cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Precursors to infants' perception of the causality of a simple event

Abstract Three habituation experiments examined the perception of causal and non-causal events by infants at 6 1/4, 5 1/2, and 4 months of age. Experiment 1 replicated previous studies showing that by 6 1/4 months, infants begin to respond to the interaction of simple objects in Michottian type launching events on the basis of causality. In Experiments 2 and 3, however, younger infants exposed to the identical event sequences responded on the basis of simpler perceptual features of the launching events, and not on the basis of causality. 4-month-old infants responded to continuous versus non-continuous movement. 5 1/2-month-old infants also responded somewhat on the basis of continuous movement. However, in addition they responded on the basis of the spatial and temporal perceptual features of the events. This change in the pattern of results over age suggests a multi-step developmental progression.
Further Mutations in the Amphipod Gammarus chevreuxi , Sexton

NEW developments in Gammarus chevreuxi have appeared in the course of some experimental work on the question of the origin of recessive characters, and how far they may be present in the wild.
The Waits of Lincolnshire

Most research into Lincolnshire dramatic records has focused on religious drama in the city of Lincoln and selected other towns and villages, but considerable information also survives about civic-sponsored entertainments of other kinds, including the sponsorship of waits by Lincoln and six other substantial towns. Drawing on records in Lincolnshire and elsewhere, this article describes what can be known about the Lincolnshire waits: the nature of civic sponsorship that supported them; the identify of the waits; their numbers and responsibilities; their patterns of travel and performance; their status in the towns; and something of their repertoire. The article demonstrates that the waits were an important element in the fabric of sponsored entertainments in Lincolnshire, that they had a more complex performance life than might be thought; and that they and their performances seem to have thrived, unlike many other forms and entertainers, right through the Puritan takeover of town governance and the Civil War. The article argues that while recognized as having been skilled musicians, the waits have not been sufficiently appreciated as professional, respected, companies; that they seem to have been an institution associated with the growth and development of certain important towns; that they were found to be valuable by both reform-minded and traditional officials alike; that they provide useful insights concerning the nature and purpose of civic sponsorship and of the considerable networking that occurred among companies of waits. Their presence is an essential element in the emerging picture of early drama and music in Lincolnshire.
Probing DLVO Forces Using Interparticle Magnetic Forces: Transition from Secondary-Minimum to Primary-Minimum Aggregation

The transition from secondary-minimum to primary-minimum aggregation of superparamagnetic colloidal latex particles is investigated in this study. The magnetic induction needed for this transition is calculated from the extended Derjaguin−Landau−Verwey−Overbeek (DLVO) theory, which includes van der Waals, electrostatic, and magnetic−dipole forces as well as non-DLVO hydrophobic attraction. A chain−dipole model is used to estimate the magnetic−dipole potential. The magnetic induction at which the transition from secondary- to primary-minimum aggregation occurs is experimentally determined from visualization of chain formation and breakup. Experimental and theoretical values of transitional magnetic induction show good agreement for the small particles used in this study. The experimental value of the transitional magnetic induction of relatively large particles in a narrow capillary tube is found to deviate significantly from that predicted by theory. However, the transitional magnetic induction obtained f...
Mass transfer surface diffusion of noble gases

Abstract Molecular dynamics simulations employing the Lennard-Jones potential have been performed for Ne, Ar, and Kr on Ar(111) to investigate the nature of surface diffusion at elevated temperatures. Despite the inapplicability of such a simple potential to materials other than noble gases, these simulations qualitatively reproduce the characteristic experimental features of high-temperature surface diffusion on metals and semiconductors. All species exhibit Arrhenius curves with discontinuities at temperatures ranging from 0.65–0.73 T m . Below this temperature, Ne does not island and diffuses by a standard site-hopping mechanism, whereas mobile adatoms of Kr and Ar are formed from the edges of immobile islands, yielding an activation energy which includes both an enthalpy of formation and an enthalpy of migration. Above the discontinuity in the Arrhenius curve at which the surface disorders, surface diffusion is dominated by mass transfer effects, with all surface species diffusing predominantly by a novel mechanism of adatom-vacancy pair formation, which sharply increases the number of mobile species. Perhaps surprisingly, this mechanism is operative for Ne surface diffusion at elevated temperatures despite surface segregation. In addition, high-temperature heterodiffusion is seen to decrease with increasing surface coverage as the adspecies quench surface disordering in the top substrate layer. These and other results demonstrate the importance of surface preparation during high-temperature surface diffusion measurements.
Prenatal growth of Wistar rats: circadian periodicity of fetal growth late in gestation.

