cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Usefulness of telephone risk factor surveys in the New Mexico border region.

Abstract Background: We sought to assess prevalence of behavioral risk factors and evaluate the usefulness of survey data gathered by telephone in the New Mexico border region. Methods: This study compared behavioral risk factor data gathered from two probability sample surveys administered in 1998–1999, one by means of a telephone interview and the second face to face. Prevalence estimates for medical care access, injury, and chronic disease risk factors were compared by survey mode, overall, and stratified by income level. Results: Risk factor prevalence estimates based on telephone interviews resemble estimates obtained from face-to-face interviews. Although risk factor prevalence estimated from face-to-face interviews were in general slightly greater than those from telephone interviews, none of these differences reached statistical significance. When data for each respective survey were examined by income level, prevalence estimates for comparable income groups in both surveys were in general agreement and estimates within survey increased with declining income. Conclusion: In the New Mexico border region, telephone survey data appear to be reasonably valid and offer opportunities for population-based health research.
Thermal stability of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor in a cholesterol lipid environment.

Controlled heating of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) vesicles inactivates the α-bungarotoxin (α-Bgtx) binding sites with a T50 (temperature at which 50% of the initial capacity to bind α-Bgtx remains) of 60±0.2°C. The same value was obtained for receptor reconstituted in lipid vesicles fromTorpedo electroplax where the % mol composition of cholesterol to phospholipid was 30. However, when the reconstitution was carried out in dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), dioleoylphosphatidic acid (DOPA) vesicles (3:1 molar ratio), T50 of the curves decreased to 56±0.2° C and no carbamylcholine stimulated22Na+ flux was detected. Inclusion of cholesterol in the DOPC-DOPA vesicles increased the toxin binding site stability. The maximal T50 of the toxin binding curves was 63±0.1° C when the % mol cholesterol/mol DOPC:DOPA in the vesicles was 33. Under these conditions AChR was able to translocate ions, a property that was lost upon heating at 46° C. Preincubation of AChR in the presence of d-tubocurarine, tetracaine or procaine did not affect T50 values of toxin binding. However, a slight increment in thermal stability was found when the receptor was preincubated in the presence of carbamylcholine. The results show that cholesterol requirements for protecting against thermal inactivation of toxin binding and ion gating properties are different and the carbamylcholine-bound receptor may have a different conformation.
Retinoic acid exposure on gestational days 11 to 13 impairs swallowing in rat offspring.

We have previously reported that exposure to 10 mg/kg of all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) daily on the 11th, 12th, and 13th days of rat gestation is lethal to all fetuses so exposed, due to an inability to suckle [R.R. Holson et al., Neurotoxicol Teratol 19 (1997) 347-353]. Because this lethal RA effect could be due to any of a variety of causes, from olfactory problems in locating the nipple to a motor problem in sucking or swallowing, we performed the following experiment. Albino dams were exposed to 10-mg/kg RA or vehicle daily over gestational days (GDs) 11 to 13. On the afternoon of GD 21 all pups were delivered by c-section. Tongue cannulae were inserted into the oral cavity of these offspring, and used to infuse a solution of condensed milk directly into the mouth. During and after each of four infusions, the behavioral response to the infusion (typically rolling and curling) was recorded. Controls responded well to this procedure, typically swallowing all milk so infused. In contrast, almost no RA-exposed neonates were able to swallow milk infused into the oral cavity. In such cases the milk simply dribbled out of the mouth, while the stomach was found to be empty at autopsy. However, the RA-treated animals did seem aware that milk was entering their mouths, because they showed a normal behavioral response to milk infusion. We conclude that GD 11-13 retinoid lethality is due to motor not sensory problems in the control of swallowing.
Using AIC in multiple linear regression framework with multiply imputed data

Many model selection criteria proposed over the years have become common procedures in applied research. However, these procedures were designed for complete data. Complete data is rare in applied statistics, in particular in medical, public health and health policy settings. Incomplete data, another common problem in applied statistics, introduces its own set of complications in light of which the task of model selection can get quite complicated. Recently, few have suggested model selection procedures for incomplete data with varying degrees of success. In this paper we explore model selection by the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) in the multivariate regression setting with ignorable missing data accounted for via multiple imputation.
Molecular insight into how MRSA is becoming increasingly dangerous.

