cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Best practices and recommendations for accurate nanomechanical characterization of heterogeneous polymer systems with atomic force microscopy

Abstract The past two decades have seen atomic force microscopy (AFM) evolve from an experimental technique to probe simple surface topography to one that can spatially map nanoscale material properties with exquisite sensitivity and high resolution. An expanding array of modes and analysis methods has made AFM a widely used technique for extracting nanoscale elastic and viscoelastic data from polymers and other soft materials. However, the assumptions required for interpretation of nanoscale mechanical data on polymers and the lack of clarity on the best practices for the different modes limits the quantitative accuracy of AFM methods and the interpretation of mechanical data. The analysis of AFM data becomes even more complex when multiple phases are present in a sample which further convolute measurements and the interpretation of the output data. Here, we present a comprehensive summary of modes and contact mechanics analyses relevant for AFM on polymers, along with assessment of sources of error and potential artifacts in measurement data on these soft, adhesive, viscoelastic and often heterogenous materials. As a result of the review into AFM best practices, we provide a series of recommendations for conducting quantitative AFM measurements on polymer systems. Finally, we investigate the impact of these advancements in the context of a specific case study: measurement of mechanical property gradients in nanostructured polymers.
Political Decision-making at the National Labor Relations Board: An Empirical Examination of the Board's Unfair Labor Practice Disputes through the Clinton and Bush II Years

Does partisan ideology influence the voting of members of multi-member adjudicatory bodies at “independent agencies”? In studying the federal circuit courts of appeals, scholars have found that results of cases vary depending upon the partisan composition of the particular panel hearing a case. Few scholars to date, however, have systematically studied whether partisan panel effects occur in administrative adjudication. In this Article, I explore the impact that partisan ideology and panel composition have on the vote choices of an administrative agency rumored to be one of the most partisan: the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). Employing an original dataset of close to 3,000 NLRB decisions from the William Jefferson Clinton and the George W. Bush (“Bush II”) administrations (1993-2007), this Article presents one of the few recent studies of voting patterns at the NLRB on unfair labor practice disputes. I find that the propensity of a panel to reach a decision favoring labor increases monotonically with each additional Democrat added to the panel. I also find that the partisanship effect is generally asymmetric, meaning that the addition of a single Democrat to an otherwise Republican panel increases the propensity to vote in labor’s favor more so than the addition of a Republican to an otherwise Democratic panel. Homogenous Republican panels behave in especially partisan ways. I further find that political actors—such as Congress, the President, and the appellate courts—fail to have a direct impact on NLRB unfair labor practice decisions; rather, the decision of the lower court Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) and the partisan ideology of the Board have the most impact in influencing whether the NLRB rules for or against labor. These findings have significant implications for a number of controversies, including debates about agency independence as well as questions concerning political diversity on agencies that have multi-member adjudicatory bodies who do all or primarily all of their work through adjudication as opposed to rulemaking.
Disparities in Awareness of Myocardial Infarction and Stroke Symptoms and Response Among United States- and Foreign-Born Adults in the National Health Interview Survey.

Background Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, defined as nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), coronary heart disease death, or fatal or nonfatal stroke, is the leading cause of death in the Un...
The Aging of Cognitive Control: Studies of Conflict Processing, Goal Neglect, and Error Monitoring.

Over the past two decades, constructs bearing a strong conceptual resemblance to currently popular ideas related to cognitive control or the ability to regulate the information processing system in accordance with the goals of the individual have dominated models of cognitive aging. Hasher and Zacks (1979) argued that age-related declines across various domains of cognition result from reductions in the efficiency of effortful or controlled processes. More recently, these authors refined their position, arguing that age-related declines in the efficiency of inhibitory processes that allow one to modulate the influence of task irrelevant information were one of the primary causes of age-related disruptions in higher order cognition (Hasher & Zacks, 1988). Craik and Byrd (1982) argued that age-related declines in processing resources (i.e., working memory capacity or speed of processing) are largely responsible for age-related declines in cognition. The early paper of Hasher and Zacks (1979) and that of Craik and Byrd (1982) provided the foundation for extensive work during the 1980s and 1990s, demonstrating that many of the effects of age on higher order cognition are mediated by age-related variance in processing resource variables (see Park & Schwartz, 2000; Salthouse, 1996). During the same period, other investigators demonstrated that individual differences in processing resources, such as working memory capacity, were also good predictors of complex cognitive activity including reading and language comprehension in college-aged individuals (for a review see Engle, 1996).
A Review of “The Environment: Science, Issues, and Solutions”

Most recently there has been a resurgence of attention given to the condition of the planet. The environment has emerged as no longer being the sole purview of scientists, but various groups and di...
The Potential Impact of Employment Policy on the Unemployment Rate Consistent with Nonaccelerating Inflation

