cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
GENE INTERACTIONS AFFECTING MUSCLE ORGANIZATION IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS

Revertants of unc-15(e73)I, a paralyzed mutant with an altered muscle paramyosin, include six dominant and two recessive intragenic unc-15 revertants, two new alleles of the previously identified suppressor gene, sup-3 V, and a new suppressor designated sup-19(m210)V. The recessive intragenic unc-15 revertants exhibit novel alterations in paramyosin paracrystal structure and distribution, and these alterations are modified by interaction with unc-82(e1220)IV, another mutation that affects paramyosin. A strain containing both unc-15 and a mutation in sup-3 V that restores movement was mutagenized, and paralyzed mutants resembling unc-15 were isolated. Twenty mutations that interfere with suppression were divided into three classes (nonmuscle, sus-1, and mutations within sup-3) based on phenotype, genetic map position and dominance. The nonmuscle mutations include dumpy and uncoordinated types that have no obvious direct effect on muscle organization. Two recessive mutations define a new gene, sus-1 III. These mutations modify the unc-15(e73) phenotype to produce a severely paralyzed, dystrophic double mutant that is not suppressed by sup-3. Five semidominant, intragenic sup-3 antisuppressor mutations, one of which occurred spontaneously, restore the wild-type sup-3 phenotype of nonsuppression. However, reversion of these mutants generated no new suppressor alleles of sup-3, suggesting that the sup-3 antisuppressor alleles are not wild type but may be null alleles.
A Boundary Difference Method for Electromagnetic Scattering Problems With Perfect Conductors and Corners

Boundary integral equations (BIE) are widely used in applied electromagnetics, with the boundary element method (BEM) typically employed for numerical solution. The paper extends the recently proposed boundary difference method (BDM)-an alternative to BEM-to electromagnetic scattering problems with perfect conductors and with corners. BDM shares several key features and advantages of BEM but avoids the singular kernels inherent in BIE. Convergence rates of the method established via numerical experiments are in agreement with the theoretical predictions.
Considerations for future programming language standards activities

This paper reviews the current state of programming language standards activities with respect to the anomalies which exist between the various published and proposed standards for Fortran, Cobol, PL/I, and Basic. Proposals are made for the inclusion of formalisms within future standards and the extension of the standards to include additional items such as error conditions and documentation.
Effect of Melt Temperature and Hold Pressure on the Weld-Line Strength of an Injection Molded Talc-Filled Polypropylene

Tensile stress-strain behavior coupled with fractography was used to investigate the weld-line strength of an injection molded 40 w% talc-filled polypropylene. The relationship between processing conditions, microstructure, and tensile strength was established. Fracture surface of the weld line exhibited skin-core morphology with different degrees of talc particle orientations in the core and in the skin. Experimental results also showed that the thickness of the core decreased and the thickness of the skins increased with increasing melt temperature and increasing hold pressure, which resulted in an increase of yield strength and yield strain with increasing melt temperature and increasing hold pressure. Finally, a three-parameter nonlinear constitutive model was developed to describe the strain softening behavior of the weld-line strength of talc-filled polypropylene. The parameters in this model are the modulus E, the strain exponent m, and the compliance factor β. The simulated stress-strain curves from the model are in good agreement with the test data, and both m and β are functions of skin-core thickness ratio.
SnapShot: membrane curvature sensors and generators

Cells and intracellular organelles are enclosed by bilayer lipid membranes, whose curvatures define their shape. Generation of bilayer curvature is critical for organelle biogenesis and to mediate vectorial transport from one membrane to another via vesicular or tubular intermediates. Membrane curvature can be driven by lipid perturbations that create asymmetry in the two leaflets of the bilayer, by bilayer binding and/or penetrating proteins, or by forces applied to membranes by the cytoskeleton. This SnapShot provides an overview of the mechanisms through which these proteins generate and/or sense curvature. These two properties are tightly interconnected. Proteins that initiate curvature by inserting a wedge in the bilayer (for example, amphipathic helices and hydrophobic loops) will bind preferentially to a precurved bilayer, where bending has created a gap in lipid packing. Likewise, proteins that function primarily as curved scaffolds generally assemble into polymers that propagate curvature, and their binding to the bilayer and their polymerization are both facilitated by a precurved surface. In some proteins, both scaffold mechanisms and wedge-based mechanisms cooperate. Major mechanisms of protein-driven membrane deformation are listed below. Examples given refer to structures and schematic cartoons shown in the figure.
Morphological and cytological characteristics of some wheat x barley hybrids