Why does methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remain a dangerous pathogen, particularly in hospital-associated infections? In part, this is due to the fact that MRSA infectious outbre...
Pulse- and gamma ray-radiolysis of cyclohexane: Ion recombination mechanisms

Abstract The products formed in the γ-radiolysis and pulse-radiolysis of gaseous cyclohexane have been interpreted in terms of the ion fragmentation, ion-molecule reaction, and ion recombination mechanisms. It is shown that the fragmentation of the parent ion is partly quenched at a pressure of 55 torr. The products resulting from homogeneous neutralization of the major unreactive ions, c - C 6 H + 12 , c - C 6 H + 11 , and c - C 6 H + 10 , are deduced by comparing product yields at high dose rates, where the ions undergo homogenous neutralization, with yields in the gamma radiolysis, where the unreactive ions disappear mainly by reaction with impurities or neutralization on the wall. Ethylene and 1,3-butadiene are the major products resulting from electron neutralization of these ions. Fragmentation is strongly reduced when the neutralization process involves an atomic- or polyatomic- anion rather than an electron. For instance, addition of CCl 4 to cyclohexane results in a sharp drop of the yield of 1,3-butadiene, and a concurrent rise in the yield of 2-C 4 H 8 . In the gas phase, a value of 0.16±0.08 is suggested for the ratio of neutral excited molecule formation to ionization. In the liquid phase, it is seen that the relative importances of processes observed in the radiolysis are very different from the importances of these same processes in the far ultraviolet photolysis (8-11.6eV). In the radiolysis, where the mean energy taken up by the cyclohexane molecule may be higher than 11.6eV, solvent assisted fragmentation of the parent ion to give c -C 6 H + 11 , and the formation of triplet excited molecules in ion recombination processes are considered as explanations for the discrepancies. In the radiolysis, geminate neutralization of the vibrationally-relaxed parent ion to produce a singlet excited state of cyclohexane accounts for no more than about 25% of the cations.
Complexes of nicotinamide, isonicotinamide, and picolinamide with copper(II) perchlorate in acetonitrile and in propylene carbonate

Abstract The complexes of nicotinamide, isonicotinamide, and picolinamide with copper(II) ion in acetonitrile and in propylene carbonate have been investigated by electrochemical, infrared, and visible spectral techniques. Picolinamide forms in these solvents a 2:1 chelated complex species in which the pyridine nitrogen and carbonyl oxygen are involved in coordination and which in solutions with picolinamide/copper(II) ratio greater than two takes on at least one additional ligand molecule. The latter picolinamide is mono-coordinated to copper(II) through the carbonyl oxygen of the amide group. In acetonitrile, nicotinamide and isonicotinamide appear to form the respective hexacoordinated complex species with the ligands monocoordinated to copper(II) ion through the pyridine nitrogen.
INTERLEUKIN-2 BASED IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR METASTATIC RENAL CELL CARCINOMA WITH THE KIDNEY IN PLACE

AbstractPurpose: We assessed morbidity, response and survival in patients with metastatic renal carcinoma treated with high dose intravenous interleukin-2 (IL-2) based immunotherapy with the primary renal tumor in place.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of patients with metastatic renal carcinoma and the primary kidney tumor in situ who were treated at the surgery branch of the National Cancer Institute. Of the patients 607 were treated with IL-2 based therapy. Patient age, sex, sites of extrarenal disease, morbidity, and response and survival rates were examined.Results: From 1986 to 1996, 51 patients with the majority of disease at extrarenal sites were treated with the primary tumor in place. Treatment involved IL-2 based regimens, reflecting the evolution of immunotherapy at the National Institutes of Health. When evaluating only extrarenal sites, response was complete in 1 and partial in 2 of the 51 cases (6%). No responses were noted in the primary renal tumor. Three pat...
Dietary flavonoids attenuate tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced adhesion molecule expression in human aortic endothelial cells. Structure-function relationships and activity after first pass metabolism.

Flavonoids have been suggested to exert human health benefits by anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. In this study, we investigated whether and by what mechanisms dietary flavonoids inhibit expression of cellular adhesion molecules, which is relevant to inflammation and atherosclerosis. We found that the capacity of flavonoids to inhibit tumor necrosis factor α-induced adhesion molecule expression in human aortic endothelial cells was dependent on specific structural features of the flavonoids. The 5,7-dihydroxyl substitution of a flavonoid A-ring and 2,3-double bond and 4-keto group of the C-ring were the main structural requirements for inhibition of adhesion molecule expression. In striking contrast, hydroxyl substitutions of the B- and C-rings but not the A-ring were essential for antioxidant activity. Hence, only hydroxyl flavones, such as apigenin and chrysin, and flavonols, such as galangin, kaempferol, and quercetin, were able to inhibit endothelial adhesion molecule expression, whereas flavone, chromone, the flavanone, naringenin, and the flavanol, (-)-epicatechin, were ineffectual. At low concentrations, the active flavonoids significantly attenuated expression of E-selectin and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 but not vascular cell adhesion molecule 1. In addition, exposure of apigenin and kaempferol to cultured hepatocytes, mimicking first pass metabolism, greatly diminished the inhibitory effect of flavonoids on endothelial intercellular adhesion molecule 1 expression. We conclude that the effect of dietary flavonoids on endothelial adhesion molecule expression depends on their molecular structure, concentration, and metabolic transformation but not their antioxidant activity.
Clozapine decreases enkephalin mRNA in rat striatum

