cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measuring and characterizing end-to-end Internet service performance

Fundamental to the design of reliable, high-performance network services is an understanding of the performance characteristics of the service as perceived by the client population as a whole. Understanding and measuring such end-to-end service performance is a challenging task. Current techniques include periodic sampling of service characteristics from strategic locations in the network and instrumenting Web pages with code that reports client-perceived latency back to a performance server. Limitations to these approaches include potentially nonrepresentative access patterns in the first case and determining the location of a performance bottleneck in the second.This paper presents EtE monitor, a novel approach to measuring Web site performance. Our system passively collects packet traces from a server site to determine service performance characteristics. We introduce a two-pass heuristic and a statistical filtering mechanism to accurately reconstruct different client page accesses and to measure performance characteristics integrated across all client accesses. Relative to existing approaches, EtE monitor offers the following benefits: i) a latency breakdown between the network and server overhead of retrieving a Web page, ii) longitudinal information for all client accesses, not just the subset probed by a third party, iii) characteristics of accesses that are aborted by clients, iv) an understanding of the performance breakdown of accesses to dynamic, multitiered services, and v) quantification of the benefits of network and browser caches on server performance. Our initial implementation and performance analysis across three different commercial Web sites confirm the utility of our approach.
The development of a brief jail-based cervical health promotion intervention.

The primary objective of this article was to describe the development and pilot implementation of a brief jail-based cervical health promotion intervention. The intervention was guided by a preliminary study of incarcerated women’s cervical health knowledge, awareness, and health literacy, as well as a social and feminist approach to intervention development. We developed and conducted a pilot implementation of the Sexual Health Empowerment Project to increase cervical health knowledge, reduce barriers related to beliefs about cervical cancer, and improve self-efficacy and confidence in navigating health systems. This article offers a framework for how empirically and theory-based interventions are developed and tailored for a jail setting. Future work should include the evaluation of the long-term effects of such a disease-specific program on health behaviors and outcomes among high-risk and vulnerable groups of women as they leave jails and enter communities.
Evaluation of Sludge Yield and Phosphorus Removal in a Cannibal Solids Reduction Process

The potential for simultaneous sludge minimization and enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) in Cannibal solids reduction processes was investigated. To simulate a Cannibal-EBPR system, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated with anaerobic and aerobic cycles was coupled with an anaerobic sidestream bioreactor, which received mixed liquor from the SBR and returned the same amount of treated sludge back to the SBR. The biomass yield in the Cannibal-EBPR system was estimated to be 0.16 mg volatile suspended solids (VSS)/mg chemical oxygen demand, which represented a 16–33% reduction in solids production compared to a Control-EBPR system operated with a 10-day solids retention time, for which conventional digestion of excess sludge was assumed. Regarding EBPR, greater than 98% phosphorus removal was sustainable in the Cannibal-EBPR system, but a mass balance on total phosphorus could not be closed, with nearly 33% of the phosphorus unaccounted. The fate of the missing phosphorus could not be resolved.
Forbidden transition probabilities for ground terms of ions with p or p5 configurations

Forbidden transition probabilities are listed for ground term transitions of ions in the B I. F I, Al I and Cl I sequences. Some of these transitions remain to be observed in flares.
ELAM-1--dependent cell adhesion to vascular endothelium determined by a transfected human fucosyltransferase cDNA.

Abstract Adhesion of circulating leukocytes to the vascular endothelium during inflammation is mediated in part by their interaction with the endothellal-leukocyte adhesion molecule ELAM-1. ELAM-1, a member of the LEC-CAM family of cell adhesion molecules, expresses an N-terminal carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) homologous to various calcium-dependent mammallan lectins. However, the contribution of the CRD to cell adhesion and its carbohydrate binding specificity have not been elucidated. This study demonstrates that transfection of a human fucosyltransferase cDNA into nonmyeloid cell lines confers ELAM-1-dependent endothelial adhesion. Binding activity correlates with de novo cell surface expression of the slalylated Lewis x tetrasaccharide, whose blosynthesis is determined by the transfected fucosyltransferase cDNA. We propose that specific α(1,3)fucosyltransferases regulate cell adhesion to ELAM-1 by modulating cell surface expression of one or more α(2,3)sialylated, α(1,3)fucosylated lactosaminoglycans represented by the sialyl Lewis x carbohydrate determinant.
Hydroclimatological and geomorphic controls on the timing and spatial variability of floods in New England, USA