Pregnant CFN Wistar rats demonstrated marked fluctuations of body weight within 24-h periods during late gestation. Maternal weight loss during the daytime phase of the daily cycle was accompanied by a slowdown in fetal growth. The period of rapid maternal weight gain that occurred during the night was paralleled by a period of rapid fetal growth. The periodicity of fetal growth was due to variation in accumulation of solids and not to diurnal fluctuations in relative water content.
Predicting the response of plants to increasing carbon dioxide: A critique of plant growth models

Abstract It is widely recognized that increasing global carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere may alter the growth of plants. This has lead to speculation about the long-term impact of rising CO2 on agricultural productivity and on natural ecosystems, e.g. shifts in native species distributions and sequestering of carbon in forests. In this paper we critique some existing plant growth models with regard to their potential for predicting and evaluating possible scenarios of vegetation response to elevated CO2 levels. To facilitate this, we present various criteria for model evaluation, specify a minimum set of plant processes that should be considered for inclusion in a generic model capable of predicting plant response to CO2. survey numerous published plant growth models with respect to these criteria, and propose a scheme for identifying the various options available for modeling the response of vegetation to CO2.
Defining A Core Curriculum for Education Scholarship Fellowships in Emergency Medicine

A trained cadre of medical education scholars with a focus on methodologically sound research techniques is needed to ensure development of innovations that can be translated to educational practice, rigorous evaluation of instructional strategies, and progress toward improving patient care outcomes. Most established educational programs are aimed at existing faculty members and focus primarily on the development of teaching and leadership skills. At the 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) consensus conference, "Education Research in Emergency Medicine: Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies for Success," a breakout session was convened to develop training recommendations for postgraduate fellowship programs in medical education scholarship that would enable residency graduates to join academic faculties armed with the skills needed to perform research in medical education. Additionally, these graduates would enjoy the benefits of established mentorships. A group of 23 medical education experts collaborated to address the following objectives: 1) construct a formal needs assessment for fellowship training in medical education scholarship in emergency medicine (EM), 2) compare and contrast current education scholarship programs in both EM and non-EM specialties, and 3) develop a set of core curriculum guidelines for specialized fellowship training in medical education scholarship in EM. Fellowship-trained faculty need to be proficient in learner instruction and assessment, organizational leadership, curriculum development, educational methodology, and conducting generalizable hypothesis-driven research to improve patient care.
NOAA issues scientific integrity policy

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the agency's first-ever scientific integrity policy at a 7 December news briefing at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. The policy follows a December 2010 White House memorandum that issued guidance to federal agencies implementing scientific integrity policies (see “White House issues scientific integrity policies,” Eos Trans. AGU, 91(51), 503, doi:10.1029/2010EO510003, 2010). The purpose of the NOAA policy is “to promote a continuing culture of scientific excellence and integrity, and to establish a policy on the integrity of scientific activities that the agency conducts and uses to inform management and policy decisions,” the agency's administrative order states. “In addition, the intent of the policy is to strengthen widespread confidence—from scientists, to decisionmakers, to the general public—in the quality, validity, and reliability of NOAA science and to denote the agency's commitment to a culture of support for excellence of NOAA's principal science asset, its employees.”
Chemical effects on sound propagation

A theoretical study of coupling between chemical kinetics and sound propagation is presented. Examination of equations governing propagation of a travelling acoustic wave in a chemically reacting, stagnant, gaseous medium shows that chemical effects are, in general, of two kinds; viz., those due to changes in mean conditions resulting from chemical reaction and those due to fluctuations in reaction rate resulting from acoustic waves. These coupled effects are found to depend on activation energy, enthalpy of reaction, and ratio of chemical to acoustic time, and have, in particular, different qualitative features for exothermic and endothermic reactions. Several cases have been investigated. When chemical time is long as compared with acoustic time, the main effects are due to fluctuations in the reaction rate. If reaction rates increase with rising temperatures, the acoustic waves are amplified for exothermic reactions and attenuated for endothermic reactions. The sound propagation speed is only slightly reduced from its isentropic frozen value within the region of validity of this quasisteady analysis. When the reaction rate is constant, the chemical effects are due to changes in the mean conditions. Contrary to what is predicted for the quasisteady case, the acoustic waves are here attenuated for exothermic reactions and amplified for endothermic reactions. Furthermore, effects on propagation speeds become pronounced. When both kinds of chemical effects are considered, the results depend strongly on activation energy. For the case of small activation energy, where the reaction rate is weakly dependent on temperature, the qualitative effects are similar to those observed for constant reaction rate. For large activation energy, however, effects due to fluctuations in reaction rate become pronounced, leading to amplification for exothermic reactions and attenuation for endothermic reactions. In all cases, chemical effects become more significant at higher reaction rates.
Defect-phase-dynamics approach to statistical domain-growth problem of clock models

