cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Computer Use in a Multicultural Classroom

AbstractThis article presents findings from a case study exploring how an effective teacher in a multicultural classroom manages computer use. The study looks at how the teacher’s management strategies accommodate differences in children’s cultural and learning preferences and provide for equitable access across gender and ethnicity. The researcher collected data through direct observation, videotaping, student and teacher interviews, and informal conversations with students and the teacher. The results parallel previous findings on effective teacher behavior and indicate that the teacher created a supportive classroom computer culture wherein there were high student expectations, options, autonomy, cooperation and interdependence, and instructional flexibility. The article suggests a number of additional questions for further research.
Railroad Development and Land Value

Land owners in the rural Midwest experienced significant capital gains during the late 1840s and early 1850s. A primary catalyst of increasing land values was the construction of new railroads. Land in close proximity to new railroads became more valuable because of decreased transportation costs. We use a straightforward model of land price determination to estimate the impact on land values of distance from the railroad. The estimates allow us to infer a lower bound for capital gains attributable to the construction of railroads in Knox County, Illinois, during the 1850s. Knox County landowners reaped capital gains of more than $270,000—9% of the value of land.
Morphology of nylon 6 spherulites in bulk

A method of obtaining good quality ultrathin sections from nylon 6 bulk samples has been developed by using a special embedding technique and cryo-ultramicrotomy. The morphologies of nylon 6 processed by compression and injection molding and of reaction injection molded nylon 6 were studied in ultrathin sections of bulk samples by means of transmission electron microscopy. It was established that the spherulites of nylon 6 in bulk are built up from long flat ribbonlike lamellae. The thickness of the lamellae is in the range 50–60 A. The width varies from 150 to 600 A and depends on the type of nylon 6 and the method of processing. The length of the lamellae is relatively large approaching spherulite radii, extending often from the point of their origin up to the spherulite borders. Three or four neighboring lamellae within spherulites usually show similar orientation of their flat faces and form domains which can easily be mistaken for fibrils in light microscopy or low resolution electron microscopy.
A regression approach to performance analysis for the Differential File Architecture

The Differential File Architecture (DFA) has been previously proposed as a physical database design which confines the volatility of a large database into a small, more manageable file. Although this approach affords many advantages, the use of dual files often results in two accesses to secondary storage. The response performance of the DFA is therefore a key issue, yet the only predictive performance model currently in existence assumes an ideal environment. This paper represents a preliminary step toward developing a general model of DFA performance, applicable to realistic settings in which the distribution of key accesses and the hashing distribution of keys to filter switches are non-uniform. In support of a regression approach to the problem, a metric is developed and tested for suitability as a predictor of non-uniformity effects.
Exact controllability and boundary stabilization of Torsional vibrations of an internally damped flexible space structure

In this paper, we study the exact controllability and boundary stabilization of the torsional vibrations of a flexible space structure (such as a solar cell array) modeled by a rectangular panel, incorporating the material damping of the structure. The panel is hoisted at one end by a rigid hub and the other end is totally free. For the attachment of this hub on one side of the panel, the hub dynamics leads to a nonstandard boundary condition. To incorporate internal damping of the material, we assume Voigt-type viscoelasticity of the structure. Exact controllability theory is established using the Hilbert uniqueness method by means of a control torque applied only on the rigid hub of the panel. At the same time, uniform exponential energy decay rate is obtained directly for the solution of this problem.
Postnatal Control of Ocular Growth: Dopaminergic Mechanisms

A vision-dependent feedback mechanism contributes to the regulation of postnatal eye growth and refraction; this mechanism is located at least in part in the retina. In chicks and rhesus monkeys, visual deprivation leads to ocular enlargement and a myopic refractive error, and it also reduces the retinal concentration of dopamine. In neonatal chicks, local application of the dopamine agonist apomorphine limits the excessive axial elongation that is associated with visual deprivation. Both D1 and D2 dopamine receptor mechanisms may participate. Remarkably, apomorphine is geometrically selective, not limiting the exaggerated equatorial growth that occurs during visual deprivation. Preliminary results in neonatal rhesus monkeys indicate that apomorphine eye drops also suppress exaggerated axial growth and myopic refractive error during visual deprivation; equatorial diameters were not measured. Our observations are consistent with a retinal hypothesis for emmetropization and suggest that retinal dopamine participates in a mechanism linking ocular growth control to vision. In addition, we conclude that axial and equatorial dimensions are independently regulated in the chick.
L2 Learner-Made Formulaic Expressions and Constructions