During the past few years there has been considerable interest, among both economists and politicians, in the question of how to lower the unemployment rate consistent with nonaccelerating inflation by the use of structural policies. Although it is not possible to estimate the value of this rate (which will hereafter be referred to as U* ) with any precision, its consensus estimate in 1978 terms is about 6 percent, plus or minus one-half of 1 percent. While recognition of this constraint on aggregate macro-economic policy has been taking hold, Congress has been debating a bill to establish a 4 percent overall unemployment rate as the national goal for 1983. Implicit in this bill (the socalled Humphrey-Hawkins proposal) is the necessity of expanding labor market programs in order to achieve its principal objective. The major component of such programs in the United States has been the direct provision of job opportunities to specific groups in the labor force.' These generally take the form of public service employment (PSE), but there has also been some use of employment tax credits in the private sector. There are several possible objectives of employment policy, ranging from fiscal relief for local governments to a substitution of subsidized employment for welfare. The purpose of this paper, however, is to examine the potential of employment policy to lower U*, i.e., to shift the long-run Phillips curve to the left.2 Can the provision of a large number of PSE jobs or the extensive use of wage subsidies alter the relationship between labor market tightness and the overall unemployment rate such that a lower unemployment can be sustained by macro-economic policy without accelerating inflation? The answer to this question depends on how individual labor markets work-in particular, on the nature of unemployment among the persons toward whom the unemployment programs are targeted. There is little consensus among labor economists about the functioning of these markets and, accordingly, the question of the probable impact of employment policy on U* is subject to considerable controversy. It is therefore useful to frame the issue in a manner which permits empirical testing. Such an attempt, as well as the associated empirical results, is presented in Section I of the paper. Some qualifications to these results, empirical and conceptual, are discussed in Section II.
Spatio-Tempo-Social: Learning from and about Humans with Social Media

Social media --- online services that encourage content sharing through individual participation --- have encouraged and enabled people to share various types of information in social and public settings. Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, MySpace and their likes have become platforms where millions of participants share nuggets of their life, their knowledge, their creations and their opinions in various manners: from blog posts, to status updates, to multimedia content such as photos and videos.
Cruise Missile Mission Planning: A Heuristic Algorithm for Automatic Path Generation

This manuscript presents a heuristic algorithm based on geometric concepts for the problem of finding a path composed of line segments from a given origin to a given destination in the presence of polygonal obstacles. The basic idea involves constructing circumscribing triangles around the obstacles to be avoided. Our heuristic algorithm considers paths composed primarily of line segments corresponding to partial edges of these circumscribing triangles, and uses a simple branch-and-bound procedure to find a relatively short path of this type. This work was motivated by the military planning problem of developing mission plans for cruise missiles, but is applicable to any two-dimensional path-planning problem involving obstacles.
Fluorescence Lineshapes of Polyatomic Molecules - Spectroscopy without Eigenstates

Traditional spectroscopy of isolated molecules focuses on individual molecular eigenstates (their positions and dipole strengths). Macroscopic lineshapes on the other hand contain collective coarse-grained information which is the average of many eigenstates. A reduced correlation-function formulation which allows a microscopic calculation of spectra without having to consider individual eigenstates is then used. Spectra of large polyatomic molecules may be treated using both types of approaches. However, as the molecular size increases, the macroscopic approaches become more applicable and much more efficient. In this article we develop a Green function correlation function approach which provides a reduced description of molecular lineshapes. Effects of intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) and intramolecular dephasing are readily accounted for. Application is made to the dispersed fluorescence of ultracold Anthracene in a supersonic beam.
Foreign direct investment and domestic investment in the host country: evidence from panel study

This article examines the impact of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on host countries’ domestic investment. Utilizing data from 50 countries over the period of 1970 to 2004, we find that inward FDI has a negative contemporaneous effect on domestic investment, while the cumulative effect of FDI over time tends to be positive. In addition, we separately study FDI in Developed Countries (DCs) and Less Developed Countries (LDCs). The effect of contemporaneous FDI on domestic investment is negative in DCs, and the cumulative effect of FDI is neutral. Strong evidence suggests that the contemporaneous effect of FDI on domestic investment is neutral in LDCs, while the cumulative effect of FDI is positive.
Quantifying reliability statistics for electrochemical shock of brittle materials

Abstract In brittle polycrystalline materials, anisotropic shape changes—such as those due to thermal expansion, composition changes, and piezoelectricity—can induce stresses severe enough to drive fracture. The stresses developed are microstructurally heterogeneous and develop in proportion to a generalized external stimulus rather than an applied load; as a consequence, traditional Weibull models do not capture the relevant scaling of failure probabilities with respect to applied stimulus or microstructural feature sizes. These limitations are surmounted by a stochastic method, called Finite Element plus Monte Carlo (FE+MC), which enables quantification of reliability statistics in brittle polycrystalline materials subjected to microstructurally heterogeneous stresses which may be driven by non-mechanical stimulii. A finite element analysis computes the stress distributions for a hypothetical defect-free virtual microstructure and a subsequent Monte Carlo analysis distributes flaws throughout the microstructure with sizes chosen from an experimental flaw size distribution. The FE+MC method is validated for uniaxial tensile loading, for which the expected Weibull distribution of failure probability is reproduced. As a demonstration of the utility of this method in a more complex stress state, we consider electrochemical shock of polycrystalline Li X CoO 2 electrodes; the computed composition-dependent failure probabilities reproduce key features of experimental acoustic emission measurements not explained by previous modeling approaches.
Antagonism of amphetamine locomotor stimulation in rats by single doses of marijuana extract administered orally

