cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parable, Metaphor, and Theology

he ordinary and the extraordinary, the unsurprising and the surprisingthe relation between these is my concern. I want to suggest that the NT parable, understood as an extended metaphor, is an appropriate model for theological reflection, because it holds in solution the ordinary and the extraordinary and unites language, belief, and life into a whole. But it does all this in a fashion appropriate to sceptical and secular people such as most of us are. Parables are stories about ordinary men and women who find in the midst of their everyday lives surprising things happening. They are not about "giants of the faith" who have religious visions. What is attempted in this essay is what theology always tries to do-to serve the hearing of the word of God in a particular time and place. The assumption is that theology could better fulfill this function were it to attend to Jesus' parables as models of theological reflection, for the parables keep the language, belief, and life we are called to in solution and hence address people totally. If theology becomes overly abstract, conceptual, and systematic, it separates thought and life, belief and practice, words and their embodiment. The parable is a prime genre of Scripture and certainly the central form of Jesus' teaching. Current scholarship sees the parable as an extended metaphor, that is, as a story of ordinary people and events which is the context for envisioning and understanding the strange and extraordinary.' In the parabolic tradition people are not asked to be "religious" nor are they taken out of this world; rather, the transcendent comes to ordinary reality and disrupts it. The parable sees "religious" matters in "secular" terms. Another way to put this is to speak of Jesus as the parable of God: here we see the distinctive way the transcendent touches the worldly-only in and through and under ordinary life.
Trifluoromethyl- or pentafluorosulfanyl-substituted poly-1,2,3-triazole compounds as dense stable energetic materials

4-(Trifluoromethyl- or pentafluorosulfanyl)-substituted mono- and poly-1,2,3-triazole compounds were synthesized using Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar azide and fluorinated alkyne cycloaddition reactions. This methodology gave highly regioselective 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazole products. The SF5-containing materials (1b–6b) exhibit higher densities and more favorable detonation properties relative to their analogs with a CF3 substituent (1a–6a). Fluorinated triazene-(1,2,3-triazole) compounds (5a, 6a, 5b, 6b) have the most useful detonation properties based on calculations (Cheetah 5.0), and are comparable to those of TNT. These compounds are thermally stable (>270 °C) except for 1b, and are insensitive to impact. All of the new compounds were fully characterized via elemental, spectral (19F, 1H, 13C NMR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses. Compounds 3a and 4a were also structured using single crystal X-ray diffraction.
Bacterial adherence to the upper respiratory tract of ferrets infected with influenza A virus.

A ferret model was used to study bacterial adherence in animals with influenza. Ferrets were inoculated intranasally with influenza A3/Hong Kong/ 1 /68 virus. Antiviral serum antibodies were apparent by Day 5. On Days 3, 5, 7, 9, and 1 I, three virus-inoculated and two uninoculated controls were anesthetized, exsanguinated, and decapitated, and the lower jaw was removed. Each animal was inoculated intranasally with a 1-ml suspension containing 20 mg (dry wt) of either 3H-labeled Staphylococcus aureus or 3H-labeled group B Streptococcus type Ia and incubated for 45 min at ambient temperature. In animals challenged with staphylococci, 80% of the original inoculum remained free in suspension; of the remaining 20%, the distribution in the upper respiratory tracts of virus-infected and control animals was significantly different. Of the staphylococci remaining in the nasopharynx of control animals, 74% was present in mucinous plugs, 1 1 % was bound to host cells present in washes of the nasal cavity, and 15% was released by protease treatment of the nasopharynx. Of the staphylococci remaining in the upper respiratory tract of virus-infected ferrets, 36% was recovered in plugs, 24% was bound to cells in nasal washes, and 40% was released by enzyme treatment. Overall, adherence-positive staphylococci represented 64% of recoverable bacteria in virus-infected ferrets versus 26% in controls. Adherence was increased twofold (Days 5 and 7) to threefold (Days 3, 9, and 11) in virus-infected ferrets compared to uninfected controls. In contrast, only 7% of the original streptococcal inoculum was recovered from virus-infected and uninfected control animals and virus infection did not enhance strep- tococcal adherence except for an approximately threefold increase that was seen on Day 11.
Suitability of three kinetic models for whewellite crystallization

Models commonly used to interpret seeded crystal growth data were examined numerically: the parabolic model, the Burton-Cabrera-Frank (BCF) model, and three variations of a surface nucleation model. The choice of the time-dependent variable in the parabolic model had no important effect on the goodness of fit to experimental data. In the integral representation of all the models, curve-fitting of parameters gave such excellent fits of a common data set that useful distinctions between the models could not be made. In the differential representation, curve-fitting showed small differences that might be used with very precise data to choose the most appropriate model when the assumption of constant surface area is valid. In the differential representation, the parabolic growth law is clearly distinguished from the BCF model. We conclude that even with high-quality constant-composition growth data on seeded crystals with monitoring of changes in accessible surface, it would be difficult to identify the most appropriate model(s) to use in the relative supersaturation range of 1–11.
Depressed mononuclear cell function in advanced neoplastic disease.