The emergence of lexico-grammatical productivity has been a central issue in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Ellis (2002) proposed that formulaic chunks of language are one resource for the learner to develop such productivity. This exploratory study sought to determine whether formulaic language chunks were observed in the oral production of three adult beginner learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) over a nine-week period in a community language program. It also attempted to determine whether there was a developmental relationship between formulae and productive forms called constructions. Tasks used to elicit the data included picture description tasks and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that formulae were minimally present in the learner output and that constructions and formulae of similar structure coexisted, but that a developmental relationship between formulae and constructions was not clearly evident. The discussion proposes the existence of a pre-formulaic stage account for the data, and submits that the relationship between formulae and productive constructions requires more intensive study.
Effect of a Moving Particle on Wall Heat Transfer in a Channel Flow

Subject to many simplifying assumptions, the motion of a square particle in a two-dimensional channel flow is studied in order to estimate (1) the influence of the particle on the convection heat transfer to the channel wall and (2) the conduction heat transfer associated with particle collision with the wall. Particles with low and high thermal diffusivities are considered. The results show that for the high thermal diffusivity particles, the conduction heat transfer is dominant and the particles attain near local thermal equilibrium with the fluid. Therefore, these particles quickly recover the heat loss due to impact. For glass particles the convection and conduction contributions are nearly the same.
Professional Counseling in Kenya: History, Current Status, and Future Trends.

The authors examine the history and development of the counseling profession in Kenya. This profession is deeply rooted in responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the emergence of mental health needs created by the impact of political and community-based violence, increasing student unrest in public institutions, and government efforts to provide social–emotional support for students in public schools and universities. The authors also examine the challenges for the profession and make recommendations for the future.
Sexual interest and behavior in healthy 80- to 102-year-olds

Sexual interest and behavior of 100 white men and 102 white women ranging in age from 80–102 were studied using an anonymous 117-item questionnaire. Subjects were healthy and upper middle-class, and living in residential retirement facilities; 14% of the women and 29% of the men were presently married. For both men and women, the most common activity was touching and caressing without sexual intercourse, followed by masturbation, followed by sexual intercourse. Of these activities, only touching and caressing showed a significant decline from the 80s to the 90s, with further analyses revealing a significant decline in this activity for men but not for women. Except for past enjoyment of sexual intercourse and of touching and caressing without sexual intercourse, all analyses revealed sex differences reflecting more activity and enjoyment by men. Current income and past guilt over sexual feelings showed very low but significant correlations with some frequency and enjoyment measures, and marital status, extramarital sex, and church attendence were significantly associated with continuing to perform and enjoy some sexual behaviors. Past importance of sex was significantly correlated with present frequency and enjoyment of both sexual intercourse and touching and caressing without sexual intercourse. Correlations between past and present frequency of sexual behaviors were substantial and significant for all but frequency of sexual intercourse, suggesting that current physical and social factors play an overriding role in this area.
A technique to transfer the contours of an interim implant restoration to the definitive cast

Achieving proper soft tissue contours with implant restorations is important for successful esthetic outcomes, particularly in the anterior region. In some situations, clinicians may not be able to deliver interim restorations for proper gingival contouring immediately after implant placement or at the uncovering session, but only at the definitive impression session. The described technique allows clinicians to transfer the soft tissue contours of an interim implant restoration to the definitive cast at the definitive impression session for the fabrication of definitive restorations. This technique may prevent irregular soft tissue contours around definitive restorations at the placement session, thereby reducing the number of appointments.
Verbal short-term memory deficits in Down syndrome: phonological, semantic, or both?

The current study examined the phonological and semantic contributions to the verbal short-term memory (VSTM) deficit in Down syndrome (DS) by experimentally manipulating the phonological and semantic demands of VSTM tasks. The performance of 18 individuals with DS (ages 11–25) and 18 typically developing children (ages 3–10) matched pairwise on receptive vocabulary and gender was compared on four VSTM tasks, two tapping phonological VSTM (phonological similarity, nonword discrimination) and two tapping semantic VSTM (semantic category, semantic proactive interference). Group by condition interactions were found on the two phonological VSTM tasks (suggesting less sensitivity to the phonological qualities of words in DS), but not on the two semantic VSTM tasks. These findings suggest that a phonological weakness contributes to the VSTM deficit in DS. These results are discussed in relation to the DS neuropsychological and neuroanatomical phenotype.
Apoptosis and autoimmune thyroid disease: following a TRAIL to thyroid destruction?

