cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Risk and the Multinational Corporation Revisited: The Case of Natural Disasters and Corporate Cash Holdings

•Natural disasters are major causes of uncertainty. Based on traditional international business and finance theories, we re-examine the relationship between risk and internationalization. We find evidence that diversification helps reduce risk. •We introduce natural disasters to mainstream international finance as a risk factor and show several important findings: firms hoard cash after a natural disaster. Unlike their domestic counterparts, MNCs increase their cash holdings to a lower degree when faced with a disaster. The effect of disaster damage is persistent over time. Finally, disaster damage is not relevant in poor countries. •Firms appear to have a rational reaction to disasters: corporate cash levels are lower in countries with high insurance consumption. Firms hold more cash in countries with greater exposure to natural disasters, but they tend to lower cash holdings in countries with good disaster preparedness programs and/or high insurance consumption. •Our results have important implications for policy makers and academics. Cash hoarding after a disaster, while rational at the firm level could be detrimental for economic recovery. Our study suggests tools for policy makers to control it.
Polymorphous low‐grade adenocarcinoma: A case series and determination of recurrence

Objectives/Hypothesis Information on polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) consists primarily of case reports and small institutional series with varying recurrence rates. In this report, we describe our institutional experience and conduct a review of the literature to assess the overall incidence of PLGA among oral salivary gland tumors and determine recurrence rates. Study Design A retrospective case series and literature-based review was performed. Methods Retrospective case series at an academic tertiary referral center. Review of clinical records and pathological analysis of tissue specimens from 20 patients treated for PLGA from July 1, 1990 to July 1, 2011. A literature-based review on PLGA was also performed. Results Twenty patients (mean age, 54 years; eight males) with PLGA based on pathologic diagnosis were included. The most common initial presentation was an asymptomatic mass (45%), and the most frequent site was the palate (60%). Our literature review identified 54 case reports, eight case series, and 17 large series. In total, 456 cases of PLGA were identified, with an overall recurrence rate of 19%. Half of the recurrences occurred by 36 months; however, recurrences were reported up to 24 years after initial resection. Conclusions PLGA arises from minor salivary glands and is characteristically slow growing and indolent. Although these tumors may be histologically low-grade, our review highlights the high rates of recurrence of these tumors as well as the ability to metastasize to local lymph nodes and distant organs. The mainstay of treatment should be wide surgical excision with long-term oncologic follow-up. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 124:2714–2719, 2014
Proustian Aesthetics of Ambiguity: Elstir's "Miss Sacripant"

There is a Chinese saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet with Proust a thousand words proffer a multitude of images, of brilliant sunshines and twilights, of landscapes and figures submerged in muted colors and shadows from which changeable shapes emerge in variegated hues. In the Proustian world reality is an elusive composition, a mirage of transparencies piled up on each other, tabloids of perceptions, images flashing on multilayered screens; it is a sea of shapes and colors, blending and then disjoining, in prismatic effect, a fluid unity perpetually redefining itself in time. But where does the artist's eye come to terms with the shadows of reality that crowd his world, one wonders, how can he capture the fleeting images and hold them fast? The procedure is long, gradual and halting; the cumulative knowledge it affords alters with the years, intransmissible, a unique achievement in the space of a life.
Geoinformatic hotspot systems (GHS) for detection, prioritization, and early warning

The five year NSF DGP project has been instrumental to conceptualize surveillance geoinformatics partnership among several interested cross-disciplinary scientists in academia, agencies, and private sector. A declared need is around for statistical geoinformatics and software infrastructure for spatial and spatiotemporal hotspot detection. Our efforts are driven by a wide variety of case studies of potential interest to federal agencies involving critical society issues, such as public health, ecosystem health, biosurveillance, biosecurity, sensor networks, robotic networks, social networks, video mining, homeland security, early warning, and disaster management.
The Negotiated Reformation: Preachers, Consultation, and the Spread of Urban Reform in Southern Germany

For many burghers in southern Germany, the earliest and most regular contact with reform ideas occurred through evangelical sermons. Preaching was an important if somewhat irregular aspect of fifteenth-century Christianity. The movement of itinerant preachers and the growth of endowed preacherships meant preaching before the Reformation often happened outside the structure of the Mass, which revolved around the miracle of transubstantiation. By contrast, the reformers' rejection of the Mass's sacrificial nature and their emphasis on the Word's primacy elevated preaching to the centerpiece of the new evangelical church services. Through their ministries, preachers influenced the literate and illiterate alike, delivering daily sermons in simple, direct language or composing learned letters of advice for urban councils. They could use the pulpit to build popular support for magisterial reform policies, but their sermons could also challenge councilors to introduce controversial reform initiatives. All the major reformers – including Luther, Zwingli, and John Calvin – were accomplished preachers who recognized the crucial role preaching played in communicating their reform message. It was often through preachers that ideas expressed in theological tracts found initial entrance into the churches and council chambers of southern Germany. Eastern Swabia's city councils recognized the importance of preachers for the introduction and maintenance of urban reform. During the 1530s and 1540s, magistrates across southern Germany recruited, transferred, and borrowed evangelical preachers in order to staff urban and rural parishes.
Resistant Starch and Lactobacillus Feeding Improve Metabolic Functions in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

Intestinal microbes have important roles in the regulation of energy homeostasis, lipid and glucose metabolism, and immune system responses. Dysbiotic gut microbiota is associated with obesity, typ...
Ethanol feeding potentiates the pro-inflammatory response of Kupffer cells to cellular fibronectin.