The growth of statistical domains in quenched Ising-like p-state clock models with p = 3 or more is investigated theoretically, reformulating the analysis of Ohta et al. (1982) in terms of a phase variable and studying the dynamics of defects introduced into the phase field when the phase variable becomes multivalued. The resulting defect/phase domain-growth equation is applied to the interpretation of Monte Carlo simulations in two dimensions (Kaski and Gunton, 1983; Grest and Srolovitz, 1984), and problems encountered in the analysis of related Potts models are discussed. In the two-dimensional case, the problem is essentially that of a purely dissipative Coulomb gas, with a sq rt t growth law complicated by vertex-pinning effects at small t.
Ambulation Aid Use and User Performance for Transit Vehicle Interior Design

Public transportation plays an important role in shaping urban quality of life. However, urban transportation design and policy-making lacks a strong human factors knowledge base for accommodating a functionally diverse ridership including the aging and mobility impaired. This study examines seating configurations in contemporary low-floor buses and user performance for mobility impaired passengers. Task times in sitting and rising were obtained in a laboratory study using a static full-scale low-floor bus mock-up from – cane users (n=10), walker users (n=22), persons with visual impairment (n=17), and without any impairments (n=17). Significant differences in sitting and rising times across longitudinal vs. transverse seats by user group are demonstrated along with regression estimates to facilitate design evaluations. Implications of these findings, recommendations for improved low-floor bus designs and the relevance of ergonomics methods for safety, usability, and efficiency are presented.
AGE AND GENDER-RELATED GENE EXPRESSION OF HYDROXYSTEROID SULFOTRANSFERASE-A IN RAT LIVER

Abstract Hepatic hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase-a (HST-a) gene expression was examined in young male (age 22–26 days) and female rats (age 22–30 days), and in older male (age 42–45 days) and female (age 49–55 days) rats. Northern and slot blot analyses of poly(A) + RNA revealed that HST-a was differentially expressed with respect to both age and gender with female rats expressing higher levels of HST-a in both age groups. Hepatic HST-a mRNA levels were ≈4 to 6-fold higher in females compared to males in both age groups examined. HST-a expression increased with age in both male and female rats. HST-a expression was ≈8 to 10-fold higher in 42–45 day old males relative to 22–26 day old males. HST-a mRNA levels were ≈3 to 7-fold higher in 49–55 day old females relative to females in the 22–30 day age group. These data suggest that HST-a gene expression is transcriptionally controlled and that HST-a regulation is subject to hormonal and developmental modulation.
Single‐Point Calibration with a Non‐linear Detector: Carbohydrate Analysis of Conifer Needles by Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography–Evaporative Light‐Scattering Detection (HIC–ELSD)

Abstract An analytical method employing hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) combined with parallel detectors, provided a quantitative method for the determination of soluble carbohydrates in conifer needle tissues. Evaporative light‐scattering detection (ELSD), in parallel with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI‐MS), yielded excellent quantitative and spectral data. Non‐linear detector responses of the ELSD were overcome by performing a simple exponential transformation of the detector response data. The transformation allowed for single‐point calibrations that yielded quantitative results with excellent accuracy and precision. Method recovery and precision were determined from maltose‐fortified conifer tissues. Maltose recovery was 101.7% [relative standard deviation (RSD) = 9.74%] for homogenized Douglas‐fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) needle tissue fortified at 1.01 mg/g and 107.8% (RSD = 2.47%) for tissue fortified at 10.1 mg/g. Maltose recovery from fortified wester...
Comparison of nanocomposites based on nylon 6 and nylon 66

Nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 organoclay nanocomposites were prepared by melt processing using a twin screw extruder. The effects of polyamide type and processing temperature on the mechanical properties and the morphology of the nanocomposites were examined. Mechanical properties, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), percentage crystallinity and isothermal thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) data are reported. A particle analysis was performed to quantitatively characterize the morphology; these results are later employed in modeling the modulus of these materials using composite theory. No significant difference was observed in the mechanical properties and morphology of PA-6 nanocomposites processed at two different temperatures. PA-6 nanocomposites had superior mechanical properties than those made from PA-66. The tensile strength of PA-66 nanocomposites deviated from linearity at high levels of MMT. WAXD and TEM results show that the PA-6 nanocomposites are better exfoliated than the PA-66 nanocomposites, which exhibit a mixture of intercalated and exfoliated structures. Mechanical properties were consistent with the morphology. DSC reveals a higher percentage of crystallinity in the PA-66 samples. Isothermal TGA shows only a 5% difference in the degradation of the organic modifier on the organoclay processed at 240 °C versus 270 °C. Particle analysis shows a higher average particle length and thickness, and a lower average particle density and aspect ratio in nanocomposites based on PA-66 versus PA-6. The Halpin-Tsai and Mori-Tanaka composite theories predict satisfactorily the behavior of the PA-6 nanocomposites, while the PA-66 nanocomposites were predicted acceptably up to a certain volume fraction where the non-linear behavior takes effect. All the results indicate that there is a lower degree of exfoliation in the nanocomposites produced with a PA-66 matrix apparently stemming from the chemical differences between PA-6 and PA-66.
Energy consumption and the unexplained winter warming over northern Asia and North America