In the past decade, it became apparent that immune mediated cell death in a number of autoimmune endocrine diseases was due to the induction of apoptosis in target organ cells. This was conclusively demonstrated for thyroid follicular cells in Hashimoto’s (destructive autoimmune) thyroiditis, but the mechanisms underlying this cell death were not clear. Several hypotheses were put forth involving the role of deathsignalling molecules expressed on thyroid cells. While many of these hypotheses did not hold up under close scrutiny, this stimulated work on the molecular mechanisms of thyroid destruction. Several apoptosis signalling pathways, initiated by molecules such as Fas ligand (FASL) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), have been shown to be active in thyroid cells and may be involved in destructive thyroiditis. In this review we will attempt to sort out the inconsistencies in published data on the mechanisms of death-receptor mediated thyroid destruction. We will also review recently proposed models of these mechanisms, and outline directions for research that we feel might lead to discoveries of benefit to the clinician in the treatment and prevention of destructive autoimmune thyroiditis.
How Many is Enough? Determining Optimal Sample Sizes for Normative Studies in Pediatric Neuropsychology

The purpose of this investigation was to determine how confidence intervals (CIs) for pediatric neuropsychological norms vary as a function of sample size, and to determine optimal sample sizes for normative studies. First, the authors calculated 95% CIs for a set of published pediatric norms for four commonly used neuropsychological instruments. Second, 95% CIs were calculated for varying sample size (from n = 5 to n = 500). Results suggest that some pediatric norms have unacceptably wide CIs, and normative studies ought optimally to use 50 to 75 participants per cell. Smaller sample sizes may lead to overpathologizing results, while the cost of obtaining larger samples may not be justifiable.
A Characterization of Dynamic Reasoning: Reasoning with Time as Parameter.

Abstract Students incorporate and use the implicit and explicit parameter time to support their mathematical reasoning and deepen their understandings as they participate in a differential equations class during instruction on solutions to systems of differential equations. Therefore, dynamic reasoning is defined as developing and using conceptualizations about time as a parameter that implicitly or explicitly coordinates with other quantities to understand and solve problems. Students participate in the following types of mathematical activity related to dynamic reasoning: making time an explicit quantity, using the metaphor of time as “unidimensional space”, using time to reason both quantitatively and qualitatively, using three-dimensional visualization of time related functions, fusing context and representation of time related functions, and using the fictive motion metaphor for function. The purpose of this article is to present a characterization of dynamic reasoning and promote more explicit attention to this type of reasoning by teachers in K-16 mathematics in order to improve student understanding in time related areas of mathematics.
Runa realism : Upper amazonian attitudes to nature knowing

Stories about the forest recounted in a Quichua-speaking Runa village in Ecuador's Upper Amazon point to an element of ecological understandings that is rarely studied; these are primarily about capturing and sharing the experience of the process of knowing rather than trafficking in stabilized tokens of ecological knowledge. Runa understanding of nature is achieved through a poetic language rich in what philosopher Charles S. Peirce terms iconic and indexical signs. This way of talking about forest experience is advantageous because these forms of representation can capture qualities and events in the world in ways that what Peirce terms symbols cannot. Iconic and indexical signs mediate the world in distinctive ways. Accordingly, this article suggests some implications that iconically and indexically rich modes of communicating experience have for engaging with the nonhuman realm, acquiring knowledge of the world, and establishing a certain kind of interpersonal social intimacy.
Feedback-enabled discrimination enhancement for temperature-programmed chemiresistive microsensors

Abstract Temperature cycling can be used to enrich signal streams in gas phase sensing, however drift that can occur when repeatedly applying such cycles can degrade target recognition over time. A method for correcting heater drift through operational feedback has been implemented specifically to examine the level of performance improvement introduced for a single microhotplate-based chemiresistive sensing element exposed to multiple gas compositions. The element included ≈30 nm chemical vapor-deposited thin film of SnO2 formed over the interdigitated Pt electrodes, which acted as the transduction interface. Gas exposure experiments were performed using concentrations of methanol and ethane less than 100 μmol/mol in backgrounds of dry air and 15% relative humidity air. Removing temperature drift is shown to significantly decrease sensing signal drift, thereby facilitating enhanced target identification. Since this approach represents an operational adjustment, similar performance benefits are expected for sensing devices based upon other chemiresistive materials.
Introducing "theory" in the second programming course

Traditionally, the first two programming courses have emphasized basic techniques and skills—the details of a programming language, basic problem solving and program development, “structured programming”, the manipulation of simple data structures and files, basic sorting and searching algorithms, etc.Our principle motivation is the conviction that programming should be an engineering discipline, and that engineering disciplines must be grounded in engineering science. Further, to be effectively taught, this science must be introduced as early as possible. In contrast to the measure-theoretic under pinnings of the calculus, the theory we introduce is immediately useful to working programmers. In addition, the topics we cover are fundamental to later courses. By introducing the topics early in the curriculum, we provide a common vocabulary for these later courses, eliminate redundant treatment of topics, and give students greater exposure to the material and a better chance to absorb it.We feel we have been successful with the course, although our evidence is necessarily subjective. Because its philosophy flies in the face of current practice, we shall attempt to explain that philosophy in this paper. The course itself, “Fundamental Structures of Computer Science” (FS here after) is described in somewhat greater detail in [2] and we are preparing a supporting text [3]. We are not so much interested in pressing our own particular treatment of the topics, however, as we are the choice of material and its place in the curriculum.
Localized imaging using stimulated echoes