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption leads to the increased extracellular matrix deposition of cellular fibronectin (cFn) in the liver, which is also implicated as an initiating event in the fibrogenic process. We propose that cFn directly stimulates Kupffer cells (KCs), which are involved in the early response to tissue damage, to produce factors that enhance the progression of alcohol-induced liver injury toward inflammation and fibrosis. Method: KCs were isolated from rats fed a control or ethanol liquid diet for 4 to 6 weeks. The effect of exogenous cFn on KC viability and the secretion of the cytokines, TNF-a and IL-6, as well as of matrix remodeling factors, MMP-2 and TIMP-2, was determined after 20 hours of cell culture. Results: For KCs from both control- and ethanol-fed rats, viability remained unaffected by treatment with cFn. TNF-a and IL-6 production were increased in KCs exposed to cFn, with cells treated with 1, 2.5, and 5 lg ⁄ ml cFn secreting significantly higher levels of both cytokines compared with untreated cells (p < 0.05). Chronic ethanol administration resulted in a significantly enhanced secretion of IL-6 by KCs regardless of treatment with cFn. When MMP-2 protein and activity levels were measured by western blot analysis and gelatin zymography, respectively, we found that cFn stimulated a dramatic increase in both cells from ethanol- and control-fed rats, with the KCs from ethanol animals being more responsive to cFn at higher concentrations (p < 0.05). Significantly higher levels of TIMP-2, which inhibits both the activation and activity of MMP-2, were secreted by KCs treated with 5 lg ⁄ ml cFn. Correspondingly, more pro-MMP-2 than active-MMP-2 was detected. Conclusion: Altogether, these results show that cFn stimulates KCs to produce factors that may enhance the promotion of tissue damage and that ethanol administration increases these responses.
Faculty collaboration and course coordination in geographically dispersed campuses

With a growing emphasis on vertical and horizontal integration of engineering curricula, there is a growing need for strong coordination among engineering courses. This paper outlines a coordination and collaboration model that has been developed as part of the NSF funded ECSEL initiative. This effort is currently implemented at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. The model has been implemented on a first-year design course taught at 19 campuses in the Penn State system. The model involves developing a competency-based course structure, identifying coordination team, identifying coordination mechanisms using appropriate technology, faculty development and incentives to sustain long-term coordination. At the core of the coordination and collaboration efforts are student driven activities, and it is these activities that will sustain this effort in the long-term. A large part of the student activities involves archival of student design work as electronic portfolios. These portfolios are shared with the feeder campuses which is a significant part of student-student, faculty-student and industry-student collaboration.
Trans-Synaptic Stimulation of Cortical Acetylcholine Release after Partial 192 IgG-Saporin-Induced Loss of Cortical Cholinergic Afferents

Environmental and pharmacological stimulation of cortical acetylcholine (ACh) efflux was determined in rats sustaining partial deafferentation of cortical cholinergic inputs. Rats were bilaterally infused with the selective cholinotoxin 192 IgG-saporin (0.005 μg/0.5 μl/site) into the frontoparietal cortex. In the first experiment, animals were pretrained to associate the onset of darkness with presentation of a palatable fruit cereal reward. The ability of this stimulus to enhance frontoparietal ACh efflux alone, and with the benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) weak inverse agonist ZK 93,426 (1.0 or 5.0 mg/kg, i.p.), was determined in lesioned and sham-lesioned rats. Intracortical infusions of 192 IgG-saporin reduced basal cortical ACh efflux by 47% of sham-lesioned values, consistent with reductions in the density of AChE-positive fibers. In spite of this deafferentation, ZK 93,426 produced a transient potentiation of the cortical ACh efflux induced by the darkness/cereal stimulus similar to that observed in control animals. In the second experiment, the ability of the more efficacious BZR partial inverse agonist FG 7142 (8.0 mg/kg, i.p.) to enhance basal cortical ACh efflux was compared in lesioned and sham-lesioned rats. Again, lesioned rats exhibited an increase comparable to control animals after FG 7142. This drug-induced stimulation of cortical ACh efflux was comparably and completely blocked in both groups by co-perfusion with tetrodotoxin (1.0 μm). These results suggest similarities in the modulation of cortical ACh efflux in intact and partially deafferented rats and indicate the potential of BZR inverse agonists for restoring transmission in animals with partial loss of cortical cholinergic inputs.
Exploratory studies toward a total synthesis of the marine ascidian metabolite perophoramidine

