cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anesthesia and postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists care for patients ranging from premature infants weighing <2kg to adults requiring surgical intervention for congenital heart disease. Along with their cardiac pathophysiologies, many of these patients also have other co-existing diseases that can affect their anesthetic management. Recent advances in monitoring include non-invasive neuromonitors, such as near-infrared spectroscopy and trans-cranial Doppler, which are assuming increasing importance in intraoperative management, particularly during cardiopulmonary bypass. A variety of anesthetic techniques, including regional anesthesia, can be used to facilitate early extubation in older infants and children with stable postoperative hemodynamics. In addition to regional anesthesia, other modalities for the management of postoperative pain include opioid infusions in critically ill children and the use of patient- or nurse-controlled analgesia pumps. Multiple pain assessment tools are available for children of varying ages and developmental levels to assist in providing appropriate postoperative pain management.
West European peace movements: An application of Kitschelt's political opportunity structures thesis

This current research attempts a further test of Kitschelt's notion of political opportunity structures. Using case‐studies of peace movements in four Western democracies, the influence of input opportunity structures and output opportunity structures on the strategies and impacts of various peace movements is assessed. The article concludes with Kitschelt that such a conceptual device goes far in explaining national variations in social protest movements.
Urease-encoding genes in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

Many but not all ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) produce urease (urea amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.5) and are capable of using urea for chemolithotrophic growth. We sequenced the urease operons from two AOB, the β-proteobacterium Nitrosospira sp. strain NpAV and the γ-proteobacterium Nitrosococcus oceani. In both organisms, all seven urease genes were contiguous: the three structural urease genes ureABC were preceded and succeeded by the accessory genes ureD and ureEFG, respectively. Green fluorescent protein reporter gene fusions revealed that the ure genes were under control of a single operon promoter upstream of the ureD gene in Nitrosococcus oceani. Southern analyses revealed two copies of ureC in the Nitrosospira sp. strain NpAV genome, while a single copy of the ure operon was detected in the genome of Nitrosococcus oceani. The ureC gene encodes the alpha subunit protein containing the active site and conserved nickel binding ligands; these conserved regions were suitable primer targets for obtaining further ureC sequences from additional AOB. In order to develop molecular tools for detecting the ureolytic ecotype of AOB, ureC genes were sequenced from several β-proteobacterial AOB. Pairwise identity values ranged from 80 to 90% for the UreC peptides of AOB within a subdivision. UreC sequences deduced from AOB urease genes and available UreC sequences in the public databases were used to construct alignments and make phylogenetic inferences. The UreC proteins from β-proteobacterial AOB formed a distinct monophyletic group. Unexpectedly, the peptides from AOB did not group most closely with the UreC proteins from other β-proteobacteria. Instead, it appears that urease in β-proteobacterial autotrophic ammonia oxidizers is the product of divergent evolution in the common ancestor of γ- and β-proteobacteria that was initiated before their divergence during speciation. Sequence motifs conserved for the proteobacteria and variable regions possibly discriminatory for ureC from β-proteobacterial AOB were identified for future use in environmental analysis of ureolytic AOB. These gene sequences are the first publicly available for ure genes from autotrophic AOB.
LSEQIEQ: a FORTRAN IV subroutine package for the analysis of multiple linear regression problems with possibly deficient pseudorank and linear equality and inequality constraints

An algorithm and FORTRAN IV subroutine package are presented which solve the general linear least-squares problem: minimize∥AX−B∥ minimize∥X∥ where A is a p by n data matrix of values preceding the n unknown coefficients symbolized by the vector X and B is a p-vector of dependent variables corresponding to the p rows of the data matrix A, subject to an arbitrary set of linear equality constraints and inequality bounds on the coefficients of the vector X. The solution is effected by orthogonal decomposition of the data matrix and the code includes a provision for estimating the true rank (actual number of independent variables) of the problem and extracting a solution vector which incorporates this intervariable correlation. The computer storage requirements of the subroutines are kept to a minimum by implementing a sequential accumulation algorithm which alleviates the need to store the data matrix in memory at any time. Thus, an effectively infinite number of data points can be processed in a small fixed storage space. A detailed description of subroutine usage is given and three applications of the code are presented which deal with rank deficient data matrices which are: (1) large and overdetermined, (2) small, but whose unknown coefficients are bounded by inequality constraints, and (3) underdetermined, with bounded coefficients subject to linear equality constraints. The first problem is concerned with the application of thermodynamics to the solution properties of silicate liquids where a strongly rank deficient data matrix is analyzed. The second application of the algorithm involves a rapid method of estimating the precious metal content of mineral phases in an ore body. Lastly, a complex underdetermined problem, from the solution chemistry of clay minerals, is investigated. A solution is obtained only after careful and judicious construction of the inequality constraint matrix. These applications stem from typical least-squares problems encountered in igneous petrology, economic geology, and geochemistry and emphasize the advantages of the present approach over standard regression techniques.
N-acetylaspartylglutamate,N-acetylaspartate, andN-acetylated alpha-linked acidic dipeptidase in human brain and their alterations in Huntington and Alzheimer diseases

