was partial sparing of the planum temporale, temporoparietal junction, and inferior parietal cortex. In the left hemisphere, all of the superior temporal region anterior to the transverse gyrus and parts of the planum temporale, temporoparietal junction, inferior parietal cortex, and insula were spared. These observations suggest that (1) sensory, perceptual, and cognitive functions mediating tonal information processing in music are neurologically dissociable; (2) complete bilateral lesions of primary auditory cortex combined with partial bilateral lesions of auditory association cortex chronically impair tonal consonance perception; (3) cognitive functions that hierarchically structure pitch information and generate harmonic expectancies during music perception do not rely on the integrity of primary auditory cortex; and (4) musical priming may be mediated by broadly tuned subcomponents of the thala-mocortical auditory system.
Synthesis of anhydride precursors of the environment-sensitive fluorophores 4-DMAP and 6-DMN

This protocol describes the synthesis of cyclic anhydride precursors of the environment-sensitive fluorophores 4-dimethylaminophthalimide (4-DMAP) and 6-dimethylaminonaphthalimide (6-DMN). The condensation of these anhydrides with a primary amino group confers on molecules of interest solvatochromic properties. In particular, two strategies for the insertion of the chromophores into peptides are presented in two companion protocols. The anhydride syntheses can be completed on the gram scale in 2 d for the 4-DMAP precursor and 10–15 d for the 6-DMN precursor.
The effects of wind turbines on antipredator behavior in California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi)

Electricity-generating wind turbines are an attractive energy source because they are renewable and produce no emissions. However, they have at least two potentially damaging ecological effects. Their rotating blades are hazardous to raptors which occasionally fly into them. And wind turbines are very noisy when active, a feature that may interfere with the lives of animals beneath them. We studied California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area of Northern California. These squirrels emit vocalizations that alert others to the presence of a predator, and so may be forced to compensate for turbine noise by modifying antipredator behavior. We compared the antipredator behavior of squirrels at two sites, one close to and the other far from turbines, and under two conditions, during baseline and playback of conspecific alarm calls. We generated composite two variables using principle components analysis, one representing vigilance and one representing another cautionary antipredator tactic, for further statistical comparisons. Animals at the Turbine site exhibited elevated levels of vigilance and showed increased caution demonstrated in part, by returning to the area near their burrows during alarm calling. We conclude that this site difference is probably caused by the disparity in turbine noise, since predator abundance, group size, and vegetation type and density were similar for the two sites. Though population level impacts of these behavioral differences remain to be explored, our results indicate that behavioral impacts of turbines on wildlife should be considered during future turbine development.
Management of gastroschisis and short bowel: report of 17 cases.

Abstract An 8-yr experience with 17 cases of gastroschisis is presented. Survival has increased with refinements of surgical techniques and availability of intravenous hyperalimentation during the period of bowel malfunction. Primary closure is attempted if possible, without causing undue increase of intraabdominal pressure. Where this is not possible, a staged closure is used. A method of staged closure with dacron-reinforced silastic sheets is described. Of the 17 patients, 16 were operated on, 11 survived the repair, and nine are now alive. It was possible to distinguish antenatal from perinatal evisceration from the degree of serosal and mesenteric reaction. Short bowel, megasigmoid, embryonic appendix, and cecum were common observations. In the neonatal period, the radiological pattern of the sigmoid colon resembled that of the jejunum. With time, all changes reverted to normal except the incomplete rotation, which persisted.
Preface to the Global Geodynamics Project

Abstract I review some features of the Global Geodynamics Project during its initial phase of operation 1997–2003. These fall into three categories: (1) instrumental—the development of the superconducting gravimeters during this time; (2) organizational—how the various SG groups have come together to improve their installations and provide their data; and (3) scientific—what have been some of the notable observational achievements of the project. This overview is then followed by a brief description of some of the new tasks for GGP Phase 2 (2003–2007).
Does intertidal canopy removal of Ascophyllum nodosum alter the community structure beneath