Stimulated-echo localized spectroscopy was combined with phase- and frequency-encoding gradients to obtain “zoom” or magnified images of specific organs in situ. The technique requires neither surface coils nor an imaging coil arrangement that exclusively isolates the target organ. This technique can be readily applied to conventional spectrometer imagers that have limited computational capabilities. © 1987 Academic Press, Inc.
Subunit and Catalytic Component Stoichiometries of an in Vitro Reconstituted Human Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex

The human pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) is a 9.5-megadalton catalytic machine that employs three catalytic components, i.e. pyruvate dehydrogenase (E1p), dihydrolipoyl transacetylase (E2p), and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (E3), to carry out the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate. The human PDC is organized around a 60-meric dodecahedral core comprising the C-terminal domains of E2p and a noncatalytic component, E3-binding protein (E3BP), which specifically tethers E3 dimers to the PDC. A central issue concerning the PDC structure is the subunit stoichiometry of the E2p/E3BP core; recent studies have suggested that the core is composed of 48 copies of E2p and 12 copies of E3BP. Here, using an in vitro reconstituted PDC, we provide densitometry, isothermal titration calorimetry, and analytical ultracentrifugation evidence that there are 40 copies of E2p and 20 copies of E3BP in the E2p/E3BP core. Reconstitution with saturating concentrations of E1p and E3 demonstrated 40 copies of E1p heterotetramers and 20 copies of E3 dimers associated with the E2p/E3BP core. To corroborate the 40/20 model of this core, the stoichiometries of E3 and E1p binding to their respective binding domains were reexamined. In these binding studies, the stoichiometries were found to be 1:1, supporting the 40/20 model of the core. The overall maximal stoichiometry of this in vitro assembled PDC for E2p:E3BP:E1p:E3 is 40:20:40:20. These findings contrast a previous report that implicated that two E3-binding domains of E3BP bind simultaneously to a single E3 dimer (Smolle, M., Prior, A. E., Brown, A. E., Cooper, A., Byron, O., and Lindsay, J. G. (2006) J. Biol. Chem. 281, 19772–19780).
Cognitive science and science education

Over the past ten years cognitive science has emerged as a dominant perspective in psychology. This new view brings together researchers with overlapping interests from the fields of artificial intelligence, psycholingu‐istics, psychology, epistemology, education and neurophysiology. In this paper an overview of cognitive science will be presented, including a model of human memory that serves to organize research, views on cognitive development, views on learning and problem‐solving, and possible applications in science education.
Contraceptive knowledge and attitudes in Urban Ilorin, Nigeria

In Nigeria as in other African countries population growth negatively affects economic development and high parity affects maternal health. Breastfeeding a common practice traditionally is declining in some situations. This study was carried out in Ilorin Nigeria. A sample population of 932 households stratified to represent different socioeconomic groups was used. 913 currently married women aged 15-35 who were in their prime childbearing ages were interviewed on their contraceptive knowledge and on their attitudes towards modern contraception. In a bivariate statistical analysis of 8 variables examined (i.e. ownership of a television radio religion and other) only the womans education age and area of residence within the city have significant independent effects on contraceptive knowledge. A linear logistic regression technic was also applied. 90% of the women interviewed thought that women should be free to practise family planning. Also 95% of all the women believed that too frequent births could endanger the health of the mother and her children. Only the women with previous contraceptive knowledge overwhelmingly (80%) thought that the best way to prevent too frequent births is by family planning. 66.5% of those without previous contraceptive knowledge before this study suggested that traditional abstinence should be used and only 28.9% suggested family planning. Adequate awareness of the availability and usefulness of family planning methods can influence attitudes of women towards contraception and may also enhance contraceptive use. Better use can be made of broadcasting media and efforts should be made to target younger more fecund women since there was evidence that more knowledge of family planning existed among women 30+ years old.
Flow Patterns and Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Wing-Strake Configuration

Surface oil flow visualizations, force tests, and pressure measurements were conducted at low, transonic, and supersonic speeds. Four flow patterns on a wing with strake at low speed have been found. The flow on the wing upper surface is affected and controlled by the formation, development, and breakdown of the strake vortices. The differences in flow patterns are reflected in the force and moment results. The lift increment results from the effect of the strake vortex not only on the inner panel but also on the outer panel. The nonlinear variations of the pitching moment are discussed. The lift increment is decreased with an increase in Mach number at transonic speeds, primarily because the flow over the wing without strake changes from leading edge separation to leading edge attached flow with shock-induced separation. An increase in the lift-drag ratio is due to the lift increase at low speeds and the drag decrease at supersonic speeds.
Charge manipulation for improved mass determination of high‐mass species and mixture components by electrospray mass spectrometry