There is mounting evidence, primarily from research in experimental animals, that the dipeptideN-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) and its catabolic enzyme,N-acetylated α-linked acid dipeptidase (NAALADase), are involved in glutamatergic neurotransmission. Previous studies in neuropsychiatric disorders associated with the dysregulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission, such as schizophrenia, seizure disorders, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), have revealed region-specific alterations in the levels of NAAG and in the activity of NAALADase. To establish better the cellular localization of these and related parameters in human brain, we have examined their alterations in two well-characterized selective neurodegenerative disorders, Huntington Disease (HD) and Alzheimer Disease (AD). Brain regions from postmortem controls and HD- or AD-affected individuals were assayed to determine the activity of NAALADase as well as the levels of NAAG,N-acetylaspartate (NAA), and several amino acids. The relationships between changes in these neurochemical parameters and changes in neuronal and glial cell density were determined. The present report demonstrates that the decreases in the levels of NAAG and NAA and in the activity of NAALADase in AD and HD brain correlate primarily with neuronal loss. By inference, the results suggest that NAAG and NAA have primarily a neuronal localization in human brain and that there is a close relationship between NAAG and the dipeptidase NAALADase in populations of affected neurons.
Understanding my data, myself: supporting self-reflection with ubicomp technologies

We live in a world where many kinds of data about us can be collected and more will be collected as Ubicomp technologies mature. People reflect on this data using different tools for personal informatics. However, current tools do not have sufficient understanding of users' self-reflection needs to appropriately leverage Ubicomp technologies. To design tools that effectively assist self-reflection, we need to comprehensively understand what kinds of questions people have about their data, why they ask these questions, how they answer them with current tools, and what kinds of problems they encounter. To explore this, we conducted interviews with people who use various kinds of tools for personal informatics. We found six kinds of questions that people asked about their data. We also found that certain kinds of questions are more important at certain times, which we call phases. We identified two phases of reflection: Discovery and Maintenance. We discuss the kinds of questions and the phases in detail and identify features that should be supported in personal informatics tools for which Ubicomp technologies can play an important role.
Dollar Spot in Four Bentgrass Cultivars as Affected by Acibenzolar-S-Methyl and Organic Fertilizers

Abstract Golf course superintendents are interested in identifying ways to reduce fungicide inputs on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) putting greens. Our objectives were to evaluate t...
Brand parody products: is the harm worth the howl?

Purpose – This paper aims to assert that rather than challenging brand parodies, brand owners should consider allowing them in order to expand brand equity to convey a brand personality that includes a sense of humor.Design/methodology/approach – The article analyzes recent brand product parody lawsuits.Findings – Recent court decisions are more likely to allow product parodies than earlier court decisions.Practical implications – Rather than expensive litigation that may lead to unfavorable public opinion, brand owners should consider licensing parody products to exercise some control over product quality and parody themes.Originality/value – The article proposes tactical change for brand owners to further build brand equity.
Novel quinonediimines derived from amino acid-like structures 1: Characterization and DFT computational study: N,N′-bis(5′-benzimidazolyl)-1,4-quinonediimine

Abstract Density functional calculations were performed on N , N ′-bis(5′-benzimidazolyl)-1,4-quinonediimine, a novel substituted aniline “trimer”. This is the first reported symmetric quinonediimine with outer rings derived from amino-acid related structures. Results of the calculations were compared to experimental properties of the herein synthesized trimer. The calculated HOMO levels for isomers of the title compound range from −5.630 to −5.674 eV, and the LUMO levels from −2.889 to −2.924 eV. The calculated electron affinities range from 1.546 to 1.613 eV. The LUMO level is lowest and the electron affinity greatest in magnitude for the syn, syn (outer) isomer. Compared to the widely-studied aniline-capped aniline trimer N , N ′-bis(4′-aminophenyl)-1,4-quinonediimine, the title compound has lower LUMO levels and greater electron affinity in both the emeraldine base or emeraldine dihydrochloride form, suggesting that it might be even more effective in corrosion control applications. Because the outer rings are derived from amino-acid related structures, such molecules, particularly as caps in polyanilines, could find use in biomedical applications.
Complex-Transfer-Function Analysis of Optical-Frequency Converters

We measure the complex transfer function (CTF) of aperiodically poled lithium niobate waveguide devices and investigate the sources of CTF distortions, which are related to variations in the spatial distribution of the nonlinear coefficient and phase-mismatch profile.
SU‐E‐P‐06: Establishment of Image Quality Baselines for Three Elekta Synergy MV EPIDs