A strategy for a total synthesis of the marine alkaloid perophoramidine has been investigated. Key steps which have been tested include a tandem intramolecular Heck/carbonylation reaction and a stereoselective allylation of a pentacyclic δ-lactam to produce the C-4/20 vicinal quaternary centers having the requisite relative configuration of the metabolite.
Mount Rainier: A decade volcano

Mount Rainier, the highest (4392 m) volcano in the Cascade Range, towers over a population of more than 2.5 million in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area, and its drainage system via the Columbia River potentially affects another 500,000 residents of southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon (Figure 1). Mount Rainier is the most hazardous volcano in the Cascades in terms of its potential for magma-water interaction and sector collapse. Major eruptions, or debris flows even without eruption, pose significant dangers and economic threats to the region. Despite such hazard and risk, Mount Rainier has received little study; such important topics as its petrologic and geochemical character, its proximal eruptive history, its susceptibility to major edifice failure, and its development over time have been barely investigated. This situation may soon change because of Mount Rainier's recent designation as a “Decade Volcano.”
Independent Analysis of Real-Time, Measured Performance Data From Microcogenerative Fuel Cell Systems Installed in Buildings

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is working with industry to independently monitor up to 15 distinct 5 kW-electric (kWe) combined heat and power (CHP) high temperature (HT) proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems (FCSs) installed in light commercial buildings. This research paper discusses an evaluation of the first six months of measured performance data acquired at a 1 s sampling rate from real-time monitoring equipment attached to the FCSs at building sites. Engineering performance parameters are independently evaluated. Based on an analysis of the first few months of measured operating data, FCS performance is consistent with manufacturer-stated performance. Initial data indicate that the FCSs have relatively stable performance and a long-term average production of about 4.57 kWe of power. This value is consistent with, but slightly below, the manufacturer's stated rated electric power output of 5 kWe. The measured system net electric efficiency has averaged 33.7%, based on the higher heating value (HHV) of natural gas fuel. This value, also, is consistent with, but slightly below, the manufacturer's stated rated electric efficiency of 36%. The FCSs provide low-grade hot water to the building at a measured average temperature of about 48.4 °C, lower than the manufacturer's stated maximum hot water delivery temperature of 65 °C. The uptime of the systems is also evaluated. System availability can be defined as the quotient of total operating time compared to time since commissioning. The average values for system availability vary between 96.1 and 97.3%, depending on the FCS evaluated in the field. Performance at rated value for electrical efficiency (PRVeff) can be defined as the quotient of the system time operating at or above the rated electric efficiency and the time since commissioning. The PRVeff varies between 5.6% and 31.6%, depending on the FCS field unit evaluated. Performance at rated value for electrical power (PRVp) can be defined as the quotient of the system time operating at or above the rated electric power and the time since commissioning. PRVp varies between 6.5% and 16.2%. Performance at rated value for electrical efficiency and power (PRVt) can be defined as the quotient of the system time operating at or above both the rated electric efficiency and the electric power output compared to the time since commissioning. PRVt varies between 0.2% and 1.4%. Optimization to determine the manufacturer rating required to achieve PRVt greater than 80% has been performed based on the collected data. For example, for FCS Unit 130 to achieve a PRVt of 95%, it would have to be down-rated to an electrical power output of 3.2 kWe and an electrical efficiency of 29%. The use of PRV as an assessment metric for FCSs has been developed and reported for the first time in this paper. For FCS Unit 130, a maximum decline in electric power output of approximately 18% was observed over a 500 h period in Jan. 2012.
PARENT PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND REDUCING THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF INTERPARENTAL CONFLICT FOLLOWING DIVORCE

This article reviews psychoeducational programs to reduce interparental conflict in divorcing families and the neg- ative impact of conflict on children. The authors initially identify factors shown in the basic psychosocial research literature to be related to the effects of interparental conflict on children. They then review the content of programs currently being delivered and evaluate the evidence from well-controlled studies concerning their effectiveness. Finally, the article considers directions for future program development and evaluation. Interest in developing interventions to reduce the effects of interparental conflict in divorcing families is motivated by findings that 10% to 25% of divorced families remain highly conflicted long after separation (Maccoby & Mnookin, 1992), that children from high- conflict divorce families are at greater risk for adjustment problems (Hetherington, 1999), and that high-conflict divorced families use a disproportionate amount of court resources (Kline Pruett, Nangle, & Bailey, 2000). The purpose of this article is to discuss current parent psychoeducational programs in terms of their focus on interparental conflict. First, we pres- ent a multidimensional conceptualization of interparental conflict and identify the different potential targets of these programs. We then describe current approaches to reducing the effects of conflict in terms of the content of the programs and evidence concerning their effects. Our review includes programs that are targeted to the full population of divorcing families (universal programs) and those that are designed specifically for high-conflict divorcing families (targeted programs). Finally, we discuss directions for future research and interventions to reduce the negative effects of interparental conflict in divorcing families.
Toward Flexible Industrial Relations? Neo-Liberalism, Democracy, and Labor Reform in Latin America

