cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Question Complexity and Reader Strategies on Adults’ Hypertext Comprehension

AbstractWhen adults read a hypertext for the goal of answering specific questions, they are mostly unsuccessful. Hypertext is a different kind of text structure for readers who may find it difficult to use traditional text strategies. Thirty adults read a binary-tree-structured hypertext to answer three 2-part questions on the topic of cosmology. Results confirmed the following hypotheses: (a) successful readers chose only important nodes to read, (b) questions that required more node traversal were more difficult to answer, and (c) successful and unsuccessful readers had different hypertext reading strategies. Although most readers found the two-part questions difficult to answer, the more successful readers chose important hypertext nodes more often and read them relatively longer than unsuccessful readers. In addition, questions posed to the hypertext readers differed in difficulty as a direct result of the complexity of their traversal paths. Readers who adopted a depth-first search strategy were more...
Personal-social adjustment, physical fitness, attitude toward physical education of high school girls by socioeconomic level.

Abstract Eleventh grade girls (N = 114) representing three socioeconomic groups were tested to determine whether there were any significant differences between socioeconomic groups with reference to personal-social adjustment, attitude toward physical education, and physical fitness. These variables were measured by the California Test of Personality — Secondary Form AA, the Wear Attitude Inventory — Form A, and the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test. Socioeconomic level was determined using McCall's Scale. Relationships between these variables for the entire group and for each socioeconomic group were investigated. Results of this study showed a significant difference between socioeconomic groups in the matter of personal-social adjustment, with the high socioeconomic group showing better adjustment scores than the middle group and the middle group better than the low group. There were also significant positive relationships between the following variables: physical fitness and attitude toward physical education,...
Economic Rationalization of Automation Projects

The future of any investment project is undeniably linked to its economic rationalization. The chance that a project is realized depends on our ability to demonstrate the benefits that it can convey to a company. However, traditional investment evaluation must be enhanced and used carefully in the context of rationalization to reflect adequately the characteristics of modern automation systems. Nowadays automation systems often take the form of complex, strongly related autonomous systems that are able to operate in a coordinated fashion in distributed environments. Reconfigurability is a key factor affecting automation systemsʼ economic evaluation due to the reusability of equipment and software for the manufacturing of several products. A new method based on an analytical hierarchy process for project selection is reviewed. A brief discussion on risk and salvage consideration is included, as are aspects needing further development in future rationalization techniques.
Placental transfer of intravenous fluoride in the pregnant ewe.

Abstract Fluoride ion is produced with the biotransformation of two commonly used anesthetics, methoxyflurane and enflurane. Fluoride ion is added to prenatal vitamin preparations and water to prevent carious teeth. Very high levels of fluoride associated with long exposures to methoxyflurane have resulted in high-output renal failure. Previous studies of placental transfer of fluoride ion were conflicting. Our study in pregnant ewes revealed rapid transfer of the fluoride ion across the placenta with high fetal to maternal ratios as early as 1 minute.
Organic Contamination in Soils Associated with Cemeteries

This study examined the organic contaminants in soils from an older cemetery in Ohio. Thirty soil samples at various depths and distances from graves were obtained and analyzed using organic solvent extraction, concentration, and gas chromatography with mass selective detector. The signatures of methylene chloride-extracted organic compounds show interesting trends vertically within the cemetery, with less apparent horizontal trends. Alkanes in the 18 to 34 carbon number range dominated most core samples. However, the abundance of the lighter C18 to C26 alkanes is unique to the deep samples onsite. Statistically, depth is relatively unimportant in predicting the abundances of the heavier compounds, whereas distance from the nearest grave is significant to predicting the area of light and heavy alkanes. These signatures are very similar to those obtained through maturation and release of organic matter in the subsurface. Evidence indicates release of organic compounds into the surrounding vicinity of the c...
The Road to Pereiaslav

L’article revient sur l’arriere-plan politique et culturel des accords de Perejaslav de 1654, qui placaient l’hetmanat de Bogdan Hmel´nyts´kyi sous la protection du tsar Aleksej Mihajlovic — decision qui eut des consequences imprevues et de grande importance sur le futur politique de l’Ukraine, et qui reste controversee encore aujourd’hui. Il soutient que la conclusion des accords de Perejaslav doit beaucoup moins au discours sur les liens historiques, de nature religieuse et politique, entre Ukrainiens et Moscovites et sur l’unite originelle de la Rus´ (ce discours, alors tout recent, manquait encore de coherence et de conviction) qu’a des considerations militaires : le tsar Aleksej desirait associer les cosaques d’Ukraine a sa campagne en Bielorussie et en Lituanie. L’article fait valoir par ailleurs qu’aucune des deux parties n’avait, a la veille de l’accord, d’idee precise et concrete sur la facon dont le protectorat redefinirait les souverainetes respectives de la Moscovie et de l’hetmanat. Les modeles de protectorat existant alors impliquaient en effet un ensemble de conditions que Hmel´nyts´kyi n’etait pas en mesure de reproduire, etant donnee sa situation strategique, et que rien n’avait prepare les tsars de Moscou a accepter.
The economic costs and benefits of dental education: an empirical analysis.