Purpose: To determine the stability of MV image quality on an electronic portal imaging device (EPID), a commercially available QA phantom and software package was used to analyze parameters based on recommendations from AAPM TG‐142. These parameters allowed for the institution to determine when EPID performance deteriorated and necessitated replacement. Methods: An image quality phantom was used to perform QA on three EPIDs. Based on manufacturer recommendations, two consecutive exposures of the QA phantom were performed and the resulting images were transferred to the software system via DICOM Image. Data from the calendar year 2012 was used to establish average baseline for spatial resolution parameters (f30, f40, and f50), CNR, and noise. Results: The average resolution measurements were found to be 0.6899 ±0.0127, 0.546 ±0.017, and 0.415 ±0.018 for f30, f40, and f50 respectively. The CNR and noise metrics were found to be 354.5 ±24.7 and 38.3 ±3.2 respectively . When one of the EPIDs failed, it was apparent in the noise and CNR measurements when data was further than 10 standard deviations from baseline. Calibration of inferior replacement EPIDs resulted in expected Noise and CNR measurements, but the process of eliminating the Noise on the EPIDs resulted in degraded image resolution data that was greater than 5 standard deviations from baseline. Conclusion: Establishment of baseline data of image quality parameters is critical for assuring the device is operating correctly. EPID failure was easily determined because noise and CNR data points spiked out of the expected range. Also, there were established criteria in place for the replacement EPID to meet expected image quality standards.
A simple, high-yield, apparatus for NEG coating of vacuum beamline elements

Non-Evaporable Getter (NEG) materials are extremely useful in vacuum systems for achieving Ultra High Vacuum. Recently, these materials have been used to coat the inner surfaces of vacuum components, acting as an internal, passive, vacuum pump. We have constructed a low cost apparatus, which allows coating of very small diameter vacuum tubes, used as differential pumping stages. Despite the relative ease of construction, we are routinely able to achieve high coating yields. We further describe an improvement to our system, which is able to achieve the same yield, at an even lower complexity by using an easily manufactured permanent magnet arrangement. The designs described are extendible to virtually any combination of length and diameter of the components to be coated.
Time of Origin of Neurons of the Rat Superior Colliculus in Relation to Other Components of the Visual and Visuomotor Pathways

Groups of pregnant rats were injected with two successive daily doses of 3H-thymidine from gestational day 12 and 13 (E12+E13) until the day before parturition (E21+22) in order to label all the multiplying precursors of neurons. At 60 days of age the proportion of neurons generated (or no longer labelled) on specific days was determined in the separate layers of the superior colliculus. Neurogenesis begins with the production of a few large multipolar neurons in layers V and IV on day E12; the bulk (87%) of these cells are generated on day E13. This early-produced band of large neurons, the intermediate magnocellular zone, divides the superior colliculus into two cytogenetically distinct regions. In both the deep and the superficial superior colliculus neuron production is relatively protracted. In the deep superior colliculus neuron production peaks on day E15 in layer VII, on day E15 and E16 in layer VI, and on day E16 (the large neurons excluded) in layer V, indicating an inside-out sequence. In the superficial superior colliculus peak production time of layer III cells is on day E15 and of layer IV cells on day E16; peak production time of both layer I and II is on day E16 but in the latter region neuron production is more prolonged and ends on day El8. One interpretation of these results is that the two pairs of superficial layers are produced in an outside-in sequence. These three cytogenetic subdivisions of the superior colliculus may be correlated with its structural-functional parcellation into an efferent spinotectal, a deep somatomotor and a superficial visual component. A comparison of neurogenesis in different components of the visuomotor and visual pathways of the rat indicates that the motor neurons of the extraocular muscles, the abducens, trochlear and oculomotor nuclei, and neurons of the nucleus of Darkschewitsch are produced first. Next in line are source neurons of efferents to the bulb and the spinal cord: those of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus and the intermediate magnocellular zone of the superior colliculus. These are followed by the relay neurons of the dorsal nucleus of the lateral geniculate body. The neurons of the superficial superior colliculus and of the visual cortex implicated in visual sensori-motor integrations are produced last.
Domain architecture of the heme-independent yeast cystathionine beta-synthase provides insights into mechanisms of catalysis and regulation.

Cystathionine β-synthase from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) provides a model system for understanding some of the effects of disease-causing mutations in the human enzyme. The mutations, which lead to accumulation of l-homocysteine, are linked to homocystinuria and cardiovascular diseases. Here we characterize the domain architecture of the heme-independent yeast cystathionine β-synthase. Our finding that the homogeneous recombinant truncated enzyme (residues 1−353) is catalytically active and binds pyridoxal phosphate stoichiometrically establishes that the N-terminal residues 1−353 compose a catalytic domain. Removal of the C-terminal residues 354−507 increases the specific activity and alters the steady-state kinetic parameters including the Kd for pyridoxal phosphate, suggesting that the C-terminal residues 354−507 compose a regulatory domain. The yeast enzyme, unlike the human enzyme, is not activated by S-adenosyl-l-methionine. The truncated yeast enzyme is a dimer, whereas the full-length enzyme...
Reaction of 4-methylumbelliferylguanidinobenzoate with cultivated human skin fibroblasts derived from patients with cystic fibrosis.