Research shows that incorporating energy consumption in a global climate model can explain past surface temperature changes of as much as 1 K in mid and high latitudes in winter and autumn over most part of North America and Eurasia. This study concludes that energy use should be considered as an additional forcing in simulations to project future climate change.
Observation of Autler-Townes splitting in the multiphoton ionization of H2: Measurement of vibronic transition moments between excited electronic states.

We report the first observation of Autler-Townes splitting in multiphoton ionization of molecules and its application to measure vibronic transition moments between excited electronic states. The effect was observed in the two-color, four-photon ionization of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ via the resonant levels $E$, $F{^{1}\ensuremath{\Sigma}_{g}}^{+}$, $v=6$, $J=1$ and $D^{1}\ensuremath{\Pi}_{u}$, $v=2$, $J=2$. Calculations give good fits to the observed spectra. They yield a vibronic transition moment of 2.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5 a.u. between the above excited states, in agreement with the ab initio value 1.97 a.u. calculated by Huo and Jaffe.
Morphogenetic effects of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) leaf explants in vitro.

Roots, callus and/or globular structures were produced on primary leaf and distal cotyledon explants of pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. UI 114) cultured on semisolid MS medium with a wide range of 2,4-D concentrations (0.01 to 80 mg/L) with either 0 or 1.0 mg/L kinetin. Explants rooted at lower 2,4-D concentrations than at those favoring globule formation on callus, although roots, callus and globules often developed from the same explant. Isolated opaque green globular structures developed when callus initiated on media with 3 or more mg/L 2,4-D was subcultured in liquid MS + 30 mg/L 2,4-D. These structures multiplied with a fresh weight doubling time of 8–9 days in MS + 30 mg/L 2,4-D. Although this multiplicative behavior and opaque color were reminiscent of embryoids reported for other species, no cotyledons or roots were seen.
The Psychological Insurgency: 1936–1945

The materials for this paper come from extensive archival research and oral histories conducted from 1973 to 1985. The materials are used to show how and why the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) and related organizations developed as they did. I argue that these organizations developed in four principal contexts: first, the employment crises of social scientists during the thirties; second, the central contradiction between social scientists' self-perception as “value free” and their perceived responsibility to respond to the economic and cultural crises of the period; third, the relative positions of various leftist political groups of the time, their sectarian strife, and the influence of the Popular Front; and fourth, connections to power elites during World War II.
Mitotic repression of the transcriptional machinery

Nuclear RNA transcription is silenced when eukaryotic cells enter mitosis. Until recently, this repression was thought to derive solely from the condensation of interphase chromatin into mitotic chromosomes. Recent studies, however, have shown that changes in chromatin structure and occupancy of promoter elements by both general and gene-specific transcription factors also play a role in transcriptional silencing. In addition, studies with simplified systems reveal that reversible phosphorylation of the basal transcriptional machinery represses transcription at mitosis.
Simultaneous fluid-solid reactions in porous solids: Reactions between one solid and two fluid reactants

Abstract A general model describing simultaneous independent reactions between one solid reactant and two fluid reactants is presented. Such reaction systems ar attention in the areas of oil shale retorting, direct reduction of metal oxides with reformed natural gas, coal gasification, etc. The model has been formulated in general terms so as to allow the incorporation of specific details of an actual system. The law of additive reaction t previously proposed for single fluid-solid reactions has been applied to the reaction system under consideration, and it has yielded useful approximate solutions for various aspects of the simultaneous reactions, which otherwise must be obtained by numerical methods.
Place storming: performing new technologies in context

We present Place Storming, an original method of brainstorming technological concepts, particularly in the area of pervasive computing. Place Storming is context-driven and play-based, combining real world environments with the immersive and performative aspects of gaming. In this paper, we discuss the background and techniques we used to create and deploy our method. Examples are drawn from a February 2004 Place Storming event to highlight key strengths of the method. Suggestions are made for what produces successful Place Storming sessions.
The effect of seizure disorder on symptom presentation in atypically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorders based on the BDI-2

Purpose: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and seizures are highly comorbid conditions. However, little research has been done to examine this relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect that seizure disorder has on symptom presentation in children with autism spectrum disorders as compared to atypically developing children.Method: The Battelle Developmental Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-2) was used as a measure of impairment across adaptive, personal-social, communication, motor and cognitive skills.Results: A MANOVA indicated significant main effects between diagnostic group and seizure status, without a significant interaction. Follow-up univariate tests were conducted.Conclusions: Overall, results indicated that children with ASD were more impaired than atypically developing children. In addition, children with seizures tended to be more impaired than children without seizures.
Antipeptide antibodies against a Torpedo cysteine-string protein.

