cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protein Content and Seed Trait Analysis in a Subset of the USDA, ARS, PGRCU Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] Core Collection

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp is used as a vegetable and feedcrop worldwide, but knowledge is limited regarding the variability and correlations for protein and seed traits within a cowpea core collection. We analyzed protein content and seed trait data from the cowpea core collection representing 111 accessions. The accession PI 354729 produced the significantly highest protein content of 25.527%. Eight Indian cowpea accessions produced significantly high protein content averaging 24.423%. Protein content was significantly correlated with seed pattern (r2 = 0.274***), seed texture (r2 = 0.346***), seed coat color (r2 = 0.136*) and seed pattern significantly correlated with seed texture (r2 = 0.197**). However, protein content showed a significant negative correlation (r2 =-0.333***) with 100 seed weight. One hundred seed weight (gm) showed significantly negative correlations with seed pattern (r2 = -0.191**) and seed texture (r2 = -0.265***). Seed coat color showed a significant negative correlation with seed pattern (r2 = -0.14). Based on these results, potential cowpea cultivars could be developed with improved protein content and morphological seed traits.
OCO-2 Calibration Refinement Across Versions and Plans for OCO-3

The third major reprocessing campaign for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 mission is underway. With each release, several aspects of instrument calibration were improved. An onboard lamp tracks relative gain degradation, but ages too quickly to track absolute scaling. The most significant changes between builds were evolving assumptions about the stability of the solar calibrator. For the newest build, the trend in lunar measurements over a 4.5-year time series was applied. Another significant change was to expand a list of detector outliers via review of dark, lamp, and science measurements. More subtle adjustments to stray light and spectral dispersion were also performed. The techniques developed for OCO-2 are being applied to the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, which completed in-orbit checkout in August 2019. OCO-3 does not have a solar calibrator, and will need to constrain lamp aging via secondary lamps and comparison to other satellites.
Neuro-Ophthalmic Book Review: The Retina Illustrated: The Retina Illustrated, 1st Edition, by Justis P. Ehlers, New York, New York, Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc, 2020, 422 pp., 407 illustrations, $114.99 (softcover), ISBN 9781626238312; (e-book), ISBN 9781626238336

In neuro-ophthalmology, the saying goes, “if it comes from retina, then it’s probably the retina”. While this aphorism might not be universally true, it is a pearl of wisdom that hints at an import...
Social interactions and relationships with an intelligent virtual agent

Abstract The current study explores how humans interact with an intelligent virtual agent (IVA), Siri, on their mobile phones and how such experiences may impact their trust, social presence, and comfort level toward the IVA as a coworker, supervisor, and friend. A two (male- vs. female-voice of Siri) by two (functional vs. social task) by two (matched vs. ummatched with participants’ gender) between-subjects experiment was performed with 163 participants. Higher levels of trust in cognitive dimensions were associated with functional tasks assisted by Siri, and one interaction between participants’ gender and Siri's gendered voice was observed in an affective dimension of trust, faith. Copresence dimension of social presence was associated with technical competence, understandability, faith, and personal attachment dimension of trust whereas psychological involvement was related with reliability and technical competence. Copresence, alongside faith and personal attachment, both affective dimensions of trust, seemed to facilitate comfortable feelings toward Siri imagined as various relational partners.
Depressive Symptoms in Older African Immigrants with Mobility Limitations: A Descriptive Study.

OBJECTIVES Before, during, and after their immigration to the United States, immigrants face stressful life circumstances that may render them at risk for depressive symptoms. However, there is a dearth of research on the mental health of African immigrants. We performed secondary data analyses of two studies in the Baltimore-Washington area to describe and identify correlates of depressive symptoms in older African immigrants. METHODS Chi square tests, one-way ANOVAs, and linear regressions were used to describe and examine associations between depressive symptoms and immigrant-related risk factors. RESULTS This sample included 148 participants who had a mean age of 62 (SD ± 8.2). Clinical depressive symptoms were present in 8.1% of participants, and trouble falling asleep for more than half of the days was the most prevalent symptom (20%). Levels of education, income, and migration reasons differed significantly from clinical depressive symptoms, but these were not significantly associated with more depressive symptoms after controlling for covariates. CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal designs may further elucidate incidence, correlates, and long-term effects of depressive symptoms within this population. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Knowledge of depressive symptom burden and risk factors can inform timely assessment, referral, and treatment of depressive symptoms and other mental health outcomes in older African immigrants.
A hybrid approach for biomarker discovery from microarray gene expression data for cancer classification.