Abstract Numerous methods exist to express a region's flood regime, but because of the various controls on flooding, no salient method emerges. We have used directional (also known as orientation) statistics to express some of the hydroclimatological and geomorphic controls on flooding in New England and mapped these statistics for 36 gages to reveal the regional groupings of similarly responding basins. Directional statistics express the temporal variance of flood timings and characterize the seasonality of floods, and thus begin to demonstrate some of the climatic controls on flood timing and their spatial effects. Contour maps of the vector mean timing of floods indicate the strong control of coastal influences on the hydrologic regime, and multiple regression analyses indicate that both the surrogate variables for climate, latitude and distance to the coast, strongly explain the timing of the vector mean, although both the geomorphic variables, basin size and altitude, are also significant explanatory variables. An autumnal flood season exists along coastal locations but disappears moving both inland and northward through the region. For many of these coastal locations (especially in the south), the autumn mode reflects the occurrence of hurricane-induced floods which for many basins represent the largest flood in the annual series. The strength of the seasonality, as expressed by the mean resultant magnitude, is controlled primarily by basin size with distance to the coast and altitude also important. Finally, these results suggest that directional statistics are an appropriate method for depicting regional hydrologic regimes and in describing some of the hydroclimatological controls on flood occurrence.
Role of nitrogen on the atomistic structure of the intergranular film in silicon nitride: A molecular dynamics study

Molecular dynamics simulations of intergranular films (IGFs) containing Si, O, N, and Ca in contact with three different types of surface terminations of Si3N4 were performed using a multi-body interatomic potential. IGFs with the same Ca concentration (12 mol% CaO) but different nitrogen concentrations [N/(N + O) = 0, 15, 30, and 50%] were studied. In all 12 IGFs, Ca ions did not compete with the first adsorbed layer of Si at the IGF/basal crystal interface, but did so at the IGF/prism crystal interface. The simulations show the epitaxial adsorption of Si, O, and N from the IGF onto the basal and prism crystal surfaces. While more adsorbed N was expected as nitrogen concentration increases, there was a significantly larger amount of N adsorbed to the basal surface than to the prism surface. It was found that Ca ions sit closer to the prism surface than the basal surface but move closer to the crystal at both surfaces with increasing nitrogen concentration, although the effect was more pronounced at the basal interface. With the increase of nitrogen concentration, the percentage of two-coordinated oxygen remained about the same, but there was a change in the type of defect oxygen present. In all the simulations, the central position of the first peak in the Si-O pair distribution fixation (PDF) ranges from 1.63 to 1.65 A, and that of Si-N PDF ranges from 1.71 to 1.73 A, both consistent with experimental findings. Furthermore, the first peak of both the Si-O and Si-N PDF shifts to larger values as the nitrogen concentration increases, indicating the elongation of the Si-O and Si-N bond in the IGF with the increase of nitrogen concentration. Elongation of both the Si-N and Si-O bonds could lead to weakening of the IGF as nitrogen concentration increases, although competing changes in bonding of the O complicate the effect of N addition on the strength of the IGF.
Regulation of the amphibian oocyte plasma membrane ion permeability by cytoplasmic factors during the first meiotic division.

Abstract The denuded Rana pipiens oocyte depolarizes from 80–90 mV inside negative to 3–5 mV inside positive during progesterone-induced meiotic maturation, apparently due to decreased K + permeability. Depolarization is dependent upon protein synthesis and coincides with breakdown of the oocyte nucleus, but occurs even in the absence of the nucleus, suggesting cytoplasmic regulation of cation selectivity of the oocyte plasma membrane.
The longevity of the performance effects of the Miles and Snow strategic archetypes: a ten-year perspective in US banking

This paper presents an investigation of the longevity of Miles and Snow's viability hypothesis in the banking industry, identifying, for the first time, five- and ten- year effects of strategic archetype on performance. The research suggests, however, that performance is more intensely associated with strategy implementation and control than archetype. Collectively, these results have important implications for Strategic Management because they reinforce the tradition of the field that management matters, and that what you see when you evaluate performance depends on when you look and what you measure.
Harvard Radio Astronomy Station

The Harvard Radio Astronomy Station has been in opelation since 1956. Its parent organization is Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Station is at latitude 30 ~ 38'08" N, longitude 103 ~ 56' 42" W, and its elevation is 1600 m above sea level. This site, in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, was chosen because it provided a low level of radio-frequency interference. Figure 1 shows an overall view of the laboratories and antennas. The Station is mainly concerned with observations of solar radio bursts, and it uses sweep-frequency equipment that now covers the complete frequency range
Lethality in response to Candida albicans is not mediated through the CD14 receptor. † 1307

Lethality in response to Candida albicans is not mediated through the CD14 receptor. † 1307
Fast neutron capture in 232Th

The capture cross section of 232Th has been determined for monoenergetic neutrons in the energy range 0·19–1·1 MeV. The shape of the curve agrees closely with the theoretical curve predicted by Lane and Lynn,(1) showing a definite rise in cross section with increasing energy near 0·8 MeV.
Tuition vouchers in the United States: let the battles begin

(1998). Tuition vouchers in the United States: let the battles begin. Education and the Law: Vol. 10, No. 2-3, pp. 153-163.
Vicarious verbal conditioning in a quasi-group therapy situation

The effects of vicarious verbal reinforcement were examined in a quasigroup therapy situation. Thirty male, college-age subjects were randomly assigned to one of six groups which included combinations of observation of selective or random reinforcement with lack of awareness of responsereinforcement contingencies, awareness before, or awareness after observation of reinforcement. A verbal conditioning paradigm was used in which indirect reinforcement was provided by group observation of a model while operant and extinction levels were obtained directly and separately for each subject. Results indicated that only observation of selective reinforcement resulted in the acquisition of the critical verbal response and that awareness of the response-reinforcement contingency did not significantly affect conditioning rates. The possibility of applying these findings to therapy situations was discussed.
Retinal ganglion cell loss produced by intraocular kainic acid in cats: variation with somal size and eccentricity.