Abstract The influence of marijuana extract distillate on (+)-amphetamine stimulation of locomotor activity was examined in rats. Marijuana was administered orally and amphetamine was injected intraperitoneally. In rats acclimated to the activity cages, doses of the extract of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg Δ 9 -THC administered one hour before amphetamine resulted in a significant antagonism of the locomotor stimulation induced by 1 mg/kg (+)-amphetamine; doses of 0·625, 1·25 and 2·5 mg/kg Δ 9 -THC had no effect on the amphetamine response. A dose of 10 mg/kg Δ 9 -THC (as the extract) antagonized the stimulation produced by 0·5,1 and 2 mg/kg (+)-amphetamine in acclimated animals without depressing baseline activity; however, the same dose of marijuana failed to alter significantly the stimulant effect of 1 mg/kg (+)-amphetamine in nonacclimated rats. Although pretreatment with marijuana extract 1 hr before injection of amphetamine resulted in a marked depression of the amphetamine response, when both drugs were administered at the same time only a small and non-significant decrement in the amphetamine response was observed. In conclusion, this study clearly demonstrates that orally administered marijuana antagonizes amphetamine-induced locomotor stimulation in the rat. Mo evidence of enhancement of the amphetamine effect was observed.
Dynamic-Angle Spinning of Quadrupolar Nuclei

Abstract In dynamic-angle spinning (DAS), a sample spins around an axis inclined at an angle θ ( t ) with respect to the magnetic field such that the averages of P n ( cos θ ) are zero. The simplest case is where θ ( t ) assumes two discrete values θ 1 and θ 2 (complementary DAS angles) such that the averages of P 2 ( cos θ ) and P 4 ( cos θ ) are zero, thereby removing second-order quadrupolar (and dipolar) broadening. Examples of DAS complementary angles are θ 1 = 37.38 ° and θ 2 = 79.18 ° . Experimental details for DAS experiments are provided and applications to sodium-23 and oxygen-17 NMR illustrate the enhanced resolution achieved by removing the second-order broadening inherent in magic-angle spinning.
Timing protein intake increases energy expenditure 24 h after resistance training.

ABSTRACTPurpose:To determine whether protein supplementation (PRO) before an acute bout of heavy resistance training (HRT) would influence postexercise resting energy expenditure (REE) and the nonprotein respiratory exchange ratio (RER).Hypothesis:REE would be increased and RER would be decreased up
Status and Development of Directional Drilling Technology in Coal Mine

Abstract By reviewing the development status of the Chinese directional drilling technology in coal mine in recent years, the authors described the performance characteristics and R & D direction of directional drilling equipment at home and abroad, and analyzed the key equipment of directional drilling and drilling technology. And then we summarized the application of directional drilling technology in coal seam geological conditions of our country, such as geological exploration, coal seam gas controlling and water prevention engineering. Finally the authors proposed the development direction and application prospect of directional drilling in the future.
Understanding the health impact of alcohol dependence

Purpose. To review the effects of alcohol dependence on physical and mental health. Summary. Alcohol dependence is wide-spread among people of all ages and socioeconomic groups. Persons with alcohol dependence face enormous health consequences. Alcohol dependence is a major cause of mortality and is associated with psychiatric conditions, neurologic impairment, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and malignant neoplasms. Psychiatric conditions associated with alcohol dependence include major depression, dysthymia, mania, hypomania, panic disorder, phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, personality disorders, any drug use disorder, schizophrenia, and suicide. Psychiatric comorbidity, in turn, is associated with alcohol-related symptoms of greater severity. Excessive alcohol consumption causes brain damage, as evidenced by brain imaging, and related neurologic deficits, including impairments in working memory, cognitive processing of emotional signals, executive functions, visuospatial abilities, and gait and balance. Whereas moderate alcohol consumption is cardioprotective, heavy drinking is associated with increased risks of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and ischemic stroke, possibly due to alcohol-induced sympathetic activation. Chronic excessive alcohol consumption is a strong risk factor for various types of cancer, particularly cancers of the aero-respiratory tract, but also cancers of the digestive system, liver, breast, and ovaries. Heavy drinking is associated with various forms of alcoholic liver disease, such as cirrhosis. (People with alcohol dependence die from cirrhosis at a much higher rate than is found in the general population.) Alcohol dependence also increases the risk of injury, possibly due to alcohol-related factors such as diminished coordination and balance, increased reaction time, and impaired attention, perception, and judgment. Conclusion. Alcohol dependence has numerous and serious ill effects on physical and mental health and represents a major public health burden.
in vitro metabolism of 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine and 1-β-2'-fluoro-arabino-5-iodocytosine in normal and herpes simplex type 1 virus-infected cells