The rising costs associated with obtaining a dental education have caused some to question the financial benefit of pur - suing a dental degree. There is a concern that recent graduates may have difficulty finding professional opportunities that provide the income necessary to service their accumulated educational debt. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trends in education- al costs to aid in making an accurate appraisal of the financial benefit of a dental education. Adjusted into constant dollar terms, data from a variety of sources were collected for economic variables such as tuition, fees, student indebtedness, and dentists' earnings. These variables were then analyzed to determine the true costs and benefits of obtaining a dental education. The results showed that, over the course of the last decade, educational costs increased faster than the real net income of practicing dentists, which led to a decline in the return on investment in dental education. However, regardless of an applicant's choice of public or private dental school, there continues to be a positive economic return on students' commitment of both financial resources and time to receive a dental education.
Simultaneous nonlinear structural analysis and design

Optimization techniques are increasingly being used for performing nonlinear structural analysis. Under these circumstances the structural design problem can be viewed as a nested optimization problem. The present paper suggests that there are computational benefits to treating this nested problem as a large single optimization problem. That is, the response variables (such as displacements) and the structural parameters are all treated as design variables in a unified formulation which performs simultaneously the design and analysis. Three truss examples are used for the demonstration comparing two nested optimization procedures with two computational procedures for the simultaneous solution. The examples show that the simultaneous approach is competitive with the more traditional nested approach.
Analysis of the equine lymphocyte antigen system by Southern blot hybridization.

Fourteen Standardbred horses homozygous for one of six equine lymphocyte antigen (ELA) specificities (A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, or A10) were analyzed by Southern blot hybridization using DNA probes derived from the mouse major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Total genomic DNA from peripheral lymphocytes was digested with the restriction enzymes Hind III, Pvu II, or Eco RI. Twenty-three to thirty-three bands were generated for individual horses with the class I cDNA probe. The resulting band patterns revealed 12-14 nonpolymorphic fragments, which is consistent with the highly conservedQa/Tla genes seen in other species. The remaining 10–19 bands displayed significant polymorphism; no two animals had identical band patterns when studied with all three enzymes. The polymorpism was markedly decreased between animals of the same ELA serotypes. Unique bands were identified in both Al horses and all four A6 animals. Pvu II digestions of lymphocyte DNA were hybridized with mouse MHC class II probes. A cDNA probe for theEαgene revealed only a single nonpolymorphic band. In contrast, a cDNA probe for theH-2Aαlocus displayed three to five strong bands in each animal with polymorphism that was most pronounced between horses of different ELA serotypes. Genomic DNA probes forAβandEβgenes both revealed multiple polymorphic bands. However, cross-hybridization between these two probes prevented distinction betweenAβandEβequivalent loci. The reduced polymorphism evident within ELA specificities is consistent with the concept that the equine lymphocyte antigen system includes two families of closely linked MHC genes.
Induction of metal binding proteins in striped bass, Morone saxatilis, following cadmium treatment.

Abstract 1. 1. The time course of induction of cytosolic metal binding proteins (MBP) was observed following up to three daily intramuscular injections of cadmium chloride (0.2 mg cadmium/injection). 2. 2. Low molecular weight binding proteins were resolved by gel permeation chromatography on Sephadex G-75. Based on total metal binding capacity, the concentration of crude MBP increased 2.6 fold. This level of induction of MBP was confirmed by polarographic analysis. 3. 3. Initial binding of cadmium to MBP resulted in displacement of zinc, while at later times, zinc associated with MBP increased above control levels. 4. 4. Using 35 S-cysteine incorporation, it was shown that the rate of hepatic MBP synthesis was significantly greater than controls and sham injected fish 18 hr after the third cadmium injection. 5. 5. Due to interfering proteins of molecular weights similar to the metal binding proteins one dimensional PAGE was not capable of verifying induction. However, the metal binding proteins were resolved using two dimensional gel electrophoresis.
Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of SPNS Interventions Designed to Engage and Retain HIV Positive Women of Color in Medical Care