Typical antipsychotic drugs (i.e. haloperidol) induce extrapyramidal movement disorders while 'atypical' antipsychotics (i.e. clozapine) do not. In situ hybridization histochemistry followed by film autoradiography showed that clozapine treatment (20 mg/kg i.p. daily for 28 days) decreased the level of labelling for preproenkephalin mRNA in the striatum of the rat while haloperidol treatment (1 mg/kg i.p. daily for 28 days) resulted in no change compared with controls. The results suggest that these typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs exert differential effects on the enkephalin-containing striatal projection to the globus pallidus, a pathway critical for the expression of extrapyramidal movement disorders.
Early gender differences in the functional usage of language

Early male and female differences in the functional use of language were investigated by coding the verbal interactions of 32 preschool children during a 10-minute play session with same-sex peer. The speech of each child was classified into functional-motivational categories using the FIS-P scoring instrument. The findings were consistent with the literature on adult conversational styles, showing that males talk more and are more assertive in their social interactions than are females. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of early gender differences in the functional use of language and emphasize the importance of a developmental approach to the study of communication styles.
The Epidemiology of Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is increasing at an alarming rate, leading to profound crises in the treatment of common infectious diseases. Although bacteria have “natural” resistance to some antibiotics, most resistance can be attributed to over-prescription of antibiotics by physicians, over-the-counter use of antibiotics in many countries, “indigenized” use of antibiotics in developing countries, and application of antibiotics for growth promotion and treatment and prevention of infection in animal husbandry and farm fishing. The development of antimicrobial resistance involves four factors: mutation, directional selection, amplification, and geographic dissemination. Although the pharmaceutical industry is endeavoring to develop new classes of antibiotics, it is unlikely that new agents alone will solve the antimicrobial resistance problem. Rather, a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach is required, including reduction in inappropriate use of antibiotics in humans and agriculture, education of consumers, and application of established infection control techniques to limit the spread of resistant microorganisms in hospitals and other settings that favor amplification of resistance.
Selective transfer of nanostructured assemblies onto an arbitrary substrate by nanoimprinting

Nanoimprint lithography is conventionally used to transfer a pattern from a mold to a deformable and curable resist layer. Here we report a nanoimprinting technique to selectively transfer components of a pre-assembled nanostructure to a new substrate, while retaining the advantages of nanoimprint lithography such as low cost and high throughput. We use this technique to study metal particle roughness in Au "nanofinger" substrates, along with the effects of annealing to reduce roughness, and the impact of annealing on the Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) signal. The nanofinger substrates consist of Au-coated polymer pillars arranged to collapse into a designed assembly. Upon exposure to a volatile liquid and subsequent drying, microcapillary forces pull the pillars and their metal caps together into the designed structure. Successful transfer was achieved using the concept of template stripping via cold welding using a normal nanoimprinting process with no resist layer but under appropriate pressure to ensure even and complete transfer of all the nanostructures. Particle roughness was not found to be a significant factor in SERS from naonfinger substrates as annealing did not increase the observed Raman intensity.
Sequence of a genomic DNA clone for the small subunit of ribulose bis-phosphate carboxylase-oxygenase from tobacco

We have cloned and sequenced a gene for the small subunit (SS) of ribulose bis-phosphate carboxylase-oxygenase from Nicotiana tabacum. The tobacco gene is most closely related to the SS genes from the dicots soybean and pea, and less so to the monocots wheat and Lemna; the deduced amino acid sequence of the mature protein is in all cases more closely conserved than is its chloroplast transit sequence. Unlike the genomic sequences of the two monocots, which have one intron, and the two other dicots, which have two introns, the tobacco gene has three introns. The third tobacco intron lies within a highly conserved region of the protein. Its position coincides with the boundary of a 12 amino acid insertion in the SS genes of higher plants, relative to those of blue green algae. The 5' flanking end of the gene carries 67 bp inverted repeats, which flank a series of eight direct repeats; the direct repeats themselves each carry inverted repeats. The 3' untranslated end of this gene differs by only 2 bp from that of an N. sylvestris SS gene.
The role of politics and economics in the allocation of federal stimulus spending

This study identifies the political and economic variables that explain differences among US states in per capita funding resulting from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. We find a marginal statistically significant negative relationship between states that have been traditionally Democratic (Blue states) versus those that have traditionally been Republican (Red states). Additionally, we find a highly statistically significant negative relationship between states that were traditionally Republican but voted for President Obama in the 2008 election (Blue states) and traditionally Red states. Furthermore, our findings suggest that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between union representation for a state and per capita funding and between per capita electoral votes and per capita funding. With regard to economic variables, we find that a state's unemployment rate has a positive and statistically significant influence with regard to funding, but a state's pov...
Basking in the moonlight? Effect of illumination on capture success of the endangered giant kangaroo rat