Changes to associated communities when habitat is altered have been well documented in terrestrial and marine systems. In marine ecosystems, subtidal canopy removal of overlying vegetation is known to impact both physical and biological processes below. Recently, in Maine (USA), there has been much concern about the impact of harvesting (i.e., canopy removal) of Ascophyllum nodosum (rockweed) on the intertidal community. To examine the impacts of rockweed harvesting on the sediment structure and invertebrates associated with the sediment, control and experimentally harvested plots were established in May 2011 at Sears Island (Maine, USA). Monthly data collection through the summer and early fall included sediment cores, sieved infauna samples, and mobile megafauna quadrats. Sediment samples were analyzed for organic content as well as percent coarse sand, fine sand, silt, and clay. The experiment was repeated in 2012 in the same location with a modified design. In 2013 a commercially harvested site was sampled in the same manner before and after harvesting. Although differences in abundances of mobile megafauna were evident in the experimentally harvested sites, they were not evident in the commercially harvested site. Sediments and smaller invertebrates were mostly unaffected by canopy removal in both the experimentally and commercially harvested sites. While these data are contrary to those for subtidal canopy removal experiments, the rocky intertidal is a more physically dynamic habitat that may be tolerant of greater disturbance.
Enzymatic activation of a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor

Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors (MMPi) possessing a glucose protecting group on the zinc-binding group (ZBG) show a dramatic increase in inhibitory activity upon cleavage by β-glucosidase.
Modeling of Waste-to-Energy Combustion with Continuous Variation of the Solid Waste Fuel

A mathematical model of a mass-burn, waste-to-energy combustion chamber has been developed that includes stochastic representation of the variability of the fuel (municipal solid waste, MSW). The drying, pyrolysis, gasification and combustion processes on the moving grate are governed by several factors such as proximate and ultimate analysis, particle size, moisture, heating value, and bulk density, all of which change continuously. This extreme variability has not been considered in past mathematical models of WTE combustion that used mean values of the MSW properties. The Monte Carlo stochastic method has been applied to provide a time series description of the continuous variation of solid wastes at the feed end of the traveling grate. The combustion of the solid particles on the grate is simulated using percolation theory. The feed variation and the percolation theory models are combined with the FLIC two-dimensional bed model developed by Sheffield University to project the transient phenomena in the bed, such as the break-up of waste particles and the channeling of combustion air throughout the bed, and their effects on the combustion process.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Respiratory distress in traumatized and burned children

Incidence and significance of respiratory failure after trauma in children was the subject of this study. One thousand nine hundred eighty-nine pediatric trauma patients (aged 18 years or less) were treated at the authors' level I trauma center between 1985 and 1993. Of these, 364 (18%) were intubated. Their mechanisms of injury were: motor vehicle accidents in 93 (25%), pedestrians struck by vehicles in 93 (25%), motorcycle or bicycle accidents in 55 (15%), gunshot and stab wounds in 43 (12%), major burns (> 20% BSA) in 31 (9%), 14 of whom also had smoke inhalation, falls in 25 (7%), sport-related injuries in 9 (2%), and child abuse in 8 (2%). Average injury severity score of intubated patients was 27.0 +/- 21.4. Average trauma score was 11.7 +/- 4.1. Of the intubated patients, 248 (68%) had head injuries, 153 (42%) chest injuries, and 114 (31%) abdominal and pelvic injuries. Ninety-three (25%) of intubated patients died within 5 days of injury: 70 of head injury, 23 of multiple major organ injury. Intubation was required for more than 5 days in 77 patients (21%); 50 (14%) of these patients met criteria for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS): 12 (24% of RDS patients) died. Two of the deaths were multiply traumatized patients, and 10 were patients with burns and smoke inhalation. The authors conclude that RDS is uncommonly the cause of death in pediatric trauma patients. Burned patients with RDS are an exceptional group, with significant mortality.
Catsper Channel Organizes and Regulates Calcium Signaling Molecules in Spermatozoa