As initial step in the transfer of dwarf bunt resistance from barley into wheat, the two cereal crops were hybridized. Using the wheat cultivars ‘Fukuhokomugi’ and ‘Chinese Spring’ (AABBDD genomes) as female parents and barley cultivar ‘Luther’ (II genome) as male, we synthesized 9 euploid hybrids (2n = 4x = 28; ABDI genomes). The hybrids were vigorous, but highly sterile. Meiotic analyses of seven hybrids showed considerable variation in chromosome pairing. Of the hybrids involving ‘Fukuhokomugi’ 3 had high pairing with a mean of 5.08–6.72 chiasmata per cell, while others had 2.16–3.52 chiasmata per cell. As many as 12 bivalents in some pollen mother cells would suggest at least some pairing between wheat and barley chromosomes. This level of homoeologous pairing, coupled with some, albeit low, female fertility of the F1 hybrids, could offer an opportunity for intergeneric gene transfers from barley into wheat and vice versa.
Nosocomial Infections with Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus fuecium in Liver Transplant Recipients: Risk Factors for Acquisition and Mortality

The risk factors for acquisition of and mortality due to nosocomial infection with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcusfaecium (VREF) in orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) recipients were studied at a tertiary care hospital ; 32 VREF-infected OLT patients (cases) were compared with 33 randomly selected OLT recipients (controls). More antibiotics were administered preoperatively to cases (mean, 4 antibiotics per patient for 474 antibiotic-days) than to controls (mean, 1.8 antibiotics per patient for 131 antibiotic-days). Cases were more likely than controls to have received vancomycin therapy preoperatively and to have been hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) preoperatively. Logistic regression revealed that the risk factors for acquisition of VREF infection were surgical reexploration and a prolonged stay in the surgical ICU postoperatively. In the cases, the risk factors for mortality were admission to the ICU preoperatively and hemodialysis. The mortality rate associated with polymicrobial bloodstream infections was 100% despite appropriate therapy. Sixteen and 18 cases received parenteral chloramphenicol and doxycycline, respectively, for treatment of VREF infection. There were no hematologic adverse effects attributed to chloramphenicol treatment. DNA analysis of selected E. faecium isolates suggested that infections were due to multiple clones. In summary, the source of VREF infection in OLT patients is the gastrointestinal tract. Antibiotic selective pressure may contribute to colonization. Infection with VREF is a predictor of morbidity and mortality in OLT patients.
Outcome Analysis of Factors Impacting the Plastic Surgery Match

Matching into an integrated plastic surgery program has become highly competitive. As a result it has become more difficult for both the applicants and the residency programs to determine which attributes are most important to match in plastic surgery and, more importantly, to make a surgeon who will contribute to the future of our specialty. This study was conducted to analyze potential associations between a successful match into plastic surgery and the number of interviews offered and attended, Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) membership, and participation in away rotations. Increased competitiveness of the specialty also has required that the applicant spend significant time and money on the match process to improve his chances. Therefore, we looked at the financial impact of the interview process as well as at compliance with the new communication mandate by the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee designed to decrease some of the time and monetary costs associated with the match process. An anonymous 30-item survey was e-mailed to all the applicants to our institution last year. The survey consisted of questions addressing applicant profile with specific questions regarding the interview process. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and proportions for each of the questions, were calculated. To assess the relationship between categorical outcomes, a Fisher exact test was used. Results with a P value less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Considering matching as the primary outcome measure, a statistically significant relationship was found with the number of plastic surgery interview invitations received and attended (P < 0.0001 for both), as well as with AOA membership (P = 0.018), with 89% (32/36) of the responders in AOA matching into plastic surgery. Although doing an away rotation did not have a significant association with match rate, one-third of responders matched where they did an away rotation. Gender was not found to influence match rate. This study supports with hard data the assumptions regarding matching into a competitive specialty: the more interview invitations received and interviews attended, and the more academically competitive the applicant, the more likely the applicant is to match. By applying this data, more precise guidelines may be developed to advise applicants concerning preparation for a successful match.
Mapping normal and cancer cell signalling networks: towards single-cell proteomics

Oncogenesis and tumour progression are supported by alterations in cell signalling. Using flow cytometry, it is now possible to track and analyse signalling events in individual cancer cells. Data from this type of analysis can be used to create a network map of signalling in each cell and to link specific signalling profiles with clinical outcomes. This form of 'single-cell proteomics' can identify pathways that are activated in therapy-resistant cells and can provide biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and for determining patient prognosis.
Comparing continuous hemofiltration with hemodialysis in patients with severe acute renal failure.

Continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) or CVVH with additional diffusive dialysis (CVVH-D) has theoretical advantages in treating severe acute renal failure (ARF), but no prospective clinical trials or restrospective comparison studies have clearly shown its superiority over intermittent hemodialysis (HD). To evaluate this question, all 349 adult patients with ARF receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) at our medical center during 1995 and 1996 were analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards methods. Initial univariate analysis showed the odds of death when receiving initial CVVH to be more than twice those when receiving initial HD (risk for death, 2.03; P 15 mg/dL; or total RRT < 48 hours) for total RRT left 227 patients in whom the risk for death was 1.09 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 1.80; P = 0.72) for initial CVVH, virtually equivalent to the risk for initial HD. Comorbid indicators significantly associated with death or failure to recover renal function included: older age; medical rather than surgical diagnosis; preexisting infection or trauma and liver disease as primary diagnoses; and abnormal bilirubin level or vital signs at initiation of RRT. These results show that the high crude mortality rate of patients undergoing CVVH was related to severity of illness and not the treatment choice itself. With the addition of more inclusive comorbidity data and a broader spectrum of interim outcomes, this type of analysis is a practical alternative to what would almost assuredly be a cumbersome and costly prospective, controlled trial comparing traditional HD with CVVH.
Fast low-angle positive contrast steady-state free precession imaging of USPIO-labeled macrophages: theory and in vitro experiment

The feasibility of imaging macrophages labeled with ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles (USPIO) with fast low-angle positive contrast steady-state free precession (FLAPS) was investigated through theory and in vitro experiment. Human macrophage cells were labeled with USPIO and imaged at 1.5 T. The metric "visibility," which combines magnitude and spatial extent of positive contrast, was used to evaluate the images. Negative contrast steady-state free precession (SSFP) and gradient-echo (GRE) imaging were also evaluated. Positive contrast was observed for relatively high concentrations of labeled cells for flip angles less than alpha=25 degrees . Theoretical and experimental results indicate that positive visibility (VIS(POS)) was maximized at alpha=10 degrees and 15 degrees. Low flip angle SSFP also provided negative contrast comparable to standard SSFP and GRE imaging. Results suggest that USPIO-labeled macrophages are capable of producing the conditions necessary for positive contrast with FLAPS at clinical field strength (1.5 T) and resolution (0.8x0.8x3 mm(3)).
Color-coded measures of myocardial velocity throughout the cardiac cycle by tissue Doppler imaging to quantify regional left ventricular function

Abstract TDI is a new echocardiographic technique that calculates and displays color-coded myocardial velocity on-line. To determine the feasibility of endocardial velocity throughout the cardiac cycle as a means to quantify regional function, 20 normal subjects aged 30 ± 5 years and 12 patients with heart disease aged 62 ± 17 years were studied with a prototype TDI system. TDI M-mode images were acquired by using a multicolored velocity map (display range, −30 to 30 mm/sec; temporal resolution, 90 Hz). Color-coded velocity data were then converted to numeric values off-line at 50 msec intervals. Posterior wall velocities throughout the cardiac cycle by TDI were closely correlated with velocity calculations from the first derivative of routine digitized M-mode tracings (group mean r = 0.88 ± 0.03, SEE = 7.0 ± 1.1 mm/sec). Anteroseptal TDI color-coded systolic velocity occurred 164 ± 84 msec from the onset of the electrocardiographic QRS compared with 203 ± 33 msec in the posterior wall ( p
Ethical ideologies: Efficient assessment and influence on ethical judgments of marketing practices

Individuals often differ with respect to their ethical judgments of marketing practices. Personal beliefs are presumably important sources of such differences. This article reports on the development and testing of an original, parsimonious measure of personal moral beliefs based on Forsyth's (1980) taxonomy of ethical ideologies. In contrast to Forsyth's longer, more general measure, the short scale presented here is designed specifically for application in marketing ethics research. Results of three studies suggest that Idealism and Ideological Relativism dimensions can be reliably distinguished and represented by the authors' 7-item MEI (Marketing Ethical Ideology) scale. Moreover, ethical ideology is shown to influence evaluations of representative ethical problems in marketing. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Psychiatric consultation: resistance to continuing therapy.