Neo-liberal economic reforms have placed significant pressure on traditional industrial relations systems throughout Latin American. In this context, most countries have revised their basic labor legislation. Yet, despite similar economic pressures, countries have moved in varying directions in revising their labor laws, and industrial relations systems remain highly diverse. This paper focuses on democratization, institutional legacies, the role of organized labor, and the political negotiations surrounding labor law changes to help explain this diversity.
When is a Nanoparticle a Cluster? An Operando EXAFS Study of Amine Borane Dehydrocoupling by Rh4-6 Clusters

X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) is used to determine the structure of the rhodium cluster present during the catalyzed dehydrocoupling of amine boranes under operando conditions. We show how a variety of XAFS strategies can be used in combination with other analytical methods to differentiate homogeneous from heterogeneous systems. Analysis of the in situ XAFS spectra using a series of amine boranes (NH3BH3, R2NHBH3, and RNH2BH3 where R = methyl, isopropyl, tert-butyl, and cyclohexyl) and rhodium catalyst precursor compounds (including chloro-(1,5-cyclooctadiene)rhodium (I) dimer, bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)rhodium (I) trifluoromethanesulfonate, chlorodicarbonylrhodium (I) dimer, dichloro(pentamethylcylcopentadienyl)rhodium (III) dimer, hexarhodium hexadecacarbonyl, and tetrarhodium dodecacarbonyl) strongly suggest that the active catalyst species for this reaction is a homogeneous rhodium complex. Rhodium clusters containing four or six rhodium atoms (Rh(4-6)) bound to amine boranes are observed as the major (>99%) rhodium containing species during and after the catalyzed anaerobic dehydrocoupling. During the later stages of the reaction a nonmetallic rhodium complex precipitates in which individual Rh(4-6) clusters likely form polymer chains ligated by the reaction products that have two or more ligating sites. The best fits of the XAFS data, using ab initio calculations of FEFF theory, show that the major rhodium species (80%) has each rhodium atom directly bound to three rhodium atoms with an observed bond distance of 2.73 A and to two boron atoms at 2.10 A. A minor (20%) rhodium species has each rhodium atom bound to four rhodium atoms with a bond distance of about 2.73 A and a single rhodium atom at a nonbonding distance of 3.88 A. No metallic rhodium was observed at any time during the anaerobic reaction.
Atomic structure and dynamics of fast-ion conducting glasses

Abstract Results of neutron diffraction, inelastic neutron scattering and Raman scattering measurements are presented for Li 2 SiS 3 and compared with similar data for another fast-ion conducting glass, Ag 4 Ge 3 Se 9 . The structures are different in some respects, with the Li + ions in fourfold-coordinated sites in Li 2 SiS 3 compared with Ag + ions occupying threefold-coordinated sites in Ag 4 Ge 3 Se 9 . However, the effect of the fast-ion modifying component appears to be similar in the two systems, leading to a decrease in the number of edge-shared tetrahedra and breaking the connectivity of the network, thus facilitating the high mobility of the conducting ions.
Erotic Motherhood and the Ideal Son: Mythology as Psychotherapy in the Krishna-Bhakti Tradition

Through the lenses of D.W. Winnicott’s theory of development and Sudhir Kakar’s theory that the flux between fusion with and separation from Krishna in the Krishna-bhakti tradition is a reflection of the early childhood relational dynamics of mother and son, I will argue that the mythology of Krishna found in the Bhagavata Purana Book X implements the traditional Hindu notion of moksha but reshapes it in a uniquely psychologically adaptive way. In an attempt to meet the psychological needs of sons and mothers, the mythology of this text maintains a theme of fluctuation between fusion and separation between the gopis who function as mother figures and Krishna, the ideal son. Through the thematic focus on the flux between the gopis’ fusion with and separation from Krishna, the text embodies the Hindu soteriological concept of moksha as well as plays out the cultural relationship between mother and son.
Synthesis and Modelling of Intermittent Estuaries

Port Hacking is a small subtropical estuary, relatively unpolluted despite its location only 30 km south of Sydney on Australia's Pacific coast. It was the site of a 5-year (1973–1978) multidisciplinary ecosystem project, focusing on the flow of carbon into, within, and out of the estuarine system. The ultimate goal of the project was the formulation and implementation of a predictive model of the carbon dynamics. However, this book, which summarizes the project, reports that the scientific team failed in its effort to reach the goal of a predictive model.
Interconnection networks with heterogeneous activity or finite buffers: beyond Jackson's theorem

We present theoretical models and numerical results for performance of a multiprocessor network modeled as a ring and as a 2-dim wraparound square lattice of nodes with local processors that generate messages with rate λ per clock cycle and two or, respectively, four output ports/buffers. Two different models are considered. One assumes that the generation rate of a node depends on the intensity of the flow of arriving messages. The other model considers networks with limited buffers. The average queue lengths and average latency are obtained. The results show that the model of independent queues, which is valid for networks with homogeneous activity and infinite buffers, is not applicable, which violates the Jackson theorem.
Multivariate analysis of the relationship of six variables to blood pressure: findings from Chicago community surveys, 1965--1971.