Abstract Phosphorylation of 1-β- D -2'-F-arabino-5-iodocytosine (FIAC), a newly synthesized pyrimidine nucleoside with potent antiherpesvirus activity, was compared with that of its parent compound, 1-β- D -arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C). While ara-C was phosphorylated extensively by homogenates of normal, rapidly proliferating mouse tissues, FIAC was a poor substrate for the nucleoside kinase occurring in such normal tissues. With cell homogenates of noninfected Vero cells, thymidine (TdR) was phosphorylated about fifty and twenty times more efficiently than FIAC and ara-C, while infection of Vero cells with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) resulted in a 23-fold increase of TdR- and a 1270-fold increase of FIAC phosphorylation. In contrast, phosphorylation of ara-C was increased only by a factor of 2.6. While the reaction products obtained with homogenates of normal mouse tissues were 5'-mono-, di- and triphosphates of ara-C and FIAC, the reaction products with noninfected and infected Vero cell homogenates were predominantly monophosphates. In contrast, TdR was efficiently phosphorylated to its 5'-mono-, di- and triphosphates by such homogenates. In intact HSV-1-infected Vero cells, FIAC was rapidly taken up and phosphorylated to FIACMP and to an as yet unidentified metabolite. In contrast, TdR was taken up and phosphorylated to 5'-mono-, di- and triphosphates and ara-C was taken up moderately but metabolized poorly to its 5'-mono-, di- and triphosphates. Thus, in normal tissues, FIAC was a poorer substrate than ara-C for nucleoside kinases, but in intact HSV-1-infected Vero cells FIAC was efficiently phosphorylated and thus behaved like a TdR analog, except that it was phosphorylated only to the 5'-monophosphate and a hitherto unidentified metabolite. The greatly increased phosphorylation of FIAC by HSV-1-infected Vero cells probably accounts, at least in part, for its great selectivity of action.
Superthermal electrons and Bernstein waves in Jupiter's inner magnetosphere

A theoretical model for generation of banded electrostatic emissions by low density, superthermal electrons is developed for application to Jupiter's magnetosphere. The model employs a power law form for the energy dependence and a loss cone pitch angle distribution of the superthermals to drive convective instability of Bernstein modes. A direct correspondence between spectral features of the 3/2 band and resonant superthermal electrons is found. The concept of a critical flux of resonant electrons able to provide 10 e-foldings of electric field amplification yields an explicit relation in terms of the background thermal electron pressure. This result is used to construct a theoretical/empirical model of thermal electron density and temperature from 6-20 Jupiter radii in the Jovian magnetosphere which suggests that the electron temperature is less than the ion temperature which is approximately equal to 10 times the electron temperature in this region. Finally, wave ray paths are computed for propagation in the magnetic equator and in the magnetic meridional plane of a dipole magnetic field. These ray paths suggest that intense wave activity is tightly confined to a small latitudinal extent, less than + or - approximately 4 deg, about the magnetic equator.
Focus on advancing high performance mass spectrometry, honoring dr. Richard d. Smith, recipient of the 2013 award for a distinguished contribution in mass spectrometry.

This special focus issue of the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry celebrates the accomplishments of Dr. Richard D. Smith, the recipient of the 2013ASMS Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry, and who serves as a Battelle Fellow, Chief Scientist in the Biological Sciences Division, and Director of Proteomics Research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, WA. The award is for his development of the electrodynamic ion funnel.
A Method for Correcting Biases in Risk Perception

Research in the area of risk perception has shown that people consistently underestimate common risks and overestimate rare ones. This tendency could have an undesirable effect on behavior in potentially hazardous situations. An imaging method was employed for the purpose of changing the perceived risk of a group of potential hazards. The hazards were coffee maker, lawn mower, pesticide, bicycle, power saw, toaster, asbestos, and swimming pool. Subjects sketched cartoons or scenarios of themselves having an accident involving each of a subgroup of the hazards. Subjects rated the risk of each hazard to themselves and estimated injury frequencies for the general population both before and after they sketched the accident scenario. They also rated the hazards on a variety of dimensions such as severity, plausibility, familiarity, imageability, etc. The results indicate that certain characteristics of the hazard determine how likely the risk perception is to change when accident scenarios are made cognitively...
GPR imaging for bridge deck condition assessment