Summary: Protease activity in cultivated human skin fibroblasts has been quantitated using 4-methylumbelliferyIguanidinobenzoate (MUGB), an active site titrant of trypsin-like proteases (7). The reaction of the proteases with MUGB was complete in 1 hr, inhibited both by benzamidine and (p-nitrophenyl)-p′-guani-dinobenzoate, but not by p-hydroxymecuribenzoate. The extent of reaction was proportional to protein concentration and independent of MUGB concentration. This activity was present in the particulate fraction of the cell. The mean “titre” values (nanomoles of 4-methylumbelliferone released per mg protein) of the proteases in fibroblasts from eight controls (N), 8 obligate heterozygotes (H), and 14 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) were: N, 1.27 ± 0.11; H, 0.82 ± 0.12; CF, 0.66 ± 0.10. The differences in the “titre” values for N:CF and N:H were significant (p < 0.001) as were those for H:CF (p < 0.01). The mean “titre” value obtained for cultivated control amniotic fluid cells was 1.29 ± 0.17. These data indicate a reduction in the MUGB-reactive proteases in skin fibroblasts derived from patients with CF when compared either to control or to obligate heterozygotes. These data are consistent with our earlier suggestion (11, 15) that decreased proteolytic levels in the tissues and fluids of patients with CF may be a generalized phenomenon. Speculation: The reduced MUGB reactivity of proteases prepared from cultivated skin fibroblasts derived from patients with cystic fibrosis and “titre” values previously reported for plasma proteases from patients with cystic fibrosis suggests that this reduction in protease level is a generalized phenomenon in cystic fibrosis.
Measurement of composite resin filler particles by using scanning electron microscopy and digital imaging

Composite resins are routinely classified on the basis of filler particle size for purposes of research, clinical applications, and communications. The size and characterizations of filler particles have also been considered a significant factor in the rate of wear of composites. Making valid correlations between the filler particles within a composite and wear requires accuracy of filler particle size and characterization. This study was initiated to examine two methods that would (1) qualify the filler particle content of a composite resin and (2) quantify the number, size, and the area occupied by the filler particles in composite resins. Three composite resins, BIS-FIL I, Visio-Fil, and Ful-Fil, were selected as the materials to be examined, on the basis of their published composite classification type as fine particle. The findings demonstrated that scientific methods are available to examine qualitatively and measure quantitatively the composite resin filler particles in terms of their numbers, sizes, and area occupied by use of a scanning electron microscope and digital imaging. Significant differences in the filler particle numbers, sizes, and the area occupied were found for the three composite resins in this study that were classified as fine particle.
Low-latitude cloudiness and climate feedback - Comparative estimates from satellite data

Three studies of the relative albedo to the IR components of cloud amount feedback are reviewed, and an approach to the seasonal variability in low-level cloud numbers is presented. Comparisons are made and uncertainties calculated for the predictions of cloud amounts from satellite data sets for outgoing IR flux. IR data is used directly for a linear regression analysis and seasonal and latitudinal variations are considered in terms of monthly-annual means for particular latitude zones. Investigations of NOAA-NESS satellite data revealed that cirrus clouds are transparent in the 10.5-12.5 microns range and cloud albedos decrease at wavelengths greater than 0.7 micron, which suggests a possibility of cloud-sky and clear-sky albedo comparisons at 0.5-0.7 micron. The inclusion of Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric water vapor absorption of sunlight is recommended to test the effects on observed contracts.
Man o’ War Mutation in UDP-α-d-Xylose Synthase Favors the Abortive Catalytic Cycle and Uncovers a Latent Potential for Hexamer Formation

The man o' war (mow) phenotype in zebrafish is characterized by severe craniofacial defects due to a missense mutation in UDP-α-d-xylose synthase (UXS), an essential enzyme in proteoglycan biosynthesis. The mow mutation is located in the UXS dimer interface ∼16 A away from the active site, suggesting an indirect effect on the enzyme mechanism. We have examined the structural and catalytic consequences of the mow mutation (R236H) in the soluble fragment of human UXS (hUXS), which shares 93% sequence identity with the zebrafish enzyme. In solution, hUXS dimers undergo a concentration-dependent association to form a tetramer. Sedimentation velocity studies show that the R236H substitution induces the formation of a new hexameric species. Using two new crystal structures of the hexamer, we show that R236H and R236A substitutions cause a local unfolding of the active site that allows for a rotation of the dimer interface necessary to form the hexamer. The disordered active sites in the R236H and R236A mutant constructs displace Y231, the essential acid/base catalyst in the UXS reaction mechanism. The loss of Y231 favors an abortive catalytic cycle in which the reaction intermediate, UDP-α-d-4-keto-xylose, is not reduced to the final product, UDP-α-d-xylose. Surprisingly, the mow-induced hexamer is almost identical to the hexamers formed by the deeply divergent UXS homologues from Staphylococcus aureus and Helicobacter pylori (21% and 16% sequence identity, respectively). The persistence of a latent hexamer-building interface in the human enzyme suggests that the ancestral UXS may have been a hexamer.
Chromatic detection and discrimination in the periphery: A postreceptoral loss of color sensitivity