Bright moonlight is thought to increase predation risk for nocturnal rodents and consequently reduce their activity levels and capture rates. We examined the effect of moonlight on the foraging activity and capture success of the federally endangered giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens) in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, California. D. ingens is adapted to open grasslands, a habitat type where moonlight should strongly influence its visibility to predators. Using a trapping data set of 11,353 captures from 2007 to 2009 and accounting for factors such as cloud cover, temperature, abundance of the San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica), plant biomass, trap acclimation, and trap effort, we found a consistently positive effect of moonlight on capture success. In foraging trials we detected no effect of moonlight on giving-up densities or time spent at seed piles. Our results suggest that giant kangaroo rats do not perceive a higher risk of predation in bright moonlight. Nocturnal rodents that rely on early visual detection of predators might benefit from moonlight as much as their predators do, thus resulting in no net change in predation risk. DOI: 10.1644/10-MAMM-A-011.1.
Perspective on aerospace propulsion systems.

Aerospace propulsion systems evaluated and compared from standpoint of cost or effectiveness
Local Economic Base, Geographic Diversification, and Risk Management of Mortgage Portfolios

Variability of local economic conditions underlie, in part, the default and prepayment risks of mortgages originated in a metropolitan area. In this study we examine the benefits of diversifying across metropolitan areas for reducing these risks. Employment data for the thirty largest metropolitan areas in the United States, divided into eight industry groups, are analyzed with the aid of factor and principal component analysis to determine if the variances of employment changes across the thirty areas are independent. Independence is investigated to assess the potential for diversification. Mean-variance portfolio analysis is then used to measure the gains from geographic diversification vis-a-vis a set of several alternative strategies for diversification. We conclude that geographic diversification is an important mortgage portfolio objective and that mean-variance strategies outperform the alternative strategies tested here.
Advertising in a stream

One of the most important innovations of social networking websites is the notion of a "feed", a sequence of news items presented to the user as a stream that expands as the user scrolls down. The common method for monetizing such streams is to insert ads in between news items. In this paper, we model this setting, and observe that allocation and pricing of ad insertions in a stream poses interesting algorithmic and mechanism design challenges. In particular, we formulate an optimization problem that captures a typical stream ad placement setting. We give an approximation algorithm for this problem that provably achieves a value close to the optimal, and show how this algorithm can be turned into an incentive compatible mechanism. Finally, we conclude with a simple practical algorithm that makes the allocation decisions in an online fashion. We prove this algorithm to be approximately welfare-maximizing and show that it also has good incentive properties.
Natural enemy density and soil type influence growth and survival of Melaleuca quinquenervia seedlings

Multiple insects are commonly introduced as biological control agents to reduce the performance of invasive plants. Little is known about the species-specific contributions of co-existing agents, and about the effects of insect density on the control of invasive plants. Several agents are expected to strengthen the control. The effects of insect type, density, and soil type on seedling survival and growth of the invasive tree Melaleuca quinquenervia were investigated in Florida. The biological control agents are Oxyops vitiosa (weevil) and Boreioglycaspis melaleucae (psyllid). A three-way factorial shade-house experiment was conducted, manipulating weevil density (zero/low/high), psyllid density (zero/low/high), and soil type (organic/sandy). Only high densities of one or both insects combined consistently reduced plant survival or growth; low densities did not. Overall, psyllids had stronger effects than weevils and for some performance parameters, the effects of one insect depended not only on its density but also on the density of the other insect. Interaction effects between insects were sometimes positive (i.e. seedling survival was lowest when both insects were in high densities). In other cases, high densities of only one agent were enough to reduce plant growth. Plants perform better on organic soils than on sandy soils. Weevils were more effective in reducing biomass on organic soils, while psyllids were more effective in reducing survival on sandy soils. Seedlings compensated for damage by producing more leaves, with the highest standing leaf crop at intermediate insect densities. These results show that the effectiveness of biological control on M. quinquenervia seedlings varies with insect species and depends upon insect density and soil type.
Brain inulin space in hydrocephalic and hypernatremic kittens using ventriculocisternal perfusion.