Microarrays allow researchers to monitor the gene expression patterns for tens of thousands of genes across a wide range of cellular responses, phenotype and conditions. Selecting a small subset of discriminate genes from thousands of genes is important for accurate classification of diseases and phenotypes. Many methods have been proposed to find subsets of genes with maximum relevance and minimum redundancy, which can distinguish accurately between samples with different labels. To find the minimum subset of relevant genes is often referred as biomarker discovery. Two main approaches, filter and wrapper techniques, have been applied to biomarker discovery. In this paper, we conducted a comparative study of different biomarker discovery methods, including six filter methods and three wrapper methods. We then proposed a hybrid approach, FR-Wrapper, for biomarker discovery. The aim of this approach is to find an optimum balance between the precision of the biomarker discovery and the computation cost, by taking advantages of both filter method’s efficiency and wrapper method’s high accuracy. Our hybrid approach applies Fisher’s ratio, a simple method easy to understand and implement, to filter out most of the irrelevant genes, then a wrapper method is employed to reduce the redundancy. The performance of FR-Wrapper approach is evaluated over four widely used microarray datasets. Analysis of experimental results reveals that the hybrid approach can achieve the goal of maximum relevance with minimum redundancy.
Health and Life Chances

Research in multiple disciplines provides ample evidence suggesting that health, and conversely disease, are about much more than individual-level risk factors and disconnected choices among atomistic individuals freely moving within a particular society or set of social groups. Rather, individuals are inextricably embedded in multiple social contexts from the level of immediate experience and interaction (e.g., norms, roles, power, etc.) to broader social groups, institutions, and structures (e.g., neighborhoods, economy, health care, etc.). For individuals, this means that the ability to make specific choices among varieties of possible alternatives is constrained and enabled by specific sets of social opportunities. Put another way, rules and resources constrain behavior by limiting plausible or possible alternatives, while those same structures enable action by increasing the range of options from which individuals may choose. The concept of life chances conceptualizes these structures and the probabilities of choice that they influence. Keywords: social gradient; socioeconomic status; sociological and social theory; sociology of health and illness; Max Weber
A STUDY OF LIVER MICROSOME ELEMENTS UTILIZING CONTINUOUSLY RECORDED ANALYSIS. ALTERATIONS OF STRUCTURE BY VARIOUS AGENTS INCLUDING OXIDIZED PYRIDINE NUCLEOTIDES.

Abstract 1. 1. The analysis of crude liver microsome fractions by density gradient centrifugation coupled with continuously recorded analysis of the tube contents is described. 2. 2. A structural change in isolated microsomes caused by NADP, phosphate ions, desoxycholate and Mg2+ is shown. 3. 3. Preliminary binding studies of NADP to microsomal components are described.
Effect of maternal age on reproductive capacity.

THE MENOPAUSE is such a striking event in thle life of women that it tends to overshadow all other aspects of the period of life associated with reproductive decline. In reality this event is only a step in a process which typically begins several years before and continues for a variable period of time after the last menses. Furthermore, this term has only limited application in a comparative study of reproductive decline, since it should only be applied to the human and those subhuman primates in which the superficial portion of the endometrium periodically undergoes destruction as a result of progesterone withdrawal or, at times, estrogen withdrawal throughout reproductive life. Although bleeding also occurs in dogs, cows, and a few other species, this event takes place at a different time in the cycle and is more in the nature of seepage unaccompanied by tissue destruction. Consequently other criteria for comparing ,reproductive decline in different species have had to be utilized. One criterion which has been widely used in the study of laboratory rodents is the decline in litter size which is associated with increasing maternal age. Unfortunately this guideline also has limited application, since other polytolcous species have not been studied sufficiently to provide us with comparable information.
Dynamo theory for a thin layer between the convection zone and the radiative zone of a star. Formulation and preliminary results

We present a dynamo model for the overshoot region between the convection zone and the radiative zone of a late type star. In the companion paper, Gilman and DeLuca above, we discussed some of the difficulties associated with convection zone dynamos. Section three of that paper, and in references therein, examines the physical processes that contribute to a dynamo in the overshoot layer. This paper will show how the model equations are derived and will discuss some of the solutions of those equations. A detailed derivation of the model equations will be given in a forthcoming paper.
Effect of imposed anaerobic conditions on metals release from acid-mine drainage contaminated streambed sediments