The manipulation of the charge states of high-mass ions can facilitate mass determination in electrospray (ES) mass spectrometry. Specifically, the reduction of charge (which leads to ions of higher mass-to-charge ratios) can significantly reduce peak overlap. Signals associated with various charge states of high-mass ions are more easily resolved at low charge states and chemical noise tends to be significantly lower at high mass-to-charge ratios than in the normal mass-to-charge window typically associated with electrospray. Algorithms that transform ES mass spectra to zero-charge spectra are most likely to yield unambiguous results when charge states are clearly resolved and when signal-to-noise ratios are relatively high. Charge manipulation can enhance the value of the transformation algorithms in cases in which compromises their utility. Such situations include ES mass spectra of high-mass species that yield charge states that are not baseline resolved, mixtures with many components and mixtures in which the signals from major components overwhelm signals from minor components. Examples of improved mass determination are illustrated for proteins using ion-ion chemistry as the means for charge state manipulation and the quadrupole ion trap as the mass analyzer.
Validation of a rapid computerized method of measuring 99mTc pertechnetate uptake for routine assessment of thyroid structure and function.

The thyroid structure and function of 239 patients referred to a clinical nuclear medicine department have been evaluated using a new, rapid, computerized method which was previously described (8). The results were compared to routine radioiodine uptakes measured at 2 and 24 hr. Thyroid function was also evaluated using standard clinical criteria, serum triiodothyronine resin uptake and total thyroxine measurements. With this technique a complete functional and structural evaluation takes only 30–40 min. There was no difference in accuracy as compared to the 24-hr 131I uptake; there was a marked improvement over the 2-hr uptake especially in diagnosing hypothyroidism. We believe that this provides a rapid and accurate method for routine thyroid evaluation where simple nuclear medicine computer facilities exist.
A general method for morphologic dating of hillslopes

Morphologic dating of hillslopes is the determination of the age of a hillslope by its morphology. Current methods match the observed morphology with the morphology predicted by the diffusion-equation model for hillslope evolution. The morphologic dating method presented here requires no specific model for evolution, but is only applicable to transport-limited hillslopes on which the downslope debris flux is some scale- and time-independent function of slope angle. If these conditions are met, changes in morphology with scale (e.g., height) for a set of hillslopes of a fixed age are identical to changes in morphology with time for a hillslope of a fixed scale. This fact provides the basis for a simple, generally applicable method for morphologically dating such hillslopes with any initial morphology. This new dating method may be applied to a wide variety of vegetated hillslopes in temperate humid regions and is an improvement over previous morphologic dating methods that relied on the diffusion-equation model.
The jet–disc connection: evidence for a reinterpretation in radio loud and radio quiet active galactic nuclei

To constrain models of the jet-disc connection, we explore Eddington ratios reported in Foschini (2011) and interpret them in relation to the values in Sikora et al. across the active galactic nuclei population from radio loud quasars, their flat spectrum radio quasar subclass, the recently discovered gamma-ray loud narrow-line type 1 Seyfert galaxies, Fanaroff-Riley type I (FRI) radio galaxies and radio quiet quasars of the Palomar Green survey. While appeal to disc truncation in radiatively inefficient flow appears to explain the observed inverse relation between radio loudness and Eddington ratio in radio loud and radio quiet quasars, FR I objects, scale invariance and recent data on powerful jets in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies offer compelling arguments in favour of a reinterpretaion of the jet-disc connection.
Dignified Joking: Humor and Demeanor in a Public Speaking Club*

An investigation was made of the joking that occurs during meetings of a club which gathers weekly to practice public speaking. In this setting, humor is expected as part of a good speaking performance. It is assumed that the use of humor can establish rapport with an audience and aid in persuasion. This paper describes how such joking must be managed to avoid both a potential disintegration of the club’s focused gathering and an undermining of the face-work involved in doing public speaking. Imagine yourself in the following situation. You feel a certain obligation to be occasionally funny. However, any humor must be used adroitly: you must not play the fool or forget that you are in a serious setting. Joking must be brief, courteous, and dignified. Furthermore, you don’t know how much you have in common with the other persons in the setting. So what do you joke about? In this paper, I will examine such a situation, a club which gathers weekly to gain practice in the art of public speaking. This club is based on the premise that effective communicative skills are essential for leadership at work and in the community. In other words, being a leader is viewed as a position which requires numerous skilled verbal performances. The club members believe that the practice of speechmaking is one way to develop such skills. To establish oneself as a credible and reasonable speaker, one must, it is assumed, work on the delivery of the speech as well as the content. In this speaking club, the members attempt to adopt a dignified, poised, and serious mien as part of an effective delivery. At the same time, the club literature contains the advice that it often is advantageous for a speaker to integrate varying amounts of informality into a speech in order to establish rapport with an audience. Humor, with its frequent connotations of congeniality, relaxa
Use of kidneys from older cadaver donors for renal transplantation