Abstract: An antipeptide antiserum was raised against the C-terminal undecapeptide of a Torpedo cysteine-string protein (csp), a putative subunit or modulator of presynaptic calcium channels. This antiserum was shown to identify selectively the 27-kDa in vitro translation product of the csp cRNA both by immunoprecipitation and on immunoblots. When affinity-purified anti-csp antibodies were used to probe immunoblots of membrane proteins from Torpedo electric organ or liver, specific immunoreactivity was detected only in electric organ. This immunoreactivity was associated principally with a single protein species of about 34 kDa. These results indicate that csp immunoreactivity is detectably expressed in electroplax, a heavily innervated tissue, but not in liver, which should have an appreciably lower abundance of presynaptic calcium channel proteins. Moreover, the increased relative molecular mass of csp in electric organ (compared with in vitro translated material) implies that csp is posttranslationally modified. Finally, immunoblot analysis of either intact, alkali-treated, or solubilized membrane fractions of electric organ reveals that csp is predominantly a membrane protein.
A Rectangular-Waveguide Filter Using Trapped-Mode Resonators

A two-resonator, narrow-band waveguide filter with a very wide stop band is described. Each resonator cavity has one side wall which is entirely open except for a bifurcating E-plane septum. Energy in most modes tends to radiate freely out of the open end of each resonator to absorbing material; however, energy in the fundamental TE/sub 101/-mode is trapped in the resonator structures to give high-Q resonances such as are typical of conventional solid-wall resonators. Thus, a primary pass band is obtained similar to that of filters using conventional cavity resonators, but the many higher-order pass bands usually found in cavity-resonator filters are largely eliminated because the higher-order-mode cavity resonances are damped out. This type of filter attenuates unwanted signals mainly by reflection. For applications where a low-input VSWR is desired in the pass band, a bifurcated section of guide backed by absorbing material is also used in the input waveguide so as to tend to absorb the input energy at frequencies above that of the pass band.
Eight-Step Model Helps Systematic Curriculum Development

Are curriculum development materials too complex? School administrators will find that this model provides a practical strat egy for improving curriculum.
Radiation generation by photoswitched, periodically biased semiconductors.

A laser pulse, propagating nearly parallel to the surface of a planar semiconductor wafer, will generate electron-hole pairs. If the semiconductor is spatially biased with a static electric field of period ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{0}$, the laser pulse acts as a fast switch and generates a periodic current. The rapid switching of the current generates radiation, which propagates along the surface and can be confined by a conducting wall placed parallel to the wafer. The wavelength of the radiation can be tuned by adjusting ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{0}$, the wafer-wall separation, and/or the carrier density. In the absence of collisional damping, ${\mathit{N}}_{0}$ periods of the static bias electric field will generate ${\mathit{N}}_{0}$ periods of radiation. Under idealized conditions, the maximum electric field of the radiation is equal to the applied static field and the maximum efficiency of converting the static electric field energy to electromagnetic energy is 30%. In practice for typical parameters, tunable electromagnetic radiation can be generated with wavelengths in the 50--500-\ensuremath{\mu}m range, pulse durations in the picosecond or subpicosecond range, and peak powers on the order of 100 W. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Recovery of useful hearing after posterior fossa surgery: the role of otoacoustic emissions: case report.

Objective and importance Hearing preservation has become an important issue in surgical procedures involving the cerebellopontine angle (CPA). Although several prognostic factors for hearing preservation in patients with "useful" preoperative hearing have been described, it is difficult to predict which patients have the potential for hearing preservation or recovery. Otoacoustic emission measurement is a new technique that allows recording of sounds produced by the cochlear outer hair cells as a normal byproduct of the receptor process and can be used to assess cochlear involvement in patients with hearing loss. Clinical presentation We present the case of a 53-year-old patient with a recurrent arachnoid cyst of the CPA. She had noticed progressive severe hearing loss ipsilateral to the cyst that was confirmed by preoperative audiogram. Technique Otoacoustic emissions were obtained and were within normal limits on the involved side, suggesting that the cochlear outer hair cells were still intact and that the patient had the potential for hearing recovery. The CPA was decompressed by marsupialization of the cyst. Postoperative audiogram demonstrated a dramatic recovery of hearing to a normal level. Conclusion Otoacoustic emissions clearly provide valuable information about the potential for hearing preservation/recovery after CPA surgery and have significant implications for the current neurosurgical management of these lesions.
As Long As We Both Shall Love: The White Wedding in Postwar America Karen M. Dunak. New York: New York University Press, 2013.