Condition assessment of transportation infrastructure is a critical component of maintenance and rehabilitation. This can be accomplished in part by using state-of-the-art non-destructive evaluation techniques. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-destructive evaluation method that can be used to assess the integrity of roads, pavements, bridges, and buildings. GPR technique utilises high frequency electromagnetic waves at the microwave or radio frequency range to investigate the subsurface condition. This technique is used to measure features such as cracks and voids. This paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of the GPR in bridge deck assessment. Analysis and results of GPR scans from two bridge decks will be presented and discussed. In addition, the GPR results were compared with that of a commonly used method of bridge deck evaluation (chain drag).
AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN THE MERGER VALUATION PROCESSES OF LISTED INDUSTRIAL CORPORATIONS DURING THE CURRENT MERGER MOVEMENT, 1950–1966*

THIS STUDY EXAMINES objective, measurable factors used to determine commonstock exchange ratios between listed industrial corporations during the years, 19501966. Sixty-six mergers consummated during the 1958-1966 period were analyzed. Forty-three of these mergers were directly comparable with the mergers analyzed by Lynn E. Dellenbarger, Jr.' during the 1950-1957 period. This similarity in merger populations and the concurrency of time periods provides the basis for analyzing valuation factors during the full span of the current merger movement. The dissertation develops the following multiple-regression model for the purpose of estimating actual merger exchange ratios:
Ultrasonic examination of austenitic welds at reactor pressure vessels

Abstract Austenitic welds play an important role in reactor pressure vessels (RPV) both of pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and boiling water reactors (BWRs). These pressure retaining joints still pose problems for ultrasonic examination. During the last few years some progress has been achieved in overcoming these problems. The state of the art of the practical application is described in “The Handbook on Ultrasonic Examination of Austenitic Welds” of the International Institute of Welding which was issued in 1986. This document was prepared by an international working group. Sulzer Brothers Limited, Winterthur Switzerland as manufacturer of both BWR and PWR RPVs has a long experience with ultrasonic examination of austenitic welds. In General Electric BWR RPVs the main recirculation line, the feedwater line and additional lines are connected to nozzles of the RPV with dissimilar metal welds joining stainless steel to carbon steel. The control rod drive (CRD) housings are attached to the RPV with complex weld joints. Framatome and Westinghouse RPVs also are provided with welds between the vessel and the main coolant line. This paper presents examples of ultrasonic approaches and examination results. Aspects of fabrication, preservice and inservice inspections are also covered. Complex weld joint designs both from the point of material and geometry make ultrasonic examination sometimes extremely difficult but based on case by case investigations reliable solutions can often be realized.
Parallel programming by hints

Sequential programs are often difficult to parallelize because of the complexity in their implementation and the uncertainty in their behavior. We will demonstrate behavior-oriented parallelization (BOP), which provides annotations for a user to mark possibly parallel regions (PPR) in code and a safe implementation to execute the annotated tasks in parallel as long as they produce the correct result - the same output as the unmarked sequential execution. This position paper gives a description of the interface and implementation and shows two examples.
Biological constraints on water transport in the soil–plant–atmosphere system

An effective description of water transport in the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum (SPAC) is needed for wide-ranging applications in hydrology and climate-vegetation interactions. In this contribution, the theory of water movement within the SPAC is reviewed with emphasis on the eco-physiological and evolutionary constraints to water transport. The description of the SPAC can be framed at two widely separated time scales: (i) sub-hourly to growing season scales, relevant for hydro-climatic effects on ecosystem fluxes (given a set of plant hydraulic traits), and (ii) inter-annual to centennial scales during which either hydraulic traits may change, as individuals grow and acclimate, or species composition may change. At the shorter time scales, water transport can be described by water balance equations where fluxes depend on the hydraulic features of the different compartments, encoded in the form of conductances that nonlinearly depend on water availability. Over longer time scales, ontogeny, acclimation, and shifts in species composition in response to environmental changes can impose constraints on these equations in the form of tradeoffs and coordinated changes in the hydraulic (and biochemical) parameters. Quantification of this evolutionary coordination and the related tradeoffs offers novel theoretical tactics to constrain hydrologic and biogeochemical models.
Exports, economic growth and the consolidation of peace in El Salvador

Abstract The pillars of inclusive growth in El Salvador have to be nontraditional export growth, investment, and government determination to reduce income inequality and poverty. This article analyzes the key obstacles to the development of a competitive and dynamic export sector: Dutch Disease driven by aid and remittances, a significant decline in real wages, and lack of productivity growth. Policies can and must focus on productivity growth rather than wage repression, in the pursuit of peace consolidation and long-term competitiveness.
Tumor cell growth inhibition by caveolin re-expression in human breast cancer cells