This study was undertaken to investigate the suitability of kidneys for transplantation from elderly cadaveric donors, and to identify those factors that were associated with a successful outcome, i.e. immediate graft function and function at one year. From 1977 to 1990, 51 kidneys from cadaveric donors at least 55 years of age were employed for transplantation. Donor age ranged from 55 to 70 years. The most common causes of donor death were intracerebral hemorrhage (60%) and cerebrovascular accident (36%). The donor serum creatinine levels upon hospital admission and at organ procurement ranged from 0.6 to 2.0 mg/dl and from 0.5 to 4.0 mg/dl, respectively. Donor urine outputs immediately prior to procurement ranged from 55 to 3,000 mls per hour. Fifty kidneys (98%) were transplanted within 48 hours of procurement. The recipients ranged in age from 8 to 68 years (median 42). Posttransplant immunosuppression comprised prednisone and azathioprine in all patients along with ALG in 34 patients, OKT3 in 9 patients and cyclosporine in 35 patients.
The role of prolonged copulatory behavior in facilitating reproductive success in male Syrian golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) in a competitive mating situation

1. The objective of this research was to determine whether the multiple ejaculation pattern of golden hamsters might have a functional consequence in increasing the percentage of offspring sired by a male when the female partner subsequently mates with a second male. 2. A risk of displacement by a second male was demonstrated to exist. When two male hamsters mated for five ejaculatory series each, a male was able to sire significantly more offspring when mating second than when mating first. Thus, hamster compulatory plugs do not provide complete protection against subsequent sperm displacement. 3. Prolonged copulation can provide protection against sperm displacement. Prolongation afforded no protection to cream males. However, when agouti males mated to satiety prior to a mating by a cream male, the agouti males sired more of the offspring than when they attained just one or five ejaculations. 4. The primary mechanism underlying the protective effects of prolongation of copulation was found related to copulations with sperm transfer, presumably stemming from the relative concentrations of sperm from the two males. Neither the mere passage of time nor copulation by a vasectomized male conferred a protective effect. 5. Viewed as a reproductive strategy in social context, the multiple ejaculatory pattern can be seen as having functional significance in maximizing individual fitness.
Polyvinylpyrrolidone Storage Disease: A Source of Error in the Diagnosis of Signet Ring Cell Gastric Adenocarcinoma

False-positive and false-negative diagnoses of cancer seldom occur during evaluation of gastric mucosal biopsy specimens obtained during flexible fiberoptic endoscopy of the stomach. When they do occur, false-negative diagnoses are usually the result of undersampling of the lesion, whereas false-positive diagnoses are the result of overinterpretation of benign histologic lesions. The diagnosis of diffuse signet ring cell adenocarcinoma is associated with both false-positive and false-negative diagnoses of cancer. The signet ring cell can be easily overlooked. Mucicarminophilic cells can be overinterpreted as diffuse signet ring cell adenocarcinoma. Polyvinylpyrrolidone is an unusual cause of this type of false-positive diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma. Judicious use of histochemical stains, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy plays a significant role in avoiding the false-positive diagnosis of diffuse signet ring cell adenocarcinoma.The authors wish to acknowledge the diagnostic assistance pr...
Use of Progressive Glaucomatous Optic Disk Change as the Reference Standard for Evaluation of Diagnostic Tests in Glaucoma

Purpose Progressive change in optic disk appearance has been suggested as the best available reference standard for glaucoma diagnosis. We evaluated the accuracy of scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) with variable corneal compensation to discriminate patients with documented progressive optic disk change from healthy subjects. Design Observational case-control study. Methods Glaucoma patients with documented evidence of progressive optic disk change as assessed by stereoscopic photographs were selected. Healthy control subjects had normal visual fields and normal clinical examination. All subjects underwent imaging with the GDx VCC scanning laser polarimeter. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves, sensitivities at fixed specificities, and likelihood ratios were calculated. Results Sixty-five eyes were healthy control patients. Seventy-one eyes had progressive optic disk change, of which 41 (58%) had abnormal visual field tests closest to the imaging date (perimetric glaucomatous optic neuropathy [GON]), and 30 (42%) eyes had normal visual fields (preperimetric GON). The GDx VCC parameter nerve fiber indicator performed best for discrimination between perimetric GON and normal eyes (AUC = 0.94; sensitivity = 93% for specificity ≥80%) as well as for the discrimination between preperimetric GON and normal eyes (AUC = 0.89; sensitivity = 83% for specificity ≥80%). Conclusion SLP differentiated patients with documented progressive optic disk change from normal subjects and detected abnormalities in patients with confirmed diagnosis of preperimetric GON, suggesting that it may be useful for early glaucoma diagnosis. We suggest that progressive optic disk change should be used in the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of imaging instruments for glaucoma.
Immunological detection of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) eggs and juveniles in the stomach contents of crustacean predators