As Long As We Both Shall Love: The White Wedding in Postwar America Karen M. Dunak. New York: New York University Press, 2013.The cover of historian Karen Dunak's book, As Long as We Both Shall Love: The White Wedding in Postwar America, features an enormous wedding cake, resplendent with layers of white frosting, being sliced by a pair of newlyweds. The faces of the lucky couple are obscured, and, although we later learn that this towering treat was enjoyed by guests at the 1966 wedding of President Johnson's daughter, Luci, to Pat Nugent, the bride and groom pictured here could be anyone. This is a theme that echoes throughout Dunak's narrative, wherein the weddings of the wealthy and politically well-connected appear alongside the TV sitcom ceremonies, bridal magazine columns, and rich descriptions of ordinary people's special days. The result is a multi-faceted historical account of wedding tradition in which the personal is reflected through the popular and vice versa. Dunak's diverse, interconnected narratives show how the American wedding offers a universal promise of love and happiness while also providing participants with an opportunity to publically perform their values and aspirations.Unlike other recent wedding histories, such as Elizabeth Freeman's The Wedding Complex: Forms of Belonging in Modem American Culture (2002) and Chrys Ingraham's White Weddings: Romancing Heterosexuality in Popular Culture (1999), which tum a critical eye towards the conspicuous consumption, heteronormativity, and patriarchal overtones of the affair, Dunak's account is entirely hopeful and un-cynical. The author takes as her starting point the notion that "the wedding industrial complex" (Ingraham, 1999)- the obsessive, ornate, Bridezilla-producing culture that proliferated in the popular media at the turn of the twenty-first century- obscures the multiple, meaningful ways in which participants have used weddings "to challenge traditional expectations of men and women, masculinity and femininity, and marriage and commitment" (6) throughout American history.Dunak is most compelling as she outlines the changing value of the wedding in the aftermath of World War II. Soldiers returning home sought a return to normalcy, which was embodied by the wedding and its promise of domestic tranquility in the suburbs. Yet the "tradition" associated with the white weddings of the 1950s was not reflective of an actual history but of a longed for connection to "an idealized past, one unmarred by economic hardship, family conflict, or war" (27). …
Gold Nanocages: A Novel Class of Multifunctional Nanomaterials for Theranostic Applications

Gold nanocages represent a novel class of nanostructures, well-suited for biomedical applications. They can be readily prepared via the galvanic replacement reaction between silver nanocubes and chloroauric acid. Their optical resonance peaks can be easily and precisely tuned to the near-infrared region from 650–900 nm, the transparent window for blood and soft tissue. Furthermore, their surface can be conveniently conjugated with various ligands for targeting cancer. In this feature article, we highlight recent advances in the large-scale synthesis of gold nanocages and their applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Specifically, we have scaled up the production of gold nanocages for in vivo studies and evaluated their tumor targeting capabilities. We have also demonstrated their use as contrast agents for photoacoustic tumor imaging and the mapping of sentinel lymph node, as photothermal transducers for cancer treatment, and as smart carriers for controlled release with a near-infrared laser.
Comment on "Statistical Independence of Escalatory Ecological Trends in Phanerozoic Marine Invertebrates"

Madin et al . (Reports, 12 May 2006, p. 897) reported that escalation has not been an important cause of biological change throughout the history of life. However, they evaluated the escalation hypothesis with inappropriate data. First, global-scale data integrate heterogeneous signals that obscure the economic context of life. Second, diversity data cannot yield information about selection and adaptation.
Quantitative assessment of cutaneous sensory function in subjects with neurologic disease

Abstract Based upon techniques devised for the behavioral study of cutaneous sensation in monkeys, a method has been developed which studies quantitatively cutaneous sensation in man. The technique is analogous to the von Bekesy method of audiometry and employs a subject-operated stimulus and signalling device. In tests utilizing electrical stimulation of the skin surfaces the subject serves as his own control for comparison of one cutaneous zone with another and from one trial session to another. A permanent, written record of stimulus and nonverbal perceptual response is produced in this instrumental method which permits statistical analysis of responses. The analysis includes determination of cutaneous sensory thresholds, limits of stimulus intensity during detection, duration of perception, detection cycle rates, and persistence indices. This instrumental method of cutaneous sensory assessment is quantifiable, free of verbal bias, and repeatable in terms of defined stimulus strengths. In applied clinical studies, patients with peripheral nerve lesions show elevations of perceptual thresholds, reduced numbers of detection-disappearance cycles per unit time, prolonged, contorted decay slopes, and occasionally persistence of perception in the absence of stimulation. Patients with central lesions have variable threshold abnormalities, but little slowing of cycle rate or perceptual persistence. These quantitative sensation parameters can be evaluated longitudinally during the course of an illness and its treatment. The method has potential use in the investigation of basic aspects of sensation and its interactions with behavior.
An Explorative Learning Approach to Teaching Clinical Anatomy Using Student Generated Content