The use of evidence-based strategies to increase access to medical care and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV is a major public health priority in the United States. As part of a multi-site evaluation funded under the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a process evaluation was conducted with the goal of understanding barriers and facilitators to the implementation of eleven heterogeneous interventions designed to engage and retain HIV positive women of color (WoC) in medical care. Findings identified barriers and facilitators to program implementation at five levels: (1) program; (2) team; (3) agency; (4) partner network; and (5) the larger socio-ecological context. We conclude with a series of recommendations that may be useful for the implementation of similar interventions focused on recruitment and retention of WoC in HIV medical care.
Differential impact of methylphenidate and atomoxetine on sustained attention in youth with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Background This study examined the effects of atomoxetine (ATX) and OROS methylphenidate (MPH) on laboratory measures of inhibitory control and attention in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was hypothesized that performance would be improved by both treatments, but response profiles would differ because the medications work via different mechanisms. Methods One hundred and two youth (77 male; mean age = 10.5 ± 2.7 years) with ADHD received ATX (1.4 ± 0.5 mg/kg) and MPH (52.4 ± 16.6 mg) in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design. Medication was titrated in 4–6-week blocks separated by a 2-week placebo washout. Inhibitory control and attention measures were obtained at baseline, following washout, and at the end of each treatment using Conners' Continuous Performance Test II (CPT-II), which provided age-adjusted T-scores for reaction time (RT), reaction time variability (RT variability), and errors. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were performed, with Time (premedication, postmedication) and Treatment type (ATX, MPH) entered as within-subject factors. Data from the two treatment blocks were checked for order effects and combined if order effects were not present. Clinical trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00183391. Results Main effects for Time on RT (p = .03), RTSD (p = .001), and omission errors (p = .01) were significant. A significant Drug × Time interaction indicated that MPH improved RT, RTSD, and omission errors more than ATX (p < .05). Changes in performance with treatment did not correlate with changes in ADHD symptoms. Conclusions MPH has greater effects than ATX on CPT measures of sustained attention in youth with ADHD. However, the dissociation of cognitive and behavioral change with treatment indicates that CPT measures cannot be considered proxies for symptomatic improvement. Further research on the dissociation of cognitive and behavioral endpoints for ADHD is indicated.
Pigeons in a pelican.

THIS is the history of a crackpot idea, born on the wrong side of the tracks intellectually speaking, but eventually vindicated in a sort of middle class respectability. It is the story of a proposal to use living organisms to guide missiles—of a research program during World War II called "Project Pigeon" and a peacetime continuation at the Naval Research Laboratory called "ORCON," from the words "organic control." Both of these programs have now been declassified. Man has always made use of the sensory capacities of animals, either because they are more acute than his own or more convenient. The watchdog probably hears better than his master and in any case listens while his master sleeps. As a detecting system the dog's ear comes supplied with an alarm (the dog need not be taught to announce the presence of an intruder), but special forms of reporting are sometimes set up. The tracking behavior of the bloodhound and the pointing of the hunting dog are usually modified to make them more useful. Training is sometimes quite explicit. It is said that sea gulls were used to detect submarines in the English Channel during World War I. The British sent their own submarines through the Channel releasing food to the surface. Gulls could see the submarines from the air and learned to follow them, whether they were British or German. A flock of gulls, spotted from the shore, took on special significance. In the seeing-eye dog the repertoire of artificial signaling responses is so elaborate that it has the conventional character of the verbal interchange between man and man. The detecting and signaling systems of lower organisms have a special advantage when used with explosive devices which can be guided toward the objects they are to destroy, whether by land, sea, or air. Homing systems for guided missiles have now been developed which sense and signal the position of a target by responding to visible or invisible radiation, noise, radar reflections, and so on. These have not always been available, and in any case a living organism has certain advantages. It is almost certainly cheaper and more compact and, in particular, is especially good at responding to patterns and those classes of patterns called "concepts." The lower organism is not used because it is more sensitive than man—after all, the kamikaze did very well—but because it is readily expendable.
Climatology of Upper-Level Turbulence over the Contiguous United States

Abstract Climatologies of the regional, seasonal, and temporal distributions of upper-level (18 000–60 000-ft MSL) turbulence over the contiguous United States (CONUS) are constructed using pilot reports (PIREPs) of aircraft turbulence encounters. The PIREP database used contains over two million entries, and encompasses 12 complete years of data, from January 1994 through December 2005. In spite of known variability in pilot reporting practices, it was found that PIREPs are very consistent among themselves for the null and moderate-or-greater (MOG) intensity categories. Air traffic pattern biases were accounted for by considering only statistics of MOG/total report ratios. Over the CONUS, regional maxima are evident in MOG/total ratios over mountainous regions in the west, over the south and southeast, and over the North Atlantic seaboard. Some additional investigations are presented to help to identify possible origins of the turbulence using a smaller time interval of PIREPs in comparison with archived...
Probing managerial behavior: Image and reality in Southern Africa