Abstract Predation on the early life history of fish is an important factor regulating year-class strength. Verifying predation events, however, is difficult when analyses rely on visually identifying the remnants of partially digested fish in the stomachs of suspected predators. The objective of this study was to assess the utility of using immunological assays to detect the presence of winter flounder eggs and juveniles ( Pseudopleuronectes americanus ) in the gut contents of sand shrimp ( Crangon septemspinosa ) and green crab ( Carcinus maenas ). After defining assay capabilities, the stomach contents of field-collected shrimp and crabs were examined to determine if these predator–prey relationships occur under natural conditions. Winter flounder-specific antisera developed and used in this study successfully identified homologous antigens (egg or juvenile flounder extracts) without appreciably cross-reacting with antigenic material from predators or nontarget prey. Moreover, antisera detected flounder eggs 10.8–16.4 h after initial feeding by various sized shrimp, and identified juvenile flounder 9.4 and 7.8 h after initial ingestion by shrimp and crabs, respectively. Immuonological dietary analysis of decapod crustaceans collected from Niantic River, Connecticut, revealed that C. septemspinosa and C. maenas are potentially important predators on the early life stages of winter flounder. The temporal trends and magnitude of flounder predator-induced mortality was affected primarily by the spatial and temporal overlap between predator and prey (egg mortality), and the size-dependent relationships underlying crustacean and flatfish predator–prey interactions (juvenile mortality).
Objective Laser Speckle Method For 3-D Displacement Measurement On Curved Surfaces

By illuminating a ground glass with a laser beam, a spatial field of speckles is created. These speckles are used as displacement gauging elements of curved 3-D objects whose surfaces are coated with photosensitive material. Equations are derived to show that all the three components of the surface displacement can be obtained from two specklegrams.
Frequency response to an electron energy shift

In a free electron laser (FEL) oscillator, the optical pulse evolves through mode competition as a result of mirror losses, desynchronism, and amplification by the electron beam. The finite time for this evolution determines the optical response to an electron beam energy change. The ability of the FEL operating frequency to follow modulations in electron energy has been demonstrated experimentally [l-3] and theoretically [4]. Using a self-consistent FEL theory with dimensionless parameters [5], a longitudinal multimode simulation follows the evolution of the optical pulse over many passes of a FEL oscillator. The optical frequency response to an electron energy shift is summarized in Fig. 1. The characteristic response time II, measures the number of passes for the optical frequency centroid to reach l/e of its new steady-state position after an electron energy shift is imposed at steady-state saturation. The parameters in the simulation are chosen so that the optical pulse reaches steady-state saturation fields without the trapped-particle instability and the growth of optical sidebands. The current density j can be related to the weak-field, single-mode gain, G = 0.135 j, and the energy loss at each pass is given by l/Q. The pulse length, cr:, and desynchonism, d. are measured in terms of the slippage distance, NA. For small Q and low desynchronism d, the optical pulse resides predominantly in the region of the electron pulse. Within the bulk of the optical pulse, strong-field saturation limits changes in the optical fields and the frequency remains unchanged. In the back of the optical pulse where the fields are weak and the interaction with the energy-shifted electron beam changes the optical frequency. Desynchronism d transfers these changes toward the front of the pulse at each pass. The centroid of the optical power spectrum shifts linearly with the number of passes during the middle of the response. In Fig. 1, for a given Q and oz = 2 the response time n, falls off as l/d. For large Q and small uz, the bulk of the optical pulse resides in an exponentially decaying profile outside the interaction region. in the short interaction region, changes
SU‐GG‐J‐107: Improvement of the Stability and Reproducibility of Deep‐Inspiration Breath Hold for Left Breast Irradiation Using Video‐Based Visual Coaching and 3D Surface Imaging

Purpose: To assess and quantify the improvement in stability and reproducibility of Deep‐Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) for left breast irradiation when using video‐based visual coaching and 3D surface imaging.Method and Materials: Ten volunteers were asked to perform a series of four 20‐second DIBHs without coaching followed by a series of 4 DIBH with visual coaching. A 3D surface imaging system (Vision RT Ltd, London) was used to track the motion of the breast surface. Visual coaching was performed with the aid of video goggles which displayed the surface‐based respiratory signal tracked by the surface imaging system. During the non‐coached DIBHs a window level was identified for each volunteer at their DIBH level. When coached, the volunteers were asked to maintain their DIBH respiratory signal within the window level identified before. Reproducibility and stability of DIBH were measured for each volunteer. Reproducibility is defined as the standard deviation of the different DIBH levels. Stability is measured as the average standard deviation of the breathing signals within each individual DIBH. Results: With visual coaching all the volunteers improved reproducibility of the DIBH with respect to un‐coached DIBH, and 9 of the volunteers improved stability of the DIBH. The volunteer that did not improve stability had a very stable DIBH even without coaching. On average, reproducibility improved from ±1.6mm to ±0.3mm, while stability improved from ±1.3mm to ±0.6mm. Conclusion: This work indicates that gated radiotherapy of the left‐breast cancer will benefit from visual coaching of the patient. Visual coaching greatly improves reproducibility and stability of the DIBH, both properties that need to be guaranteed for an accurate and efficient treatment. A future study will be performed for left‐breast cancer patients. Conflict of Interests: Research sponsored by Vision RT Ltd.
17O NMR investigation of acetyl and formylthiophenes, furans and pyrroles