Abstract Eight eyes of adult cats were injected with different doses of kainic acid (KA) and examined following survival times of either 5 or 12 days. At a survival time of 12 days, a dose of 76 nmol produced an 18% lossof ganglion cells in the center of the area centralis (AC), 70% loss at a location 2 mm from the AC, and 95% loss at a location 6 mm from the AC. Larger doses (240, 760 and 2400 nmol) produced losses comparable to that observed for 76 nmol. For example, 2400 nmol produced a 35% loss in the AC, 81% at 2 mm, and 88% at 6 mm. At a survival time of 5 days, doses of 240 and 760 nmol produced a loss of ganglion cells comparable to that seen at 12 days. In one eye, a large dose of KA (7600 nmol) produced total loss of ganglion cells at a survival time of 5 days. By comparing loss of cells in restricted somal diameter ranges at different retinal eccentricities, it was possible to distinguish two significant correlations that were largely independent of survival time and dose: (1) at 2 mm, loss of cells with somal diameters larger than 21 μm significantly exceeded loss of cells with smaller somata. In particular, alpha cells were totally eliminated in 6 of the 8 KA-treated eyes. (2) The mean loss of ganglion cells with somal diameters less than 21 μm was significantly greater at 2 mm and 6 mm than in the AC. Together, these results show that loss of ganglion cells produced by KA varies somal size and retinal eccentricity.
Functional mesoporous metal-organic frameworks for the capture of heavy metal ions and size-selective catalysis.

By using Zn4O(CO2)6 as secondary building units (SBUs) and two extended ligands containing amino functional groups, TATAB and BTATB (TATAB = 4,4′,4′′-s-triazine-1,3,5-triyltri-p-aminobenzoate and BTATB = 4,4′,4′′-(benzene-1,3,5-triyltris(azanediyl))tribenzoate), two isostructural mesoporous metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) with cavities up to 2.73 nm, designated as PCN-100 and PCN-101 (PCN represents porous coordination network), have been synthesized. N2 sorption isotherms of both PCN-100 and -101 showed typical type IV behavior, indicating their mesoporous nature. The TATAB ligand that comprises PCN-100 was employed to capture heavy metal ions (Cd(II) and Hg(II)) by constructing complexes within the pores with a possible coordination mode similar to that found in aminopyridinato complexes. This reveals that mesoporous materials such as PCN-100 can be applied in the elimination of heavy metal ions from waste liquid. In addition, both PCNs-100 and -101 exhibit size-selective catalytic activity toward the K...
Amphotericin B and Nystatin show different activities on sterol-free vesicles.

Abstract It has generally been assumed that the polyene antibiotics Nystatin and Amphotericin B cause membrane damage by the same mechanism. However, using kinetic fluorescence methods we have found that AmB and Nystatin have very different activities on sterol-free dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine and egg phosphatidylcholine small unilamellar vescles. At very low AmB concentrations (less than 1 1000 lipids in egg phosphatidylcholine) significant K+ permeability enhancement is observed. However, even at very high Nystatin to lipid ratios ( 1 100 ) very little K+ current is induced, particularly in dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles. The novel technique described here uses a K + H + exchange mechanism to detect minute transmembrane K+ currents by monitoring internal membrane vesicle pH changes with pyranine.
Nanoscale optimization of quantum dot media for effective photovoltaic conversion

Nanoscale engineering of band profile and potential profile provide effective tools for the management of photoelectron processes in quantum dot (QD) photovoltaic devices. We investigate the QD devices with various 1-μm InAs /GaAs QD media placed in a 3-μm base GaAs p-n junction. We found that n-charging of quantum dots (QDs) create potential barriers around QDs. QD growth between ultrathin AlGaAs layers leads to the formation of AlGaAs “fence” barriers, and reduces the wetting layers (WLs). The barriers around QDs and reduction of the wetting layer substantially suppress recombination processes via QDs. The n-doping of interdot space in QD media enhances electron extraction from QDs. All of our QD devices show short-circuit current, J SC , higher than that of the reference cell, but smaller open-circuit voltage, V OC .. In the QD devices, the short circuit currents increase by ~0.1 mA/cm 2 per dot layer. J SC reaches 28.4 mA/cm 2 in the device with QD media that combines dot charging, fence barriers, and WL reduction.
Stress responses of emergency services personnel to the loma prieta earthquake interstate 880 freeway collapse and control traumatic incidents