Abstract In the belief that Africa's political and cultural environment is likely to have unique effects on its administrative systems, many Western observers have expected to find correspondingly unique managerial behavior in that part of the world. These expectations take on a systematic quality that is often thought to characterize African management. First of all, since the concept of public interest is only beginning to emerge in these newly-independent countries, African managers are expected to be primarily motivated by hopes of personal or tribal gain rather than improved institutional performance. And because the bureaucratic organizations themselves were bequeathed by the imperial colonists and thus do not follow local institutional traditions, American and Europeans expect to find them preoccupied with internal problems to the neglect of larger goals and purposes. Third, because many Westerners are somewhat baffled by the politics of Pan-Africanism and African socialism, they expect to find bureaucratic behavior to be somewhat unrealistic because the system is thought to be suffused with ideology and political fantasy. Then because they understand the goals and functions of the private sector better than those of the public or parastatal sector, they expect corporation managers to be more entrepreneurial and more efficient than their counterparts in public and parastatal organizations. And finally, because of the political uncertainties on the continent, African managers are expected to be unusually risk averse, especially when it comes to adopting institutional innovations. This article draws upon data gathered in a recent study of management in nine Southern African countries to investigate these five images. The results of the investigation show that managerial behavior in Africa is less exotic than these expectations, though they also provide some useful warning signals to European and American development advisors who may be tempted to recommend standard administrative reforms as a remedy for all shortcomings.
TU‐EE‐A4‐02: Exposure Index Calibration for a Portable DR Detector — A Practical Guide for the Clinical Medical Physicist

Purpose: Establish a method for calibrating and utilizing the exposure indices (EXP, REX) of a Canon portable DR imagingsystem.Method and Materials: The Canon model CXDI‐50 was investigated in order to understand the nature of the reported EI's, to establish a calibration procedure, and to verify the EI adequacy as an indicator of the detector exposure for clinical procedures. Canon reports two EI's: “REX”, which changes with image processing settings and “EXP” which is independent of image processing changes. However, there was very little documentation of the EXP parameter and no associated calibration procedure. The effect of an undocumented adjustment parameter (“Constant for Exposure Index”) was investigated and ultimately served to calibrate the EXP value for a standard RQA6 beam (80kVp, 27 mmAl). Using an ionization chamber the exposure at the input to the detector was measured as a function of the reported values of EXP and REX for the RQA6 beam, for 70 kVp, 0.5 mmCu+2 mmAl (TG116), and for several combinations of kVp and acrylic attenuator. Results: Both REX and EXP linearly increase with exposure (different slope). REX is associated with the density on a printed film and thus changes with window and level settings. This makes REX a poor indicator of exposure adequacy. The “constant for exposure index” has no affect on REX. To achieve the same EXP value as obtained with RQA6, the detector dose must be increased by 20% for 80kVp, 8″ acrylic, 31% for 120kVp, 6″ acrylic, and 43% for 60kVp, 6″ acrylic. Conclusion: The information presented will be particularly useful to a medical physicist desiring to establish the calibration of EXP, to determine the appropriate target EXP for a particular body part and view, and to calibrate a phototimer to be utilized with the Canon DR system.
Temperature dependent optical absorption spectra of Ni2+ ions in MgO

Abstract The line shift of the visible absorption spectrum of MgO:Ni 2+ was studied as a function of temperature.
Design and synthesis of readily degradable acyloxysilane dendrimers

Abstract Two types of dendrimers with AB2 branching, one with acyloxysilanes at the branching position (V type) and the other at the non-branching position (Y type), were synthesized using hydrosilylation with chlorosilanes followed by heterofunctional condensation with olefin-functional carboxylic acids, and examined as readily degradable template materials. The V type dendrimer was much more susceptible to ligand redistribution with chlorosilanes during preparation, whereas the Y type was less. The acyloxysilane linkages in these dendrimers could be cleaved readily by alcoholysis or hydrolysis on demand, making for suitable templates.
Targeting DNA mismatches with rhodium intercalators functionalized with a cell-penetrating peptide.

Cell-penetrating peptides are widely used to deliver cargo molecules into cells. Here we describe the synthesis, characterization, DNA binding, and cellular uptake studies of a series of metal−peptide conjugates containing oligoarginine as a cell-penetrating peptide. d-Octaarginine units are appended onto a rhodium intercalator containing the sterically expansive chrysenequinone diimine (chrysi) ligand to form Rh(chrysi)(phen)(bpy)^(3+)-tethered oligoarginine conjugates, where the peptide is attached to the ancillary bpy ligand; some conjugates also include a fluorescein or thiazole orange tag. These complexes bind and with photoactivation selectively cleave DNA neighboring single-base mismatches. The presence of the oligoarginines is found to increase the nonspecific binding affinity of the complexes for both matched and mismatched DNA, but for these conjugates, photocleavage remains selective for the mismatched site, as assayed using both gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry experiments. Significantly, the rhodium complex does not interfere with the delivery properties of the cell-penetrating peptide. Confocal microscopy experiments show rapid nuclear localization of the metal−peptide conjugates containing the tethered fluorescein. Mass spectrometry experiments confirm the association of the rhodium with the HeLa cells. These results provide a strategy for targeting mismatch-selective metal complexes inside cell nuclei.
Grain-boundary migration microstructures in a naturally deformed quartzite