Translating basic sciences into a clinical framework has been approached through the implementation of various teaching techniques aimed at using a patient case scenario to facilitate learning. These techniques present students with a specific patient case and lead the students to discuss physiological processes through analysis of provided data supported by independent learning and research. However, no literature exists that describes a reverse teaching methodology in which students are given disease diagnosis and then asked to construct a patient case. This article discusses an explorative learning approach introduced in the gross anatomy course in which students were asked to use clinical skills and reasoning to create a patient case. The online knowledge-sharing portal utilizing MediaWiki provided a necessary base for students in completing their task. Teams were given 4 weeks to complete their written online project with weekly feedback provided by 3rd year teaching assistants using the Wiki discussion page. A survey was performed to assess competence regarding a patient write up and oral presentation. Skills that the teams acquired through the completion of this project will benefit future patient interactions. This project also emphasized and reinforced the importance of effective communication, leadership, and teamwork. This study shows that a clinical anatomy project that incorporates explorative learning can be an effective way of introducing students to the skills needed for patient write ups and oral presentations. Furthermore this approach to learning allows students to excel during their clinical years and to correlate anatomy to clinical diagnoses.
PHOTON2: A web-based professional development model for photonics technology education

PHOTON2 is a three-year NSF-ATE Teacher/Faculty Professional Development Project aimed at preparing high school teachers and community college faculty nationwide to offer photonics education at their institutions. The PHOTON2 team, consisting of photonics educators and adult learning experts, has created a pedagogical framework that integrates photonics content, curriculum development, and learner self-regulatory development into an active and collaborative web-based learning environment. The project builds upon a prior NSF-ATE project (Project PHOTON), whereby local teams or 'alliances' consisting of middle school and high school teachers, community college faculty, career and guidance counselors, and industry representatives from throughout New England worked collaboratively to develop photonics curricula, laboratory experiences, educational pathways, and career awareness in photonics at their own institutions. In Spring 2004, regional teams of HS teachers, community college faculty, career & guidance counselors from across the US will participate in a series of two-day introductory workshops in preparation for a one-semester web-based course (Introduction to Photonics - 4 credits) scheduled to begin in Fall 2004. Each participant will receive a $4000 custom designed optics lab kit including textbook and lab manual, a set of customized CD-ROM lab demonstration videos, assistance in securing a summer externship with a local photonics company, ongoing technical support over a three-year period, and the opportunity to collaborate with nationwide network of photonics educators and industry mentors. Up to twelve regional alliances from states including California, Pennsylvania, Texas, South Carolina, New Jersey, and others will participate in the project.
Completeness, coverage & equivalence in scientific data records

Previously we asked, “When is a record data and when is it a fish?” (Wickett et al., 2012). In this work, we ask, “when and in what contexts are a record and a fish equivalent?” We describe and compare a collection of potentially equivalent records describing a Mola mola, or Ocean Sunfish, specimen. We calculate the Metadata Coverage Index (MCI) of each record and explore the use the Systematic Assertion Model (Dubin, 2010) to support investigation of the assertions contained in these data records.
Occupation, job characteristics, and the use of alcohol and other drugs

This study uses detailed information from the Department of Labor (O'NET 98) concerning the characteristics and content of 1,122 occupations, and combines these data with information on alcohol and drug use collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in their 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). Using a merged data set, based on 7,477 full-time workers, weighted logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between eight occupational and job dimensions and workers' current and prior use of alcohol and drugs. Results show that steady employment or job security has the most pronounced negative effect on alcohol and drug use, while characteristics such as the pace of activity, job independence, and skills utilization to include feelings of accomplishment have little or no effect on employees' alcohol and drug use. Furthermore, the etiology of cocaine use appears quite different from that of alcohol and other types of drug use: all else being equal, employees' odds of using cocaine, when working in an occupation with greater job variety, decrease by 64 percent. However, employees in occupations with greater job autonomy are about 4 times more likely to use cocaine than are employees in jobs with less autonomy. These findings suggest that occupational conditions have a discernible influence on alcohol and drug use among employees, albeit in more complex ways than those suggested by much of the organizational stress and occupational subcultural literature.
Spatial and Longitudinal Patterns in County Age-Specific Net Migration in the United States 1950–2010