A three-group quasi-experimental design contrasted the responses of rescue workers to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake Interstate 880 freeway collapse (n = 198) with responses to critical incident exposure of Bay Area Controls (n = 140) and San Diego Controls (n = 101). The three groups were strikingly similar with respect to demographics and years of emergency service. The I-880 group reported higher exposure, greater immediate threat appraisal, and more sick days. The three groups did not differ on current symptoms. For the sample as a whole EMT/Paramedics reported higher peritraumatic dissociation compared with Police. EMT/Paramedics and California road workers reported higher symptoms compared with Police and Fire personnel. Nine percent of the sample were characterized as having symptom levels typical of psychiatric outpatients. Compared with lower distress responders, those with greater distress reported greater exposure, greater peritraumatic emotional distress, greater peritraumatic dissociation, greater perceived threat, and less preparation for the critical incident.
Self-organizing heuristics for implicit data structures

Self-organizing heuristics are presented for data structures containing elements with different weights (access probabilities). The structures use just a constant number of locations in addition to those required for the values of the elements, and support average access times that are within a constant multiplicative factor of optimal. Data structures and corresponding heuristics with essentially optimal average unsuccessful search times are also given for the case in which there are probabilities of access associated with the intervals between consecutive element values.
Electronic properties of heavily-doped n-type silicon

Abstract Heavy doping has been known to reduce the energy gap of semiconductors, affecting the characteristics of many devices. In the case of Si, theoretical work has so far focussed on calculating the reduced gaps. Despite the extensive calculations, however, no meaningful comparison of theory with experiment has been achieved because there exist major discrepancies in the values of the gap extracted from different experiments. In this paper, we point out that these discrepancies arose because the data were fitted by assuming simple models for different properties and report calculations of the photoluminescence spectra of n-type Si for various impurity concentrations. We are thus able, for the first time, to compare theory directly with experimental data. We find that intervalley scattering, previously considered negligible, is essential in order to reproduce the major experimental features and trends.
Coherent proton dissociation on nuclear targets

Abstract Measurements have been made of the coherent dissociation process p+A→pπo+A with 22.7 GeV/c protons incident on nuclear targets. Coulomb dissociation producing primarily Δ+, and diffractive dissociation are observed. The Δ+ production cross sections are in excellent agreement with the predictions from Δ+ photoproduction. Some disagreement with published neutron dissociation data recorded at comparable energies is noted.
Physiological responses induced in tomato plants by a two-component nanostructural system composed of carbon nanotubes conjugated with quantum dots and its in?vivo multimodal detection

Plant seedlings were exposed to single-walled carbon nanotube-quantum dot conjugates (SWCNT-QD) mixed in the growth medium in order to understand the interactions between these multicomponent nanosystems and plants. A combination of fluorescent and Raman-scattering 2D mapping analysis was used to clearly monitor the presence of the SWCNT-QD conjugates in various parts of the tomato seedlings. We found that the addition of QDs to SWCNTs dramatically changed the biological viability of the tomato plants by significantly accelerating leaf senescence and inhibiting root formation. Although the exposure of SWCNTs only to the plants induced positive effects, the chlorophyll content decreased by 1.5-fold in leaves, and the total weight of the root system decreased four times for the tomato plants exposed to SWCNT-QDs (50 µg ml(-1)) compared to plants grown on regular medium as controls. Our results clearly indicate that the exposure of plants to multicomponent nanomaterials is highly influenced by the presence and bioactivity of each component, individually. Such studies could be the foundation for understanding how complex nanosized systems affect the activity of various biological systems with a major impact on ecotoxicology.
Mode of inheritance of face fly diapause and its correlation with other developmental traits

. 1 Adult face flies, Musca autumnalis De Geer, respond to short photoperiods by entering diapause. Diapause responses to different photoperiods at a mean temperature of 17°C varied among seven laboratory face fly strains. Old strains lost much of their diapause responses. 2 To analyse the nature of diapause inheritance, hybrids and their back-crosses were made between two strains that showed the greatest difference in diapause introduction at 10:14 h(L:D), and 17°C. 3 Responses of hybrids to the short photoperiod were intermediate to those of their parents. Joint scaling tests showed that diapause did not fit an additive model and the lack of fit was attributed to incomplete dominance. No cytoplasmic effect was detected, but diapause was partially sex linked. 4 Diapause heritabilities were 47% and 30% in the broad and narrow senses, respectively. 5 Estimates of the minimum number of diapause genes suggested a small number. 6 Developmental rates of egg to adult, ovarian follicle growth, and pterin accumulation were inversely correlated with diapause propensities, suggesting pleiotropy or linkage.
A CASE OF ARGYRIA AFTER COLLOIDAL SILVER INGESTION