Abstract In this study several grain-scale microstructures are presented that are thought to demonstrate the migration direction of once-mobile grain boundaries in a naturally deformed quartzite. An analysis is presented of the sense of migration of the boundaries, and the characteristics of the patterns of relative grain growth and shrinkage. Grain-boundary migration seems to be correlated with the relative crystallographic orientations of neighbouring grains for the quartz—quartz grain boundaries, and the pattern of preferred grain growth is roughly symmetrical about the mica foliation plane.
Brillouin spectroscopic studies of VF2/TFE copolymers

The temperature dependence of sound velocity was studied in thin sheets of isotropic and oriented copolymers of vinylidene fluoride (81 mol%) and tetrafluoroethylene (19 mol%) by Brillouin scattering. For oriented samples, we studied the differences between the sound velocities along the x-axis (chain direction) and y-axis (perpendicular to x in sample plane). The ferroelectric-paraelectric transition points were not observed because this Tc is very close to the melting point of these copolymers. A partial thermal hysteresis loop was observed for all samples. The transitions from paraelectric phase to ferroelectric phase are completed near 85°C for the isotropic sample and the oriented sample with sound propagating along y. For propagation along x-axis, this transiton is completed at about 100°C which is very close to results from other methods. The behaviors of temperature dependence of sound velocity along x and y axes are quite different, as we observed also in VF2/TrFE copolymers. It allows generaliza...
Glyphosate Resistance as a Versatile Selection Marker for Arabidopsis Transformation

Molecular genetic studies on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana often involve multiple rounds of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Such procedures require multiple marker genes that would allow for efficient selection of transgenic plants in each cycle of transformation. Here, we report on a selection marker cassette based on a codon-modified glyphosate N-acetyltransferase (GAT) gene whose expression is driven by a powerful EL2Ω promoter. After introduction of the GAT expression cassette into A. thaliana via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, glyphosate-resistant primary transformants are efficiently selected by glyphosate, either added to the culture medium or by spraying a glyphosate solution onto seedlings grown in soil. Robust glyphosate-resistant phenotypes are always associated with the presence of the GAT cassette. In addition, RT-PCR analysis of T2 transformants has demonstrated that resistance to glyphosate is associated with higher levels of GAT expression. Resistance conferred by GAT is specific to glyphosate and not to other commonly used selection chemical compounds. These results demonstrate the versatility of the GAT cassette suitable for both large-scale, soil-based selection system of transgenic plants as well as their characterization in vitro.
The disjoining pressure in thin fluid films confining polymer chains : a Monte Carlo study

Abstract A Monte Carlo simulation study is presented for the interaction between two parallel planar surfaces confining a dilute polymer solution under conditions of restricted equilibrium and in the goodl-solvent regime. A monotonic repulsive disjoining pressure is found for purely repulsive monomer—surface interactions. However, the form of the disjoining pressure is strongly dependent on any attractive monomer—surface interactions.
Influence of detachment layer thickness on style of thin-skinned shortening

Abstract There are several parameters which may determine whether detachment folds or thrust faults develop in thin-skinned compressional systems. A fundamental but little publicised parameter is apparent from consideration of detachment fold growth. As a detachment fold amplifies, its core must be filled by redistribution of ductile material. If the mobile material were insufficient to supply the volume required by the fold core through redistribution, fold growth would be inhibited and eventually faulting would occur. The volume of a detachment fold core is compared here with the volume of available underlying mobile material for various amounts of shortening and sizes of fold. The occurrence of detachment folds versus thrusts in several compressional belts is successfully predicted by this relationship.
A Disturbance Cancellation Perspective on Vibration Control Using a Bistable Snap-Through Attachment

One approach to vibration control is to apply a force to a primary structure that opposes the excitation, effectively canceling the external disturbance. A familiar passive example of this approach is the linear-tuned mass absorber. In this spirit, the utility of a bistable attachment for attenuating vibrations, especially in terms of the high-orbit, snap-through dynamic, is investigated using the harmonic balance method and experiments. Analyses demonstrate the fundamental harmonic snap-through dynamic, having commensurate frequency with the single-frequency harmonic excitation, may generate adverse constructive forces that substantially reinforce the applied excitation, primarily at lower frequencies. However, both analyses and experiments indicate that such high-orbit dynamics may be largely destabilized by increased bistable attachment damping. Destructive forces, which substantially oppose the excitation, are unique in that they lead to a form of vibration attenuation analogous to strictly adding damping to the host structure, leaving its spectral characteristics largely unaltered. The experiments verify the analytical findings and also uncover nonlinear dynamics not predicted by the analysis, which render similar attenuation effects.
Fabrication of High‐Density Homogeneous ThO2‐UO2 Fuel Pellets

Thorium oxide and uranium oxide pellet fuel development activities leading to a process fohd fabrication of high density, homogeneous fuel pellets are described. Conventional dry ball-milling was used to comminute commercially available powders. After separate milling, these ThO2-UO2mixtures were co-milled, pressed, and sintered to 95 % of theoretical density with a homogeneous distribution of the components. An intimate mix of highly active powders promotes solid solution formation and yields high density pellets.
Effect of fatigue loading and residual stress on microscopic deformation mechanisms in a spot welded joint

