cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimizing the impact of alcohol and drug screening and early intervention in a high-risk population receiving services in New York City sexual health clinics: A process and outcome evaluation of Project Renew.

Abstract Unhealthy substance use is associated with increased rates of STDs, including HIV. Within three high-risk New York City (NYC) sexual health clinics between 2008 and 2012 (n = 146,657), 17% of patients screened positive for a current SUD but only 5.3% ever received prior treatment. The goal of Project Renew was to expand the reach of substance use early intervention services within and across sexual health clinics citywide and decrease substance use, poor mental health, and risky sexual behavior. To accomplish this goal, Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), an evidence-based substance use early intervention model, was implemented in all eight NYC sexual health clinics February 2012–January 2015. Clinic patients were screened for substance misuse using the AUDIT/DAST-10, and those who screened positive were eligible for on-site brief intervention. Overall, 130,597 substance misuse screenings were conducted (66,989, or 51%, positive), and 17,474 on-site brief interventions and 1238 referrals were provided (not unique to individual patients). A 10% sample of 14,709 unique patients who screened positive were interviewed using a federal data collection tool at baseline and six months later to assess changes in substance use, sexual risk behaviors, mental health, and health status (n = 1328). At six-month follow-up, patients reported reduced substance use, less sexual activity, improved overall health, and fewer days of depression and anxiety compared to measures at baseline (p
Bases for Banach Spaces

Throughout this chapter (and the next two) the basic space X will be a Banach space. According to the three most common used topologies, there are bases for the strong, the weak and the weak* topologies for X, whose definitions are given in the first paragraph. It is shown that every basis for X is a Schauder basis, a basis with continuous linear coefficient functionals. The next paragraph shows under which conditions a biorthogonal system is a basis for X, the equivalence of strong and weak Schauder bases for X and relations between bases for X and bases for the adjoint space X*. Three paragraphs are devoted to retro-, shrinking, boundedly complete, unconditional, absolutely convergent and uniform bases. Some applications of summability methods on the theory of bases are given in the sixth section and in the last paragraph bases for the special spaces c0, lp(l ≤ p < ∞), C[0,1], A L[0,l] (l ≤ p < ∞), L2[0,2π] and A 2 are considered.
Vectorization Methods Development for a New Version of the KENO-V.a Criticality Safety Code

The object of this research project is to develop a vectorized version of the KENO-V. a criticality safety code, benchmark it against the original version of the code, and determine its speedup factor for various classes of problems. The current generation of supercomputers is equipped with vector processors that allow the same operation to be simultaneously performed on a string of data. Unfortunately, the Monte Carlo algorithm used in KENO-V.a, which tracks particles individually, cannot utilize these vector processors. A new Monte Carlo algorithm that would efficiently utilize the vector processors currently used in computers is needed. The algorithm developed for the vectorized version of KENO-V. a is an event-based, stack-driven, all-zone, implicit-stack Monte Carlo algorithm. This algorithm divides the particles into one of four main stacks: free-flight, inward crossing, outward crossing, or collision. A fifth stack, kill, contains all particles that have either leaked from the system or have been terminated by Russian roulette. This approach minimizes data transfer between stacks and optimizes the vector length, thus maximizing the speedup. For the 25 benchmark problems, speedup factors ranging from 1.8 to 5.7 relative to the optimized scalar version of KENO-V.a were obtained. Problem geometry, material composition, and the numbermore » of histories per generation - all have significant effects on the speedup factor of a problem.« less
Metabolic Bone Disorders

Metabolic bone diseases are a group of disorders caused by alterations in the chemical milieu of the body. In almost all cases, the end result is decreased skeletal mass. This is known as osteopenia or, in its more pronounced form, osteoporosis. Severe osteoporosis can lead to structural failure of the skeleton. This concept of organ failure is just as valid in the skeletal system as it is in the heart, the kidney, etc. Early stages of metabolic bone disease may be difficult to diagnose because 30% of the bone mass must be removed before the change can be appreciated on plain radiographs. Therefore, patients may be evaluated with a DEXA scan, a very sensitive radiographic study which determines bone loss. Metabolic bone disease may be divided into four categories: focal osteoporosis, specific endocrine abnormalities, primary osteoporosis, and secondary osteoporosis. Focal osteoporosis results from disuse of the skeleton. This may be of a single extremity or it may be of the entire skeleton. Traumatic disorders or joint disease may lead to non-weight bearing, and this may cause decrease in bone mass. Weight bearing and the use of the skeleton is necessary to preserve healthy bones. This is mediated by electric potentials which are generated when the bone is deformed during use. Total osteoporosis may result from prolonged bed rest or weightless environments.
Research on Differentiated Anti-stealing Electricity Technology for Power Consumption