Remediation of streams influenced by mine-drainage may require removal and burial of metal-containing bed sediments. Burial of aerobic sediments into an anaerobic environment may release metals, such as through reductive dissolution of metal oxyhydroxides. Mining-impacted aerobic streambed sediments collected from North Fork Clear Creek, Colorado were held under anaerobic conditions for four months. Eh, pH, and concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn (filtered at 1.5 μm, 0.45 μm, and 0.2 μm), sulfate, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were monitored in stream water/sediment slurries. Two sediment size fractions were examined (2 mm-63 μm and <63 μm). Sequential extractions evaluated the mineral phase with which metals were associated in the aerobic sediment. Released Cu was re-sequestered within 5 weeks, while Fe and Mn still were present at 16 weeks. Mn concentration was lower than in the initial stream water at and beyond 14 weeks for the smaller sized sediment. Cd was not released from either sediment size fraction. Zn was released at early times, but concentrations never exceeded those present in the initial stream water and all was re-sequestered over time. The greatest concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn were associated with the Fe/Mn reducible fraction. Sulfate and Fe were strongly correlated (r = 0.90), seeming to indicate anaerobic dissolution of iron oxy-hydroxy-sulfate minerals. DOC and sulfate were strongly correlated (r = 0.81), with iron having a moderately strong correlation with DOC (r = 0.71). Overall concentrations of DOC, sulfate, Cu, Fe, and Zn and pH were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the water overlying the small sized sediment samples, while the concentrations of Mn released from the larger sized sediment samples were greater.
ELASTICITIES OF CONSTRAINED GRAVITY MODELS

Doubly constrained gravity models require a balancing procedure to make estimated origin and destination totals consistent. We show through a series of examples that not just the magnitudes but even the signs of derivatives and elasticities of gravity model flows depend on the specific balancing procedure used. Hence, if such elasticities are regarded as meaningful, then the balancing of origin and destination totals must be regarded as an integral part of the gravity theory itself.
Dietary fat intake and taste responses to fat in milk by under-, normal, and overweight women

Dietary fat intake, with special emphasis on dairy products, was estimated from questionnaires for 42 underweight, 80 normal weight, and 64 overweight adult women. Frequency of consumption of fresh and processed meats, frozen dairy desserts, pastries, and snacks such as potato chips was greater for the overweight than for the underweight subjects. However, preferences between verbally-described high- and low-fat versions of 14 food pairs did not differ by body size. Overweight subjects reported that they consumed more non-fat milk and less whole milk than did the other groups. Discrimination, perceived intensity, paired preference, and hedonic rating of fat in milk and in chocolate milk did not differ significantly according to body size, fat intake, or type of milk consumed. Ad libitum mixing of non-fat milk and “half and half” (12% fat) to individual levels of liking also showed no significant variation with body size. However, subjects with higher dietary fat intakes mixed to higher fat-preference levels in milk than did the low- and medium-fat intake subjects. Those reporting consumption of regular milk (3·5% fat) mixed to higher fat levels than did those who consumed low-fat (2% fat) or non-fat milk. The ad libitum procedure gave better reproducibility and appeared to be a more realistic measure of liking than the hedonic rating or paired-preference tests.
Cloning and characterization of receptor kinase class disease resistance gene candidates in Citrus

The rice gene Xa21 represents a unique class of plant disease resistance (R) genes with distinct protein structure and broad-spectrum specificity; few sequences or genes of this class have been cloned and characterized in other plant species. Degenerate primers were designed from the conserved motifs in the kinase domains of Xa21 and tomato Pto, and used in PCR amplification to identify this class of resistance gene candidate (RGC) sequences from citrus for future evaluation of possible association with citrus canker resistance. Twenty-nine RGC sequences highly similar to the kinase domain of Xa21 (55%–60% amino-acid identity) were cloned and characterized. To facilitate recovery of full-length gene structures and to overcome RGC mapping limitations, large-insert genomic clones (BACs) were identified, fingerprinted and assembled into contigs. Southern hybridization revealed the presence of 1–3 copies of receptor-like kinase sequences (i.e., clustering) in each BAC. Some of these sequences were sampled by PCR amplification and direct sequencing. Twenty-three sequences were thus obtained and classified into five groups and eight subgroups, which indicates the possibility of enhancing RGC sequence diversity from BACs. A primer-walking strategy was employed to derive full-length gene structures from two BAC clones; both sequences 17o6RLK and 26m19RLK contained all the features of the rice Xa21 protein, including a signal peptide, the same number of leucine-rich-repeats, and transmembrane and kinase domains. These results demonstrate that PCR amplification with appropriately designed degenerate primers is an efficient approach for cloning receptor-like kinase class RGCs. Utilization of BAC clones can facilitate this approach in multiple ways by improving sequence diversity, providing full-length genes, and assisting in understanding gene structures and distribution.
Chronic Administration of a Partial Muscarinic M1Receptor Agonist Attenuates Decreases in Forebrain Choline Acetyltransferase Immunoreactivity Following Experimental Brain Trauma