Background: Argyria is often considered an entity of the past, one which has largely disappeared with the cessation of silver usage in oral medications. However, with the practice of colloidal silver ingestion in current ‘‘alternative health’’ treatments, argyria should be considered in the differential diagnosis of blue-gray hyperpigmentation. Methods: A single case report with clinicopathological correlation. Results: Histological examination of skin biopsy specimen, which showed perieccrine brown-black granules, verified that colloidal silver rather than a prescribed medication was the source of the patient’s dyspigmentation.
All-optical bit pattern generation and matching

All-optical bit pattern generation and matching is demonstrated at 10 Gbit/s. Bit patterns are generated from noise in a fibre loop memory and are matched in an all-optical exclusive OR (XOR) gate. The XOR gate is implemented in a nonlinear optical loop mirror. This is the first demonstration of an all-optical code matching circuit using an optical loop memory as a high rate pattern generator. Such high rate code generation and matching could be used for address recognition in ultra-high speed time division multiplexed systems.
Searching for globally optimal functional forms for interatomic potentials using genetic programming with parallel tempering

Molecular dynamics and other molecular simulation methods rely on a potential energy function, based only on the relative coordinates of the atomic nuclei. Such a function, called a force field, approximately represents the electronic structure interactions of a condensed matter system. Developing such approximate functions and fitting their parameters remains an arduous, time-consuming process, relying on expert physical intuition. To address this problem, a functional programming methodology was developed that may enable automated discovery of entirely new force-field functional forms, while simultaneously fitting parameter values. The method uses a combination of genetic programming, Metropolis Monte Carlo importance sampling and parallel tempering, to efficiently search a large space of candidate functional forms and parameters. The methodology was tested using a nontrivial problem with a well-defined globally optimal solution: a small set of atomic configurations was generated and the energy of each configuration was calculated using the Lennard-Jones pair potential. Starting with a population of random functions, our fully automated, massively parallel implementation of the method reproducibly discovered the original Lennard-Jones pair potential by searching for several hours on 100 processors, sampling only a minuscule portion of the total search space. This result indicates that, with further improvement, the method may be suitable for unsupervised development of more accurate force fields with completely new functional forms. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2007
Cardiac tamponade complicating proximal aortic dissection. Is pericardiocentesis harmful

BACKGROUND Cardiac tamponade frequently complicates acute proximal aortic dissection and is one of the most common causes of death from aortic dissection. Well-defined strategies for the management of acute aortic dissection now exist; however, little is known about how best to manage the hemopericardium that may complicate it. METHODS AND RESULTS Using a computer-based review, we retrospectively identified 10 patients presenting to our hospital over a 13-year period who were diagnosed with both aortic dissection and cardiac tamponade. All 10 had proximal dissections. Three of the 10 presented as the sudden onset of fatal electromechanical dissociation, 6 presented with hypotension, and 1 was normotensive on presentation. Of the 7 hypotensive or normotensive patients diagnosed with cardiac tamponade, 4 underwent successful pericardiocentesis while awaiting surgery. At time intervals of 5 to 40 minutes after their pericardiocenteses, 3 of the 4 patients experienced sudden onset of electromechanical dissociation and death; the fourth patient survived and underwent surgical repair. Of the 3 hypotensive or normotensive patients who had either no pericardiocentesis or an unsuccessful pericardiocentesis, all 3 underwent successful surgical repair and survived. CONCLUSIONS In this study, patients with an aortic dissection complicated by cardiac tamponade have an early mortality of 60%. While 3 of the 10 died from electromechanical dissociation immediately upon presentation, the 3 other deaths all occurred shortly after successful pericardiocentesis, a procedure undertaken to stabilize them. While the number of patients in this series is small, the observations do raise the possibility that in patients with cardiac tamponade complicating aortic dissection pericardiocentesis could be harmful rather than beneficial. Possible mechanisms for why the performance of pericardiocentesis might destabilize such patients are proposed.
Effects of yeast cell wall on early production laying hen performance