Cancer development is a multistage process that results from the step-wise acquisition of somatic alterations in diverse genes. Recent studies indicate that caveolin-1 expression correlates with the level of oncogenic transformation in NIH3T3 cells, suggesting that caveolin in caveolae may regulate normal cell proliferation. In order to better understand potential functions of caveolin-1 in cancer development, we have studied expression levels of caveolin-1 in human breast cancer cells, and have found that caveolin expression is significantly reduced in human breast cancer cells compared with their normal mammary epithelial counterparts. When the caveolin cDNA linked to the CMV promoter is transfected into human mammary cancer cells having no detectable endogenous caveolin, overexpression of caveolin-1 resulted in substantial growth inhibition, as seen by the 50% decrease in growth rate and by approximately 15-fold reduction in colony formation in soft agar. In addition, characterization of caveolin-1 expression during cell cycle progression indicates that expression of alpha-caveolin-1 is regulated during cell cycle. Furthermore p53-deficient cells showed a loss in caveolin expression. In summary, the overall expression patterns, its ability to inhibit tumor growth in culture, its regulation during the cell cycle, and the loss of expression in p53-deficient cells all are consistent with an important growth regulating function for caveolin-1 in normal human mammary cells, that needs to be repressed in oncogenic transformation and tumor cell growth.
Recognizing multitasked activities from video using stochastic context-free grammar

In this paper, we present techniques for recognizing complex, multitasked activities from video. Visual information like image features and motion appearances, combined with domain-specific information, like object context is used initially to label events. Each action event is represented with a unique symbol, allowing for a sequence of interactions to be described as an ordered symbolic string. Then, a model of stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG), which is developed using underlying rules of an activity, is used to provide the structure for recognizing semantically meaningful behavior over extended periods. Symbolic strings are parsed using the Earley-Stolcke algorithm to determine the most likely semantic derivation for recognition. Parsing substrings allows us to recognize patterns that describe high-level, complex events taking place over segments of the video sequence. We introduce new parsing strategies to enable error detection and recovery in stochastic context-free grammar and methods of quantifying group and individual behavior in activities with separable roles. We show through experiments, with a popular card game, the recognition of high-level narratives of multi-player games and the identification of player strategies and behavior using computer vision.
Axonal metabolic recovery and potential neuroprotective effect of glatiramer acetate in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis:

Glatiramer acetate (GA) is a disease-modifying therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) with several putative mechanisms of action. Currently, there is paucity of in vivo human data linking the well-established peripheral immunologic effects of therapy with GA to its potential effects inside the central nervous system (CNS). Brain proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows in vivo examination of axonal integrity by quantifying the resonance intensity of the neuronal marker N-acetylaspartate (NAA). In a pilot study to investigate the effect of GA on axonal injury, we performed combined brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRS studies in 18 treatment naive RRMS patients initiating therapy with GA at baseline and annually for two years on therapy. A small group of four treatment naive RRMS patients, electing to remain untreated, served as controls. NAA/Cr was measured in a large central brain volume of interest (VOI) as well as the normal appearing white matter (NAWM) within the VOI. After two years, NAA/Cr in the GA-treated group increased significantly by 10.7% in the VOI (2.17 +/- 0.26 versus 1.96 +/- 0.24, P = 0.03) and by 71% in the NAWM (2.23 +/- 0.26 versus 2.08 +/- 0.31, P = 0.04). In the untreated group, NAA/Cr decreased by 8.9% at two years in the VOI (2.01 +/- 0.16 versus 1.83 +/- 0.21, P = 0.03) and 8.2% in the NAWM (2.07 +/- 0.24 versus 1.90 +/- 0.29, P = 0.03). Our data shows that treatment with GA leads to axonal metabolic recovery and protection from sub-lethal axonal injury. These results support an in situ effect of GA therapy inside the CNS and suggest potential neuroprotective effects of GA.
Charge-exchange mechanisms at the threshold for inelasticity in Ne + collisions with surfaces

We present a study on scattering of 100–1400 eV Ne+ ions off Mg, Al, Si, and P surfaces. Exit energy distributions and yields of single-scattered Ne+ and Ne2+ were separately measured to investigate charge exchange mechanisms occurring at the onset of inelastic losses in binary hard collision events. At low incident energies, collisions appear elastic and projectile ion survival is dominated by nonlocal Auger-type neutralization involving the target valence band. However, once a critical Rmin (distance of closest approach) is reached, three phenomena occur simultaneously: Ne2+ generation, reversal of the Ne+ yield trend, and inelastic losses in Ne+ and Ne2+. Rmin values for the Ne2+ turn-on agree very well with the L-shell overlap distances of the colliding partners, suggesting that electron transfer involving the highly promoted 4fsigma molecular orbital (correlated to the Ne 2p) at close internuclear distance (~0.5 A) is responsible. For the Ne+ yield, a clear transition from nonlocal neutralization to Rmin-dependent collision induced neutralization was observed. Binary collision inelasticities (Qbin) were evaluated for Ne+ and Ne2+ off Al and Si by taking into account electron straggling. Saturation-like behavior at Rmin Ne** (2p43s2, 41–45 eV) and Ne+-->Ne+** (2p33s2/3s3p, 69–72 eV), followed by autoionization as the projectile leaves the surface region to give Ne+ and Ne2+. In contrast, Qbin values for Ne2+ at the +2 turn-on were seen much lower (35–40 eV off Al, 55–60 eV off Si) than that required for double promotion—eliminating the possibility that Ne2+ is only generated in double excitation of surviving Ne+. Thus single-electron excitation appears to be more important in the threshold region compared to the two-electron events seen at higher collision energies. In addition, the Ne+[Single Bond]P system shows striking similarities with the other target cases from the perspective of a well-defined Ne2+ turn-on, continually increasing Ne2+ yield with impact energy, and inelasticity values which point to the same 4fsigma excitation pathway. The decreasing Rmin requirement for higher target Z in terms of Ne2+ production has been confirmed for the Mg through P series, where hard collision excitation is governed by L-shell orbital overlaps.
Studies toward Lipid A: Synthesis of Differentially Protected Disaccharide Fragments†