Abstract Patients hospitalized for medical illnesses often welcome psychiatric intervention and speak surprisingly freely of their emotional concerns. Frequently, they express a desire to continue psychotherapy after discharge; but they subsequently become guarded and distant and fail to continue therapy. Case histories are presented and this phenomenon is discussed in terms of the regression that takes place during medical hospitalization.
Securitization, Social Distance, and Financial Crises

Because the process of securitizing home mortgages played a critical role in precipitating the recent financial crisis, it is widely agreed that this market must be reformed to prevent future collapses. Most proposals focus on improving the dissemination of information among securitization participants, and on strengthening incentives to discourage excessive risk-taking. This paper argues that because securitization involves the commodification of the lending relationship, it reinforces the type of self-interested behavior that often undermines regulatory efforts. What are needed are structural reforms that encourage moral behavior by narrowing the social distance between lenders and borrowers. This can be accomplished by a return to traditional banking lending, supplemented by the use of covered bonds to loosen credit constraints and to help financial intermediaries manage market risk.
A turbidimetri milk-clotting assay for pepsin

Abstract The action of pepsin on a dilute solution of skim milk produces a sigmoidal increase in the turbidity of the solution. The time course of the increase depends on the amount of pepsin present. Turbidity changes can be measured in a recording spectrophotometer, providing an automated form of the milk clotting assay, which will easily determine 20 ng of pepsin.
Early challenges of nascent social entrepreneurs.

Social entrepreneurs are celebrated as transformational leaders whose accomplishments create opportunities for those less fortunate. However, little is known about the early stages of social enterp...
Find what I mean: exploring new kinds of search results

This paper discusses various scenarios encountered by visitors using search for a large documentation library. It identifies potential problems arising from the users' level of understanding of the documentation and the search system. It proposes solutions to these problems, some of which are common to other search systems, and others that may be specific to this type of documentation and audience.The paper then considers ways in which the documentation can be organized and written to make choices easier for searchers. It presents examples of popular destinations and typical navigation paths, illustrating how users sometimes find what they want, and other times find it difficult to make a choice or end up in the wrong place.In particular, it explores nontraditional techniques such as: Guiding users to "jumping off" points, where they can perform searches using predefined terms and search options.Identifying and recovering from specific search errors made by frequent users, as opposed to isolated, individual errors.Rewording headings to persuade or dissuade searchers as appropriate. Some headings are made more emphatic, others are intentionally made more vague..
Bridging the gaps between HCI and social media

"Social Mediator" is a new interactions forum exploring the ways that HCI research and principles interact --- or might interact --- with practices in the social media world. Joe McCarthy, Editor
Dynamic Programming Model for Strategic Materials, A

IT becomes immediately apparent in analyzing any national economy that some resources are scarce not only in the economic sense, but also in the more popular interpretation of that word. Because of international trade these shortages frequently impose no great hardship on the "have not" nation; for example, the absence of tea and coffee plantations in the United States does not prevent Americans from consuming prodigious quantities of these beverages. However, in the event of an hostility these resource scarcities can create a serious problem, especially if they happen to include some of the so-called strategic materials. It is with these materials, which are both vital to the country's defense and in short domestic supply, that this paper is concerned. Some of the more publicized scarce resources which have been regarded as critical by the United States include: tin, uranium, manganese, rubber, quinine, diamonds, and possibly plants manufacturing heavy machinery and precision instruments.' The very heterogeneity of this group augurs strongly against finding a single solution or even a unique mode of attack to the problem of how best to assure an adequate supply of these resources under all political conditions. Nevertheless, while the details of any possible solution may vary enormously with the individual material, almost without exception the available policy measures can be fitted into one of the following categories: 1. Importation under all conditions 2. Subsidized domestic production and research 3. Stockpiling 4. Conservation 5. Substitution
Cost effectiveness of ergonomics and quality improvements in electronics manufacturing

Abstract This paper describes the increasing emphasis on ergonomics in the manufacturing plants of IBM. Since 1978, 250,000 engineering hours have been devoted to ergonomics training. As a result a systematic approach to ergonomics improvement of manufacturing facilities has been implemented. This involves an analysis of the production environment including equipment, processes, ambient factors and job procedures. Information is collected through interviews of management, operators, and first-line supervisions, and complemented thorough field measurements of ergonomic parameters. Individual workstations as well as processes are analyzed with the purpose of modifying processes, reallocating tasks between automated devices and human operators and optimizing workstation design. Four case studies of industrial improvements are presented and analyzed in terms of improved productivity, quality, and reduction of injuries. All four studies proved to be good investments. Since its implementation around 1978, it is estimated that ergonomics improvements have resulted in cost savings of approximately $130 million.
Association between youth-focused firearm laws and youth suicides.