The microstructure evolution in as welded and post-heated residual stress relived spot welded steel sheets during fatigue testing has been studied. The relationship between microstructure evolution and residual stress during fatigue loading has been considered. It has been found that under high fatigue load, dislocation density in spot nugget edge is much higher than that in nugget center area, which indicates significant plastic deformation occurred at the edge of spot nugget during fatigue testing. Under low fatigue load, dislocation density is quite low in both the edge and center area of spot nugget. The effect of post-heating is that more dislocations could be generated during fatigue testing for both high and low loading conditions. Post-heating results in lower strength of spot welded joint while it releases the residual stress in it, which reduces the fatigue life of the spot welded sheet.
A Facile Aldoxime Preparation Via the Reduction of α, β-Unsaturated Nitroalkenes Using Tin (II) Chloride

Abstract α, β-Unsaturated nitroalkenes are readily reduced by SnCl2 2H2 O in ethyl acetate to the aldoximes in high yield at room temperature.
Description of brain injury in the amnesic patient N.A. Based on magnetic resonance imaging

N.A. has been amnesic since 1960 when at the age of 22 years he sustained a penetrating brain injury with a miniature fencing foil. The amnesia primarily affects verbal material and occurs in the absence of other detectable cognitive deficits. Previous CT scans demonstrated a lucency in the region of the left mediodorsal thalamic nucleus, but no additional damage was revealed. Beginning in 1986 when he was 48 years old, N.A. was evaluated with a series of magnetic resonance imaging (MR) studies. Three major areas of damage were identified. In the left thalamus there is a prominent 3- to 4-mm-wide linear lesion that approximates the position and orientation of the internal medullary lamina. The defect extends for approximately 20 mm anteroposteriorly and likely involves the rostral group of intralaminar nuclei (central medial, paracentral, central lateral, rhomboid, and reuniens nuclei), the caudal group of intralaminar nuclei (centrum medianum and parafascicular nuclei), the ventral aspect of the mediodorsal nucleus, and the ventral lateral and ventral anterior nuclei. It also likely interrupts the trajectories of the mammillothalamic tract and postcommissural fornix. The posterior hypothalamus is markedly disrupted and the mammillary nuclei appear to be missing bilaterally. Finally, the right anterior temporal lobe is damaged for a distance of about 3.5 cm from the pole to midway through the amygdaloid complex. This damage probably occurred during exploratory neurosurgery done at the time of N.A.'s injury. The hippocampal formation appears intact on both sides. A comparison of these findings with those from other patients with diencephalic amnesia suggests that amnesia can result when several diencephalic structures are damaged conjointly, including the internal medullary lamina, the intralaminar nuclei, the mediodorsal nucleus, and the mammillothalamic tract. Whether amnesia as severe as N.A.'s would result from selective damage to any one of these structures remains to be determined.
Synthesis and taste properties of an N -(glucose)-saccharin compound

La saccharine a ete fixee par son azote imidique sur le C6 du glucose, par l'action de la saccharine sodee sur un derive protege dup-toluenesulfonyl-6-O-d-glucose, et elimination des groupes protecteurs pour former un compose hydrosoluble. La saveur amere peut etre attribuee a l'elimination du proton imidique de la saccharine.
How to Explain Japan's Legal System

Despite the grave difficulties the Japanese economy has faced this past decade, Japan's economic performance both for the past 150 years, and even for the past 50 years, has been uniquely impressive (Maddison, 1995). Mark Ramseyer and Minoru Nakazato believe, as Douglass North and Robert Paul Thomas do, that economic improvement depends on "the establishment of institutional arrangements and property rights that create an incentive to channel individual economic effort into activities that bring the private rate of return close to the social rate of return" (p. 2). Growth
SU-E-T-554: Comparison of Electron Disequilibrium Factor in External Photon Beams for Different Models of Linear Accelerators

Purpose: The dose in the buildup region of a photon beam is usually determined by the transport of the primary secondary electrons and the contaminating electrons from accelerator head. This can be quantified by the electron disequilibrium factor, E, defined as the ratio between total dose and equilibrium dose (proportional to total kerma), E = 1 in regions beyond buildup region. Ecan be different among accelerators of different models and/or manufactures of the same machine. This study compares E in photon beams from different machine models/ Methods: Photon beam data such as fractional depth dose curve (FDD) and phantom scatter factors as a function of field size and phantom depth were measured for different Linac machines. E was extrapolated from these fractional depth dose data while taking into account inverse-square law. The ranges of secondary electron were chosen as 3 and 6 cm for 6 and 15 MV photon beams, respectively. The field sizes range from 2x2 to 40x40 cm2. Results: The comparison indicates the standard deviations of electron contamination among different machines are about 2.4 - 3.3% at 5 mm depth for 6 MV and 1.2 - 3.9% at 1 cm depth for 15 MV for the same field size. The corresponding maximum deviations are 3.0 - 4.6% and 2 - 4% for 6 and 15 MV, respectively. Both standard and maximum deviations are independent of field sizes in the buildup region for 6 MV photons, and slightly decreasing with increasing field size at depths up to 1 cm for 15 MV photons. Conclusion: The deviations of electron disequilibrium factor for all studied Linacs are less than 3% beyond the depth of 0.5 cm for the photon beams for the full range of field sizes (2-40 cm) so long as they are from the same manufacturer.
A new approach in specific, active immunotherapy.