Abstract 1. 1. Four multivariate statistical methods—partial correlation, multiple cross classification, multiple logistic regression, and multiple linear regression—were used to study the relationship between six variables and blood pressure in over 13,000 men and women, white and black, ages 30–44 and 45–64 surveyed in two low-income Chicago communities. The analyses were carried out separately for eight age-sex-race groups. The six variables were relative weight, resting heart rate, plasma glucose 1 hr after 100 g oral load, hematocrit, serum cholesterol and age. 2. 2. The first three of these variables—relative weight, heart rate, and plasma glucose —were independently related to blood pressure with a high degree of consistency, with p values for statistical significance ≤0.001. 3. 3. Hematocrit was independently and additively related to diastolic—but not to systolic—pressure for the four age-race groups of women, but only for one of the four age-race groups of men. 4. 4. The findings with respect to serum cholesterol and blood pressure were generally negative. 5. 5. Even within the narrow age groups studied—ages 30–44 and 45–64—age was significantly related to systolic level particularly ( p values ≤0.01 or ≤0.001), independent of the five other variables. 6. 6. When multivariate regression equations and their coefficients, computed from the experience of an entire age-sex-race group, were used to calculate an expectation of elevated blood pressure for each person, and then persons were ordered from low to high in expectation, a high proportion of all persons with recorded elevations of blood pressure were in the highest decile and quintile of expected prevalence—e.g. for persons age 30–44 in the four sex-race groups, from 47–69 per cent of observed cases with diastolic pressure ≥95 mm Hg were in the highest quintile (20 per cent) of expected prevalence. The observed prevalence of elevated blood pressure was as much as 20 times as high for the highest quintile of expected prevalence as for the lowest. A similar but less effective concentration of cases of elevated blood pressure was obtained with the multiple cross classification method, by dichotomizing four of the independent variables and identifying the substratum with any two, three or all four high.
The Coulomb Blockade in Coupled Quantum Dots

Individual quantum dots are often referred to as “artificial atoms.” Two tunnel-coupled quantum dots can be considered an “artificial molecule.” Low-temperature measurements were made on a series double quantum dot with adjustable interdot tunnel conductance that was fabricated in a gallium arsenide-aluminum gallium arsenide heterostructure. The Coulomb blockade was used to determine the ground-state charge configuration within the “molecule” as a function of the total charge on the double dot and the interdot polarization induced by electrostatic gates. As the tunnel conductance between the two dots is increased from near zero to 2 e 2 / h (where e is the electron charge and h is Planck9s constant), the measured conductance peaks of the double dot exhibit pronounced changes in agreement with many-body theory.
Field measurement and simulation of electromagnetic interference in 500kV AC system switch operation

By field measuring and analysis the time-frequency characteristics of the electromagnetic interference in 500kV AC system switch operation, and propose that the electromagnetic interference of switch operation in secondary system manifest as damped oscillation. Simulate the 500kV AC system switch operation by MATLAB-SIMULINK software; get the simulation waveforms of the switch operation, comparing the similarities and differences between the simulation waveform and the field measuring waveform.
Synthesis and characterization of dextran-based hydrogel prepared by photocrosslinking

Abstract A polysaccharide-based hydrogel was prepared by photocrosslinking of modified dextran. Dextran was first bromoacetylated by bromoacetyl bromide and was subsequently reacted with sodium acrylate for incorporating a vinyl group. The acrylated dextran was then irradiated by a long-wave UV lamp for photocrosslinking. Reaction products (bromoacetyl dextran, acrylated dextran, and hydrogel) were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. The prepared dextran hydrogels showed a wide range of swelling behavior in different pH media, depending on the degree of substitution in bromoacetyl dextrans.
Expression of calmodulin-dependent enzymes in developing rat striatum is not affected by perturbation of dopaminergic systems.

Transsynaptic regulation is one mechanism that controls expression of several calmodulin (CaM)-dependent enzymes. This observation and the demonstration that expression of several CaM-dependent enzymes in developing striatum occurred with a spatial and temporal pattern similar to that seen for dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase suggested that the nigrostriatal pathway may influence the expression of CaM-binding proteins (CaM-BPs) during striatal development. Therefore, the possible role of nigrostriatal dopamine systems regulating the expression of CaM-dependent enzymes was studied in Sprague-Dawley rats by using surgical hemitransections of brain, 6-hydroxydopamine lesions, and chronic haloperidol treatments. Alterations in CaM-BP expression following perturbation of the developing nigrostriatal tract were analyzed by using immunoblots, biotinylated CaM overlays, and enzyme assays. The extent of nigrostriatal lesions was assessed by using depletion of immunoreactive tyrosine hydroxylase levels in striatum. All there experimental paradigms failed to alter the normal developmental expression of CaM-dependent enzymes. From these results we conclude that the increased expression of CaM-dependent enzymes during striatal development is not directly dependent on synaptic input from the nigrostriatal dopamine system.
Beyond electronic disintermediation through multi‐agent systems