CONTEXT: Firearms are used in approximately half of all youth suicides. Many state and federal laws include age-specific restrictions on the purchase, possession, or storage of firearms; however, the association between these laws and suicides among youth has not been carefully examined. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between youth-focused firearm laws and suicides among youth. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Quasi-experimental design with annual state-level data on suicide rates among US youth aged 14 through 20 years, for the period 1976-2001. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the association between state and federal youth-focused firearm laws mandating a minimum age for the purchase or possession of handguns and state child access prevention (CAP) laws requiring safe storage of firearms on suicide rates among youth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between youth-focused state and federal firearm laws and rates of firearm, nonfirearm, and total suicides among US youth aged 14 to 17 and 18 through 20 years. RESULTS: There were 63 954 suicides among youth aged 14 through 20 years during the 1976-2001 study period, 39 655 (62%) of which were committed with firearms. Minimum purchase-age and possession-age laws were not associated with statistically significant reductions in suicide rates among youth aged 14 through 20 years. State CAP laws were associated with an 8.3% decrease (rate ratio [RR], 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86-0.98) in suicide rates among 14- to 17-year-olds. The annual rate of suicide in this age group in states with CAP laws was 5.97 per 100,000 population rather than the projected 6.51. This association was also statistically significant for firearm suicides (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.96) but not for nonfirearm suicides (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.91-1.10). CAP laws were also associated with a significant reduction in suicides among youth aged 18 through 20 years (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.85-0.93); however, the association was similar for firearm suicides (RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.82-0.92) and nonfirearm suicides (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence that CAP laws are associated with a modest reduction in suicide rates among youth aged 14 to 17 years. As currently implemented, minimum age restrictions for the purchase and possession of firearms do not appear to reduce overall rates of suicide among youth. VioLit keywords: 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Firearms Legislation Firearms Suicide Juvenile Suicide Juvenile Firearms Use Early Adolescence Late Adolescence Firearms Control Legislation Effectiveness
MEET THE GUEST EDITOR

Dr. James Cizdziel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Mississippi. He received degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo (B.S. in Analytical Chemistry, 1991) and the University of Nevada, Reno (Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Health, Environmental Chemistry Track, 1998). Prior to attending graduate school he was laboratory manager at Buffalo Tungsten Incorporated (1991-1993). His dissertation research, under Dr. Vernon Hodge, and associated journal publications examining attic dust as a historical record of air pollution are recognized as ground-breaking and innovative. He served as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Exposure Research Laboratory from 1998-2000. His research there resulted in some of the first papers on the determination of Hg in environmental and biological samples using automated combustionatomic absorption spectrometry. In 2000, he was hired as Senior Scientist at the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There he led a team of researchers who, among other things, utilized ICP-MS to measure trace elements in groundwater from near Yucca Mountain and the Nevada Test Site for various modeling studies. While in Las Vegas, he was active in the American Chemical Society, holding positions of Chair and Councilor in the Southern Nevada Section. He also served on the ACS National Committee for Technician Affairs. In 2008, he moved to Oxford, Mississippi to join the faculty at Ole Miss. He has been principal investigator on grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), EPA, and the Department of Energy. Recently, he was awarded an NSF grant to develop an ICP-MS facility for the U.S. Mid-South region. His research interests are in the area of analytical, environmental, and forensic chemistry. He is particularly interested in environmental monitoring and fingerprinting using isotope based methods. He is also interested in the biogeochemical cycling of Hg and supervises a state-of-the-art Hg laboratory. Often what counts in science is novelty. To that end, he enjoys developing new measurement techniques or applying analytical methods in novel ways. For example, he published the first work on determining Pb in blood by laser ablation ICP-MS of filter paper spotted with blood.
Diversity matters: Unique populations of women and breast cancer screening

BACKGROUND Ethnic differences in breast cancer screening behaviors are well established. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding exactly what causes these differences and which characteristics in low-screening populations should be targeted in an effort to modify screening behavior. METHODS Stratified cluster sampling was used to recruit 1364 women (ages 50–70 years) from 6 ethnic groups: African-American women; U.S.-born white women; English-speaking Caribbean, Haitian, and Dominican women; and immigrant Eastern-European women. In interviews, respondents provided information concerning demographic and structural variables related to mammogram utilization (age, education, income, marital status, physician recommendation, access, and insurance) and a set of cognitive variables (fatalism, perception of personal risk, health beliefs concerning cancer) and socioemotional variables (stress, cancer worry, embarrassment, and pain). RESULTS For data analysis, the authors used a 2-step logistic regression with frequency of mammograms over a 10-year period (≤ 4 mammograms over 10 years or ≥ 5 mammograms over 10 years) as a dependent variable. U.S.-born African-American women and Dominican women were screened as frequently as European-American women, but the remaining minority groups were screened with less frequency. With one exception, ethnicity ceased to predict screening frequency once cognitive and emotional variables were controlled. CONCLUSIONS Although women from clearly operationalized ethnic groups continue to screen at rates substantially below those of the majority groups, these differences appear to be explained substantially by differences in psychologic variables. This is encouraging because, rather than targeting culture for intervention, variables can be targeted that are amenable to change, such as emotions and beliefs. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.
A feature-based image registration algorithm using the multi-resolution approach combined with moments of inertia, with application to ladar imaging