Abstract Ventriculocisternal perfusion of inulin - 14 COOH was performed in kittens and adult cats. The inulin space in 1- to 2-month-old kittens made hydrocephalic with kaolin or silicone oil was 13.2%, significantly different from 6.38% in normal kittens. Kittens 1–2 months of age made hypernatremic had an inulin space of 19.7%, also differing significantly from the normal kittens. Adult cats made hypernatremic had an inulin space of 11.2% compared to the 13.6% in normal adults. It is speculated that this difference between the adult cat and kitten following acute hypernatremia may indicate intracellular as well as extracellular accumulation of inulin in the adult cat contrasted with the predominantly extracellular accumulation of inulin in the kitten. This suggests that alterations in brain extracellular space may be produced experimentally in the developing nervous system that are obscured in adult animals.
Labor Relations in Major League Baseball

This article explores some of the roots and processes of the contentiousness surrounding baseball labor relations, assesses the new collective bargaining agreement, and examines the history of nego...
Relationships among Sarcoscypha species: evidence from molecular and morphological characters

Cladistic analyses employing the criterion of unweighted parsimony were performed on a ma- trix of morphological characters and on a combined data matrix of morphological and molecular charac- ters (from the internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA including the 5.8S ribo- somal RNA gene and the flanking ITS-1 and ITS-2 regions) in order to infer relationships among the species of Sarcoscypha. The outgroup taxa for both analyses were Microstoma floccosum, Nanoscypha te- traspora, Nanoscypha sp., and Pithya cupressina. Fif- teen morphological characters were identified and analyzed using NONA. These characters were com- bined with 104 informative molecular characters for a total of 119 phylogenetically informative characters in the combined analysis. An initial analysis of mor- phological data produced 166 most parsimonious trees. The consensus tree resolved the two Nanoscy- pha species plus S. striatispora as a monophyletic group, but showed no resolution among the remain- ing species of Sarcoscypha. A second analysis of the morphological data with only the core species of Sar- coscypha and with Pithya as the outgroup still showed little resolution. The analysis of molecular data alone produced a consensus tree with a toplogy much like that from a previously published analysis including fewer taxa and supported the transfer of S. striatis- pora to Nanoscypha. The analysis of combined mor- phological and molecular data produced two equally parsimonious trees. The only differences in the re- sults from the combined and molecular analyses were: (i) the three accessions of S. austriaca formed
Electrophysiological evidence for the action of a center-surround mechanism on semantic processing in the left hemisphere.

Physiological evidence was sought for a center-surround attentional mechanism (CSM), which has been proposed to assist in the retrieval of weakly activated items from semantic memory. The CSM operates by facilitating strongly related items in the “center” of the weakly activated area of semantic memory, and inhibiting less strongly related items in its “surround”. In this study weak activation was created by having subjects acquire the meanings of new words to a recall criterion of only 50%. Subjects who attained this approximate criterion level of performance were subsequently included in a semantic priming task, during which ERPs were recorded. Primes were newly learned rare words, and targets were either synonyms, nonsynonymously related words, or unrelated words. All stimuli were presented to the RVF/LH (right visual field/left hemisphere) or the LVF/RH (left visual field/right hemisphere). Under RVF/LH stimulation the newly learned word primes produced facilitation on N400 for synonym targets, and inhibition for related targets. No differences were observed under LVF/RH stimulation. The LH thus, supports a CSM, whereby a synonym in the “center” of attention focused on the newly learned word is facilitated, whereas a related word in the “surround” is inhibited. The data are consistent with the view of this laboratory that semantic memory is subserved by a spreading activation system in the LH. Also consistent with our view, there was no evidence of spreading activation in the RH. The findings are discussed in the context of additional recent theories of semantic memory. Finally, the adult right hemisphere may require more learning than the LH in order to demonstrate evidence of meaning acquisition.
The effect of topography on SAR calibration

During normal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing, a flat Earth is assumed when performing radiometric corrections such as antenna pattern and scattering area removal. The authors examine the effects of topographic variations on these corrections. Local slopes will cause the actual scattering area to be different from that calculated using the flat Earth assumption. It is shown that this effect may easily cause calibration errors larger than a decibel. Ignoring the topography during antenna pattern removal may also introduce errors of several decibels in the case of airborne systems. The effect of topography on antenna pattern removal is expected to be negligible for spaceborne SARs. The authors show how these effects can be taken into account if a digital elevation model is available for the imaged area. The errors are quantified for two different types of terrain, a moderate relief area near Tombstone, AZ, and a high relief area near Oetztal in the Austrian Alps. The authors show errors for two well-known radar systems, the C-band ERS-1 spaceborne radar system and the three frequency NASA/JPL airborne SAR system (AIRSAR). >
Fracture Toughness and Atom Probe Characterization of a Highly Embrittled RPV Weld