Supply chain management represents a critical competency in today’s global business environment and has been the focus of considerable, but mixed, information systems research. The research described in this paper builds on work in multi‐agent systems to argue that intelligent agents offer excellent potential and capability for supply chain management, and contributes to discussion and theory pertaining to electronic markets and supply chain disintermediation. Argues that the knowledge associated with intermediation work represents a key mediating variable between disintermediating technology and supply chain efficacy and discusses how intelligent agent technology can be employed to both intermediate and disintermediate the supply chain, attaining the cost and cycle‐time benefits of disintermediation without the attendant loss of human knowledge and expertise. The paper outlines a number of implications for theory and practice in information systems, and it formalizes some important research questions through a contingency framework to help stimulate and guide future work along these lines.
Some useful results on initial node locations for near-equatorial circular satellite orbits

Perturbation theory based on Lie transforms is used to obtain a second-order long period solution for inclination and right ascension of ascending node, of near-equatorial circular satellite orbits. The solution includes the average effects of the Earth's oblateness and the luni-solar perturbations. Three algorithms, useful in mission analysis, are then given. The first algorithm finds the initial node location that results in a decrease of inclination to zero and it also finds the corresponding time to arrive at this zero inclination. The second algorithm determines the initial nodal band that maintains the orbital inclination below a specified value for a given time interval. The third algorithm obtains the initial node location that maximizes the time in which the satellite can be maintained within a given inclination tolerance without the use of any active control and it also obtains the corresponding maximum time. The results of the first and the third algorithms are given for 24-h near-equatorial circular satellite orbits and are cast in simple closed forms.
Tools of the Trade Lineage Tracing: The laatest in lineaage

A novel technique that may simplify mammalian lineage analysis relies on intragenic recombination to generate a functional lacZ gene from a mutated laacZ gene in single cells of transgenic mouse embryos.
Combined liver-kidney and liver transplantation in patients with renal failure outcomes in the MELD era

Summary With the implementation of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scoring system, the number of combined liver‐kidney transplants (CLKT) has increased dramatically. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) dataset was analysed for adult recipients with renal failure for the period between February 2002 and April 2006. This group was subdivided into patients on hemodialysis (HD) and to those not on HD prior to transplantation. All recipients in renal failure (serum creatinine ‡2.5 mg/dl) at the time of transplantation were included. A total of 1397 subjects were in renal failure but not on HD (18% received a CLKT, 82% underwent LT alone). Another 1740 subjects were on HD prior to transplantation (41% received a CLKT while 59% received a LT). In dialysis-dependent recipients, Cox regression analysis demonstrated CLKT had an independent protective effect. In subjects on HD, CLKT had improved survival at 1 year (79.4 vs. 73.7%, P = 0.004). In patients in renal failure without HD, CLKT was not protective. CLKT subjects had a nonsignificant difference in survival as compared with patients who had undergone liver transplantation alone, at 1 year (81.0% vs. 78.8%, P > 0.10). In subjects undergoing CLKT, there was improved survival at 1 year as compared with LT-alone patients on hemodialysis; however, in patients with renal failure, but not on hemodialysis, there was no difference in survival when comparing CLKT to
Discrimination of chemical stimuli in conspecific fecal pellets by a visually adept iguanid lizard, Crotaphytus collaris

Iguanid lizards are known for visual acuity and a diminished vomeronasal organ, which has led to mixed conclusions on whether iguanids use chemical cues. The collared lizard, Crotaphytus collaris, is a territorial iguanid that lives in open rocky habitats. Fecal pellets placed prominently on open rocky perches may provide an ideal mechanism for intraspecific chemical signaling. In order to determine whether collared lizards can discriminate between chemical stimuli found in conspecific fecal pellets, we collected 24 males and 25 females to analyze sex-specific behavioral responses via tongue-flicks and a newly observed behavior for the species, gular pumps, to cotton swabs containing water, cologne, chemical stimuli from conspecific male and female fecal pellets, and the lizard’s own fecal pellet. Both sexes were able to discriminate chemical stimuli from water via at least one behavior. Male collared lizards exhibited greater rates of response (tongue-flick and gular pumps) toward male fecal pellets when compared to the negative water control. Our results also suggest individuals may be able to discriminate between fecal pellets, as indicated by generally greater (but non-significant) counts of male tongue-flick responses to male fecal pellets when compared to their own. Collared lizard chemical discrimination appears to utilize tongue-flick and gular pump behaviors, possibly associated with distinct chemosensory modes (vomerolfaction and olfaction). Based on this study, we suggest that chemical signals may play a greater role in intraspecific communication than previously thought in this highly visual lizard.
New State, Host, and Distribution Records of the Fish Ectoparasite, Argulus (Branchiura), From Illinois (U.S.a.)