: The ascites fluids from 9 patients with invasive gynecologic neoplasms were examined to determine the immunocompetence of the mononuclear ascites cells and the immunoregulatory properties of the cell-free ascitic fluid. Blood mononuclear cells (from 5 patients) were also tested. The mononuclear cells from the cancer patients responded poorly to stimulation with polyclonal mitogens; only the blood mononuclear cell response to pokeweed mitogen was not significantly less than that of normal subjects. The addition of autologous serum or cell-free ascitic fluid to the cell cultures enhanced the response of the cells to phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen, had little effect on the response to concanavalin-A, and greatly depressed the response to succinyl-concanavalin-A. We found no evidence for the presence of suppressor cells in the ascites cell populations. The data are consistent with the thesis that the depressed immune responses are the result of malnutrition associated with advanced malignant disease.
Determination of the Kinetic and Chemical Mechanism of Malic Enzyme Using (2R,3R)-erythro-Fluoromalate as a Slow Alternate Substrate†

(2R,3R)-erythro-Fluoromalate, but not the threo isomer, is a slow substrate for chicken liver malic enzyme with either NADP or 3-acetylpyridine-NADP (APADP) as the other substrate. The Km for erythro-fluoromalate is similar to that of malate, but the turnover number with NADP is 3300-fold slower, although 5.5-fold faster with APADP than with NADP. Deuteration of fluoromalate at C-2 gave an isotope effect on V/K of 1.39 with NADP and 3.32 with APADP. With NADP, the 13C isotope effects at C-4 were 1.0490 with unlabeled and 1.0364 with deuterated fluoromalate. With APADP, the corresponding values were 1.0138 and 1.0087. These data show that the mechanism is stepwise with both nucleotide substrates, in contrast to the reaction of malate and APADP, which was postulated to be concerted by Karsten et al. [Karsten, W. E., and Cook, P. F. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 2096−2103], a conclusion recently shown to be correct by Edens et al. [Edens, W. A., Urbauer, J. L., and Cleland, W. W. (1997) Biochemistry 36, 1141−1147]...
Lateral phase separations in Escherichia coli membranes

Abstract Membranes from unsaturated fatty acid auxotrophs of Escherichia coli were studied by spin labeling and freeze-fracturing. From measurements of the partition of the spin label TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) between the aqueous phase and fluid lipids in isolated membranes, temperatures, corresponding to the onset and completion of a lateral phase separation of the membrane phospholipids were determined. By freeze-fracture electron microscopy a change in the distribution of particle in the membrane was observed around the temperature of the onset of the lateral phase separation. When cells were frozen from above that temperature a netlike distribution of particles in the plasma membrane was observed for unfixed preparations. When frozen after fixing with glutaraldehyde the particle distribution was random. In membranes of cells frozen with or without fixing from a temperature below the onset of the phase separation, the particles were aggregated and large areas void of particles were present. This behavior can be understood in terms of the freezing rate with the aid of phase diagrams.
A Generalization of the Trie Data Structure

Tries, a form of string-indexed look-up structure, are generalized, in a manner first discovered by Wadsworth, to permit indexing by terms built according to an arbitrary signature. The construction is parametric with respect to the type of data to be stored as values; this is essential, because the recursion that defines tries appeals from one value type to others. ‘Trie’ (for any fixed signature) is then a functor, and the corresponding look-up function is a natural isomorphism.The trie functor is in principle definable by the ‘initial fixed point’ semantics of Smyth and Plotkin. We simplify the construction, however, by introducing the ‘category-cpo’, a class of category within which calculations can retain some domain-theoretic flavor. Our construction of tries extends easily to many-sorted signatures.
New modulation sequence for random-modulation continuous-wave lidar

We propose and analyze a new modulation sequence for Random- Modulation Continuous-Wave (RM-CW) lidar. It is compared to known sequences, and shown to have significantly better, and nearly-ideal, signal properties. Namely, the cross- correlation function of this new sequence - named the AA1- sequence - consists of single peaks separated by zeros. Consequently, unlike the A1- and A2-sequence, it is immune to interference caused by backscattering from different ranges. Also, since the demodulation sequence is balanced, the new sequence, unlike the M-sequence, does not require the low laser output power to be zero to maintain desired cross-correlation properties; in lidar using a semiconductor laser as a transmitter, this would eliminate coupling between the demodulated signal amplitude and the emission wavelength, and thus facilitate wavelength-dependent measurements. Furthermore, we have calculated the post- demodulation signal-to-noise ratio in the presence of an additive noise of arbitrary power spectra density - it is applicable in all cases where the noise does not depend on the signal, which is typical in direct-detection mid-IR lidar. The results show that in baseband transmission all these sequences have similar noise properties, except that the M-sequence - due to its imbalance property - has a much stronger near-zero-frequency noise pickup, which results in significantly worse noise performance in practical systems. Therefore, we claim that the new modulation sequence would yield superior performance in RM-CW lidar.
Kinetic study of n-butane aromatization on ZSM-5 and gallium bearing ZSM-5 catalysts