The Heavy-Section Steel Irradiation Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) includes a task to investigate the shape of the fracture toughness master curve for reactor pressure vessel steel highly embrittled as a consequence of irradiation exposure. A radiation-sensitive reactor pressure vessel (RPV) weld with intentionally enhanced copper content, designed KS-01, is characterized in terms of static initiation (KIc, KJc) and Charpy impact toughness in the unirradiated and irradiated conditions. The objective of this project is to investigate the ability of highly embrittled material to maintain the shape of the unirradiated transition fracture toughness curve, as well as to examine the ability of the Charpy 41-J shift to predict the fracture toughness shift at such a high level of embrittlement. Irradiation of this weld was performed at the University of Michigan Ford Reactor. Specimens of KS-01 weld were irradiated to about 0.74 × 1019 neutron/cm2 at 288°C. Irradiation resulted in Charpy ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) shift of 169°C. It was anticipated that this shift would result in a fracture toughness transition temperature (at 100 MPa√m) in the irradiated condition near or slightly above the pressurized thermal shock screening criterion for weld metals, ToPTS = 129°C. The fracture toughness characterization of KS-01 weld in the unirradiated and irradiated conditions was mainly performed by testing 1T C(T), although some 0.5T C(T) and precracked Charpy specimens were used in this study. The master curve analysis showed that this material exhibited shift of reference fracture toughness transition temperature, To, of 165°C as result of radiation, which is in remarkable agreement with Charpy DBTT shift. The absolute value of To in the irradiated condition was determined to be equal to 139°C. This weld exhibited a low ductile initiation toughness (JQ) after irradiation. It left a relatively narrow temperature window to examine the shape of the transition region. Irradiated median fracture toughness values up to 148 MPa√m follow the master curve shape. However, low toughness brittle fractures occurred at temperatures further above To (To + 61°C) than expected with a leveling of the KJc data from the master curve shape. The microstructure of the weld was characterized with the ORNL's energy-compensated optical position-sensitive atom probe. Atom probe tomography revealed a high number density (∼3 × 1024 m−3) of Cu-, Mn-, Ni-, Si-, and P-enriched precipitates and a lower number density (∼1 × 1023 m−3) of P clusters.
Cleve Moler: Mathematical Software Pioneer and Creator of Matlab

A prominent figure in the numerical analysis community in his early academic career, Cleve Moler gradually shifted his research efforts to mathematical software, specifically to the development of Matlab, an educational software package. Matlab has evolved to become a commercial success in scientific and engineering applications. Moler—now Mathworks' chief scientist and chairman—is still involved in software development and applied computing research and education.
Resources, Family Organization, and Domestic Violence against Married Women in Minya, Egypt.

I evaluate the influence of household wealth, women's socioeconomic dependence, status inconsistency, and family organization on physical abuse in the prior year and attitudes about wife abuse and divorce among 2,522 married women in Minya, Egypt. Household wealth is negatively associated with physical abuse. Women who are dependent on marriage because they have sons and less schooling than their husbands are more likely to have experienced physical abuse and to report marginally more tolerance for such abuse. Women who are isolated from natal or biological kin and living with marital relatives are more likely to have experienced physical abuse. Findings underscore the role of women's dependence and social isolation in enabling physical abuse among women of all economic classes.
Pharmacologically Preconditioned Skeletal Myoblasts Are Resistant to Oxidative Stress and Promote Angiomyogenesis via Release of Paracrine Factors in the Infarcted Heart

Strategies to enhance skeletal myoblast (SkM) survival after transplantation in the ischemic heart have achieved little success. We posit that preconditioned (PC) SkMs show improved survival and promote repair of the infarcted myocardium via paracrine signaling after transplantation. SkMs from male Fischer-344 rats (rSkMs) were PC for 30 minutes with 200 μmol/L diazoxide. Treatment of PC rSkMs with 100 μmol/L H 2 O 2 for 2 hours resulted in significantly reduced cell injury, as shown by lactate dehydrogenase–release assay, and prevented apoptosis, as demonstrated by cytochrome c translocation, TUNEL, annexin V staining, and preservation of mitochondrial membrane potential. PC rSkMs expressed elevated phospho-Akt (1.85-fold), basic fibroblast growth factor (1.44-fold), hepatocyte growth factor (2.26-fold), and cyclooxygenase-2 (1.33-fold) as compared with non-PC rSkMs. For in vivo studies, female Fischer-344 rats after permanent coronary artery ligation were grouped (n=12/group) to receive 80 μL of basal medium without rSkMs (group 1) or containing 1.5×10 6 non-PC (group 2) or PC (group 3) rSkMs. Real-time PCR for sry gene 4 days after transplantation (n=4/group) showed 1.93-fold higher survival of rSkMs in group 3 as compared with group 2. Four weeks later, echocardiography revealed improved indices of left ventricular function, including ejection fraction and fractional shortening in group 3 ( P P
T Cells Associated with Tumor Regression Recognize Frameshifted Products of the CDKN2A Tumor Suppressor Gene Locus and a Mutated HLA Class I Gene Product