The 17O nmr chemical shifts of 20 acetyl and formylthoiphenes, furans, and pyrroles are reported. The chemical shifts qualitatively correlate with the electronic character of the heterocyclic rings. The effect of steric factors are noted for the 17O chemical shifts of alkyl substituted acetylthiophenes and for N-methylpyr-roles.
MPEC strategies for optimization of a class of hybrid dynamic systems

Abstract With the development and widespread use of large-scale nonlinear programming (NLP) tools for process optimization, there has been an associated application of NLP formulations with complementarity constraints in order to represent discrete decisions. In particular, these constraints arise frequently in equation-based formulations for real-time optimization. Also known as mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPECs), these formulations can be used to model certain classes of discrete events and can be more efficient than a mixed integer formulation, particularly for large systems with many discrete decisions, such as dynamic systems with switches at any point in time. In this study, we consider and extend MPEC formulations for the optimization of a class of hybrid dynamic models, where the differential states remain continuous over time. These include differential inclusions of the Filippov type. Here, particular care is required in the formulation in order to preserve smoothness properties of the dynamic system. Results on three case studies, including process control examples, illustrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed MPEC optimization methodology for a class of hybrid dynamic systems.
Oxygen consumption in active and quiescent protonymphs of the American house-dust mite

Abstract Oxygen consumption in protonymphs of the American house-dust mite was measured by the Cartesian diver technique. Active protonymphs consumed 1.14 × 10−2 μl/hr/mite under close to optimum temperature and humidity conditions for the species. This consumption is higher than that reported for fasting non-reproducing females. The protonymphs were active when confined in the diver and exhausted their energy reserves in less than 20 hr. Quiescent protonymphs consumed 4 × 10−4 μl/hr/mite of oxygen, which is 28 times less than the consumption of active mites. The quiescence was not a static state, disturbed quiescent protonymphs had a six times higher oxygen consumption. This additional energy is thought to be spent in repair of injuries caused by collecting, e.g. secretion of wax on places where the layer has been removed.
Perspectives on counseling adult learners

Useful resources exist to help counselors increase their knowledge and improve their performance in counseling adult learners.
Social interaction, observation, and stereotypes as determinants of differentiation in peer ratings.

Abstract The goal of this investigation was to discover the relationships among peer rating items under three rating information conditions. One hundred British managers made peer ratings based on social interaction, observation, and sterotype information. These data were factor analyzed (using both simultaneous and independent factor solutions) to assess differentiation in each condition. By several criteria, ratings based on interaction were different from ratings based on observation or ratings based on stereotypes. A second set of data was submitted to an independent factor analysis to validate the reported findings. The results of initial and validation data are similar, though not, of course, identical. Implications for future research and behavior-based ratings are discussed.
Time to virological failure with atazanavir/ritonavir and lopinavir/ritonavir, with or without an H2-receptor blocker, not significantly different in HIV observational database study

A retrospective electronic database study was conducted to determine any differences in time to virological failure and percent of virological failure among HIV-infected patients concurrently receiving H2-blockers versus patients not receiving these agents while receiving atazanavir (ATV)/ritonavir (r) or lopinavir (LPV)/r-containing antiretroviral treatment regimens. Data were culled from October 2003 (when ATV became commercially available) through February 2006. Virological failure was defined as (1) two plasma HIV-1 RNA levels >400 copies/mL after at least one HIV-1 RNA level below the level of detection or (2) failure to achieve an HIV-1 RNA <400 copies/mL within 24 weeks. Data from 267 ATV/r-treated patients who met the case definition were compared with data from 670 LPV/r-treated patients. Approximately 10% of the ATV/r group received concurrent H2-blockers when compared with 20% of the LPV/r group. Multivariate analysis showed no statistically significant differences regarding time to virological failure between or among the four subgroups, adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics (P = 0.79, log-rank test). At 750 days following treatment initiation, the proportion of patients not experiencing virological failure was 56% in the ATV/r-blocker subgroup, 48% in the ATV/r-alone subgroup, 45% in the LPV/r-alone subgroup and 42% in the LPV/r-blocker subgroup.