Ejaculated mammalian spermatozoa gain the capacity to fertilize the egg within the female reproductive tract. Called capacitation, these changes to sperm include alterations in motility, membrane composition, and widespread protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Hyperactivated motility, the amplified, asymmetric movement of the tail, requires the sperm tail-specific Ca2+ channel, Cationic channel of sperm (CatSper). Calcium-mediated intraflagellar signaling is poorly understood, in part because flagellar diameters are less than 1 μm, preventing the resolution of specific molecular structures by conventional fluorescence microscopy. Here, we employed three-dimensional stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to determine how CatSper channel complex and other Ca2+ signaling molecules are organized. We find that the CatSper channel forms four linear nanodomains with calcium signaling molecules near the plasma membrane along the flagella. Strikingly, lack of the CatSper channel results in delocalization of Ca2+ signaling molecules. The spatial organization of protein components in CatSper signaling provides insights into Ca2+ signal transduction in regulation of sperm motility.
STUDIES ON THE BIOLOGIC CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN GONADOTROPINS. VI. NATURE AND NUMBER OF GONADOTROPINS IN HUMAN PREGNANCY URINE

ABSTRACT Assays of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG, urine) were conducted by measuring the simultaneous response of the ovaries and uteri of immature intact female rats over a dose range of 0.1 to 30,000 I.U. per animal. Uterine stimulation began at 0.25 I.U., was maximal at 1.0 I.U. and remained maximal between 1.0 and 30,000 I.U. The shape of the curve denoting uterine response, as reported previously, was that of an autocatalytic curve. Ovarian growth was induced at about 5 I.U. and proceeded at a low slope until about 35 I.U. Ovarian weight increased, then ceased at a plateau of about 40 mg., between doses of 35 and 840 I.U. After this, ovarian growth resumed at an accelerated pace. The shape of the ovarian response curve is thus diphasic. When the complete dose-response data were plotted in absolute coordinates, it was possible to compare HCG with human pituitary gonadotropin (HPG). The parameters of the doseresponse of HCG are not the same as those of HPG. These results are favorable to the concep...
On the Efficacy of Targeted Gang Interventions: Can We Identify Those Most at Risk?

One of the explicit goals of many recent and ongoing criminal justice interventions is to target youth most at risk for involvement in serious, chronic, and violent offending. While targeted progra...
Resisting Vulnerability: The Social Reconstruction of Gender in Interaction

Most research on the social construction of gender has focused on how conventional representations of gender are reproduced. In this paper, I argue that coexisting with these conventional constructions of gender are alternative constructions that resist them. Focusing on the level of discourse, I examine resistance to one dimension of gender: women's assumed vulnerability to men's violence. Using evidence from 13 focus group conversations, I describe six types of resistance to the conventional construction of women's vulnerability. I then analyze the interactional processes through which these ideas are derailed or, sometimes, succeed in conversation. This analysis points the way toward a better understanding of both gender resistance and change. At the same time, it illustrates the difficulty of successfully challenging the gender regime.
Creating user interfaces using programming by example, visual programming, and constraints

Peridot is an experimental tool that allows designers to create user interface components without conventional programming. The designer draws pictures of what the interface should look like and then uses the mouse and other input devices to demonstrate how the interface should operate. Peridot generalizes from these example pictures and actions to create parameterized procedures, such as those found in conventional user interface libraries such as the Macintosh Toolbox. Peridot uses visual programming, programming by example, constraints, and plausible inferencing to allow nonprogrammers to create menus, buttons, scroll bars, and many other interaction techniques easily and quickly. Peridot created its own interface and can create almost all of the interaction techniques in the Macintosh Toolbox. Therefore, Peridot demonstrates that it is possible to provide sophisticated programming capabilities to nonprogrammers in an easy-to-use manner and still have sufficient power to generate interesting and useful programs.
Electronic density of states for the perovskites

It is shown that the density of states including all of the 14 primary conduction and valence bands of crystals with the perovskite structure can be derived from simple analytic functions of dimensionless variables. Good quantitative agreement with recent energy-band calculations is demonstrated for the electronic density of states of Re${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, SrTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, KTa${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, and NaW${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$.
CT scanning of children with blunt abdominal trauma – is oral contrast useful?