Disaccharides containing two glucosamine units are readily synthesized where the two amine functionalities are orthogonally protected as the tetrachlorophthaloyl and pent-4-enoyl moieties. The 1→6 linked disaccharide has the potential to be developed toward a series of biologically interesting lipid A analogs.
Thermally enhanced neutralization in hyperthermal energy ion scattering.

Neutralization probabilities are presented for hyperthermal energy $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}^{\mathrm{+}}$ ions scattered from a Cu(001) crystal as a function of surface temperature and scattered velocity. A large enhancement in neutralization is observed as the temperature is increased. Velocity-dependent charge transfer regimes are probed by varying the incident energy, with the most prominent surface temperature effects occurring at the lowest energies. The data agree well with results obtained from a model based on the Newns-Anderson Hamiltonian, where the effects of both temperature and velocity are incorporated.
Demonstration and definition of the noncovalent binding selectivity of agents related to CC-1065 by an affinity cleavage agent: noncovalent binding coincidental with alkylation.

Abstract A study of the DNA cleavage efficiency and selectivity of CDPI,-EDTA (4), an affinity cleavage agent based on the structure of CC-1065, is described. The studies with 4 provide direct evidence of AT-rich noncovalent binding coincidental with all DNA alkylation sites observed with (+)- or ent -(−)-CC-1065.
Comparison of mehlich 1 and mehlich 3 extractants for P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu and Zn in atlantic coastal plain soils

Abstract The Mehlich 3 (M3) extractant was introduced in 1981 to improve the efficiency of soil testing laboratories by eliminating the need for multiple extractants for P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu and Zn. The M3 was also intended to be suitable for a wide range of soils, perhaps to serve as a “universal”; soil test extractant. At present, regional soil testing committees throughout the U.S. are investigating the M3 in this regard. Development of a field calibration data base for a new soil testing extractant is an essential, but expensive and time‐consuming process. An interim measure is the use of conversion equations between new and current extractant(s). These equations allow for use of the new extractant with existing field calibration data. The objectives of this study were (i) to develop conversion equations for the Mehlich 1 (M1) and M3 extractants for Atlantic Coastal Plain soils, and (ii) to determine the influence of soil pH and organic matter content on the relative extractability of P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn...
Use of a Hanging-weight System for Liver Ischemia in Mice

Acute liver injury due to ischemia can occur during several clinical procedures e.g. liver transplantation, hepatic tumor resection or trauma repair and can result in liver failure which has a high mortality rate1-2. Therefore murine studies of hepatic ischemia have become an important field of research by providing the opportunity to utilize pharmacological and genetic studies3-9. Specifically, conditional mice with tissue specific deletion of a gene (cre, flox system) provide insights into the role of proteins in particular tissues10-13 . Because of the technical difficulty associated with manually clamping the portal triad in mice, we performed a systematic evaluation using a hanging-weight system for portal triad occlusion which has been previously described3. By using a hanging-weight system we place a suture around the left branch of the portal triad without causing any damage to the hepatic lobes, since also the finest clamps available can cause hepatic tissue damage because of the close location of liver tissue to the vessels. Furthermore, the right branch of the hepatic triad is still perfused thus no intestinal congestion occurs with this technique as blood flow to the right hepatic lobes is preserved. Furthermore, the portal triad is only manipulated once throughout the entire surgical procedure. As a result, procedures like pre-conditioning, with short times of ischemia and reperfusion, can be easily performed. Systematic evaluation of this model by performing different ischemia and reperfusion times revealed a close correlation of hepatic ischemia time with liver damage as measured by alanine (ALT) and aspartate (AST) aminotransferase serum levels3,9. Taken together, these studies confirm highly reproducible liver injury when using the hanging-weight system for hepatic ischemia and intermittent reperfusion. Thus, this technique might be useful for other investigators interested in liver ischemia studies in mice. Therefore the video clip provides a detailed step-by-step description of this technique.
Aspects of the metabolism of amino acids in the tsetse fly, Glossina (Diptera)