Abstract Lu 25-109-T is a partial muscarinic M 1 receptor agonist with antagonistic effects at presynaptic M 2 autoreceptors and has been shown to improve cognitive function following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats. This investigation examined the effects of TBI on basal forebrain choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity (ChAT-IR) following daily administration of saline or 15 μmol/kg Lu 25-109-T. Rats received a moderate (2.1 ± 0.1 atm) level of central fluid percussion TBI or were surgically prepared but not injured and were injected (sc) with saline or drug on Days 1–15 postinjury. Rats were sacrificed following the last daily injection, and sections were collected through the basal forebrain and processed for ChAT-IR. TBI caused a significant reduction in ChAT-IR neuronal density in saline- and Lu 25-109-T-treated rats with a 13% and 5% decrease in the medial septal nucleus (MSN), a 48 and 23% decrease in the vertical limb nucleus of the diagonal band (VDB), and a 51 and 28% decrease in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM), respectively. However, Lu 25-109-T significantly attenuated the injury-induced reductions in ChAT-IR. Loss in ChAT-IR neuronal density is not thought to result from cell death as parallel cresyl violet-stained sections indicated no decrease in neuronal cell density in the MSN, VDB, or NBM. These results support the hypothesis that increasing cholinergic tone during the recovery period after TBI will restore cholinergic function impaired by brain trauma.
A note on binary cyclic codes of blocklength 63

Abstract A method of investigating the minimum distance of binary cyclic codes of composite blocklength is described; only the case of blocklength 63 is discussed in any detail. Moreover, the usefulness of the method is left as an unanswered question.
‘When one person makes it, we all make it’: a study of Beyond Welfare, a women‐centered community‐based organization that helps low‐income mothers achieve personal and academic success

Access to post‐secondary education for welfare recipients has been profoundly curtailed by social and welfare policies. However, many low‐income mothers know that post‐secondary education is the best means to escape poverty. This article focuses on five ‘student mothers’ who have persisted in fulfilling their dreams of a college education with the aid of Beyond Welfare, a community‐based organization (CBO) that helps soften the hardships of juggling family, college, and work while in poverty. Based on interviews with five Beyond Welfare participants, this article explores the organization’s role in supporting the student mothers’ personal and academic success. This article illustrates how important it is for student mothers to have a supportive community, education focused on the structural barriers to leaving poverty, and encouragement for academic success. To conclude, the article reflects on why educators need to become involved in activism and research on behalf of low‐income families.
Gamma ray bursts and a new phase of QED

Abstract We propose a new model for gamma ray bursters inspired by attempts to explain the GSI Darmstadt peaks. In this model, the intense electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of a neutron star give rise to a new non-perturbative phase of QED. A subsequent fluctuation in the fields induces a phase transition liberating an intense burst of gamma rays and e+e− pairs. This model can explain the large energies found in such bursts, their fast rise and decay times and observed periodicities.
Quantum calculations on the vibrational predissociation of NeBr2: Evidence for continuum resonances

Quantum mechanical calculations on the vibrational predissociation dynamics of NeBr2 in the B electronic state have been performed and the results compared with both experimental data and other computational studies. For vibrational levels with v⩽20 we find that the vibrational state dependence of the predissociation lifetimes is in qualitative agreement with experimental measurements, as are the calculated Br2 fragment rotational distributions. For higher vibrational levels, the B←X excitation profiles are well represented by a sum of two Lorentzian line shapes. We attribute this result to the presence of long-lived resonances in the dissociative continuum that are reminiscent of long-lived dissociative trajectories in previous classical studies of NeBr2.
The prepatent period of four geographic strains of Schistosoma japonicum

Abstract The prepatent period of the Formosan strain of S. japonicum was shown to vary according to the degree of susceptibility of the host-species. In general, this period was longer in the Chinese and Formosan strains than that in the Japanese and Philippine strains. The results of experimental studies on the prepatent period of four geographic strains in albino mice supported the above statement. The prepatent period was significantly longer in the Chinese and Formosan strains than in the Japanese and Philippine. Differences in means of the prepatent period as well as differences between standard deviations were not significant, either between the Chinese and Formosan strains, or between the Japanese and Philippine strains.
Gyroscope assisted scalable visual simultaneous localization and mapping

This paper describes the development and evaluation of an indoor localization algorithm using Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) aided by gyroscope sensor information. Indoor environments pose several challenges which could cause a vision only system to fail due to tracking errors. Investigation revealed significant feature loss in a vision only system when traversing plain walls, windows and staircases. However, the addition of a gyroscope helps in handling such difficult conditions by providing additional rotational information. A portable system consisting of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and a stereo camera has been developed for indoor mapping. The images and gyroscope rates acquired by the system are stored and post-processed using a new Gyroscope Assisted Scalable Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Algorithm (GA-ScaViSLAM). The algorithm has been evaluated for data-sets collected in the Atwater Kent building, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This algorithm was found to be more robust in comparison to the vision only system. The Ga-ScaViSLAM was found to have an error (rms) of 0.6 m in the indoor environment over a total path length of 77m.
A factor V inhibitor: in vitro interference by calcium.