The peripheral visual field is marked by a deterioration in color sensitivity, sometimes attributed to the random wiring of midget bipolar cells to cone photoreceptors in the peripheral retina (Mullen, 1991; Mullen & Kingdom, 1996). Using psychophysical methods, we explored differences in the sensitivity of peripheral color mechanisms with detection and discrimination of 2-deg spots at 18-deg eccentricity, and find evidence for a postreceptoral locus for the observed loss in sensitivity. As shown before, observers' sensitivity to green was lower than to red in the periphery, although the magnitude of this effect differed across observers. These results suggest that the asymmetry in peripheral sensitivity occurs at a postreceptoral site, possibly a cortical one. In addition, noise masking was used to determine the cone inputs to the peripheral color mechanisms. The masked detection contours indicate that the red and green mechanisms in the periphery respond to the linear difference of approximately equally weighted L- and M-cone contrasts, just as they do in the fovea. Thus, if the midget retinal ganglion system is responsible for red/green color perception in the fovea, it is likely to be responsible at 18-deg eccentricity as well.
Copper precipitation during continuous cooling and isothermal aging of a710-type steels

Precipitation in copper-containing A710 (also referred to as HSLA-80) and modified-A710 steels was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Isothermal aging of as-quenched specimens at 675 °C produced e-copper precipitates located primarily at α-iron matrix dislocations. The precipitates exhibited multiple variants of an orientation relationship (OR) consistent with that reported by Kurdjumov and Sachs, fine fault formation, and associated streaking in electron diffraction patterns. For reaustenitized and continuously cooled specimens, the primary precipitation event was associated with interphase precipitation of copper at ferrite/austenite interfaces. Interphase precipitates frequently displayed ORs other than that reported by Kurdjumov and Sachs, although a unique crystallographic variant was observed within any one region of interphase precipitation, faults were observed infrequently, and streaking was not observed in diffraction patterns. At high temperatures during cooling, precipitate-free ferrite formed, whereas at lower temperatures, nucleation of copper precipitates occurred at ferrite/austenite interfaces for crystals of polygonal ferrite and Widmanstatten ferrite. This latter feature precludes the formation of Widmanstatten ferritevia a displacive mechanism. Interphase precipitation was not observed for granular ferrite or acicular ferrite. Less-common precipitation events during continuous cooling included the formation of AIN and CuS.
BAYESIAN INFERENCE FOR COMPLEX AND QUATERNIONIC TWO-LEVEL QUANTUM SYSTEMS

Abstract Jeffreys' approach for generating reparameterization-invariant prior distributions is applied to the three-dimensional convex set of complex two-level quantum systems. For this purpose, such systems are identified with bivariate complex normal distributions over the vectors of two-dimensional complex Hilbert space. The trivariate prior obtained is improper or non-normalizable over the convex set. However, its three bivariate marginals are — through a limiting procedure — normalizable to probability distributions and are, consequently, suitable for the Bayesian inference of two-level systems. Analogous results hold for the five-dimensional convex set of quaternionic two-level systems. The complex univariate and quaternionic trivariate marginals of the improper priors are uniform distributions. The bivariate marginals in the two cases are opposite in character.
Mode of high temperature injury to wheat during grain development

High temperature stress adversely affects wheat growth in many important production regions, but the mode of injury is unclear. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Newton) was grown under controlled conditions to determine the relative magnitude and sequences of responses of source and sink processes to high temperature stress during grain development. Regimes of 25°C day/15°C night, 30°C day/20°C night, and 35°C day/25°C night from 5 days after anthesis to maturity differentially affected source and sink processes. High temperatures accelerated the normal decline in viable leaf blade area and photosynthetic activities per unit leaf area. Electron transport, as measured by Hill reaction activity, declined earlier and faster than other photosynthetic processes at the optimum temperature of 25/15 °C and at elevated temperatures. Changes in RUBP carboxylase activities were similar in direction but smaller in magnitude than changes in photosynthesic rate. Increased protease activity during senscence was markedly accentuated by high temperature stress. Specific protease activity increased 4-fold at 25/15 °C and 28-fold at 35/25 °C from 0 to 21 days after initiation of temperature treatments. Grain-filling rate decreased from the lowest to the highest temperature, but the change was smaller than the decrease in grain-filling duration at the same temperatures. We concluded that a major effect of high temperature is acceleration of senescence, including cessation of vegetative and reproductive growth, deterioration of photosynthetic activities, and degradation of proteinaceous constituents.
Interactions between stimulants and depressants on schedule-controlled behavior