Abstract The pattern of free amino acids in the thorax of the male tsetse fly shows marked changes during the hunger cycle and is strikingly affected by flight activity. In resting flies the proline content is high and the alanine content low, but during flight the proline drops sharply while alanine shows a proportionate increase. It would appear that proline plays the part of a readily mobilizable energy reserve for flight, and that its utilization is coupled with transaminations which prevent the release of ammonia. Arginine and taurine constitute important and relatively stable components of the amino acid pattern, whereas a number of other amino acids, including leucine, and valine appear in quantity only during the early stages of the hunger cycle; these are presumed to represent products of digestion. There is some evidence that the rate of digestion can be increased by increasing the general level of activity of the insects.
Empirically feasible solutions and explicit dynamics for rational expectation models

Abstract Fairly general rational expectation (RE) models are proved to have linear vector autoregressive moving average (VARMA) models as their reduced forms, using Muth's method of undetermined coefficients (MUC). An advantage of using VARMAs is that RE estimation can benefit from well-developed theory of solutions of stochastic difference equations and computer packages for VARMA and state space (SS) models. For example, we report theoretical derivations of explicit dynamics associated with the RE structure for Muth's and Lucas-Sargent-Wallace's models, suggesting generalizations and new solutions. We illustrate an RE structure estimation by using energy prices and Fackler and Krieger's ( J. Bus. Econom. Statist. 4 (1986), 71–80) study of five major macroeconomic variables.
Comparison of Vertebroplasty, Kyphoplasty, and Nonsurgical Management of Vertebral Compression Fractures and Impact on US Healthcare Resource Utilization.

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective propensity score-matched cohort analysis of the Thomson Reuters MarketScan database. PURPOSE To compare the outcomes of vertebral compression fracture (VCF) treatment options, with an emphasis on reoperation, complications, costand overall healthcare resource use between 2005 and 2009 in the United States. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE Options for the treatment of VCFs include conservative management, kyphoplasty, and vertebroplasty. The cost-effectiveness of surgical intervention for VCF has been criticized, and some suggest their outcomes to be similar to placebo. METHODS Patients 18 years of age and older who developed a VCF were identified and separated into three treatment cohorts: vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and non-surgical. Propensity score matching was performed to match patients between cohorts. Main outcomes assessed included reoperation, complications, healthcare resource use and associated cost. Outcomes were compared at three separate time intervals (patients at index hospitalization; patients with at least 2-year follow-up data; and those with at least 4-year follow-up data). RESULTS Twenty thousand seven hundred forty patients were identified with VCFs, yielding 7,290 after propensity score matching. The mean age of the patients was 78±12 years; and 5,507 (75.5%) were female. All reoperation rates ranged from 6%-17%, while complication rates ranged from 7%-10%, which did not differ significantly among the three cohorts at all follow-up periods. Overall costs were noted to be significantly greater in both the kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty groups at 1-year follow-up, not at 2-year and 4-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggests that the treatment of a VCF patient will likely be associated with similar long-term operative and complication rates regardless of treatment modality.
Evaluation of β-Glucosidase Activity as a Soil Quality Indicator for the Soil Management Assessment Framework

Th e Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) was developed to assess conservation eff ects on soil, and uses multiple soil quality indicator measurements to compare soil functioning. Our objective was to develop a SMAF- compatible scoring equation for soil β-glucosidase (BG) activity using published data sets representing diff erent soils and management. Th e resulting equation was an S-shaped curve: y = a/(1 + bexp(−cx)), where x is the measured BG activity (mg p-nitrophenol (PNP) released kg −1 soil h −1 ), a and b are constants, and c is a factor modifi ed by soil classifi cation, texture, and climate. Data from a study conducted near Mandan, ND were used to test the model for sensitivity to crop management systems. Soil organic C (SOC) content at the site measured 247 to 687 g kg−1 , while BG activity ranged from 33 to 675 mg kg−1 h −1 . Using SMAF, SOC indicator scores ranged from 0.25 to 0.73, while BG activity scores varied from 0.17 to 0.93. As the work progressed, it became apparent that when BG activity values were normalized to the SOC content, the resulting ratio could indicate C sequestration trends, with ratios of 10 to 17 g PNP kg −1 SOC h −1 refl ective of systems in equilibrium. Ratios >17 were mostly from recently altered management systems with SOC contents trending upward, while ratios <10 were generally from soils that were expected to continue to lose soil C. Th e application of a sensitive C cycling enzyme activity such as BG should improve the SMAF soil quality assessments for soil functions where soil metabolic activity or C-cycle enzyme activity play a role.
Primary Orbital Ewing Sarcoma in a Middle-aged Woman

A 43-year-old woman had unilateral exophthalmos caused by primary orbital Ewing sarcoma. Specialized immunohistochemical stains, primarily MIC-2 (CD99), aided in the diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma. Twenty-two months after radiotherapy and multiagent chemotherapy, the patient remained tumor free. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of orbital Ewing sarcoma to present in an adult beyond the fourth decade of life.