A patient with a factor V inhibitor resistant to all standard methods of therapy was recently reported. Because of this resistance, further investigation of the inhibitor was carried out employing the inhibitory plasma, serum, and isofocused fraction. It has subsequently been shown in vitro by use of the prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and Russell's viper venom time that the activity of the inhibitor is diminished by the addition of calcium chloride or calcium gluconate to the inhibitory plasma, serum, or isofocused fraction before the addition of normal pooled plasma. This inhibitor, an IgG4 (λ) immunoglobulin appears to have a high calcium binding affinity and is markedly potentiated in acid pH. These findings suggest that there may be a role in vivo for calcium infusion as part of the clinical management of such an inhibitor and that the metabolic acidosis associated with hemorrhagic shock may potentiate this type of inhibitor.
National Human Resource Development: A Focused Study in Transitioning Societies in the Developing World

The problem and the solution. The world continues to be one that is marked by incredible disparities in wealth, education, employment, health, technology, infrastructures, safety, and other factors that contribute to one’s sense of well-being. The renewed interest in national human resource development may be an effective, systematic approach to assisting in reducing these disparities and in reaching the United Nation’s target to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Such developments make it increasingly important for human resource development professionals to understand and contribute to this broader context of human resource development. This issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources fills one more niche in the growing literature related to national human resource development.
Body Size and Intelligence in 6-year-olds: Are Offspring of Teenage Mothers at Risk?

Objectives Children born to teenage mothers are at risk for more physical and cognitive problems than those born to adult mothers. Our objective was to examine differences in size and intelligence between two cohorts of offspring born to adolescent (n = 357) and adult mothers (n = 668) who attended the same prenatal clinic. Methods Two prospective study cohorts assessed children from gestation through age 6 years. The adult cohort was studied in the mid-1980’s and the teen cohort was evaluated in the mid-1990’s. Both samples were of low socio-economic status. The same study design and measures allowed us to adjust for the covariates of size and IQ. Results Offspring of adolescent mothers had a significantly smaller mean head circumference (5 mm) (HC) and higher body mass index (BMI) than offspring of adult mothers. Offspring of adolescent mothers scored significantly lower than the offspring of adult mothers on the Stanford-Binet (SBIS) composite score (4 points), and the quantitative (6.2 points), verbal reasoning (4.8 points), and short-term memory (3.9 points) area scores. Additional predictors of child IQ were maternal IQ, home environment, race, and number of siblings. When child HC was entered into our final regression model for the SBIS, maternal age and HC significantly predicted the composite score, the verbal reasoning, and short-term memory area scores. A 1 cm decrease in HC predicted a 1 point decrease in the SBIS composite score. Conclusions Compared to offspring of adult women, children of adolescent mothers have lower mean scores on cognitive measures, smaller head circumference, and higher BMI. These differences were significant after adjusting for differences between the two groups. Adolescent mothers and their children would benefit from interventions such as parenting support, education about nutritional needs, and advice on enriching the environments of their children.
Airway injury complicating excision of thyroglossal duct cysts.

Summary Objectives We report on four cases of thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) excision using the Sistrunk procedure (resection of the mid-portion of the hyoid bone in continuity with a thyroglossal duct cyst tract) in which the airway was significantly injured. The patterns of injury, their treatment and outcomes as well as preventative measures are detailed. Methods Retrospective analysis of four patients referred to a tertiary medical center after sustaining injury to the cricothyroid membrane and/or thyroid cartilages while undergoing a Sistrunk excision of a TGDC. Results Three patients were repaired after a delay; one patient was immediately repaired. All four patients required application of cartilage grafts, and all ultimately required tracheotomy. Decannulation was achieved in the four patients after an average of 4.5 months, and none suffered from aspiration. Voice outcomes were poor in 3/4. Conclusions The Sistrunk procedure has been advocated for TGDC excision, citing a low recurrence rate. However, if the thyroid cartilage is mistaken for the hyoid bone, significant airway injury occurs. Urgent laryngotracheoplasty is indicated, but poor voice outcomes are anticipated. Significance Surgeons employing the Sistrunk procedure to excise TGDC must remain oriented to midline cervical anatomy, particularly as the hyoid my override the thyroid notch in young children, placing the larynx at risk for significant injury.
Evidence-Based Treatment for Opiate-Dependent Clients: Availability, Variation, and Organizational Correlates

The majority of opiate-dependent clients entering substance abuse treatment are referred to "drug-free" (non-methadone) modalities. Given the known challenges of treating these clients in drug-free settings relative to the documented effectiveness of methadone maintenance, these analyses investigate the availability of various clinical and wraparound services for this population among a US sample of addiction treatment programs with and without methadone maintenance services (N = 763). Face-to-face interviews conducted in 2002-2003 gathered data on the number of opiate-dependent clients treated; organizational characteristics, including size, ownership, accreditation, and staffing; treatment practices, including methadone availability, use of other pharmacotherapies, and levels of care; and services offered, including vouchers, transportation, and other wraparound services. Facilities treating proportionately more opiate-dependent clients were significantly more likely to offer a variety of evidence-based services, regardless of methadone availability. Implications for referral linkages and quality of care are discussed.
Beyond Territorial Contiguity: Issues at Stake in Democratic Militarized Interstate Disputes