Argulus americanus, A. flavescens, A. lepidostei, and A. japonicus are reported from Illinois for the first time. Gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) is a new host record for A. japonicus, bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) is a new host record for A. catostomi, and black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) is a new host record for A. stizostethii. Eight species, A. americanus, A. appendiculosus, A. catostomi, A. flavescens, A. japonicus, A. lepidostei, A. mississippiensis, and A. stizostethii, have been recorded from 13 Illinois fish species. Ciliated protozoans (Epistylis or Opercularia) were observed on four Argulus spp., and crustacean shell disease was observed on five species.
Natural Nanoparticles: Implications for Environment and Human Health

In the last decade, extensive studies have been conducted to understand the chemical and biological processes of nanoparticles and their effects on ecological functions and human health. This review focuses on the nature and properties of natural nanoparticles (NNPs) and their influence on the physical, chemical, and biological processes in plant–soil–water systems. The NNPs are involved directly or indirectly in numerous soil processes such as aggregate formation, nutrient retention, microbial activities, and water purification and pollution mitigation and thus affect soil/environment quality and human health. This paper is intended to provide a brief review of recent progress in related fields.
Linear relaying for Gaussian diamond networks

Linear relaying for the Gaussian diamond network is studied as a natural extension of the amplify-forward relaying strategy by Schein and Gallager. A single-letter optimal rate is characterized, which is shown to be achieved by time sharing between four amplify-forward strategies at different power levels. This linear relaying capacity has a bounded gap from the cutset bound when the network is symmetric, but in general has an unbounded gap. The main idea of the proof is to transform a multiletter rate expression into an infinite-dimensional optimization problem, the relaxation of which matches the performance of time-shared amplify-forward. A similar proof technique can be applied to other relay networks with layered structure such as the N-relay Gaussian diamond network and the receiver frequency-division Gaussian relay channel.
Young children and their writing

(1980). Young children and their writing. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 19, Learning to Write: an Expression of Language, pp. 157-162.
Problems of Chert in Ocean: ABSTRACT

Mesozoic-Cenozoic pelagic sedimentary cherts exposed in mobile belts or recovered from the deep sea are diagenetic alteration products of a variety of primary sediments rich in opaline skeletons. The abundance of skeletal opal in fresh sediments depends on its rate of production, losses to solution during transport and before burial, and dilution by other sediment. The chief effect of volcanism on silica deposition is probably one of inhibiting solution. Maximal quantities of silica are buried in the shallower pelagic sediments, but the percentage of organic silica is normally highest near the carbonate compensation depth, where dilution by carbonate is slight. These normally deep sediments are most susceptible to wholesale silicification (radiolarites). Widespread cherts in otherwise noncherty sequences (Reflectors A and B in the North Atlantic) record chemical changes from a regime of silica solution to one of silica retention and back. Predilection of chert for permeable beds indicates localization along zones of water movement. Paragenesis may be complicated. In normal abyssal sediments, complete conversion of skeletal opal requires 30-60 m.y., but in areas of rapid burial, high heat flow, and faster connate water flow, the rate must be more rapid. Two organic events have greatly affected patterns of chert sedimentation. First was the rise, in the early Paleozoic, of organisms with siliceous skeletons; prior to that time silica had been precipitated inorganically. Second was the rise of planktonic carbonate producers during the Jurassic, resulting in restriction of highly opaline sediments to great depths (radiolarian oozes) or to areas of unusual circulation (diatom oozes). End_of_Article - Last_Page 338------------
Lumbar drains may reduce the need for permanent CSF diversion in spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage

Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is well known to induce hydrocephalus. This is often, initially, treated with external ventricular drainage (EVD). We recently started, also, using lumbar drains (LD) in patients refractory to removal of their EVD as a bridge to permanent CSF diversion. LD were placed in 25 patients with spontaneous SAH. LD remained in place a mean of 6.7 days (range 4-16) prior to removal. Patients had a median Fisher Grade of 4, Hunt-Hess score of 4, and WFNS score of 4. Only 4 of 25 patients (16%) progressed to the need of permanent shunting, one of which occurred after delayed recurrent aneurysm rupture. Only 7 of 25 patients developed symptomatic vasospasm despite their high median Fisher Grade. Both the shunt rate and the symptomatic vasospasm rate in this series are much less than the historical series predict. This suggests that lumbar drains may reduce the need for shunting and decrease the rate of symptomatic vasospasm.
Good practices needed in career mentoring

Few graduate and undergraduate students follow in the career footsteps of their advisors. Yet to be the most effective mentors, advisors must have the knowledge to prepare their students for “other” jobs. How can we help students obtain the information and experience they need in order to make informed career decisions? Where do we find this information so that we are informed? It is our collective responsibility as Earth and space scientists, and critical to the health of our field, to know the answers to these simple questions. A forum on career mentoring at the AGU Fall Meeting can help.
Surface NADH Oxidase of HeLa Cells Lacks Intrinsic Membrane Binding Motifs