Abstract The apparent activation energies and pre-exponential factors for n-butane conversion over “pure” ZSM-5 zeolite and two gallium bearing ZSM-5 catalysts have been determined. Although these three catalysts give the same value for the activation energy (100 kJ/mol), the values of the pre-exponential factor exhibit a sequence which is coincident to that of the aromatization performance: parent zeolite
LOW-POWER PICOSECOND RESONANCE RAMAN EVIDENCE FOR HISTIDINE LIGATION TO HEME A3 AFTER PHOTODISSOCIATION OF CO FROM CYTOCHROME C OXIDASE

Several models have been proposed for the ligand dynamics in the heme a32+/CuB1+ binuclear pocket in cytochrome oxidase following CO photodissociation. These range from straightforward heme pocket relaxation to a variety of ligand exchange processes that have been proposed to be of relevance to the proton pumping function of the enzyme. To provide discrimination between these models, we have used picosecond time-resolved, pump−probe resonance Raman spectroscopy to study the photolysis process in the enzyme isolated from beef heart and from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The intermediate observed within 5 ps of photolysis with low-energy probe pulses (10−20 nJ/pulse) is the high-spin, five-coordinate heme a32+ to which a histidine is ligated, as indicated by the observation of the Fe-His vibration at 220 cm-1. Several control experiments demonstrate that the probe pulse energy is sufficiently low to avoid promoting any significant photochemistry during the spectral acquisition phase of the pump−probe experiment....
Evaluating risks associated with transport of the ghost shrimp Neotrypaea californiensis as live bait

The ghost shrimp Neotrypaea californiensis is imported into southern California from Oregon and Washington for use as live bait in recreational marine fisheries. We studied the population genetic structure of N. californiensis across much its range to assess the possibility that the transport of ghost shrimp across phylogeographic boundaries poses a risk of homogenizing existing genetic variation in the species. Analyses of two mitochondrial DNA markers showed little phylogeographic structure across the sampled range, suggesting that this risk is low. Unexpectedly, mitochondrial DNA analyses revealed that a second putative species of ghost shrimp frequently coexisted with N. californiensis in southern California intertidal habitats; almost all previous studies of soft-sediment communities in the region report the presence of N. californiensis only. We also assessed the possibility that the import of ghost shrimp might pose a risk of introduction of a parasitic castrator, the bopyrid isopod Ione cornuta, into southern California waters, where it does not appear to be native. Prevalence of living I. cornuta in samples purchased from bait shops was high (5.8%), suggesting that this is a real risk that merits further study.
Study of User Search Activities With Two Discovery Tools at an Academic Library

The goal of this study was to investigate and compare user search activities of 2 discovery tools at an academic library. The implementation of a new discovery tool (Primo by Ex Libris) to replace an existing system (VuFind) provided a unique opportunity to collect transaction logs of both systems and examine user search behavior in an empirical test. Results from a transaction log analysis and a user study of this study have contributed to the understanding of users’ search behavior and their preferences and perceptions of the two systems. We find both commonalities and differences between VuFind and Primo for users’ interactions. The combination use of the transaction log analysis and user study could be applied to other similar search systems assessments.
Some spectrophotometric observations on invertebrate nerves and their extracts.

Summary1) A method is presented for the spectrophotometric observation of intact, invertebrate nerves and their extracts in the presence or absence of oxygen. 2) Absorption maxima were observed for intact nerves between 538 and 568 mγ, and at 271 mγ for their aqueous extracts.
Hydrothermal hydration of Martian crust: illustration via geochemical model calculations

If hydrothermal Systems existed on Mars, hydration of crustal rocks may have had the potential to affect the water budget of the planet. We have conducted geochemical model calculations to investigate the relative roles of host rock composition, temperature, water-to-rock ratio, and initial fluid oxygen fugacity on the mineralogy of hydrothermal alteration assemblages, as well as the effectiveness of alteration to store water in the crust as hydrous minerals. In order to place calculations for Mars in perspective, models of hydrothermal alteration of three genetically related Icelandic volcanics (a basalt, andesite, and rhyolite) are presented, together with results for compositions based on SNC meteorite samples (Shergotty and Chassigny). Temperatures from 150 degrees C to 250 degrees C, water-to-rock ratios from 0.1 to 1000, and two initial fluid oxygen fugacities are considered in the models. Model results for water-to-rock ratios less than 10 are emphasized because they are likely to be more applicable to Mars. In accord with studies of low-grade alteration of terrestrial rocks, we find that the major controls on hydrous mineral production are host rock composition and temperature. Over the range of conditions considered, the alteration of Shergotty shows the greatest potential for storing water as hydrous minerals, and the alteration of Icelandic rhyolite has the lowest potential.
Main Street, U.S.A.: Fact and Fiction about Drug Abuse