Scholars of international politics have been slow to address the fundamental issues that ground interstate conflict. Territory has frequently been cited as a primary source of contention among states, but it remains only one issue and not even the one most prevalent in the post‐World War II time period. We take the first step toward understanding the broader theoretical link between regime type, issues, and militarized conflict by collecting new data on the issues in dispute between democracies from 1946 to 1992. We find that (1) a large proportion of the militarized disputes between democracies in the post-WWII period involve fisheries, maritime boundaries, and resources of the sea, (2) well-established democracies are able to remove territory as a contentious issue among them, (3) disputes between democracies have become less severe and shorter in duration over time, and (4) a majority of the post-WWII militarized disputes between democracies are not resolved. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these empirical findings for the democratic peace literature.
Perceptual Differentiation of Vocal Fry and Harshness

Ten adult males with voices diagnosed clinically as harsh, and ten adult males with normal voice quality, but speaking in vocal fry, recorded a standard passage and sustained vocalizations of the v...
Adapting universal principles of systems engineering to the specific needs of rail

The presenter believes that railway systems engineering has the same principles as systems engineering in other fields but that the specific needs of rail sometimes require that these principles should be applied in a different way in rail compared with other sectors. The presentation will describe an activity to identify a set of universal principles of systems engineering. It will then describe case studies of the successful application of these principles in rail projects.
Mass tagging approach for mitochondrial thiol proteins.

A mass tagging approach is described for mitochondrial thiol proteins under nondenaturing conditions. This approach utilizes stable isotope-coded, thiol-reactive (4-iodobutyl)triphenylphosphonium (IBTP) reagents, i.e., the isotopomers IBTP-d0 and IBTP-d15. The mass spectrometric properties of IBTP-labeled peptides were evaluated using an ESI-q-TOF and a MALDI-TOF/TOF instrument. High energy collision induced dissociation (CID) in the TOF/TOF instrument caused side-chain fragmentation in the butyltriphenylphosphonium moiety-containing Cys-residue. By contrast, low energy CID in the qTOF instrument yielded sequence tags of IBTP-labeled peptides that were suitable for automated database searching. The IBTP labeling strategy was then applied to the analysis of a protein extract obtained from cardiac mitochondria. The relative abundance measurements for identified IBTP-labeled peptides showed an average variability for peptide quantitation of approximately 10% based on peak area ratios of ion signals for the d...
Cholinesterase inhibitor treatment alters the natural history of Alzheimer's disease

Objective: To describe the effect of cholinesterase inhibitors (CEIs) on the natural course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: The short and long term effects of CEIs were evaluated in 135 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease relative to 135 patients who were never exposed to CEIs matched by age, education, duration of the symptoms, and cognitive status. We measured 1 year change in cognitive and functional performance, and the likelihood of arriving at each of four end points: (1) mini mental state examination (MMSE) of 9 or lower, (2) Blessed dementia rating scale for activities of daily living of 12 or higher, (3) nursing home admission, and (4) death, over an average 3 years of observation (36.7 (SD 21.5) months). Results: Patients on CEIs were better cognitively and functionally after 1 year compared with those patients who never used CEIs. A proportional hazard analysis with CEI use as a time dependent covariate showed that the use of CEIs decreased the risk of nursing home admission. There was no association, however, between use of CEIs and time to cognitive and functional end points, or to death. Conclusions: This observational study showed that there was an initial cognitive and functional benefit from the use of CEIs in Alzheimer's disease, which waned as the disease progressed. However, the results suggest that there is a long term beneficial effect of the use of CEIs, as indicated by the delay in adsmission to nursing homes.
Asymptotic Sequences over a Module

Let (R, &#x1d52a;) be a Noetherian local ring and M be a submodule of the free module F = R r with height(I r (M)) > 0. Asymptotic sequences over M will be defined analogous to Rees’ definition of asymptotic sequences over an ideal. It is then shown that all maximal asymptotic sequences over M have the same length. This length gives a bound on the analytic spread of M. Namely, if s is the length of a maximal asymptotic sequence over M then l(M) ≤dim R + rank M − 1 − s. Equality holds if R is quasi-unmixed.
Dinosaur Monophyly and a New Class of Vertebrates

TRADITIONALLY dinosaurs are classified as two or three separate, independent groups of reptiles in the Subclass Archosauria. But evidence from bone histology, locomotor dynamics, and predator/prey ratios strongly suggest that dinosaurs were endotherms with high aerobic exercise metabolism, physiologically much more like birds and cursorial mammals than any living reptiles1–8. Recently Ostrom has argued forcefully that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs and inherited high exercise metabolism from dinosaurs1,8. Here we present evidence that dinosaurs are a single, monophyletic group, and that the key advancements of endothermy and high exercise metabolism are justification for removing dinosaurs from the Reptilia and placing them with birds in a new class, the Dinosauria.
Vascular Brachytherapy for Patients with Drug‐Eluting Stent Restenosis