In this paper, a new feature-based approach for efficient automated image registration with applications to multiple-views or Multi-sensor LADAR imaging is presented. As it is known, highly accurate and efficient Image registration is highly needed and desired in ground or Airborne LADAR imaging. The characteristic of the proposed approach is that it combines wavelet transform with moments of inertia to estimate the rigid transformation parameters between two overlapping images. The Wavelet transform is applied here to extract a number of feature points. Each feature point is an edge point whose edge response is the maximum within a neighborhood of the edge point. By using the normalized cross correlation technique the matching points are found. We show how the computational complexity of the image comparison process is improved by applying the cross correlation technique to 75% of the image size, the right 75% of the left image with the left 75% of the right image, where the overlapping area is supposed to be. From the matching points, the moments of inertia are applied to estimate the rigid transformation parameters. As it is well known, in general, the cross correlation technique for similarity measure is very sensitive to rotation. We show here how a modified cross correlation technique, which includes the rotation angle between points under measurement, is used to estimate the orientation difference between the overlapping images. In particular, for each feature point the orientation with respect to the horizontal Cartesian axis is calculated first, then, the orientation difference between points under measurement is calculated. From the pool of orientation differences, the rotation value that is repeated the most is selected as the orientation difference between the two images. We show the robustness and accuracy of the proposed method in comparison to the existing state-of-the art methods. It is automatic and can work with any partially overlapping images, independently of the size of the rotation angle between the two images considered. Finally, experimental results including significantly rotated and non-rotated images are presented to show the potential of the method.
Footprints of "experiment" in early Arabic optics.

This study traces the early developments of the concept of experiment with a view of extending the subject in both content and approach. It extends the content of the subject slightly backward, prior to the methodological breakthroughs of the Optics of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen or Alhacen, d. ca. 1040), which are credited as a "significant landmark in the history of experimental science." And it extends the approach to the subject slightly forward, from the premise that early science was "largely carried out in books," to a close examination of the books through which the footprints of 'experiment' may be traced. The point of departure is the Optics of Ahmad ibn 'Ī;sā, a revealing text for the early developments of concepts such as 'demonstration' and 'experiment', and one through which some modern discussions are examined and extended with reference to this and other historical sources.
The Origins and Early Implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act, enacted in 1974, is the primary federal fishery management legislation in the United States. The political impetus that led to enactment was the extensive foreign fish off U.S. shores that expanded following World War II and the failure of international negotiations to prevent the decline in many fisheries relied upon by domestic fishers. In Congress, there was uncertainty as to whether a comprehensive management program would be created along with a unilateral extension of fishery management jurisdiction out to 200 nautical miles. The delay in agreement over a new United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty and resolution of the extent of coastal nation jurisdiction over fisheries culminated in enactment of the legislation sponsored by Senator Warren Magnuson, a Democrat from Washington State, and Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican from the State of Alaska.
The $1,000 Genome: The Revolution in DNA Sequencing and the New Era of Personalized Medicine

Kevin Davies, the (co-)author of Cracking the Genome and Breakthrough, brings his popularization of modern genetics to the newly emerging field of personal genomics and next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) in his most recent book, The $1000 Genome: The Revolution in DNA Sequencing and the New Era of Personalized Medicine. Davies's newest work recounts the post-Human Genome Project (HGP) quest for the ever less expensive human genome sequence and its reciprocal pursuit of the meaning of variation among human genomes for traits, particularly common disease. Weaving these two disparate threads together throughout the book, Davies provides a chronologically anchored story of the development of next-generation DNA sequencing technology, from Life/454 and Illumina to Pacific Biosciences, personalized genomics from Watson and Venter to the Public Genome Project, and whole-genome association studies linking SNPs to common human diseases.Although the broad range of topics ensures that each chapter introduces an interesting big idea, technology, or social issue, the narrative flow can be jarring as Davies jumps around among NGS technologies, personal genomics companies, and medical genetics research. The book relies perhaps too heavily on colorful stories of the companies, projects, and people pursuing the $1,000 genome, especially given the limited discussions and analyses of the science and technology itself. Nevertheless, The $1,000 Genome does a good job presenting the complex and interconnected technologies and science underlying the genomics revolution as vignettes accessible to an informed but nonexpert audience. After a childhood of reading popular science books about physics, The $1,000 Genome delivers exactly what I have come to expect of such books: an enjoyable, easy read that makes one wish they were part of the exciting story itself, which for me is a fact that I'm thankful for even more after reading Davies's book.
Ionic–covalent collision interactions