Abstract Interactions between d-amphetamine and diazepam, d-amphetamine and methaqualone, and cocaine and diazepam were examined on one-hour daily sessions of an FI-30 schedule of food-reinforced behavior in rats. Administered singly, d-amphetamine and cocaine increased overall responding at one intermediate dose (1 and 10 mg/kg, respectively) and decreased response rates and reinforcements at the highest doses (3 and 10 for d-amphetamine; 18 and 30 for cocaine). Diazepam caused a dose-related increase in response rate from 0.3 to 3 mg/kg, less of an increase at 10 mg/kg, and no increase or a decrease at 30 mg/kg. Methaqualone administered singly in doses from 1.0 to 30 mg/kg caused only a dose-related decrease in response rate end, at the highest doses, also decreased the number of reinforcements. Combining a fixed dose of 0.3 mg/kg d-amphetamine with various doses of diazepam did not alter behavior from diazepam alone except at 30 mg/kg; at this dose combination the diazepam-alone decreases in response rate and reinforcements were antagonized. The combination of 1.0 mg/kg d-amphetamine with the dose-range of diazepam generally potentiated the rate increasing effects of the drugs given singly. When d-amphetamine was combined with lower doses of methaqualone the rate-increasing effects of the former drug were potentiated. Combining higher doses of this depressant with d-amphetamine hardly affected rate as related to the methaqualone-alone decrease, but the combination did increase number of reinforcements earned. A low dose (3 mg/kg) of cocaine antagonized the increase in response rate by 1 and 3 mg/kg of diazepam, while a higher dose (10 mg/kg) of cocaine enhanced the increase in rate by 0.1 and 10 mg/kg diazepam. The results support other studies that interactions between these drug classes are complex, poorly dose-related, and not predictable on the basis of the effects of the agents administered singly.
Magnetic Susceptibility of Nickel and Cobalt Chloride Solutions

The Magnetic Susceptibilities and Magneton Numbers of Nickel and Cobalt in Aqueous Solutions of their Chloride Salts.---The susceptibilities of solutions have been found by a modified form of the "Kelvin-Wills" method. Data is given for nickel chloride solutions ranging in molar concentration from 0.001000 to 3.765 and for cobalt chloride solutions from 0.001018 to 2.0353, for field ranges of 3,000 to 14,000 gausess for the lower concentrations and 3,000 to 10,000 for the higher. All measurements were made at a temperature of 20\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} C.The susceptibilities of the salts have been computed from the susceptibilities of the solutions by application of the Wiedemann law, and the susceptibilities of the metals obtained by extending the Wiedemann relation to the salts.The susceptibilities of the solutions measured were found to be independent of the field strength throughout the ranges of field used, and the susceptibilities of the salts, both nickel and cobalt, were found to be independent of the concentrations of the solutions. The value found for the molecular susceptibility of nickel is 0.004423 and of cobalt 0.010362. These values give upon application of Weiss's equation 16.0 and 24.5 magnetons respectively for the nickel and cobalt atoms.Susceptibility of Air.---An auxiliary result obtained in the experiments is that the volume susceptibility of air at 20\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} C. and average conditions as regards pressure and moisture extending over a number of months is 0.0288 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$.
What accelerator mass spectrometry can do for solar physics

Abstract We review some of the empirical aspects of the solar magnetic activity and the convective dynamo models developed to account for the magnetic cycle. Alternative hypotheses which have recently emerged are sketched. Possible applications of accelerator mass spectrometry to solar physics and the important questions that proxy data on past solar activity might answer are evaluated.
The Paradox of the Transatlantic Security Project: From Taming European Power to Dividing It

The transatlantic security project — with its central focus on the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) — was by many accounts a phenomenon that occurred because of the bipolarity of the international system during the Cold War. The main contention of this article is that the foundation of the transatlantic security project was built on a paradox. The transatlantic security project may have been the right response to the security challenges of the Cold War, but the project, as conceived originally, was not able to meet the new challenges brought by the fall of the Soviet Union. With the Cold War gone, the nature of the power relations between the main pillars of the transatlantic relationship, the US and the EU, started to change. Therefore, what best defines the idiosyncratic existence of the transatlantic space de notre jours? In order to answer this question, this article is structured as follows. First, I analyse the paradox of the transatlantic security project. I then explore the relationship between the newly created EU institutions and NATO. Third, I claim that the Clinton administration tried to solve the transatlantic paradox by taming European power, that is, by making efforts to tie the EU's security institutions into NATO. By contrast, the Bush II presidency has tried to divide European power. I conclude by arguing that references to the transatlantic relationship, as to a monolithic bloc — a way in which it was conceived and referred to during the Cold War — no longer reflect the new transatlantic reality. A new transatlantic security space has been emerging; a more fragmented space — a space invested with a new dynamic, in which actors' security and geo-political concerns have started to diverge.
Siding with vinyl: Record Store Day and the branding of independent music

In response to the digitization and corporatization of the record industry, Record Store Day brands music consumption as an ethical decision, coordinating the release of exclusive vinyl records to independent, locally owned retailers and framing an engineered collectors’ market as an annual holiday. In this article, I evaluate Record Store Day as an ambivalent brand culture – a perspective highlighting the affective and relational components of brands without privileging exploitation or authenticity. At once, Record Store Day is a commercial platform for the development of media ideologies and political subject positions on independence and a capitalist operation that compartmentalizes its corporate intermediaries and offloads financial risk onto small stores. Record Store Day’s success suggests that ambivalent brand cultures provide a productive framework through which to analyse the political and cultural possibilities of media formats and independent retail.
Assessing the suitability of intervention sites for quality improvement studies in emergency departments.