SUMMARY The influence of 2 concentrations of yeast cell wall (YCW), supplied as Safmannan A, at 250 and 500 ppm on early production laying hen performance (21–36 wk) was investigated in this study. A total of 75 Lohmann W-36 replacement pullets, 17 wk old, were distributed among 75 laying hen cages (1 bird/pen). Three treatments were sequentially assigned to an equal number of pens per treatment. The 3 diets mixed were a basal diet only (control) and a basal diet supplemented with 250 or 500 ppm of Safmannan A (YCW 250 and YCW 500). Feed and water were offered ad libitum. Data were collected for period 1 when birds were 21 wk old and hen day egg production was >90%. Treatment YCW 250 resulted in significantly higher egg weight from 21 to 28 wk old and higher than YCW 500 from 29 to 36 wk old. Treatment YCW 250 resulted in a calculated average cumulative liquid egg yield of 5.47 kg/bird over 4 production periods versus 5.29 kg/bird for the control and 5.13 kg/bird for YCW 500. Over the first production period, feed consumed per dozen eggs was significantly lower in treatment YCW 500 versus treatment YCW 250, but not significantly lower than the control treatment. Feed consumption per dozen eggs was not different among treatments for the remainder of the study. Average feed consumed per bird per day and cumulative egg production at any point in time was not different between treatments. Specific gravity, egg shell thickness, egg shell weight, and percent shell weight were significantly higher in hens fed YCW 500 versus YCW 250 at 36 wk of age. Overall, feeding a diet supplemented with 250 ppm Safmannan A improved egg weight and liquid egg yield in early production laying hens, whereas shell quality was improved when feeding Safmannan A at the historically recommended concentration of 500 ppm.
Short-range atmospheric transport: A significant source of phosphorus to an oligotrophic lake

.dbstract During summer stratification, particles transported by wind from surrounding forest were a major source of P into Mirror Lake, a small, oligotrophic lake in New Hampshire. These particles consisted largely of terrestrial insects, insect parts, and plant fragments of various sizes. This atmospheric fallout ofP was greatest near the shoreline and decreased exponentially with increasing ,distance from shore. Integrated for the entire 1%ha lake, it represented an input of - 11-13 ymol P mm-2 d-l of lake surface in midsummer. The input of P from atmospheric fallout was highly significant to the summer P economy of the lake and was 50-fold to 70-fold greater than the input of P in either streamflow or rainfall in the same period.
A new mechanism for cardiac spiral wave meandering

The mechanism responsible for cardiac spiral wave meandering in the Fitzhugh-Nagumo equations is studied in detail using linear perturbation theory. We find that the key process for meandering is the diffusion of perturbations in the membrane potential from the refractory region radially inward into the tail of the action potential a short distance away from the spiral wave tip. This mechanism is distinct from both electrical restitution dynamics and the dynamics of pulse instabilities, and thus suggests that other criteria may be important in determining the stability of spiral waves and functional reentry in the heart.
Environmental contaminants and reproductive abnormalities in wildlife: implications for public health?

At the onset of the industrial age, environmental contaminants began to pose a major threat to the health of wildlife. That threat appears to continue today. In the last three decades, the focus of our concern on the health consequences of environmental pollution has been on lethal, carcinogenic, and/or extreme teratogenic manifestations. Evidence from a number of sources suggests that another mechanism, endocrine-disruption, also must be examined. There is excellent laboratory and field evidence that man-made chemicals (xenochemicals) released into the environment act as hormones or antihormones. They act as endocrine-disrupting contaminants (EDCs). The release of EDCs occurred in the past and continues today.The development of the reproductive system is vulnerable to perturbation by EDCs. Wildlife studies demonstrate that both sexes are affected and experience modifications of gonadal and reproductive tract development or functioning and abnormal synthesis or metabolism of hormones. A number of abnormal...
Evaluation of defects in cuprous oxide through exciton luminescence imaging

The various decay mechanisms of excitons in cuprous oxide (Cu2O) are highly sensitive to defects which can relax selection rules. Here we report cryogenic hyperspectral imaging of exciton luminescence from cuprous oxide crystals grown via the floating zone method showing that the samples have few defects. Some locations, however, show strain splitting of the 1s orthoexciton triplet polariton luminescence. Strain is reduced by annealing. In addition, annealing causes annihilation of oxygen and copper vacancies, which leads to a negative correlation between luminescence of unlike vacancies.
The CIE 1976 Color-Difference Formulae

The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) has recommended the use of two approximately uniform color spaces and associated color-difference formulae chosen from among several of similar merit to promote uniformity of practice. In this paper, the various features of the two formulae are discussed and compared. It is shown that the two are approximately equal in their degree of agreement with visual judgements of color difference. Choice of which formula to use in a particular situation will often depend not so much on scientific merit as on other factors such as familiarity and conformance to common practice in a particular industry or group.
MIEC (mixed-ionic-electronic-conduction)-based access devices for non-volatile crossbar memory arrays