The dramatic tumor regression observed following adoptive T cell transfer in some patients has led to attempts to identify novel Ags to understand the nature of these responses. Nearly complete regression of multiple metastatic melanoma lesions was observed in patient 1913 following adoptive transfer of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. The autologous 1913 melanoma cell line expressed a mutated HLA-A11 class I gene product that was recognized by the bulk tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes as well as a dominant T cell clone derived from this line. A second dominant T cell clone, T1D1, did not recognize the mutated HLA-A11 product, but recognized an allogeneic melanoma cell line that shared expression of HLA-A11 with the parental tumor cell line. Screening of an autologous melanoma cDNA library with clone T1D1 T cells in a cell line expressing the mutated HLA-A11 gene product resulted in the isolation of a p14ARF transcript containing a 2-bp deletion in exon 2. The T cell epitope recognized by T1D1, which was encoded within the frameshifted region of the deleted p14ARF transcript, was also generated from frameshifted p14ARF or p16INK4a transcripts that were isolated from two additional melanoma cell lines. The results of monitoring studies indicated that T cell clones reactive with the mutated HLA-A11 gene product and the mutated p14ARF product were highly represented in the peripheral blood of patient 1913 1 wk following adoptive transfer, indicating that they may have played a role in the nearly complete tumor regression that was observed following this treatment.
Digital beamforming for smart antennas

An 8-channel digital phased array antenna (PAA) is designed and evaluated for a smart antenna application in the cellular PCS band (1850 MHz to 1990 MHz). Each channel is digitized at the RF carrier frequency using bandpass sampling clocking up to 1.5 Gsps with a 140 MHz bandwidth. The beamforming and additional signal processing is implemented digitally using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). This paper characterizes the PAA system for effects on loading analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) including automatic gain control (AGC) techniques and cochannel interference.
Phonetic Transcription of African American Vernacular English.

Completing an accurate phonetic transcription of a speaker of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) requires knowledge of the range of phonological features possible and the inherently variabl...
On the laws of virus Spread through cell populations

The dynamics of viral infections have been investigated extensively, often with a combination of experimental and mathematical approaches. Mathematical descriptions of virus spread through cell populations are well established in the literature and have yielded important insights, yet the formulation of certain fundamental aspects of virus dynamics models remains uncertain and untested. Here, we investigate the process of infection and, in particular, the effect of varying the target cell population size on the number of productively infected cells generated. Using an in vitro single-round HIV-1 infection system, we find that the established modeling framework cannot accuratelyfit the data. If the model isfit to data with the lowest number of cells and is used to predict data generated with larger cell populations, the model significantly overestimates the number of productively infected cells generated. Interestingly, this deviation becomes stronger under experimental conditions that promote mixing of cells and viruses. The reason for the deviation is that the standard model makes certain oversimplifying assumptions about the fate of viruses that fail tofind a cell in their immediate proximity. We derive from stochastic processes a different model that assumes simultaneous access of the virus to multiple target cells. In this scenario, if no cell is available to the virus at its location, it has a chance to interact with other cells, a process that can be promoted by mixing of the populations. This model can accuratelyfit the experimental data and suggests a new interpretation of mass action in virus dynamics models. IMPORTANCE Understanding the principles of virus growth through cell populations is of fundamental importance to virology. It helps us make informed decisions about intervention strategies aimed at preventing virus growth, such as drug treatment or vaccination approaches, e.g., in HIV infection, yet considerable uncertainty remains in this respect. An important variable in this context is the number of susceptible cells available for virus replication. How does the number of susceptible cells influence the growth potential of the virus? Besides the importance of such information for clinical responses, a thorough understanding of this is also important for the prediction of virus levels in patients and the estimation of crucial patient parameters through the use of mathematical models. This paper investigates the relationship between target cell availability and the virus growth potential with a combination of experimental and mathematical approaches and provides significant new insights.
Lower bounds on trellis complexity of block codes

The trellis state-complexity s of a linear block code is defined as the logarithm of the maximum number of states in its minimal trellis. We present a new lower bound on the state complexity of linear codes, which includes most of the existing bounds as special cases. The new bound is obtained by dividing the time axis for the code into several sections of varying lengths, as opposed to the division into two sections-the past and the future-employed in the well-known DLP bounds. For a large number of codes this results in a considerable improvement upon the DLP bound. Moreover, we generalize the new bound to nonlinear codes, and introduce several alternative techniques for lower-bounding the trellis complexity, based on the distance spectrum and other combinatorial properties of the code. We also show how the general ideas developed in this paper may be employed to lower-bound the maximum and the total number of branches in the trellis, leading to considerably tighter bounds on these quantities. Furthermore, the asymptotic behavior of the new bounds is investigated, and shown to improve upon the previously known asymptotic estimates of trellis state-complexity.
Efficacy of recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor in very-low-birth-weight infants with early neutropenia

Background/Purpose Neutropenia is a risk factor for nosocomial infections (NI) in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. Although recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) increases the neutrophil counts in neutropenic VLBW infants, its long-term efficacy for early neutropenia (EN) remains unknown. Methods In this case-controlled study, charts of VLBW recipients of rhG-CSF for EN (total neutrophil count Results Twenty-seven infants were identified in each group. Mortality and morbidity did not differ between the two groups. Rate of NI (16/27 vs. 4/27, p = 0.002, odds ratio = 8.36) as well as the total number of episodes of NI (22 vs. 4, p = 0.007) were higher in rhG-CSF (+) group than in the rhG-CSF (–) group. Conclusion Our experience does not show benefit in empirical use of rhG-CSF in preventing NI in VLBW infants with EN.
ITM Probe