Many migration studies describe various counties by adopting a priori county typologies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service county typology, which might not be suitable for identifying different age migration patterns of the U.S. counties. This study employs a spatial clustering method that exhaustively compares all U.S. counties on their age migration similarity and spatial proximity to investigate signature age-specific net migration profiles across six decades of U.S. county age-specific net migration data from 1950 to 2010. All of the six-decade data are integrated into a common spatial county boundary on which counties below a population threshold are merged with the nearest county to mitigate the small population problem in net migration rates. As counties are merged by increasing large population thresholds, the Getis-Ord Gi* spatial autocorrelation statistic is applied to examine how the spatial migration patterns are affected. It is found that U.S. county age-spe...
A Unified Theory For Worm Media Modelling

The sensitivity functions (laser marking efficiency) of 10 write once read many times (WORM) optical memory media have been analyzed. All WORM media are found to fall into two classes of behavior: the first class has a behavior linear in 1/X, where X is related to the incident energy or fluence, and the second class behaves according to a Fermi-Dirac function. These expressions of the laser marking efficiency can be used to model the WORM read/write channel for all settings controlled by an optical drive.
On Spirituality: Natural and Non-natural

Discussions pertaining to method and theory in the study of religion often address the problems and concerns regarding definitions. Precise definitions reflect the maturity of a discipline. The ubiquity of ‘spirituality’ in scholarly literature is matched only by its persistent imprecision. What is spirituality? This article presents a precise definition. Employing terror management theory, sociometer theory, attachment theory, and death anxiety studies, I argue that spirituality is existential self-esteem misrecognized. There are two types of spirituality. Natural spirituality reflects a symbolic immortality project; non-natural spirituality reflects a literal immortality project. Where the former is possible, the latter is impossible.
Estimation of quantiles of exponential and double exponential distributions based on two order statistics

Asymptotically best linear unbiased estimators (ABLUE) of quantiles, x^., in the two-parameter (location-scale) exponential and double exponential families are obtained as linear combinations of two suitably chosen order statistics. Exact formulae for the linear combinations are given as functions of £. The derived estimators in both cases compare favorably with the usual nonparametric estimator. Also, in the exponential case the derived estimator compares favorably with the Sarhan-Greenberg BLUE based on a complete sample
Hemodynamic measurements from individual blood cells in early mammalian embryos with Doppler swept source OCT

The most common and lethal birth defects affect the cardiovascular (CV) system. The mouse is a superior model for identifying and understanding mammalian CV birth defects, but there is a great need for tools that can detect early and subtle deficiencies in cardiac function in mouse embryos. We combined swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) with live mouse embryo culture protocols to generate structural two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging and hemodynamic measurements in a live 8.5 day embryo just a few hours after the beginning of a heartbeat. Our data show that individual circulating blood cells can be visualized with structural SS-OCT, and using Doppler SS-OCT the velocity of single moving blood cells were measured during different phases of the heartbeat cycle. These results demonstrate that Doppler SS-OCT is an extremely useful tool for structural and hemodynamic analysis at the earliest stages of mammalian blood circulation.
Emerging anti-inflammatory drugs for atherosclerosis.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Inflammation is responsible for initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, and leads to plaque vulnerability. Evidence-based therapies reduce the risk of initial and recurrent cardiovascular events but many patients experience recurrent events due to the failure of conventional therapies to adequately address inflammation. Areas covered: Statins were originally developed for their LDL cholesterol-lowering effects, but are now thought to improve cardiovascular morbidity and mortality through anti-inflammatory effects as well. Drugs that inhibit the various inflammatory pathways responsible for atherosclerosis are the subject of current research. These include antioxidants, phospholipase A2 inhibitors, leukotriene pathway inhibitors, CCL2-CCR2 pathway inhibitors, non-specific anti-inflammatory drugs (i.e., methotrexate), IL-1 inhibitors and p-selectin inhibitors. Expert opinion: Currently, only three anti...
Circular dichroism as a probe of the allosteric R⇄T transformation in hemoglobins and modified hemoglobins

Abstract The circular dichroism spectra at pH 6.5 of a number of hemoglobins and modified hemoglobins have been recorded in the 280 nm region and interpreted in terms of shifts of the R⇄T allosteric transformation. Inositol hexaphosphate converts aquomet hemoglobin A(S) to the T form but the carbamlyated derivatives are unaffected by inositol hexaphosphate and remain in the R form. Fluorodinitrobenzene and dimethyl adipimidate modified hemoglobins are locked in an intermediate form, and inositol hexaphosphate has little or no effect. The circular dichroism in the 280 nm region is shown to be a useful diagnostic tool for chemical agents that affect the R⇄T allosteric transformation.