Relative to the urban slum or commune environment, little is known of the drug abuse attitudes and knowledge of Middle America. As illicit drug use has become widespread in our society, demand for effective drug education, prevention, and rehabilitation has risen. It is important that the attitudes and knowledge of both those using, and not using drugs, be known in order to deal with these problems successfully.In a small Eastern community (population 25,000) in the United States, a random sample (N = 124) of teachers, parents, police, mental health clinic workers, ministers, and high school students (both drug users and nonusers) were interviewed and tested to ascertain their attitudes and knowledge regarding drugs.The findings are that drug users, in addition to being much more knowledgeable about drugs than nonusers, encounter quite different problems related to drug use than nonusers might imagine. Evidence indicates that users are aware of the fallacy of considering “drugs” in a general, all-encompas...
The Norm of Consensus on the U.S. Supreme Court

For four decades scholars have sought to explain the rise of dissensus on the U.S. Supreme Court. While the specific explanations they offer vary, virtually all rest on a common story: during the nineteenth (and into the twentieth) century, the Supreme Court followed a norm of consensus. That is, the justices may have privately disagreed over the outcomes of cases but masked their disagreement from the public by producing consensual opinions. The problem with this story is that its underlying assumption lacks an empirical basis. Simply put, there is no systematic evidence to show that a norm of consensus ever existed on the Court. We attempt to provide such evidence by turning to the docket books of Chief Justice Waite (1874-1888) and making the following argument: if a norm of consensus induced unanimity on Courts of by-gone eras, then the norm may have manifested itself through public unanimity in the face of private conference disagreements. Our investigation, which provides systematic support for this argument and thus for the existence of a norm of consensus, raises important questions about publicly unified decision-making bodies, be they courts or other political organizations. ver the course of four decades, scholars have produced mounds of paper providing explanations for the cause of the dramatic phenomenon depicted in Figure 1: the rise of dissensus on the U.S. Supreme Court (e.g., Caldeira and Zorn 1998; Halpern and Vines 1977; Mason 1956; Murphy 1964; Pritchett 1948; Walker, Epstein, and Dixon 1988).1 Certainly the specific reasons they offer vary (compare Goldman 1982 and Haynie 1992), but the underlying story contemporary scholars tell does not. During most of the nineteenth (and into the twentieth) century dissent rates remained low, so the story goes, because Supreme Court justices followed a norm of consensus, reflecting their belief that unanimity would "greatly strengthen the authority" of the Court and its rulings (Rehnquist 1996, 58; see also Beveridge 1919; Goebel 1971). That is, the justices may have privately disagreed over the outcomes of cases but they masked their disagreements from the public by producing consensual
Adolescent survivors: a secondary analysis of a clinical trial targeting behavior change.

Background The late effects of radiation and chemotherapy increase childhood cancer survivors' risk of chronic health problems. Survivors' behavior is important in modifying this risk, yet adolescent and young adult survivors fail to engage in important health-promoting behaviors and frequently practice high-risk behaviors. This secondary analysis re-evaluated a multi-component behavior-change intervention that had previously demonstrated no impact in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer. Procedure The parent trial compared 132 adolescent survivors in the intervention arm with 135 in the standard-care arm at baseline and at 1 year for disease and treatment knowledge, perception of late effects risk, and the frequency of health-risk and health-protective behaviors (combined as a single summative measure). In contrast, the secondary analysis examined each of the 14 behaviors separately. Additionally, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to examine the change in health behaviors while statistically controlling for age, gender, and the wide variation in baseline behaviors. Results Knowledge (P = 0.038), breast self-examination (BSE) (P ≤ 0.0001) and testicular self-examination (P = 0.004) increased, as did perceptions about the need to change behavior (P = 0.004) and the effort needed to stay healthy (P ≤ 0.0001). In the treatment group, junk food consumption decreased (P = 0.052) and smoking abstinence was maintained (P = 0.088). Significant interactions between gender and treatment group were demonstrated. Conclusions Health-risk and health-protective behaviors cannot be effectively combined in a one-dimensional measure. Gender and age influence the impact of interventions targeting health behavior in survivors. Future trials should include observation of the patient-clinician encounter, more complex sampling methods, and pre-trial knowledge of the distribution of the study behaviors. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Immune function, pain, and psychological stress in patients undergoing spinal surgery.