Summary: Founded upon diffusion with damping, ITM Probe is an application for modeling information flow in protein interaction networks without prior restriction to the sub-network of interest. Given a context consisting of desired origins and destinations of information, ITM Probe returns the set of most relevant proteins with weights and a graphical representation of the corresponding sub-network. With a click, the user may send the resulting protein list for enrichment analysis to facilitate hypothesis formation or confirmation. Availability:ITM Probe web service and documentation can be found at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/qmbp/mn/itm_probe Contact: yyu@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Differences in Children's Recess Physical Activity: Recess Activity of the Week Intervention.

BACKGROUND: The increased prevalence in recent childhood obesity rates raises concern about youth health and the role that lack of physical activity plays in this trend. A focus on how children today choose to spend their discretionary time is one approach that may yield ideas for how to reduce childhood obesity. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether 3 separate recess activities of the week (RAWs) would make a difference in children’s discretionary time physical activity levels. METHODS: Children (N = 65: 30 boys, 35 girls; 32 first and second graders; 33 third and fourth graders; 45 healthy body mass index [BMI], 20 overweight BMI) at 1 Midwest elementary school wore pedometers for each 15-minute morning recess period for 4 weeks. Following 1 no RAW (#1), a new RAW was introduced each subsequent week: #2, circuit course; #3, obstacle course; and #4, Frisbees. RESULTS: Repeated measures factorial analysis of variance results revealed that children were significantly more active during the no RAW and circuit course week than the Frisbee week. Males were significantly more physically active than females during the obstacle course week. Older children were significantly more active during the Frisbee week than younger children. Healthy BMI children were significantly more physically active during the circuit course week than children in the overweight/obese BMI category. CONCLUSIONS: Results imply that it is important for schools to consider demographic factors in the creation of recess opportunities to increase physical activity.
Intersecting D3-D3′ -brane system at finite temperature

We analyze the dynamics of the intersecting $\mathrm{D}3\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{D}3}^{\ensuremath{'}}$-brane system overlapping in $1+1$ dimensions, in a holographic treatment where $N$ D3 branes are manifested as anti--de Sitter Schwartzschild geometry, and the ${\mathrm{D}3}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ brane is treated as a probe. We extract the thermodynamic equation of state from the set of embedding solutions, and analyze the stability at the perturbative and the nonperturbative level. We review a systematic procedure to resolve local instabilities and multivaluedness in the equations of state based on classic ideas of convexity in the microcanonical ensemble. We then identify a runaway behavior which was not noticed previously for this system.
Legal Philosophy in America

This article, written for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of American Philosophy, offers an overview of the most important American contributions to legal philosophy - American legal realism, law and economics, various critical schools of jurisprudence, Lon Fuller, and Ronald Dworkin - while speculating on what might be distinctive of American legal philosophy. One obvious recurring theme is a focus on practical application in general, and adjudication (especially constitutional adjudication) in particular.
Charles Manson's Family of Love: A Case Study of Anomism, Puerilism and Transmoral Consciousness in Civilizational Perspective

structure and a sacro-magical structure. This syncretistic structure of consciousness emerged within the charismatic community surrounding Manson. The elements of a faith structure appeared in the form of a radical anomism, a spirit of acosmic love, and a transmoral conscience. The elements of the sacro-magical structure appeared especially in their mythology of childhood perfection, in an attitude of omnipresent play (puerilism, in Huizinga's phrase), and a bricolage construction of a millenial script for dramatic enactment. The Family ultimately followed a millenial dream which led to murder, a dream fusing the motifs of love and death. In conclusion, we stress certain destructive features of the civilizational analytic approach to such groups and argue that the Family is best seen as a radical anomistic sect similar to the various Medieval and early modern heresies such as the Free Spirit, the Ranters and others more recent.
The Cultural, Political, and Legal Climate Behind the Fight to Stop Trafficking in Women: William J. Clinton's Legacy to Women's Rights

Trafficking in women for the purpose of enslaving them in sex work is one of the oldest and most heinous violations of women's rights. Trafficking had never effectively been addressed until the Clinton Administration focused worldwide attention on this international crime. The Clinton Administration left a legacy of enhancing women's rights by adopting a multi-pronged cultural, political, and judicial approach that has had a direct impact in the United States and an indirect effect abroad. The culmination of that effort was the enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. The Bush Administration fully supports this legislation, and re-authorized it in 2003 and 2005. This article examines the cultural context that enabled the passage of this important legislation.