Objectives: As an initial step in disseminating an emergency department (ED)-based quality improvement program (QIP) to improve antibiotic prescribing for patients with acute respiratory infections, the authors conducted a nationwide survey to assess the value and feasibility of the QIP. Methods: Directors of EDs at 119 Veterans Administration hospitals and 160 non–Veterans Administration hospitals (identified based on the existence of accredited emergency medicine training programs and/or participation in an existing ED-based research network) were surveyed. The survey included questions on the current existence of an antibiotic QIP in the ED, enthusiasm for an antibiotic QIP program, and the existence of physical features in the ED that would support the QIP intervention. Results: Overall, 77% of ED directors reported they did not have an existing antibiotic QIP and 84% reported they would benefit from having such a program (either new or in addition to their current program). In addition, 63% of respondents indicated that improving antibiotic prescribing was an intermediate to high priority in the ED. Forty-five percent reported that they did not have a suitable location for a key component of the intervention (an interactive computer kiosk), and 26% reported that they could not display educational posters on the walls of the examination room. Conclusions: Many EDs identify barriers to implementing an antibiotic QIP. Perceived and real barriers are important factors to consider in translating successful QIPs into routine clinical practice. Key words: emergency medical services; data collection; quality improvement. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2005; 12:667–670.
Assessing Assessment: Examining the Assessment Plans at 50 Political Science Departments

This paper represents a broad survey study of assessment models used in political science programs at 50 universities and colleges across the country. We examine the most frequently used assessment activities and then investigate whether differences between institutions is a function of institutional characteristics. What are the techniques currently employed by departments across the country?
Activation of human eosinophils in vitro by respiratory syncytial virus.

ABSTRACT: To determine the nature of the interaction between viruses and eosinophils, normodense eosinophils were separated from the blood of healthy volunteers and incubated in vitro with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). After incubation for 2 h with the virus, 29.5 ± 15.8% of the eosinophils demonstrated specific binding of the virus to the cell membrane, as detected by fluorescent staining with an anti-RSV MAb. Superoxide production and leukotriene C4 release were measured as determinants of cell activation. Using a cytochrome c reduction assay, superoxide could be detected in the supernatant 30 min after exposure to RSV. Maximal release was reached at 3 h postexposure (5.88 ± 2.19 nmol cytochrome c reduction/5 × 105 cells). The virus-induced superoxide generation varied in magnitude among different subjects and ranged from 0.6 to 11.5 nmol cytochrome c reduction/5 × 105 cells. RSV also appeared to prime eosinophils to the effects of other known cell activators, as demonstrated by an increase in superoxide production upon subsequent stimulation of RSV-primed cells with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (21.4 ± 5.8 versus 9.4 ± 2.7 nmol cytochrome c reduction/5 × 105 cells for primed and unprimed cells, respectively) (p < 0.04). RSV did not directly induce leukotriene C4 release from the eosinophils but primed the cells to exhibit a more vigorous response on subsequent challenge with the calcium ionophore A23187 (9.16 ± 1.04 versus 4.2 μ1.3 ng leukotriene C4/1 × 106 cells) (p < 0.005). These findings indicate that RSV can activate or prime eosinophils to release various inflammatory mediators. Such virus-induced effects on inflammatory cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of RSV bronchiolitis and may also be critical for the development of persistent airway hyperreactivity after viral infections.
Significance of epileptiform discharges in patients without epilepsy in the community.

Summary: Purpose: To determine the frequency of recording epileptiform discharges (EDs) in patients without epilepsy in the community and to assess their risk of seizure disorders subsequently developing. Methods: We identified all outpatient and inpatient EEGs that were recorded in persons residing in Rochester, Minnesota, from 1979 to 1988. Patients with a history of unprovoked seizure disorders before the index EEG were excluded. Periodic lateralized EDs (PLEDs) were not evaluated, because of their well-established association with seizure disorders. Results: Five hundred twenty-one patients in the community had no history of unprovoked seizure disorders before their EEG. Sixty-four (12.3%) patients had EDs; neither isolated unprovoked seizure nor epilepsy developed during 230.8 person-years of follow-up. Forty-seven (73.4%) of the 64 patients had acute or progressive cerebral disorders when EEG detected EDs. Seizures that were acutely provoked by the underlying disorder (enlarging brain tumor, cerebral infarct, or bilateral subdural hematoma, in one patient each) subsequently developed in three (6.3%) of the 64 patients. Seizures of any type did not develop in the 17 patients without acute or progressive cerebral disorders. Conclusions: In a community setting, EDs are sometimes observed in patients without epilepsy. However, nearly three fourths have underlying acute or progressive cerebral disorders. Acutely provoked seizures may develop in a small proportion of patients. Although none of our patients developed isolated unprovoked seizures or epilepsy, a longer period of follow-up is needed to determine their risks relative to the general population.
Studies on the Composition of the Thyroid Psammoma Bodies of Chronically Iodine-Deficient Rats