This paper presents some key technologies of differentiated anti-stealing electricity and its application. Collection of electricity data is implemented by the electric energy data acquisition system (EEDAS) firstly. The indicator evaluation system for power consumption and the evaluation model of user power consumption have been built. Then credit rating of electricity customer can be determined by the evaluation model. Online monitoring and video forensic system for anti-stealing electricity and comprehensive evaluation system of stealing electricity are introduced and applied. The application result which shows the comprehensive evaluation system can improve the efficiency of the anti-stealing electricity and reduce the workload of manual investigation for the power supply enterprise.
Simultaneous Quantification of Hepatitis C Virus Envelope Glycoproteins E1 and E2 by Dual-Color Fluorescence Immunoblot Analysis.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) envelope glycoproteins, E1 and E2, are crucial for HCV assembly and entry, and are promising vaccine antigens. However, they are challenging to study because of technical difficulties in protein production and in quality control for protein folding and glycosylation. To study E1 and E2 in different experimental systems, e.g. infected cells, virus culture, virus-like particles, and clinical samples, a standardized method to accurately quantify the glycoproteins will be essential for most research projects. Here we outline a sensitive assay based on dual-color fluorescence immunoblot and the Odyssey imaging system to detect and quantify HCV E1 and E2 glycoproteins either using a purified E1E2 complex, or an engineered protein standard containing E1 and E2 at equal molar ratio. The method is capable of simultaneously detecting and quantifying as little as 7 ng of E1 and 5 ng of E2 in HCV pseudoparticles, and will be useful to quantify E1 and E2 from a wide variety of samples.
Effect of post-application irrigation on fungicide movement and efficacy against Magnaporthiopsis poae

Abstract Management of many crown and root diseases of turfgrasses includes the use of fungicides. The physicochemical properties of the fungicides used vary greatly, but most have low mobility and are not phloem mobile, which results in little active ingredient present in the basal and underground structures of turfgrass plants. Two studies were conducted in a laboratory setting to determine the effects of post-application irrigation amounts (0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.3, and 2.5 cm) on the distribution of 14C myclobutanil and 14C tebuconazole in a soil profile of 90% sand and 10% peat moss by volume. In addition, growth chamber experiments were conducted to examine the effect of post-application irrigation amount on azoxystrobin efficacy against summer patch (Magnaporthiopsis poae) in ‘Penn A-4’ creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). The creeping bentgrass was treated with azoxystrobin and immediately irrigated with 0, 0.25, 0.3, or 0.6 cm of irrigation. Lastly, an in vitro fungicide sensitivity assay was conducted on three M. poae isolates to determine their sensitivities to two succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs), three demethylation inhibitors (DMIs), and four strobilurins (QoIs) to determine if fungicide concentrations in the soil profile reached levels high enough to suppress fungal growth. In both 14C experiments, more than 54% of the 14C was retained in the top 5 cm of soil for all irrigation treatments. For the 14C myclobutanil experiment, lysimeters treated with 2.5 cm of post-application irrigation resulted in 3.9% of 14C recovered in the 7.6–10.2 cm sampling depth, which was higher than all other irrigation treatments. Post-application irrigation at 2.5 cm in the 14C tebuconazole experiment yielded 6.3% of the 14C at the 7.6–10.2 cm sampling depth and 2.3% at the 10.2–12.7 cm sampling depth—recoveries at both depths were higher with 2.5 cm of irrigation than all other irrigation treatments. No 14C was detected below 12.7 cm for either experiment. Less disease was observed when azoxystrobin received post-application irrigation. Both 0.25 and 0.3 cm of post-application irrigation increased turf quality compared to no irrigation; moreover, 0.25 and 0.6 cm of post-application irrigation increased root length compared to no irrigation. In the in vitro fungicide sensitivity assay, isolates of M. poae were sensitive to all fungicides with only minor sensitivity to the SDHIs. In general, isolates were most sensitive to the QoIs with some variability in isolate sensitivities noted. Isolates of M. poae are sensitive to commonly used fungicides and efficacy is enhanced by post-application irrigation due to improved fungicide distribution into the soil profile.
Ambiguity aversion in career decision-making: Its longitudinal prediction for college career outcomes

Although previous research has revealed the role of ambiguity aversion in the career decision-making process, little is known about how ambiguity aversion predicts subsequent career decision-making outcomes. Using a sample of U.S. college students (n = 371), the current study examined a longitudinal (3 waves) mediation model in which ambiguity aversion predicts subsequent college career outcomes through commitment anxiety. The results showed that ambiguity aversion at the beginning of college negatively predicted major and life satisfaction and job search self-efficacy at the end of college. Additionally, the results showed that commitment anxiety at the end of the first semester mediated the link from ambiguity aversion to subsequent major and life satisfaction and job search self-efficacy. Therefore, the study demonstrates the importance of ambiguity management for career outcomes among college students. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed together with the limitations and suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Regimes of Patienthood: Developing an Intersectional Concept to Theorize Illness Experiences