Purpose: To determine the usefulness of oral contrast in CT scanning of children with blunt abdominal trauma by comparing scans performed with and without oral contrast. Methods: CT scans of 273 children with abdominal trauma and 40 without trauma were reviewed. Results: Of the trauma patients, 116 (43 %) were scanned with oral contrast, 157 (57 %) without. Among the children who underwent laparotomy, CT scanning identified 6 of 6 organ injuries in those scanned with oral contrast and 11 of 12 in those scanned without. CT scanning identified all bowel injuries. The pancreatic body and tail were significantly better visualized in scans with oral contrast. Detection of pancreatic or liver injury was not, however, significantly different in the two groups. Opacification of the bowel by contrast was significantly better in elective than in trauma patients. Conclusion: There was no difference in detection of injuries between children scanned with and without oral contrast.
Pressure-solution deformation of the purgatory conglomerate, rhode island (u.s.a.): quantification of volume change, real strains and sedimentary shape factor

Abstract Pressure solution has caused substantial volume redistribution within the Purgatory Conglomerate from Rhode Island. Material has been removed from quartzite cobble surfaces parallel to the fold axes and mostly redeposited as fibrous pressure shadows at the long axis terminations of the cobbles. In the hinges of folds, 23% of the mean cobble volume has been removed, and in highly deformed and overturned fold limbs up to 55% volume reduction has occurred. The initial cobble shape and orientation can be measured at an undeformed locality and the deformation path can be easily deduced; thus these are real cobble volume reductions. Apparent volume losses (initial shapes not removed) range from 70% to 89%. Real strains for cobbles (axial ratios ranging from 1:0.65:0.38 to 1:0.47:0.15) have values of e x , e y , e z which range from 0%, −20%, −11% to 0%, −37%, −42%, respectively, depending on structural position. The conglomerate itself has been extended parallel to the fold axes (e r ), but the extension is not recorded by the cobble shapes.
Rho-Kinase in Development and Heart Failure: Insights From Genetic Models

Rho-kinase (ROCK) belongs to the AGC (protein kinase A/protein kinase G/protein kinase C, PKA/PKG/PKC) family of serine/threonine kinases and is a major downstream effector of small GTPase RhoA. Rho-kinase is involved in a wide range of fundamental cellular functions such as contraction, adhesion, migration, and proliferation. Two ROCK isoforms, ROCK1 and ROCK2, are assumed to be functionally redundant, based largely on the major common activators, the high degree of homology within the kinase domain, and studies from overexpression with kinase constructs and chemical inhibitors (e.g., Y27632 and fasudil), which inhibit both ROCK1 and ROCK2. Gene targeting and RNA interference approaches allow further dissection of distinct cellular, physiologic, and pathophysiologic functions of the two ROCK isoforms. This review focuses on the current understanding of ROCK isoform biology, with a particular emphasis on their functions in mouse development and the pathogenesis of heart failure.
Research Article: Getting to the Table: Incentives for Participation in Regulatory Negotiations

As the use of collaborative, consensus-based decisionmaking procedures increases, so, too, do the obstacles to using these processes. For example, many managers and decision makers are now encountering limits on the participation in such processes by key stakeholder groups. Indeed, perhaps one of the most difficult challenges an agency faces in undertaking a consensus process is in securing participation by appropriate stakeholders. In order to more effectively sponsor and manage collaborative decisionmaking processes, an understanding of the incentives for stakeholder participation is critical. A recent study of negotiated rulemaking at the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) assessed participants' incentives for participation, which revolve around four major themes: (1) resources required for participation, (2) input into final decision and response to comments, (3) use of technical data, and (4) representation and communication issues. Keeping these incentives in mind when initiating a collaborative regulatory process may assist managers and sponsors in ensuring inclusion and participation by key participants.
Safety in numbers: A model of managerial herd behavior

Abstract This paper provides a formalization of managerial herd behavior that is based on the principle of safety in numbers. The explanation is completely independent of the information signalling approach to herd behavior (Scharfstein and Stein, 1990, Banerjee, 1992), and fully captures popular explanations of the phenomenon. The key assumptions are that managers are individually risk averse, and that their remuneration be partly based on relative performance.