Several classes of collision problems are mediated by interactions between ionic and covalent potential energy curves. Two prominent cases are ion-ion recombination, A+ + B− A + B, and electron capture in multiply charged ion, atom collisions, Aq+ + B A(q – 1)+ + B+. Professor Bates and his students provided the theoretical framework upon which many successful theories are based for the above reactions. Advances in computational methods have allowed the calculation of cross sections with accuracy unrealizable only a decade ago. Important physical effects, such as electron translation factors that were pointed out by Bates and McCarroll in 1958, are routinely incorporated in present calculations. Pseudopotential and model-potential molecular structure methods now provide the input of accurate eigenenergies and eigenfunctions for the scattering calculations. However, important problems are still unsolved. One of these problems is the molecular and collisional description of discrete states embedded in a continuum as it arises in collisions of highly charged, multiply charged ions with many electron atomic targets.
Hybrid Computer Simulation of Multiterminal DC Power Transmission Systems

Techniques are developed for the hybrid computer simulation of multiterminal dc power transmission systems with two- or three-conductor transmission lines. The switching of the static converters as well as the attenuation and transport delay of a distortionless transmission line are represented in detail. An example study is performed using a hybrid simulation of a singlepole three-terminal system, wherein the converter terminals are represented on the analog portion and the transmission line is represented on the digital portion of the hybrid computer. Results include waveforms for the transient behavior of the system during line faults on each of the three transmission branches.
Police control during a national political convention: A four perimeter strategy

The article examines types of role strategies utilized by police to gain control over perceived oppositional group activity. Literature in the area of formal organizations and police structures are viewed as deficient in terms of examining the combined effect of presenting multiple images of an organization to an oppositional group. Boundary-spanning roles are conceptualized as varying in terms of discretion, penetration and secrecy. Data from the 1976 Republican Convention are used to identify four types of boundary-spanning roles utilized to gain control over demonstrator activity. While each of these roles served an important control function, in combination the roles presented an inconsistent and contradictory image of the police to demonstrators. The effect of this strategy was to create confusion in the strategies and tactics of the oppositional group.
Availability Payments and Key Performance Indicators: Challenges for Effective Implementation of Performance Management Systems in Transportation Public-Private Partnerships

Recent economic problems have led to a potential increase in the adoption of an availability payments approach by U.S. transportation agencies when creating public-private partnerships (P3s). In doing so, the public sector assumes 100% of the demand risk, relying much more heavily on performance management systems that contain key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure optimal private partner performance during operations and maintenance. Many existing performance management systems, however, suffer from a lack of alignment among KPIs chosen to ensure that all P3s meet societal or agency goals as well as project goals. Furthermore, the choice of KPIs and accompanying standards has resulted in standards that are too easily met or inappropriately weighed. Examples are provided from P3 contracts for projects in Australia and Canada.
Studies on the effect of triphosphates of 5-aminouridine and 5-hydroxydeoxyuridine on ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid polymerases.

Abstract 5-Aminouridine-5'-triphosphate (H 2 N-UTP) was prepared by enzymatic phosphorylation of 5-aminouridine-5'-monophosphate (H 2 N-UMP)and its effectiveness as substrate for RNA synthesis by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase was tested. The analog substituted specifically for UTP with an efficiency of about 40 per cent in the RNA polymerase reaction. H 2 N-UTP was found to inhibit incorporation of UMP- 14 C into RNA and the inhibition appeared to be competitive with respect to UTP. 5-Hydroxydeoxyuridine-5'-triphosphate (HO-dUTP) was synthesized and its effectiveness as substrate for DNA synthesis by Micrococcus lysodeikticus DNA polymerase was determined. HO-dUTP replaced specifically dTTP in the DNA polymerase reaction and was incorporated into DNA to about 37 per cent as compared to dTTP. The analog inhibited incorporation of dTMP into DNA and acted as a competitive inhibitor of dTTP in the DNA polymerase reaction. The substrate and inhibitory effects of HO-dUTP decreased markedly with increasing pH values. This behaviour was related to the low p K α value of 5-hydroxydeoxyuridine.
Use of lead reclamation in secondary lead smelters for the remediation of lead contaminated sites