In this paper, we develop the concept regimes of patienthood . Regimes of patienthood highlights the micro and macro dimensions of illness, paying close attention to how the interplay between the two creates expectations and points of intervention for people when they are ill. Such expectations may vary across time, place, and social position (e.g., age, class, ethnicity, gender, race, sexuality). Regimes of patienthood are always regimes of power and resistance, where the forms of resistance may vary based on individuals’ intersectional positions. We draw on two cases—a study of 45 mostly white, middle class adults living with autoimmune illnesses and a study of 20 Black women living with advanced cancer—to examine one dimension of regimes of patienthood—control. Although a number of social positions, such as age and race, co-produce illness experiences, we focus on three—class, insurance status, and gender—that are particularly salient in our data in relation to control. Such a move illustrates the theoretical power of regimes of patienthood for science and technology studies (STS).
JIT Leaks: Inducing Timing Side Channels through Just-In-Time Compilation

Side-channel vulnerabilities in software are caused by an observable imbalance in resource usage across different program paths. We show that just-in-time (JIT) compilation, which is crucial to the runtime performance of modern interpreted languages, can introduce timing side channels in cases where the input distribution to the program is non-uniform. Such timing channels can enable an attacker to infer potentially sensitive information about predicates on the program input.We define three attack models under which such side channels are harnessable and five vulnerability templates to detect susceptible code fragments and predicates. We also propose profiling algorithms to generate the representative statistical information necessary for the attacker to perform accurate inference.We systematically evaluate the strength of these JIT-based side channels on the java.lang.String, java.lang.Math, and java.math.BigInteger classes from the Java standard library, and on the JavaScript built-in objects String, Math, and Array. We carry out our evaluation using two widely adopted, open-source, JIT-enhanced runtime engines for the Java and JavaScript languages: the Oracle HotSpot Java Virtual Machine and the Google V8 JavaScript engine, respectively.Finally, we demonstrate a few examples of JIT-based side channels in the Apache Shiro security framework and the GraphHopper route planning server, and show that they are observable over the public Internet.
Who Belongs? The Determinants of Selective Membership into the National Bureau of Economic Research

We examine the determinants of membership into the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) using data from all tenured and tenure-track economists at R1 universities in the United States. We construct an annual panel of employment, research productivity, NBER membership, and connectedness to NBER members. Using survival analysis, we show that conditional on controls, the hazard of becoming an NBER member is lower for men. Membership is highly dependent on top-five publications rather than total publications or citations, particularly so for women. Networks play a crucial role in determining NBER membership—especially having same-sex colleagues and advisors who are NBER members.
Targeted drug delivery to solid tumors using thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptide macromolecular drug carriers

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 3083 Achieving a therapeutic concentration of anti-cancer drugs in solid tumors while minimizing systemic toxicity remains a critical problem in the treatment of cancer. We hypothesize that a thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) macromolecular drug carrier will actively target solid tumors when combined with externally focused hyperthermia. ELPs are thermally responsive biopolymers composed of a Val-Pro-Gly-Xaa-Gly pentapeptide repeat, that undergo a sharp inverse temperature phase transition in response to an increase in temperature; they are soluble at temperatures below their transition temperature (Tt) but become insoluble and aggregate above their Tt. The ELP drug delivery strategy is to systemically administer an ELP with a Tt of ∼40 °C and heat the tumor with externally focused hyperthermia (∼42 °C) to selectively induce the phase transition in the tumor. The objective of this study was to compare the tumor accumulation of an active thermally responsive ELP (ELPactive) to a passive thermally insensitive ELP (ELPpassive) control. In order to accomplish this objective we have developed two methods: a radiolabeling method to internally and homogeneously label the ELP backbone with 14C for use in degradation, pharmacokinetic and biodistribution studies and a method to quantify the vascular clearance and extravascular accumulation of ELPs using the dorsal fold window chamber and intravital laser scanning confocal microscopy (ILCSM). The degradation of [14C]ELP in PBS was undetectable over 72 hours, but when incubated with fresh mouse serum the [14C]ELP was degraded at a rate of ∼6.5%/day. This degradation rate further increased to 4.5%/hr when administered iv to mice. The [14C]ELP exhibited a characteristic distribution and elimination response for iv injected macromolecules with initial (t1/2α) and terminal half-life (t1/2β) of 7.32 min and 8.37 hr respectively. Biodistribution studies after administration of [14C]ELP (1 hr) indicated that ELPactive accumulated ∼2-fold greater in heated tumors than ELPpassive (P-value < 0.05). Autoradiography of tumor sections revealed a more homogeneous tumor distribution for ELPactive than the two controls: ELPactive with no heat and ELPpassive with heat. ILSCM verified that in heated tumors ELPactive is concentrated in adherent vascular aggregates, which are greater than 10X the vascular concentration. Upon cession of the hyperthermia treatment, the vascular ELP aggregates dissolved into the plasma, increased the flux of ELPactive across the tumor endothelium and led to a significantly greater extravascular accumulation of ELPactive than ELPpassive (P-value < 0.05). In conclusion, ELPactive accumulated in solid tumors that are treated with mild hyperthermia significantly greater than ELPpassive.
Time domain coupling to a device on a printed circuit board inside a cavity