STUDY DESIGN This study was an exploratory repeated measures design comparing patients undergoing two magnitudes of surgery in the lumbar spine: lumbar herniated disc repair and posterior lumbar fusion. OBJECTIVE The present study evaluated and compared the effect of perceived pain, perceived stress, anxiety, and mood on natural killer cell activity (NKCA) and IL-6 production among adult patients undergoing lumbar surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Presurgical stress and anxiety can lead to detrimental patient outcomes after surgery, such as increased infection rates. It has been hypothesized that such outcomes are due to stress-immune alterations, which may be further exacerbated by the extent of surgery. However, psychologic stress, anxiety, and mood have not been previously characterized in patients undergoing spinal surgery. METHODS Pain, stress, anxiety, and mood were measured using self-report instruments at T1 (1 week before surgery), T2 (the day of surgery), T3 (the day after surgery), and T4 (6 weeks after surgery). Blood (30 mL) was collected for immune assessments at each time point. RESULTS Pain, stress, anxiety, and mood state were elevated at baseline in both surgical groups and were associated with significant reduction in NKCA compared with the nonsurgical control group. A further decrease in NKCA was observed 24 hours after surgery in both surgical groups with a significant rise in stimulated IL-6 production, regardless of the magnitude of surgery. In the recovery period, NKCA increased to or above baseline values, which correlated with decreased levels of reported pain, perceived stress, anxiety, and mood state. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that patients undergoing elective spinal surgery are highly stressed and anxious, regardless of the magnitude of surgery and that such psychologic factors may mediate a reduction in NKCA.
Limestone concretion growth documented by trace-fossil relations

A concretionary limestone bed and subjacent black laminated shales examined within the upper part of the Jurassic Posidonienschiefer in the Holzmaden area of southern Germany contain trace fossils that are derived exclusively from an overlying bioturbated green claystone bed that reflects a short episode of oxygenation. The character and systematic distribution of trace-fossil assemblages, which include Chondrites , Thalassinoides , and Rhizocorallium , provide a record of depth and timing of syngenetic concretionary limestone growth that is more precise than growth histories provided by more traditional physical and geochemical criteria. Ichnologic evidence indicates that concretion growth began at isolated nuclei at or just below the sediment-water interface just prior to or contemporaneous with the onset of the oxygenation episode. Concretion growth progressed downward and laterally from these nuclei during and after minor compaction but was essentially complete before the termination of the oxygenation event at a depth less than 1 m below the sea floor. The temporal association of this concretion growth with the oxygenation episode implies a genetic relation that warrants further investigation of the significance of bottom-water oxygenation fluctuations for the formation of other concretionary limestones in the stratigraphic record.
Magnetic studies of RCo12B6 compounds (R=Y, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy)

Abstract Magnetization of the RCo 12 B 6 borides (R=Y, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy), which crystallize in a rhombohedral structure of the SrNi 12 B 6 -type, has been measured in the temperature range 4.2–300 K. All compounds were found to order magnetically with Curie temperatures ranging from 154 to 177 K. Saturation moments at 4.2 K were found to be 6.5, 5.4, 8.4, 8.8, 6.8, 2.1 and 5.9μ B /f.u. for R=Y, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy, respectively. These results imply a ferromagnetic coupling of Co and rare earth moments for light rare earths and an antiferrimagnetic coupling for heavy rare earths in these compounds. A spin-compensation effect is observed in GdCo 12 B 6 alloys at T comp =46 and 72 K, respectively. Results suggest that in CeCo 12 B 6 the Ce ion exists in the quadripositive state. It is clear that RCo 12 B 6 materials are not of interest for permanent magnet applications.
Joint trajectories of victimization and marijuana use and their health consequences among urban African American and Puerto Rican young men

We examined the joint trajectories of violent victimization and marijuana use from emerging adulthood to the early thirties and their health consequences in the early thirties among urban African American and Puerto Rican men. Data were collected from a community sample of young men (N = 340) when they were 19, 24, 29, and 32 years old. The joint trajectories of violent victimization and marijuana use were extracted using growth mixture modeling. Three distinct joint trajectory groups of violent victimization and marijuana use were identified: high violent victimization/consistently high marijuana use; low violent victimization/increasingly high marijuana use, and low violent victimization/low marijuana use. Group comparisons using regression analyses showed that men who had experienced high levels of violent victimization and were high frequency marijuana over time users experienced the most adverse psychological and physical health outcomes, including more health problems, psychological maladjustment, and substance use disorders.
Small RNAs and Immunity

Abstract Small RNAs of 21–23 nucleotides are powerful regulators of gene expression and play essential roles in biological processes that include development, maintenance of genome stability, and viral adaptive defense mechanisms. Such small RNAs are simple in design yet rich in biology and have captivated the attention of biologists in many fields. This review discusses the potential roles of small RNAs in immune biology and speculates on their potential participation in lymphogenesis and antiviral mechanisms.
Effects of environmental lighting and dietary vitamin A on the vulnerability of the retina to light damage.