Abstract Disulfide-thiol interchange proteins with hydroquinone (NADH) oxidase activities (designated NOX for plasma membrane-associated NADH oxidases) occur as extrinsic membrane proteins associated with the plasma membrane at the outer cell surface. The cancer-associated NOX protein, designated tNOX, has been cloned. The 34-kDa plasma membrane-associated form of the protein contains no strongly hydrophobic regions and is not transmembrane. No myristoylation or phosphatidylinositol anchor motifs were discovered. Evidence for lack of involvement of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linkage was derived from the inability of treatment with a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C or with nitrous acid at low pH to release the NOX protein from the surface of HeLa cells or from plasma membranes isolated from HeLa cells. Binding of NOX protein to the plasma membrane via amino acid side chain modification or by attachment of fatty acids also is unlikely based on use of specific fatty acid antisera to protein bound fatty acids and as a result of binding to the cancer cell surface of a truncated form of recombinant tNOX. Incubation of cells or plasma membranes with 0.1 M sodium acetate, pH 5, at 37°C for 1 h, was sufficient to release tNOX from the HeLa cell surface. Release was unaffected by protease inhibitors or divalent ions and was not accelerated by addition of cathepsin D. The findings suggest dissociable receptor binding as a possible basis for their plasma membrane association.
NOAA Lists 20 Coral Species as Threatened

Twenty coral species have been listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on 27 August. This is NOAA's largest ESA rule making. The coral species include 15 found in the Indo-Pacific region and 5 that are located in the Caribbean. They join two other Caribbean coral species that NOAA listed as threatened in 2006.
Limiting temperature and relative humidity for growth and production of aflatoxin and free fatty acids byAspergillus flavus in sterile peanuts

Sound mature kernels, broken mature kernels, immature kernels, and unshelled Early Runner peanuts were heat-treated in controlled environment cabinets and inoculated with spores ofAspergillus flavus. Treatments were incubated at 97–99% relative humidity at different temperatures ranging from 5 to 55C and also at 30C with relative humidities ranging from 55 to 99%. Samples were removed after 7 and 21 days and assayed for aflatoxin, free fatty acids, and peanut kernel moisture. The limiting relative humidity for aflatoxin production byA. flavus was 85±1% relative humidity for 21 days at 30C. The limiting low temperature for visible growth and aflatoxin production by the fungus was 13±1C for 21 days at 97–99% relative humidity. Damaged kernels, however, developed some afllatoxin in 21 days at 12C. The maximum temperature for aflatoxin production was 41.5±1.5C for 21 days at 97–99% relative humidity. Fungus growth and sporulation at 43C were equal to that at 40C, but no aflatoxin was produced. Moisture content of immature kernels was higher at equilibrium with the same relative humidity than the moisture content of sound mature kernels, damaged kernels, or kernels from unshelled peanuts. There appeared to be no proportional quantitative correlation between synthesis of aflatoxin and production of free fatty acids in nonliving peanuts, but no aflatoxin was produced without a simultaneous increase in free fatty acids.
Introduction: genes, cognition and neuropsychiatry.

Numerous genes modulate dopamine and consequently prefrontal cortical function. Some of these genes – notably catechol-O-methyltransferase – have been shown to impact a variety of core cognitive processes that are dependent upon the prefrontal cortex. This demonstration that a single functional polymorphism can contribute so dramatically to individual differences heralds a new era for neuropsychiatry. Although enormous detail remains to be discovered about these various genes that regulate neurotransmitters, how they interact and how they affect brain systems, there is much excitement and promise regarding new neuropsychopharmacological possibilities. However, this new research program is magnitudes more complex than any enterprise embarked on hitherto and requires the development, validation and deployment of novel behavioural and neurophysiological phenotypes in order to unravel the pathologies within neural functional systems. This research foundation is essential if these genetic breakthroughs are to ...
Influence of the Columbia River plume (USA) on the vertical and horizontal distribution of mesozooplankton over the Washington and Oregon shelf

Peterson, J. O., and Peterson, W. T. 2008. Influence of the Columbia River plume (USA) on the vertical and horizontal distribution of mesozooplankton over the Washington and Oregon shelf. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 477-483.River plumes extending out over continental shelf waters have distinct frontal boundaries along their leading edges that concentrate highly buoyant particles, including zooplankton. The margin between the base of the plume and the underlying oceanic waters is often many times larger in spatial extent than the visible surface front, but the influence of this region of a river plume on the vertical and horizontal distribution of zooplankton is less well understood. Using a laser optical plankton counter (LOPC) and a conductivity-temperature-depth sensor (CTD) mounted to a rapidly undulating tow body, we examined the horizontal and vertical distribution of zooplankton proximate to the Columbia River plume, to study how plume waters affect zooplankton over the continental shelf. Overall, vertically integrated zooplankton abundance and biovolume was elevated close to “aged” plume waters. Zooplankton tended to aggregate near the surface close to river plume waters. When plume waters are present at the surface, zooplankton aggregations tended to be in the upper 10 m of the water column, compared with 25 m when the plume was not present. The presence of river plumes may be ecologically and energetically important to surface feeding planktivores such as larval and juvenile fish.