[1] Time domain coupling from an incident plane wave pulse to a device on a printed circuit board inside of a metallic cavity enclosure is calculated and studied, using an efficient hybrid method. The cavity has an exterior feed wire that penetrates through an aperture and makes direct contact with the printed circuit board trace that leads to the device. The signal level at the input port of the device is calculated and studied. The incident electromagnetic field is assumed to be a time domain plane wave in the form of a pulse, and two pulse shapes (a Gaussian pulse and an exponentially damped sinusoidal pulse) are studied. Results show how different pulse characteristics produce different types of signals at the input to the device. The time domain results are validated by comparing with simple expressions based on the resonant frequencies and the quality factor of the cavity.
Complexity of random problems

The notion of random problems has been introduced to capture the difficulty of modeling natural pattern recognition problems. These problems do not have a concise effective definition. We discuss the heuristic and formal aspects of random problems, and quantify their difficulty through a number of complexity measures. The relations between these measures provide lower and upper bounds on the cost of the system that solves a given random problem. Finally, we address the role of learning by example in solving random problems from a theoretical and practical points of view.
Personalities in believable agents: a goal‐based model and its realization with an integrated planning architecture

Believable agents (also known as ‘lifelike computer characters’, ‘synthetic agents’, or ‘virtual actors’) are computer systems built with the purpose of provoking in those who interact with them the attribution of human-like mental attitudes, like desires, beliefs, emotions; they can be used in several types of interactive applications, such as human-computer interfaces, entertainment, computer-based instructions, interactive arts. This work addresses two fundamental research issues concerning believable agents: how to model their personality, and how to realize personality-driven behaviors through a suitable software architecture. Personality, intended as a coherent pattern of behavior that characterizes each agent and makes it clearly distinguishable from others, is generally considered a crucial feature to make an agent more believable and appealing to the user. The model proposed in this work, inspired by psychological and artificial intelligence theories about personality and agency, is focused on the motivational aspects of personality. It is based on the concept of ‘General Goals’ (G-GOALS), that represent abstract states or events an agent recurrently attempts to achieve and maintain through its behavior, and on goal-based preferences over actions and plans, determined by how the latter can affect the GGOALS through their ‘side-effects’. The model is instantiated into the behavior of help-giving, thereby producing personalities like the ‘altruist’, the ‘selfish’, the ‘normative’, the ‘spiteful’, and the ‘suspicious’, which
A prospective analysis of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in white and black prepubertal females in the southeastern United States

Background : Little is known regarding changes in vitamin D status among children living in the southern United States and whether these changes are race-dependent. Objectives : The aims were to prospectively assess plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in prepubertal black and white girls (n = 83) living in northeast Georgia and to determine whether 25(OH)D concentrations change with increasing age. Design : Plasma samples were obtained annually over a time frame of 1-7 y, and 25(OH)D concentrations were assessed by using radioimmunoassay. Percentage body fat (%BF) and fat-free soft tissue (FFST) mass were measured by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Linear mixed-effects models were used with height, weight, body mass index percentile, %BF, FFST, pubertal stage, dietary intake, physical activity, and socioeconomic status as covariates. Results : Plasma 25(OH)D values <80 nmol/L were observed in 75% of the participants. Plasma 25(OH)D values (analyzed on the natural logarithm scale) decreased with increasing age (P = 0.02), independent of race. Plasma 25(OH)D values were higher in whites than in blacks (P < 0.0001), and the amount of this difference depended on season (P < 0.001 for all seasons). A significant negative association between FFST and 25(OH)D, beyond the effects of age, race, and season (P = 0.007), was observed. The effects of age, race, and season on 25(OH)D remained significant when dietary calcium, vitamin D, and physical activity were used as covariates; however, after adjustment for FFST, only the effects of race and season remained. Conclusions : White girls living in the southeastern United States have higher 25(OH)D concentrations than do black girls, and the magnitude of this difference depends on the season. Decreases in 25(OH)D with age are associated with increases in FFST. Whether FFST requires additional vitamin D during growth remains to be determined.
Anomalous pressure dependence of magnetic ordering temperature in Tb revealed by resistivity measurements to 141 GPa: Comparison with Gd and Dy

In previous studies, the pressure dependence of the magnetic ordering temperature To of Dy was found to exhibit a sharp increase above its volume collapse pressure of 73 GPa, appearing to reach temperatures well above ambient at 157 GPa. In a search for a second such lanthanide, electrical resistivity measurements were carried out on neighboring Tb to 141 GPa over the temperature range 3.8–295 K. Below Tb’s volume collapse pressure of 53 GPa, the pressure dependence To(P ) mirrors that of both Dy and Gd. However, at higher pressures To(P ) for Tb becomes highly anomalous. This result, together with the very strong suppression of superconductivity by dilute Tb ions in Y, suggests that extreme pressure transports Tb into an unconventional magnetic state with an anomalously high magnetic ordering temperature.
Managing Information Flows on Discretionary Access Control Models