—The damaging effect of visible light on photoreceptors and pigment epithelium has been studied mainly in the albino rat with continuous or intermittent exposures to green light for up to several days. Similar damage as in the albino rat but with different doses of light and different times of exposures were observed in pigmented rats, hamster strains, mouse strains and in the nocturnal monkey. The damage is graded histologically mainly by the size of the area of the retina over which the photoreceptors have died. The damage is quantitatively assessed by the measurement of ERG and DNA content of the retina. The action spectrum for the irreversible damage agress with the absorption curve for rhodopsin. Threshold damage occurs with diffuse light that reduces acutely the rhodopsin of the whole retina by about 10%. Damage is a function of body and eye temperature during exposure. At a body temperature of 42°, 2–4 h of exposure produces the same damage as exposure for 30 h at normal temperature using 1500 lux. The damage is also very markedly dependent upon the light history of the animal prior to exposure. Cyclic environmental light of I to 10 ft-cd for several days or weeks reduces very significantly the damaging effect compared to animals reared simultaneously in continuous darkness. Cyclic light rearing is associated with a reduction in opsin and rhodopsin of the whole retina, an increase in the molar phospholipid/opsin ratio and a reduction in the length of the outer segment. Protection is also produced by Vitamin A deficiency but significantly only when rhodopsin content is decreased by maintenance in very weak cyclic light. Thus Vitamin A deficiency and environmental light seem to use the same mechanism. Results do not support the possibility that damage is caused by a cytotoxic effect of retinol.
Performance and sensitivity analysis of maximum-likelihood sequence detection on magnetic recording channels

The results of a study comparing the performance of maximum-likelihood sequence detection (MLSD) for various magnetic-recording schemes are presented. The schemes considered are: run-length limited (RLL) coding, nonreturn to zero (NRZ) recording, and partial-response class IV (PR-IV) and extended partial-response class IV (EPR-IV) signaling. The MLSD of RLL-coded and NRZ recording systems provides bounds on the performance that can be achieved, respectively, by peak detection systems and by partial-response schemes more complex than PR-IV and EPR-IV. Performance of PR-IV and EPR-IV signaling with MLSD is compared with the obtained bounds: the gain in recording density over peak detection provided by these partial-response schemes is established, and the merit of using more complex partial-response systems is determined. The sensitivity of the PR-IV and EPR-IV systems to various parameters is examined. >
The effects of seizure type, level of seizure control, and antiepileptic drugs on memory and attention skills in children with epilepsy

Memory and attention skills were assessed in 84 children with epilepsy who had no documented learning or behavioral disorders. Seizure type, level of control, and antiepileptic drug effects were examined in relation to their influence on memory and attention function. For the entire sample, verbal and visual memory skills were found to be within the average range. However, subtle problems with attentional skills were noted. Two‐way analyses of variance, based on seizure type by level of control, did not indicate significant group differences in memory and attention skills between children with complex partial versus absence seizures. Children with uncontrolled seizures had more difficulty with recall of complex verbal information. A notable finding was that children on polytherapy had significantly lower verbal and visual memory scores than children on monotherapy. Results suggest that children with epilepsy, without learning or behavioral disorders, have intact memory skills but may have subtle difficult...
Bioassay for estimating the biogenic methane-generating potential of coal samples

Abstract Generation of secondary biogenic methane in coal beds is likely controlled by a combination of factors such as the bioavailability of coal carbon, the presence of a microbial community to convert coal carbon to methane, and an environment supporting microbial growth and methanogenesis. A set of treatments and controls was developed to bioassay the bioavailability of coal for conversion to methane under defined laboratory conditions. Treatments included adding a well-characterized consortium of bacteria and methanogens (enriched from modern wetland sediments) and providing conditions to support endemic microbial activity. The contribution of desorbed methane in the bioassays was determined in treatments with bromoethane sulfonic acid, an inhibitor of microbial methanogenesis. The bioassay compared 16 subbituminous coal samples collected from beds in Texas (TX), Wyoming (WY), and Alaska (AK), and two bituminous coal samples from Pennsylvania (PA). New biogenic methane was observed in several samples of subbituminous coal with the microbial consortium added, but endemic activity was less commonly observed. The highest methane generation [80 µmol methane/g coal (56 scf/ton or 1.75 cm 3 /g)] was from a south TX coal sample that was collected from a non-gas-producing well. Subbituminous coals from the Powder River Basin, WY and North Slope Borough, AK contained more sorbed (original) methane than the TX coal sample and generated 0–23 µmol/g (up to 16 scf/ton or 0.5 cm 3 /g) new biogenic methane in the bioassay. Standard indicators of thermal maturity such as burial depth, nitrogen content, and calorific value did not explain differences in biogenic methane among subbituminous coal samples. No original methane was observed in two bituminous samples from PA, nor was any new methane generated in bioassays of these samples. The bioassay offers a new tool for assessing the potential of coal for biogenic methane generation, and provides a platform for studying the mechanisms involved in this economically important activity.
Magnetic field effects on photonic band structures