A vaccinia virus-lysed autochthonous tumor cell vaccine (vaccinia oncolysate) is introduced as a new specific, active immunotherapeutic agent against human cancer. Mouse experiments showed the vaccine to be a safe and potent immune mechanism stimulator. Human experimentation was undertaken in the knowledge of relative safety of the components of the vaccine, i.e. vaccinia vaccine and lysed, autochthonous tumor cells. Vaccine-treated patients had advanced metastatic cancer but reacted to one or more common recall antigen skin tests. None of the 13 patients had untoward responses; 7/13 patients had classic delayed hypersensitivity reactions at the vaccine injection sites; and 2/7 patients with injection site reactions had significant reduction in tumor burden. These results indicate that this vaccine is a specific, active immune mechanism stimulator, and may prove to be a useful therapeutic agent in the treatment of human cancer.
The Romantic Sonnet Revival: Opening the Sonnet's Crypt

Discussions of the sonnet tradition often claim that the sonnet is ‘the most popular, enduring, and widely used poetic form in English.’ At first glance, the Romantic period in English seems to bear out these claims fully. Keats and Shelley, Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Blake – the six, standard male authors of the Romantic-period canon – all wrote sonnets of some type, and undeniably the form achieved extraordinary popularity in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. However, after its Elizabethan heyday, the sonnet in English had languished as a neglected and decidedly unfashionable form. Before the rise of Romanticism, the sonnet form in the 18th century appeared to be dead, a defunct and antiquated genre. Romanticism resurrected the sonnet and in doing so invented our notion of its widespread favor and timeless appeal. The sonnet, even a Shakespeare sonnet, only becomes a preeminent poetic genre in the age of Wordsworth and Keats, who wrote some of the most familiar sonnets in British literature. More accurately, however, we should credit the sonnet's revival to an age of Charlotte Smith, Mary Robinson and Anna Seward; poets, notably women poets, who, lying now at the margins of the male-dominated Romantic canon, were essentially responsible for engaging and recuperating the moribund sonnet tradition in English. The question is repeatedly asked: Why did Romantic poets choose to revive such an outmoded form? A recent surge in critical attention to the Romantic sonnet, as part of Romanticist criticism's larger project of reclaiming texts and authors (especially women authors) long neglected and excluded by the standard canon, explores how the compact and demanding form of the sonnet could open up a space outside of the dominant literary authority in which poetic voices, excluded by gender or class, could appropriate for themselves the legitimacy of a cultural tradition that had long been closed. In opening the sonnet's 18th-century crypt, Romanticism translates the abject relics of a dead poetic structure into a revitalized poetic space in which natural, spontaneous sentiment and diction could find expression.
Answering the Call for a Sociological Perspective on the Multilevel Social Construction of Emotion: A Comment on Boiger and Mesquita:

Boiger and Mesquita (2012) present a social constructionist perspective on emotion that argues for its multilevel contextualization through social interactions, relationships, and culture. The present comments offer a response to the authors’ call for input from other disciplines. We provide a sociological perspective on emotion construction at each of the contextual levels discussed by Boiger and Mesquita, and discuss a model that can address interdependencies between these levels. Our remarks are intended to identify additional literature that can be brought to bear on multilevel emotion construction and to put forward some ideas for future research on the subject.
More on Ordinary Differential Equations Which Yield Periodic Solutions of Delay Differential Equations

Abstract We construct a Poincare operator for the system dx dt = −λ x − F ( x ), (0.1) where λ is a real parameter, x ∈ R 3 , x = ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ), [formula], and ƒ is an odd C 2 function such that ƒ′(0) = 1, x ƒ( x ) > 0, for x ≠ 0. We also consider the case where ƒ is C 1 . We will express F in linearized form, that is, F ( x ) = Ax + G ( x ), where A is the linearized part of F around zero and G ( x ) = o (| x |) near zero. Fixed points of the Poincare operator correspond to periodic solutions of the functional differential equation dx dt = −λx(t) − ƒ(x(t − T/3)), (0.2) where T is the period of x .
Does the United States of America Have a System for Reporting Serious Hazards of Transfusion