In 1989, Brewer and Nash (BN) presented a fascinating idea, called Chinese wall security policy model, for commercial security. Their idea was based on the analysis of the notion, conflict of interest binary relation (CIR). Unfortunately, their formalization did not fully catch the appropriate properties of CIR. In this paper, we present a theory based on granulation that has captured the essence of BN's intuitive idea. The results are more than the Chinese wall models: malicious Trojan horses in certain DAC model (discretionary access control) can be controlled or confined.
Division-Specific Differences in Bacterial Community Assembly of Two Alkaline Hot Spring Ecosystems from Yellowstone National Park

A fundamental issue in ecology is whether communities are random assemblages or, alternatively, whether there are rules that determine which combinations of taxa can co-occur. For microbial systems, in particular, the question of whether taxonomic groups exhibit differences in community organization remains unresolved but is critical for our understanding of community structure and function. Here, we used presence–absence matrices derived from bar-coded pyrosequencing data to evaluate the assembly patterns of eight bacterial divisions distributed along two Yellowstone National Park hot spring outflow channels. Four divisions (Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides) exhibited less co-occurrence than expected by chance, with phototrophic taxa showing the strongest evidence for nonrandom community structure. We propose that both differences in environmental tolerance and competitive interactions within divisions contribute to these nonrandom assembly patterns. The higher degree of nonrandom structure observed for phototrophic taxa compared with the other divisions may be due in part to greater overlap in resource usage, as has been previously proposed for plant communities.
The R144W Mutation in Mouse Cardiac Troponin T Attenuates Crossbridge Recruitment and Detachment Kinetics

A missense mutation, R141W, in the strong tropomyosin-binding region of human cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Previous studies of steady-state contractile function suggest that DCM-related mutations in cTnT attenuate myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity. Steady-state observations by themselves may not be sufficient enough to provide a reliable link between different mutations and divergent cardiac phenotypes, especially at submaximal Ca2+ levels. It is now widely appreciated that dynamic relationships - rather than steady-state aspects of the force-pCa relationship - dominate in conditions under which cardiac muscle functions. To understand the effects of the R141W mutation on cardiac contractile dynamics, we created a mouse cTnT analog (McTnTR144W) of the human mutation, R141W. McTnTR144W and the wild-type McTnT were individually reconstituted into detergent-skinned mouse cardiac muscle fibers and dynamic contractile features were assessed at maximal (pCa 4.3) and submaximal (pCa 5.5) activations. McTnTR144W-reconstituted fibers revealed the following. The speed of crossbridge (XB) recruitment, b, decreased significantly at both pCa 4.3 and pCa 5.5; however, the magnitude of decrease was 2-fold greater at submaximal activation. The speed of XB detachment dynamics, c, also decreased and was 1.7-fold greater at submaximal activation. However, the XB strain-mediated effects on the recruitment of other XBs (γ) - mediated by allosteric/cooperative mechanisms operating within the thin filament - decreased to a similar extent at both Ca2+ activations. Novel findings from our study will be discussed in terms of the McTnTR144W-induced effects on the thin filament cooperativity and its associations with slower rates of XB recruitment and detachment kinetics at physiologically relevant Ca2+ concentrations.
Distributed online channel assignment toward optimal monitoring in multi-channel wireless networks

This paper studies an optimal channel assignment problem for passive monitoring in multi-channel wireless networks, where a set of sniffers capture and analyze the network traffic to monitor the network. The objective of this problem is to maximize the total amount of traffic captured by sniffers by judiciously assigning the radios of sniffers to a set of channels. This problem is NP-hard, with the computational complexity growing exponentially with the number of sniffers. We develop distributed online solutions to this problem for large-scale and dynamic networks. Prior works have attained a constant factor equation of the maximum monitoring coverage in a centralized setting. Our algorithm preserves the same ratio while providing a distributed solution that is amenable to online implementation. Also, our algorithm is cost-effective, in terms of communication and computational overheads, due to the use of only local communication and the adaptation to incremental network changes. We present two operational modes of our algorithm for two types of networks that have different rates of network changes. One is a proactive mode for fast varying networks, while the other is a reactive mode for slowly varying networks. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the two modes of our algorithm.
Applying an organizational learning perspective to new technology deployment by technological gatekeepers: A theoretical model and key issues for future research

Organizations often under-utilize expensive information technology (IT) enabled work processes that automate routines or processes that were previously carried out manually. One reason for this phenomenon may lie in the types of decisions made by technological gatekeepers, who are key individuals charged with deploying new technologies in organizations. From an organizational learning perspective, technological gatekeepers are more likely to perform successfully when they make appropriate decisions about exploring or exploiting the routines associated with a new technology. The factors that influence gatekeepers' decisions about exploration or exploitation, however, are still largely unexplored. In this study, we present a model based on the basic technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine this issue. We use concepts from the literatures on organizational learning, expertise, and cognitive styles to elaborate on the constructs in our model, and examine how these literatures can inform our understanding of technological gatekeepers' decisions. The goal of this paper is to accelerate micro-level research on new technology deployment in organizations by identifying some key issues and propositions for future studies.
Interpretation of Hydrochemical Facies by Factor Analysis