The effects of an externally applied magnetic field on the photonic band structure of a periodic medium composed of vacuum and metallic or semiconducting materials are studied. Specifically, a waveguide formed from perfectly conducting parallel plates which contain between them a periodic array of vacuum and n-type semiconductor (or metal) slabs is examined in the presence of a uniform external static magnetic field applied parallel to both the plates and slab surfaces. The photonic band structure for electromagnetic waves propagating in a direction perpendicular to the slab faces is found to be sensitive to the applied magnetic field. Two effects are observed in the presence of a nonzero applied magnetic field: (1) a gap opens in the frequency region 0 < (omega) /c < (pi) /d, where d is the plate separation, and (2) a nonreciprocal structure is generated which yields a band structure that is asymmetric in wavevector space.
Change of shift

When I was a young, vibrant medical student back in 1987, my favorite “barroom stories” came from the psychiatric ward. There was the guy who grabbed my tie and twirled me around like I was a top. Then there was the woman who always said nonsensical things like “4 score and 7 years ago, God brought forth this horticultural laundry ....” Indeed it was sad, but true. These were the people I enjoyed telling stories about, and believe me, with a tad bit of embellishment from the speaker (as well as a tad bit of alcohol), these stories could cause people to giggle and snort and laugh until they lost bodily fluids. There was the guy who was actually roller-skating down the highway “because he could.” Indeed, I was not about to disagree with him, because he weighed 285 pounds and was solidly built. Then there was the elderly gentleman who would say such things as “... an airplane hit me in the back and rolled me right over.” One night when I was an intern on duty for psychiatry at Christmas time, we encountered 2 Gods and 1 Jesus Christ. God (#2) was wearing a very red sports suit and tennis shoes to match. This deity was placed on the ninth floor with the other two, and I guess they called themselves the holy trinity. The stories could roll on and on endlessly until you would think I was making them up. However, I have now learned something extremely important: we are no better or worse than them. These people, for better or worse, have a place on this earth, and they don’t have to be star subjects of tales from a barroom comedian. I don’t go to bars anymore, anyway. My own psychiatrist wouldn’t find it funny. Also, I don’t talk about patients like the ones above any more. It was time to stop anyway. After years of battling with a demon to beat all demons, a psychiatrist found him for me. I stared him in the face, and I did not like what I saw. It certainly isn’t funny, and although not incapacitating, my own diagnosis of bipolar disorder type II was a hard pill to swallow. This fight was actually recognizing the demon. The harder fight is living day to day. The metallic taste of lithium every day, the weight gain and slowness from the antidepressant, and the desire to stop all medications and return to normal are a day-to-day part of my existence. There are no health care plans that cover “crazy” people, and so my out-ofpocket expenses are enormous. Certain state medical boards won’t even acknowledge the possibility of mental illness in any of their physicians. My own mother barely wants to recognize it. Now, having faced this demon and understanding the battle, I am unafraid to share it with those who wish to listen. I wish that we had a better way of handling the myriad mental illnesses today, and certainly it seems that we still push it into the closet. Remember the drunks, the schizophrenics, the manics, and the depressed. I really think they need “us.” They very well could “be” us.
DSM III as a systemic culture pattern : studying intracultural variation among psychiatrists

DSM III is viewed as embodying a pool of information pertaining to a systemic culture pattern of psychiatry and attempts are made to describe how psychiatrists understand and apply it using ideas from cognitive anthropology. Each of seven psychiatrists evaluated a group of patients in an intake setting. Seven broad categories of Axis I diagnoses were formed and the frequencies with which psychiatrists used these categories were computed. In addition, twelve arithmetical measures pertaining to the five axes of DSM III and a current functioning axis and the decision regarding disposition were also computed. Using these dependent variables, the study analyzes the similarities and differences among psychiatrists in the way they formulate intake evaluations. Psychiatrists' selections of Axis I diagnoses were highly intercorrelated but they differed greatly among themselves in the way they coded many of the axes of DSM III. Group correlations among diagnostic measures indicated a patterning among diagnostic measures and the nature of this patterning is discussed. Each psychiatrists' set of correlations among the twelve diagnostic measures was itself correlated with that of others and this showed a very high level of interpsychiatrist agreement. Deductions drawn from the cultural consensus model suggest that psychiatrists share an underlying 'grammar' that references the pool of information pertaining to DSM III.
Interannual sea level changes in the tropical Pacific associated with ENSO

A regression analysis involving tide gauge and altimeter sea level data is used to construct an estimate for interannual changes in sea level associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The method provides an assessment of the island regions most at risk of anomalously high sea levels during peak El Nino and La Nina events.
Tetrahydroisoquinolines and alcoholism: where are we today?