Several attractive applications call for the organization of memristive devices (or other resistive non-volatile memory (NVM)) into large, densely-packed crossbar arrays. While resistive-NVM devices frequently possess some degree of inherent nonlinearity (typically 3?30? contrast), the operation of large ( 1000?1000 device) arrays at low power tends to require quite large ( 1e7) ON-to-OFF ratios (between the currents passed at high and at low voltages). One path to such large nonlinearities is the inclusion of a distinct access device (AD) together with each of the state-bearing resistive-NVM elements. While such an AD need not store data, its list of requirements is almost as challenging as the specifications demanded of the memory device. Several candidate ADs have been proposed, but obtaining high performance without requiring single-crystal silicon and/or the high processing temperatures of the front-end-of-the-line?which would eliminate any opportunity for 3D stacking?has been difficult.We review our work at IBM Research?Almaden on high-performance ADs based on Cu-containing mixed-ionic-electronic conduction (MIEC) materials [1?7]. These devices require only the low processing temperatures of the back-end-of-the-line, making them highly suitable for implementing multi-layer cross-bar arrays. MIEC-based ADs offer large ON/OFF ratios (), a significant voltage margin (over which current nA), and ultra-low leakage ( 10 pA), while also offering the high current densities needed for phase-change memory and the fully bipolar operation needed for high-performance RRAM. Scalability to critical lateral dimensions 30 nm and thicknesses 15 nm, tight distributions and 100% yield in large (512 kBit) arrays, long-term stability of the ultra-low leakage states, and sub-50 ns turn-ON times have all been demonstrated. Numerical modeling of these MIEC-based ADs shows that their operation depends on mediated hole conduction. Circuit simulations reveal that while scaled MIEC devices are suitable for large crossbar arrays of resistive-NVM devices with low ( 1.2 V) switching voltages, stacking two MIEC devices can support large crossbar arrays for switching voltages up to 2.5 V.
Bank lending in transition economies

Bank privatization and tighter credit enforcement are believed indispensable to facilitate the Eastern European transition process. We analyze lending by value-maximizing banks, the only source of capital in the transition, faced by non-performing loans to the state-owned sector. We show that banks have a perverse incentive to fund former debtors, although less efficient and more risky than private firms, because they gain the potential repayment of previous debts. This leads to a lower productivity of investment and a greater concentration of risk; the expansion of more efficient private firms is delayed, leading to a slower recovery and a greater risk of financial crisis.
Different Underlying Impairments in Decision-making Following Ventromedial and Dorsolateral Frontal Lobe Damage in Humans

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMF) damage can lead to impaired decision-making. This has been studied most intensively with the Iowa gambling task (IGT), a card game that asks subjects to overcome an initial attraction to high-payoff decks as losses begin to accrue. VMF subjects choose from the high risk decks more often than controls, but the fundamental impairments driving poor performance on this complex task have yet to be established. There is also conflicting evidence regarding the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLF) in this task. The present study examined whether poor performance on the IGT was specific for VMF damage and whether fundamental impairments in reversal learning contributed to IGT performance. We found that both VMF and DLF damage leads to impaired IGT performance. The impairment of VMF subjects, but not of DLF subjects, seems to be largely explained by an underlying reversal learning deficit.
Role of Transcription Factors in Fetal Lung Development and Surfactant Protein Gene Expression

▪ Abstract Branching morphogenesis of the lung and differentiation of specialized cell populations is dependent upon reciprocal interactions between epithelial cells derived from endoderm of embryonic foregut and surrounding mesenchymal cells. These interactions are mediated by elaboration and concerted actions of a variety of growth and differentiation factors binding to specific receptors. Such factors include members of the fibroblast growth factor family, sonic hedgehog, members of the transforming growth factor-β family, epidermal growth factor, and members of the platelet-derived growth factor family. Hormones that increase cyclic AMP formation, glucocorticoids, and retinoids also play important roles in branching morphogenesis, alveolar development, and cellular differentiation. Expression of the genes encoding these morphogens and their receptors is controlled by a variety of transcription factors that also are highly regulated. Several of these transcription factors serve dual roles as regulators...
Isolation and Characterization of Membrane Binding Proteins

The term binding protein in the field of membrane transport refers to the group of relatively low molecular weight proteins possessing a reversible binding activity for solutes of specific transport systems. Most of these proteins have been isolated from gram-negative bacteria by a cold osmotic shock treatment. No enzymatic function has been demonstrated for these proteins. The mild shock treatment of gram-negative bacteria also removes the periplasmic enzymes (Heppel, 1971), so called because they appear to be located in the “periplasm,” i.e., the space between the cytoplasmic membrane and the cell wall (Mitchell, 1961). A large body of data has accumulated to suggest that the binding proteins act as the recognition site for active transport systems. Recent genetic evidence indicates that these proteins play a direct role in solute transport.
Isolated facial diplegia and very late-onset myopathy in two siblings: atypical presentations of facioscapulohumeral dystrophy

We report two elderly siblings with atypical myopathic weakness due to facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD). The proband presented with isolated facial diplegia, and her brother developed late onset facial and limb-girdle weakness. Both siblings had a 4q35 deletion with the same residual fragment size (25 kb) confirming FSHD. This report highlights the clinical heterogeneity and intrafamily variability of FSHD.
Dealing with uncertainties in interactive systems

This paper provides an analytical overview and perspective concerning the major methods of dealing with uncertainties in interactive systems. In particular, we suggest approaches of using neural networks in dealing with uncertainties due to the incompleteness and inaccuracy in man-machine interaction.
Diffusive properties of immature articular cartilage