SUMMARy While health care providers, governmental agencies and public interest groups in the United States show concern about blood safety and transfusion reactions, there is no unified national reporting system. This lack of unity derives largely from the structure (or lack thereof) of the health care system in the U.S. The hazards of transfusion are described by a patchwork of regulations, reports and studies, many of them voluntary. Even without a unified system, the United States does have examples of reports that cover the usual elements of a national reporting or monitoring system. Most of the elements of a national system have been undertaken by cooperative groups, such as the BaCon Study Group, or by smaller but very informative public studies, such as the State of New york study of transfusion errors. The collection of very basic information-how many units of blood are collected and where and what components are made-is privately handled and incompletely funded. The current reporting practices lack pro-active approaches in dealing with emerging infectious diseases capable of being spread by blood and tissue. The West Nile Virus infections from blood and tissue that occurred last summer are examples of full investigations that were triggered by patient deaths rather than early reports.
Alcohol, stress hormones, and the prefrontal cortex: A proposed pathway to the dark side of addiction

Chronic exposure to alcohol produces changes in the prefrontal cortex that are thought to contribute to the development and maintenance of alcoholism. A large body of literature suggests that stress hormones play a critical role in this process. Here we review the bi-directional relationship between alcohol and stress hormones, and discuss how alcohol acutely stimulates the release of glucocorticoids and induces enduring modifications to neuroendocrine stress circuits during the transition from non-dependent drinking to alcohol dependence. We propose a pathway by which alcohol and stress hormones elicit neuroadaptive changes in prefrontal circuitry that could contribute functionally to a dampened neuroendocrine state and the increased propensity to relapse—a spiraling trajectory that could eventually lead to dependence.
Pcf11 is a termination factor in Drosophila that dismantles the elongation complex by bridging the CTD of RNA polymerase II to the nascent transcript.

Summary The mechanism by which Pol II terminates transcription in metazoans is not understood. We show that Pcf11 is directly involved in termination in Drosophila . dPcf11 is concentrated at the 3′ end of the hsp70 gene in cells, and depletion of dPcf11 with RNAi causes Pol II to readthrough the normal region of termination. dPcf11 also localizes to most transcribed loci on polytene chromosomes. Biochemical analysis reveals that dPcf11 dismantles elongation complexes by a CTD-dependent but nucleotide-independent mechanism and that dPcf11 forms a bridge between the CTD and RNA. This bridge appears to be crucial because an anti-CTD antibody, which also dismantles the elongation complex, is found to bridge the CTD to RNA. dPcf11 was observed to inhibit transcription at low, but not high, nucleotide levels, suggesting that dPcf11 dismantles paused elongation complexes. These results provide a biochemical basis for the dependency of termination on pausing and the CTD in metazoans.
Hepatobiliary Fascioliasis: An Uncommon Cause of Biliary Obstruction in the United States

Video demonstrating removal of Fasciola hepatica from the common bile duct after retrieval balloon sweep during ERCP.
Big Bang nucleosynthesis in crisis

A new evaluation of the constraint on the number of light neutrino species (${N}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}$) from big bang nucleosynthesis suggests a discrepancy between the predicted light element abundances and those inferred from observations, unless the inferred primordial $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ abundance has been underestimated by 0.014\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.004 ($1\ensuremath{\sigma}$) or less than 10% (95% C.L.) of $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ survives stellar processing. With the quoted systematic errors in the observed abundances and a conservative chemical evolution parametrization, the best fit to the combined data is ${N}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}=2.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3$ ($1\ensuremath{\sigma}$) and the upper limit is ${N}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}l2.6$ (95% C.L.). The data are inconsistent with the standard model (${N}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}=3$) at the 98.6% C.L.
Synchronization of pacemaker cell firing by weak ELF fields: Simulation by a circuit model

Entrainment of output action potentials from repetitively firing pacemaker cells, brought about by regularly spaced excitatory or inhibitory postsynaptic inputs, is a well-known phenomenon. Synchronization of neural firing patterns by extremely low frequency (ELF) external electric fields has also been observed. Whereas current densities of approximately 10 A-m(-2) are required for direct excitation of otherwise quiescent neural tissue, much lower peak current densities (approximately 10[-2] A-m2) have been reported to entrain spontaneously firing molluscan pacemaker cells. We have developed a neural spike generator circuit model that simulates repetitive spike generation by a space clamped patch (area approximately 10[-7] m2) of excitable membrane subjected to depolarizing current. Picoampere (pA) range variation of DC depolarizing current causes a corresponding smooth variation of neural spike frequency, producing a physiologically realistic stimulus-response (S-R) characteristic. When lower pA range 60 Hz AC current is superposed upon the DC depolarizing current, smooth variation of the S-R characteristic is distorted by subharmonic locking of the spike generator at 30, 20, 15, 12, 10 Hz, and higher order subharmonic frequencies. Although the additional superposition of a physiologically realistic level of "white" current noise, covering the bandwidth 4-200 Hz, suffices to obscure higher order subharmonic locking, locking at 30, 20, and 15 Hz is still clearly evident in the presence of noise. Subharmonic locking is observed at an root mean square AC simulated tissue current density of approximately 10(-5) A-m(-2).