The present status of research on the tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) family of compounds and other aldehyde metabolites in the field of alcoholism is described. A brief history of the background of experimental studies on the actions of the THIQ's and β-carbolines on alcohol drinking is presented. A computer data base search of articles published in this field reveals that both the historical and current research trends have waxed and waned since the 1960s. The clinical utility of naltrexone in terms of the cerebral function of opioid compounds in drinking behavior and alcoholism is likewise considered. Finally, the residual controversy concerning the significance of multiple intermediary metabolites in alcohol dependence and craving should ultimately be resolved in the future by broad-based investigations which employ state-of-the-art experimental approaches.
The Bounded Cycle-Cover Problem

We consider the bounded cycle-cover problem, which is to find a minimum cost cycle cover of a two-connected graph such that no cycle in the cover contains more than a prescribed numbered of edges. This problem arises in the design of fiber-optic telecommunications networks that employ multiple self-healing rings to provide routing for communication traffic, even in the event of a fiber cut or other type of link failure. We present this problem, along with several related problems, and develop heuristic algorithms that find near optimal solutions for the bounded cycle-cover problem based on solution techniques for these related problems. Empirical results of these algorithms, applied to randomly generated problem instances, are presented and discussed.
Charge correlation effects on ionization of weak polyelectrolytes.

Ionization curves of weak polyelectrolytes were obtained as a function of the charge coupling strength from Monte Carlo simulations. In contrast to many earlier studies, the present work treats counterions explicitly, thus allowing the investigation of charge correlation effects at strong couplings. For conditions representing typical weak polyelectrolytes in water near room temperature, ionization is suppressed because of interactions between nearby dissociated groups, as also seen in prior work. A novel finding here is that, for stronger couplings, relevant for non-aqueous environments in the absence of added salt, the opposite behavior is observed—ionization is enhanced relative to the behavior of the isolated groups due to ion–counterion correlation effects. The fraction of dissociated groups as a function of position along the chain also behaves non-monotonically. Dissociation is highest near the ends of the chains for aqueous polyelectrolytes and highest at the chain middle segments for non-aqueous environments. At intermediate coupling strengths, dissociable groups appear to behave in a nearly ideal fashion, even though chain dimensions still show strong expansion effects due to ionization. These findings provide physical insights on the impact of competition between acid/base chemical equilibrium and electrostatic attractions in ionizable systems.
A survey of the implementation status of environmental management systems in U.S. colleges and universities

Abstract A census of 925 U.S. colleges and universities offering masters and doctorate degrees was conducted in order to study the number of elements of an environmental management system possessed by small, medium and large institutions. A 30% response rate was received with 273 responses included in the final data analysis. Overall, the number of environmental management system elements implemented among the 273 institutions ranged from 0 to 16, with a median of 12. The proportion of U.S. colleges and universities that reported having implemented a structured, comprehensive environmental management system is discussed. Stratified analyses were performed by institution size, Carnegie Classification and job title.
Anisotropy, inhomogeneity, and tension–compression nonlinearity of human glenohumeral cartilage in finite deformation

The tensile and compressive properties of human glenohumeral cartilage were determined by testing 120 rectangular strips in uniaxial tension and 70 cylindrical plugs in confined compression, obtained from five human glenohumeral joints. Specimens were harvested from five regions across the articular surface of the humeral head and two regions on the glenoid. Tensile strips were obtained along two orientations, parallel and perpendicular to the split-line directions. Two serial slices through the thickness, corresponding to the superficial and middle zones of the cartilage layers, were prepared from each tensile strip and each compressive plug. The equilibrium tensile modulus and compressive aggregate modulus of cartilage were determined from the uniaxial tensile and confined compression tests, respectively. Significant differences in the tensile moduli were found with depth and orientation relative to the local split-line direction. Articular cartilage of the humeral head was significantly stiffer in tension than that of the glenoid. There were significant differences in the aggregate compressive moduli of articular cartilage between superficial and middle zones in the humeral head. Furthermore, tensile and compressive stress-strain responses exhibited nonlinearity under finite strain, while the tensile modulus differed by up to two orders of magnitude from the compressive aggregate modulus at 0% strain, demonstrating a high degree of tension-compression nonlinearity. The complexity of the mechanical properties of human glenohumeral cartilage was exposed in this study, showing anisotropy, inhomogeneity, and tension-compression nonlinearity within the same joint. The observed differences in the tensile properties of human glenohumeral cartilage suggest that the glenoid may be more susceptible to cartilage degeneration than the humeral head.
Photon-counting detectors for space-based applications

Photon-counting detectors are required for numerous NASA future space-based applications including science instruments and free-space optical communication terminals. We discuss the baseline and alternative photon counting detectors that are under evaluation for deployment on the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat2) Advance Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS). Future NASA science instruments and free space laser communication terminal receiver performance can be improved by using single-photon-sensitive detectors. Photomultipliers and avalanche photodiodes are the primary candidates. Single-photon-sensitive detectors provide efficient receivers that minimize the required space-based resources (size, weight, power and cost).