Hydrochemical facies interpretations are useful tools for determining the flow patterns, origins, and chemical histories of ground-water masses. Factor analysis is advantageous for hydrochemical interpretations because it is independent of the number or type of variables used. Factor analysis also allows avoidance of problems of closed-number systems inherent in more traditional techniques, such as trilinear diagrams. This paper applies factor analysis to the interpretation of mixing between sulfate and bicarbonate ground-water masses. Whereas trilinear diagrams show one mixing trend (bicarbonate with sulfate waters), factor analysis allows interpretation of multiple mixing trends. These trends include the bicarbonate-sulfate trend; a sodium-, silica-, fluoride-, and temperature-mixing system that is interpreted as resulting from recharge; and a chloride-sodium system that appears to represent mixing with residual, connate water. The latter trends are identified as small-scale, chemical variations that result in dispersion of the data points about the dominant mixing trend on the trilinear diagram. Thus, factor analysis provides greater precision in identifying hydrochemical facies and interpreting their origins.
Interfacial Recognition of Sugar Residues in Block Copolymers by Lectin As Studied by the Multiple Internal Reflection Fluorescence Method

Macroinitiators were prepared by the coupling of disuccinimidyl ester of 4,4‘-azobis(cyanovaleric acid) with poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl d-glucopyranoside) (PMEGlc) which had an amino group at its end. Styrene was polymerized with the initiator in the presence of detergent. When the styrene content in the A−B−A block copolymer obtained (PMEGlc-b-PSt-b-PMEGlc) was high, the copolymer made an irreversible entanglement to result in microspheres, whereas the copolymer with a short styrene block could be dispersed monomolecularly. The copolymers dispersed in water were aggregated by mixing with a solution of lectin, Concanavalin A (Con A), due to a specific recognition of glucose moieties in the polymers by the tetrameric lectin. The dispersion of PMEGlc-b-PSt-b-PMEGlc could be deposited to poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) surface to form a polymer layer, in which the PSt blocks might lay on the cuvette and the PMEGlc blocks might direct to the solution phase. The recognition processes of glucose residues in t...
Large-scale parallelization of the Borg multiobjective evolutionary algorithm to enhance the management of complex environmental systems

The Borg MOEA is a self-adaptive multiobjective evolutionary algorithm capable of solving complex, many-objective environmental systems problems efficiently and reliably. Water and environmental resources problems pose significant computational challenges due to their potential for large Pareto optimal sets, the presence of disjoint Pareto-optimal regions that arise from discrete choices, multi-modal suboptimal regions, and expensive objective function calculations. This work develops two large-scale parallel implementations of the Borg MOEA, the master-slave and multi-master Borg MOEA, and applies them to a highly challenging risk-based water supply portfolio planning problem. The performance and scalability of both implementations are compared on up to 16384 processors. The multi-master Borg MOEA is shown to scale efficiently on tens of thousands of cores while dramatically improving the reliability of attaining high-quality solutions. Our results dramatically expand the scale and scope of complex environmental systems that can be addressed using many-objective evolutionary optimization. Massively parallel extensions of the Borg multiobjective evolutionary algorithm.Cooperating instances of master slave parallelizations dramatically enhance search.Parallelizing the Borg MOEA improves efficiency, search quality, and reliability.Discrete event simulation shows theoretical scalability for 100,000 compute cores.250+ years of search possible in 24?h.
Small accelerator based intense positron beam sources

In order to progress positron and antimatter related research, it is highly desirable to develop options for intense sources of positrons capable of fueling positron beams with >107 positrons/sec. At the Center for Materials Research at Washington State University, we are investigating 13N as a positron source based on the nuclear reaction 12C(d,n)13N. Based on cross section data and earlier tests a source activity of about 11 mCi per μA of 3 MeV deuterons can be achieved. At 300 μA a 3 (4) MeV Van de Graaff accelerator will generate 1.2 (2.0) × 1011 positrons/sec in a graphite target. Several methods of utilizing this production rate for moderated positron beams have been tried. These include single crystal CVD diamond, high and low density graphite, frozen source gases, tungsten foil moderation and solid gas moderation. To date, the most successful approach yielded ∼105 moderated positrons per second – efficient moderation of the source flux has not been accomplished. We will present the current status and discuss possible reasons for the poor performance. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Persistent feeding arteries to angiographically completely embolized arteriovenous malformation demonstrated by intraoperative color-flow doppler testing: Report of two cases