Abstract The EPA has estimated that there are over 3,000 sites across the United States contaminated with lead. Techniques to remediate these sites include standard stabilization/disposal technologies, reclamation of lead using secondary lead smelters, soil washing and biological removal technologies. This paper presents the results of a study recently conducted by the Center for Hazardous Materials Research (CHMR), in conjunction with a major lead smelter, which demonstrates that secondary lead smelters may be used economically to reclaim lead from a wide range of lead-containing materials frequently found at Superfund sites. Such materials include battery case materials, lead dross, and other debris containing between 3% and 70% lead. During the study, CHMR and the smelter reclaimed lead from five sets of materials, including two Superfund sites containing primarily battery cases, and one battery breaker/smelter site with a variety of lead-containing materials. Between 20 and 1500 tons of materials from these sites were excavated and processed at the smelter, while the research team assessed the effects on furnace operation and performance. Two additional sets of materials, one from the demolition of a house containing lead-based paint, and the other consisting of blasting abrasive material from work on a bridge coated with lead paint, were also processed in the smelter. The results showed that it was technically feasible to use the secondary lead smelter to reclaim lead from all of the materials. CHMR also assessed the economics of using secondary lead smelters to reclaim lead from Superfund sites, and developed a method for estimating the cost of reclaiming lead. This method develops cost as a function of material excavation, transportation and processing costs combined with cost benefits received by the smelter (in the form of recovered lead, reduced fuel usage and/or reduced iron usage). The total remediation costs using secondary lead smelters for the sites and materials studied varied between $80 and $374 per ton, based on January 1994 market prices for lead. The costs were primarily a function of lead concentration, the market price for lead, distance from the smelter, and the amount of materials which become incorporated into slag from the process, although other factors affected the economics as well. Materials with high concentrations of lead were significantly less expensive to remediate than those with low concentrations. The cost to remediate materials which left few slag residues in the furnace was significantly lower than the cost to remediate materials which contained significant slagging components. The research described in this article was funded under a cooperative agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency, under the Emerging Technologies Program.
THE THEORETICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN MORI-TANAKA'S THEORY AND THE HASHIN-SHTRIKMAN-WALPOLE BOUNDS

Abstract Mori-Tanaka's theory with the general anisotropic constituents has been recast into a new form and it is shown that this form bears an identical structure to that developed by Walpole for the bounds. The equivalent polarization stress and strain in the former theory are exactly those chosen by Hashin-Shtrikman and Walpole and the average stress and strain of the matrix phase are equal to the image stress and strain imposed on the approximate fields by Walpole to meet the required boundary conditions. The consequence is that the effective moduli of the composite containing either aligned or randomly-oriented, identically shaped ellipsoidal inclusions always have the same expressions as those of the H-S-W bounds, only with the latter's comparison material identified as the matrix phase and Eshelby's tensor interpreted according to the appropriate inclusion shape. This connection allows one to draw a line of important conclusions regarding the predictions of the M-T theory, and it also points to the conditions where this theory can always be applied safely without ever violating the bounds and where such an application might be less reliable.
A Conceptual Approach to Existential Verbs in Japanese: The Case of Aru versus Iru

This paper presents an alternative analysis of the two Japanese existential verbs: aru and iru. By appealing to the notion of conceptualisation that pervades the cognitive linguistic literature, I demonstrate that the two verbs pattern as motion verbs, and not simply as verbs of existence and/or location. Throughout the paper, I demonstrate that the traditional opposition of inanimacy versus animacy, said to determine the use of aru versus iru, respectively, is not a reliable predictor. Instead, contextual and cognitive factors such as perceived movement/displacement potential of the sentential subject, actual expectation of movement and the relative immediacy of potential displacement, both literally and metaphorically, will be shown to be more at play than the simple dichotomy of inanimacy versus animacy. The data include acceptability judgements by native speakers of Japanese on a 20-item questionnaire. Participants' line item responses and open-ended comments reflect a consistent tendency to draw upon...
How breast cancer patients are perceived: Effects of treatment method, age, and time since surgery

Three hundred undergraduate students read one of 12 vignettes about a hypothetical breast cancer patient, completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) as they thought she would, and completed a questionnaire (Perception of Medical Patients Questionnaire; PMPQ) designed to elicit their perceptions of her. Vignettes differed according to time since surgery (5 days, 3 months, or 15 months), treatment method (lumpectomy with radiation or mastectomy) and age of the patient (32 or 62 years). As predicted, patients whose surgery occurred most recently were viewed as more distressed than the other patients. Subjects perceived mastectomy patients to have greater sexual problems, be more likely to need counselling, and to be more embarrassed than lumpectomy patients. On the other hand, patients treated with lumpectomy and radiation were rated higher on an index of fatigue than were mastectomy patients. No differences between treatment method were found in terms of the amount of additional emotional support patients would need. Subjects expected younger patients to survive longer and look less ill, but the predicted differences between older and younger patients in terms of likelihood of sexual adjustment problems was not found.