Background: The rate of drug-eluting stent (DES) in-stent restenosis (ISR) exceeds 10% in complex subsets of patients and lesions. The optimal management of DES ISR remains undetermined. Vascular brachytherapy (VBT) is proven to be effective for the treatment of bare metal stent ISR but its outcome for DES ISR has not been established. Methods: Ninety-nine consecutive patients who presented with ISR following DES implantation in 122 lesions were subjected to conventional percutaneous coronary intervention with adjunct VBT using either beta radiation (Beta Rail in 74 patients [82.2%] and the Galileo system in 13 patients [14.4%]) or gamma radiation (Checkmate system in 3 patients [3.3%]). Patients were followed clinically for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) during 1-year follow-up. Results: A high proportion of patients in this cohort presented with complex ISR; 31.1% had recurrences of ISR to the same site, 55% had diffuse or proliferate pattern of restenosis, and 23 lesions (18.9%) were located in a saphenous vein graft. Procedural success and uneventful in-hospital course were documented in all patients post VBT. At 12 months' follow-up, the target lesion revascularization (TLR) rate was 11% and the overall MACE rate was 26%. Patients with multiple episodes of ISR to the same site had a TLR of 16% and MACE rate of 35.5%. Conclusions: VBT for the treatment of DES ISR was found to be effective and safe and should be considered for the treatment of DES ISR, in particular in complex patients with multiple recurrences.
Particulate pressure in monodisperse fluidized beds

Abstract The main objective of this paper is to consider random pseudo-turbulent particle velocity fluctuations in a homogeneous fluidized bed (or in the dense phase of an inhomogeneous fluidized bed). As shown, previously, these fluctuations are caused when the relative fluid flow interacts with random fluctuations of particle concentration. Bed particles are assumed to exchange their fluctuation energy and momentum through direct collisions. This being the case, and if particle concentration is sufficiently high, the particle velocity fluctuations are likely to be nearly isotropic, and so they can be characterized by a single scalar parameter. We introduce the double mean energy that is related to one translational degree of particle freedom in the capacity of just such a scalar parameter, and it plays substantially the same role as temperature plays in molecular gases. However, in contrast to temperature, this energy cannot be regarded as an independent variable, but rather represents a function of mean particle concentration and of physical parameters. We then formulate the equation of state which describes the particulate presuure that is caused by particle velocity fluctuations and is influenced by the conductivity of momentum during collisions. Thus defined, this pressure is successfully employed (1) to model the particle distribution that establishes itself to the fore of a bubble rising in a macroscopically uniform fluidized bed, and (2) to study the hydrodynamic stability of gas-fluidized beds with respect to infinitesimal one-dimensional disturbances.
High-power UV laser machining of silicon wafers

As the demand for semiconductor devices based upon ever-thinner silicon substrates continues to increase, mechanical techniques suitable for dicing wafers appear to be approaching their practical limits. Recent advances in power scaling have now enabled reliable ultraviolet-wavelength lasers to be considered to offer a flexible solution to this dilemma. This paper presents new data on the machining of thin silicon wavers using a high average power 355-nm wavelength pulsed laser. In particular, the concept of pulse repetition-rate scaling of the effective cutting speeds was investigated to determine the preferred direction for further laser development efforts.
Quality Versus Quantity: The Rockefeller Foundation and Nurses' Training in China

The Rockefeller Foundation set a high stake in its philanthropy in China in the first half of this century. From 1915 to 1947, the Foundation invested a total of $45 million, the largest for any of its foreign recipi ents.1 A number of publications in recent decades have appraised the medical work done by the Foundation in China, especially in relation to its seminal project—the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC).2 An interesting dichotomy raised in those works was the conflict be tween the Foundation's policy of introducing high-quality medical service and training to China and the inability of such an approach to resolve the health care problem of the most populous nation in the world, a conflict which, at times, also expressed itself as one between the elite standard of the imported expertise and the undeveloped eco nomic and social conditions of the host country. This conflict, while evident in all aspects of the Foundation's medical experience in China, was even more conspicuous in nursing. Nursing as a profession did not exist in China until the last decade of the nineteenth century. A medical commission sent by the Rockefeller Foundation to China in 1914 found that less than one hospital in two had a graduate nurse.3 Nurses' training had first developed in most coastal cities and gradually spread to inland provinces. All hospital
Public Relations Research and Education: Agendas for the 1990s.