Two cases of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) treated preoperatively by endovascular embolization that appeared to be completely occluded after embolization are presented. Seven and 12 days later, respectively, these patients underwent resection of their AVM. At the time of surgery, intraoperative color-flow Doppler studies revealed persistent feeding arteries to an active residual nidus of the AVM. The significance of this finding is presented in light of previous published literature.
Searching for the Origins of civic community in Central Europe: Evidence from Eastern and Western Germany

Although many scholars stress the importance of a civic political culture for a functioning democracy, there is little consensus about where such a culture originates. The ‘bottom-up’ approach argues that the civic culture has centuries-old, enduring roots that in turn shape political and economic institutions. The ‘top-down’ approach implies that political culture itself can be shaped by political institutions. Both schools of thought, however, stress the interrelatedness of civic behaviours; voluntary group membership, newspaper readership and voting are all expected to be high in civic cultures and low elsewhere. In contrast, this article argues that these three components of ‘civicness’ are differently influenced by contemporary political institutions and are therefore less interrelated than previous scholars have hypothesized. Germany and other German-speaking areas of Central Europe provide excellent cases for investigating these conflicting hypotheses about the origin of the civic community. If the...
Determinants of photosynthetic capacity in six rainforest Piper species

We examined the dependence of photosynthetic capacity on leaf nitrogen content and light environment in leaf microsites of six rainforest species growing naturally in understory and clearing habitats. All nine descriptors of the light environment in leaf microsites, encompassing canopy openness, potential exposure to sunflecks, and photosynthetically active photon flux density (PFD) integrated over one day, three months, and an entire year, were highly correlated with each other. Among species, A max was strongly dependent on leaf nitrogen and on all descriptors of the light environment in the leaf microsite. Leaf nitrogen was also dependent on all descriptors of the light environment. Simple regressions of A max on all measures of the light environment were significant for plants in the clearing, but not for plants growing in the understory. Regressions of leaf nitrogen on at least one descriptor of the light environment were significant for both clearing and understory plants. Over all species, and for the clearing plants alone, leaf nitrogen and a single descriptor of the light environment together explained significantly more variance in A max than either variable alone. Multiple regressions using leaf nitrogen and all nine descriptors of the light environment did not explain a significantly greater amount of variance in photosynthetic capacity than multiple regressions using leaf nitrogen and a single light descriptor. In most cases, A max was predicted better by the most general descriptors of the light environment, such as canopy openness and long-term photon flux density, and less accurately by shorter-term sensor measurements or descriptors based on the duration of potential sunfleck exposure. The gest predictors of A max were frequently different than the best predictors of leaf nitrogen. In every case examined, A max was less sensitive to variation in the light environment in understory than in clearing plants.
Specific solutions of the generalized Korteweg-de Vries equation with possible physical applications

Solutions for a type of generalized Korteweg-de Vries equation which should have physical impact will be determined here. These types of solutions should have applications in the study of intrinsic localized modes optical waveguide arrays and fluid dynamics. It is shown that trigonometric and hyperbolic solutions can be obtained by matching powers and coefficients of the independent terms in the equation after the assumed solution has been substituted. As well, solutions to the equation in terms of more complicated Jacobe elliptic functions are determined.
Osmotic effectors in kidneys of xeric and mesic rodents: corticomedullary distributions and changes with water availability

Urea, sodium, the methylamines glycine betaine and glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC), and the polyols sorbitol and myo-inositol are reported to be the major osmolytes in kidneys of laboratory mammals. These were measured (millimoles per kilogram wet weight) in kidney regions and urines of three species of wild rodents with different dehydration tolerances: the pocket mousePerognathus parvus (xeric), voleMicrotus montanus (mesic), and deer mousePeromyscus m. gambeli (intermediate). In animals kept without water for 4–6 days, sodium, urea, betaine and GPC+choline were found in gradients increasing from cortex to outer to inner medulla in all species, withPerognathus having the highest levels. Sorbitol was high in the inner medulla but low in the cortex and outer medulla; inositol was highest in the outer medulla. Totals of methylamines and methylamines plus polyols in the medulla showed high linear correlations (positive) with urea and with sodium values.
Phorbol ester facilitates 45Ca accumulation and catecholamine secretion by nicotine and excess K+ but not by muscarine in rat adrenal medulla.