Psammoma bodies (PB) were isolated and separated from soluble thyroglobulin by differential centrifugation of thyroid homogenates of rats fed an iodine-deficient diet >15 months. Twentyfour hr after radioiodine injection in vivo, the PB contained approximately 2% of the administered dose. This remained constant up to 3–4 weeks after labeling, even after large doses of PTU or 127I− were added to the diet. In contrast, radioactivity in soluble Tgb disappeared rapidly. The radioactivity in both the soluble Tgb and PB was >95% proteinbound within 24 hr after labeling. Both PB and soluble Tgb were 95% hydrolyzed at pH 8.5 with 0.5% pronase or 2% pancreatin. At low concentrations of pancreatin, PB were more readily hydrolyzed than soluble Tgb. Digestion with pepsin at acid pH, presumably more comparable to in vivo hydrolysis, was more efficient for Tgb than for PB. MIT*/DIT* and T3*/T4* ratios were lower in PB than in soluble Tgb, consistent with a higher 127I concentration in the former. Total iodothyronine* c...
A Market-Based Adaptation for Resolving Competing Needs for Scarce Resources

The dynamic nature of many real-world domains (e.g., military, emergency first response and hurricane relief, etc) requires adaptive resource allocation to respond to changes in the environment that trigger additional resource requirements. Since the total resources are limited, there are often conflicts among various tasks regarding their resource needs. Thus, resources must be reallocated in order to maximize global utility for the current situation. This problem is further complicated when scarce resources are owned by distributed teams, each of which needs to allocate resources among tasks assigned to them, because each team has limited information about the other teams' resources and states. In this paper, we propose a market-based approach that uses an agent-based auction mechanism to enable teams to communicate and coordinate their utility information about possibly competing resource needs. As a result, the teams can collaboratively assess trade-offs among competing needs to allocate resources efficiently.
The positive definite completion problem revisited

Abstract In [R. Grone, C.R. Johnson, E. Sa, H. Wolkowicz, Positive definite completions of partial Hermitian matrices, Linear Algebra Appl. 58 (1984) 109–124] the positive definite (semi-) completion problem in which the underlying graph is chordal was solved. For the positive definite case, the process was constructive and the completion was obtained by completing the partial matrix an entry at a time. For the positive semidefinite case, they obtained completions of a particular sequence of partial positive definite matrices with the same underlying graph and noted that there is a convergent subsequence of these completions that converges to the desired completion. Here, in the chordal case, we provide a constructive solution, based entirely on matrix/graph theoretic methods, to the positive (semi-)definite completion problem. Our solution associates a specific tree (called the “clique tree” [C.R. Johnson, M. Lundquist, Matrices with chordal inverse zero-patterns, Linear and Multilinear Algebra 36 (1993) 1–17]) with the (chordal) graph of the given partial positive (semi-)definite matrix. This tree structure allows us to complete the matrix a “block at a time” as opposed to an “entry at a time” (as in Grone et al. (1984) for the positive definite case). In Grone et al. (1984), using complex analytic techniques, the completion for the positive definite case was shown to be the unique determinant maximizing completion and was shown to be the unique completion that has zeros in its inverse in the positions corresponding to the unspecified entries of the partial matrix. Here, we show the same using only matrix/graph theoretic tools.
Nitrous oxide and isoflurane are synergistic with respect to amplitude and latency effects on sensory evoked potentials

Combinations of anesthetic agents are frequently employed to produce the desired clinical effect. No systematic study has been conducted on the effect of the combination of nitrous oxide with a potent inhalational agent such as isoflurane on sensory evoked responses. Median nerve somatosensory evoked responses from the cervical and cortical regions (SSEP), auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and flash visual evoked responses (VEP) were tested in baboons. The latency and amplitude of the major response peaks were recorded at five proportionate mixtures of isoflurane (I) and nitrous oxide (N2O) (0.8% I only, 0.6% I/20% N2O, 0.4% I/40% N2O, 0.2% I/60% N2O, and 79% N2O only). A similar set of experiments were also conducted with 0.8% isoflurane and 0.6% halothane. All data were normalized to 0.8% isoflurane only and Dunnett’s method of analysis used to determine which mixtures deviated from the reference values with 0.8% isoflurane. Several combinations of isoflurane with nitrous oxide produced increases in latency (ABR: wave V, VEP, SSEP cervical and cortical) and decreases in amplitude (ABR: amplitude ratio V/I, VEP, cortical SSEP) from that expected if the effects were additive. No deviations were observed with combinations of isoflurane and halothane. These studies are consistent with drug synergy when isoflurane is mixed with nitrous oxide. This suggests that if these agents are considered for anesthesia when sensory evoked responses are to be monitored that the combination of these agents may produce more amplitude and latency changes than expected from a proportionate mixture of the individual agents.