The diffusive properties of immature bovine articular cartilage were determined using two different-sized, uncharged solutes (glucose 180 Da, and dextran 10k Da). Radioactively tagged glucose and dextran were diffused into the cartilage for transport times of 5, 15, and 60 min, and the diffusion and partition coefficients were calculated by fitting the experimental data to a one-dimensional diffusion model. The diffusion and partition coefficients for the two solutes averaged 6.08 +/- 2.19 and 5.09 +/- 2.51 (x 10(-6) cm2/s) and 0.712 +/- 0.149 and 0.615 +/- 0.120, respectively. Both coefficients were significantly greater for glucose compared to the larger dextran. While no statistical differences could be found in the diffusive properties of these solutes in immature cartilage compared to their diffusive properties in mature cartilage, there was some evidence that the larger dextran solute might diffuse faster in the earlier time periods. Finally, the bulk fluid contents between the two types of cartilage were not different even though the immature tissue was significantly thicker (1.6 times) than the mature tissue. Our results indicate that the solute diffusion properties of articular cartilage, at least with respect to uncharged solutes, do not change during skeletal maturation.
Effects of Onset Density in Preschool Children: Implications for Development of Phonological Awareness and Phonological Representation

Neighborhood density influences adult performance on several word processing tasks. Some studies show age-related effects of density on children's performance, reflecting a developmental restructuring of the mental lexicon from holistic into segmental representations that may play a role in phonological awareness. To further investigate density effects and their implications for development of phonological awareness, we compared performance on dense and sparse onset words. We adapted these materials to three phonological awareness tests that were pretested on adults then administered to preschool children who were expected to vary in phonological awareness skills. For both the adults and the children who passed a phonological awareness screening task, dense onset neighborhoods were associated with slower reaction times and increased errors. A separate comparison of word repetition by the children who passed and who did not pass the phoneme awareness screening failed to provide evidence that lexical restructuring was a sufficient condition for the attainment of phonological awareness. Both groups of children more accurately repeated words from high onset density neighborhoods, regardless of the level of their phonological awareness. Thus, we find no evidence of either age- or ability-driven effects in children's performance, contradictory to a view that the attainment of phoneme awareness relates to developmental changes in the segmental representation of words in dense neighborhoods.
Computer aided reasoning

We present a language intended to be a first step in approximating the language of mathematical papers, and a validator; that is, a program that checks the validity of arguments written in this language. The validator approximates the activity of a mathematician in certifying the structure and correctness of the mathematical argument. Both components together constitute a computer aided reasoning (CAR) system. Versions of the system, called MIZAR, have been in use for a decade for discrete mathematics instruction. We are concerned here with the features of the MIZAR language that that are used to diminish the gap between formal natural deduction and mathematical vernacular. The inference checking component of the validator can be easily changed. We demonstrate the influence on the way the expressive power of the language can be exploited by contrasting, for a fixed proposition, two proofs embodying the same idea but for which different checking modules have been used. The more powerful inference checker that we discuss incorporates the formalization of obviousness given by M. Davis.
Rapid cycle development of a multifactorial intervention achieved sustained reductions in central line-associated bloodstream infections in haematology oncology units at a children’s hospital: a time series analysis

Background Immunocompromised children are at high risk for central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and its associated morbidity and mortality. Prevention of CLABSIs depends on highly reliable care. Purpose Since the summer of 2013, we saw an increase in patient volume and acuity in our centre. Additionally, CLABSIs rates more than tripled during this period. The purpose of this initiative was to rapidly identify and mitigate potential underlying drivers to the increased CLABSI rate. Methods Through small tests of change, we implemented a standard process for daily hygiene; increased awareness of high-risk patients with CLABSI; improved education/assistance for nurses performing high-risk central venous catheter procedures; and developed a system to improve allocation of resources to de-escalate system stress. Results The CLABSI rate from June 2013 to May 2014 was 2.03 CLABSIs/1000 line days. After implementation of our interventions, we saw a significant decrease in the CLABSI rate to 0.39 CLABSIs/1000 line days (p=0.008). Key processes have become more reliable: 100% of dressing changes are completed with the new two-person standard; daily hygiene adherence has increased from 25% to 70%; 100% of nurses are approached daily by senior nursing for assistance with high-risk procedures; and patients at risk for a CLABSI are identified daily. Conclusions Stress to a complex system caring for high-risk patients can challenge CLABSI rates. Identifying key processes and executing them reliably can stabilise outcomes during times of system stress.
Imagery and paired-associate recognition

Three groups of Ss (N = 60) given Imagery, Word, or No instructions were presented 40 paired-associates once and tested in a recognition procedure. The pairs were composed of nouns and/or their line drawings. Imagery instructions resulted in higher, word instruction lower, performance than did the control instructions. Line drawings facilitated performance as response terms, but not as stimulus terms. The results were taken as support for a differentiation effect interpretation of imagery in paired-associate learning.