Several investigators have shown that tumour promoter phorbol esters mimic the effects of endogenous diacylglycerol to activate a second messenger, protein kinase C (refs 1–3). These phorbol esters have proved to be valuable tools for exploring the role of protein kinase C in many cellular functions3–8. We demonstrate here that secretion of catecholamines evoked from the rat adrenal gland9,10 by stimulation of splanchnic nerves, excess potassium (K+) and nicotine is facilitated by phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. An inhibitor of protein kinase C, polymixin B, produced concentration-dependent inhibition of the evoked secretion, and the effect was reversed by the phorbol ester. Furthermore, we show that an increase in the accumulation of radioactively labelled calcium (45Ca) obtained in the adrenal medulla after stimulation with nicotinic agonists and excess K+ is further enhanced by phorbol ester. Muscarine-evoked secretion of catecholamines, which depends on mobilization of intracellularly bound Ca2+, was not associated with an increase in 45Ca2+ uptake, and phorbol ester did not facilitate either catecholamine secretion or 45Ca2+ accumulation. We suggest that protein kinase C is involved in the exocytotic secretion of catecholamines by regulating the influx of Ca2+ through voltage-sensitive and nicotine receptor-linked Ca2+ channels of rat chromaffin cells.
QUERIES 'N THEORIES: An Instructional Game on the DOT, DOT, DOT... Approach to Scientific Method

QUERIES 'N THEORIES provides a parallel to the strong inference approach to scientific method — designing experiments, observing data, and theorizing. The reiterated use of the DOT approach (Design, Observe, Theorize) in the problem-solving required by the game mirrors the regular, systematic application of strong inference in some areas of science (e.g., high energy physics and molecular biology) that have moved ahead much more rapidly than others. Moreover, the game embodies and provides practive in two aspects of scientific theorizing and designing which John Platt has pointed out as central to scientific advance: (1) the usefulness of multiple hypotheses and (2) disproof as science's mode of advance.
Resolving Milankovitchian controversies: The Triassic Latemar Limestone and the Eocene Green River Formation

Although orbital forcing is commonly proposed as the driver of ancient sedimentary rhythms, the lack of adequate independent time control (radio isotopic data) to calibrate these cycles has stood as a major challenge to evaluation of the hypothesis. Here I apply a new statistical approach to evaluate cyclicity in two historically important rhythmic units for which orbital forcing has been proposed: the Triassic Latemar Limestone (Dolomites, Italy) and the Eocene Green River Formation (Wyoming, USA). A major advance of the new method is its explicit evaluation of the null hypothesis of no orbital signal. The null hypothesis can be rejected with a high degree of confi dence in the Latemar Limestone (probability <0.30%) and Green River Formation (probability <0.07%). The analyses also resolve controversies about the specifi c orbital calibrations at each site. Both data series reveal the expected precession, obliquity, and eccentricity orbital components, and yield astrochronologies that are consistent with proposed radio isotopic based time scales.
Conjugated linoleic acid content of beef from cattle fed diets containing high grain, CLA, or raised on forages

Abstract Twenty Angus crossbred steers were assigned to one of four treatments and followed from weaning to slaughter to study the effect of diet on the conjugated linoleic acid (C18:2 cis-9, trans-11 and C18:2 trans-10, cis-12 CLA isomers) content and quality of beef. During the adaptation period, treatments 1 (CTL), 2 (CLA), and 3 (GPS) received a diet consisting of 520 g corn silage, 213 g alfalfa hay, 250 g rolled barley, and 17 g mineral–vitamin premix/kg of dry matter (DM). Treatment 4 (PS) received alfalfa hay only. During the finishing period, CTL and CLA steers received a diet consisting of 123 g corn silage, 67 g alfalfa hay, 764 g rolled barley, and 46 g mineral–vitamin premix/kg of diet dry matter. In addition to the basal diet, CLA steers received 84 g/head/day of a synthetic mixture of partially rumen protected CLA isomers. The GPS and PS treatments were finished solely on pasture. Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were collected from the M. longissimus dorsi at the end of the adaptation period, and both adipose and muscle tissues were collected from the longissimus and M. semitendinosus of each carcass at slaughter for fatty acid analysis. Beef tissues from PS and GPS steers had 466% and 218% more CLA (C18:2 cis-9, trans-11 isomer) at slaughter compared with beef tissues from CTL steers, respectively. Supplementing synthetic CLA did not increase C18:2 cis-9, trans-11 CLA content of beef, but increased trans-10, cis-12 CLA by 380% compare to beef from CTL animals. A trained taste panel detected no differences in tenderness or juiciness among treatments. However, beef from PS received higher off-flavor scores than other treatments. Raising cattle on forage and pasture with no grain supplementation enhances beef CLA content. Additionally, finishing cattle on pasture increased the vitamin E content of beef by 300% compared to beef from animals finished on a traditional high-grain diet.
Metabolic interactions in vitro between polymorphonuclear leukocytes and pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms.

1. Es wird gezeigt, dass der Effekt von phagozytierten,hitzeabgetoteten Bakterien auf die Atmung von Kaninchen-Leukozytenin vitro von der Virulenz der verwendeten Mikroorganismen abhangig ist.
A FORMULA FOR THE HOPPING EXPANSION OF EIGHT-VERTEX MODELS COUPLED TO AN EXTERNAL FIELD

We study a generalized eight-vertex model where the vertices are coupled to a locally varying field. We rewrite the partition function as an integral over Grassmann variables. In this form it is possible to explicitly evaluate all terms of the hopping expansion. Applications of the resulting formula, in particular its relation to 2D lattice field theories with fermions are discussed.