Abstract The steady progress of public relations toward true professional status demands aggressive foresight and planning to assure that appropriate educational and research efforts are in place. Toward that end, this paper argues that: 1. (1) Public relations should be located in a communication discipline. 2. (2) Core research and theory should be advanced by isolating and empirically testing a limited number of functions that embrace the interaction between organizations and their stakeholders and maintain a commitment to ethics as well as pragmatics. 3. (3) The discipline should not make artificial distinctions between information and persuasion. 4. (4) The array of auxiliary disciplines should be as wide as possible and tailored to each practitioner's needs. 5. (5) The ideal curriculum should train practitioners to add value to the organizations they serve.
Trends and Variations in the Two-Party Vote: The Case of Michigan.

This study aims to analyze some features of voting behavior in a particular state party system and to illustrate new methods of analysis of election data. In this paper we use the gross election statistics for Michigan counties and cities to relate recent voting trends to the ecological characteristics of counties and to investigate the effect of certain variables on voting in cities. A closer scrutiny of Michigan election results is warranted at this time because major interest groups in this state no longer place a high premium on "keeping out of politics." Traditionally, interest groups in American state and national politics are supposed to avoid any open and continuing commitments to particular party organizations or factions. Labor and business groups in Michigan, however, skirting the Taft-Hartley and corrupt practices acts (which purport to limit union and corporate political activities), have either modified or abandoned their past policies in this respect.' The Michigan CIO fully accepts a partisan role and since 1948 a liberal-CIO coalition has controlled the Democratic party organization.2 For some years now the coalition has made an impressive showing in a state once staunchly Republican.3 G. Mennen Williams has won an unprecedented six successive gubernatorial elections, and since 1957 all the eight state-wide elective administrative offices have had Democratic incumbents. Republicans, on the other hand, have not run for cover; they still control the State Senate and hold one-half the seats in the House. Furthermore, there is always the prospect of the capture of the executive offices in the next election. Paralleling labor's open identification with the Democrats, business groups, particularly those associated with General Motors and Ford management, have become involved in the internal politics of the state Republican party organization.4 Such changes in the voting patterns and party organizations raise important questions for political scientists.
Transmission of an Arbovirus by a Member of the Family Cimicidae

The swallow bug, Oeciacus vicarius Horvath (Hempitera: Cimicidae), was studied with regard to infection, transmission, and replication of Fort morgan (FM) virus. Swallow bugs were allowed to feed on experimentally-infected house sparrows. After 18 or more days of incubation at 22°C, swallow bugs were either tested for presence of virus or allowed to feed on new FM-susceptible sparrows. From 70 to 80% of bugs contained virus after incubation, and virus was transmitted by bite on 10 occasions. On 3 such occasions, the incubation period was between 233 and 311 days and included periods near 4°C. Ultimate virus content of bugs was ∼ 103.5 plaque forming units/insect in cell culture. This is the 1st report of biologic virus transmission by a member of this family.
Measurement error and reliability in four pediatric cross-sectional surveys of cardiovascular disease risk factor variables—The Bogalusa Heart Study

Abstract Four cross-sectional epidemiologic studies of children 5–17 years of age were conducted between 1973 and 1982 in the community of Bogalusa, La. Anthropometric, blood pressure and serum lipid variables were measured. Measurement error (precision) and reliability (reproducibility) were estimated for these risk factor variables of coronary artery disease. Precision was less than 0.8 cm for height, 0.8 kg for weight, and 1 mm for triceps and subscapular skinfold over the four surveys. Measurement error for the mercury sphygmomanometer and automatic blood pressure instruments was between 4 and 5 mmHg during this same period. Except for triglycerides and total and α-lipoprotein cholesterols that stabilized at lower levels after the first survey, precision of laboratory variables remained nearly constant over the 9 years of survey. Anthropometric measurements were found to be the most reliable followed next by the laboratory and then blood pressure measurements. These estimates offer guidelines applicable to data collection and processing in future investigations of risk factor variables for coronary artery disease.
The rational management of fibromyalgia patients

The exponential increase in pain research over the last 10 years has established fibromyalgia (FM) as a common chronic pain syndrome with similar neurophysiologic aberrations to other chronic pain states. As such, the pathogenesis is considered to involve an interaction of augmented sensory processing (central sensitization) and peripheral pain generators. The notion, that FM symptomatology results from an amplification of incoming sensory impulses, has revolutionized the contemporary understanding of this enigmatic problem and provided a more rational approach to treatment. To date, the management of FM has been mainly palliative, with the aims of reducing pain, improving sleep, maintaining function, treating psychologic distress and diminishing the impact of associated syndromes. The rapidly evolving neurophysiologic, psychophysiologic and molecular biologic basis for chronic pain states has already opened up new avenues for management which should be applicable to this difficult group of patients. Indeed, it is now possible to think about a "rational" approach to managing FM patients that was unthinkable just a few years ago.