cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Invasive cervical cancer in human immunodeficiency virus-infected and uninfected hospital patients.

Abstract Objective: To compare the prevalence of invasive cervical cancer in women with, and in women without, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, so as to evaluate the inclusion of invasive cervical cancer in the AIDS surveillance case definition. Methods: The Sentinel Hospital Surveillance System for HIV Infection collected data and serum specimens that remained after clinical testing of persons who received inpatient or outpatient care at 14 hospitals with high HIV prevalence. We analyzed data on invasive cervical cancer obtained from medical record review and HIV serostatus from white, black, and Hispanic women in the age groups 20–34, 35–44, and 45–54 years. Results: In 1994 and 1995, 2684 (6.6%) of the 40,524 women sampled were HIV infected. Of the HIV-positive women, 28 had invasive cervical cancer (10.4 per 1000 women) and of the HIV-negative women, 236 had invasive cervical cancer (6.2 per 1000 women, relative risk [RR] 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1, 2.5). The prevalence of invasive cervical cancer was higher for HIV-positive than for HIV-negative black women aged 20–34 (RR 3.8; CI 1.7, 8.5) and Hispanic women aged 20–34 (RR 7.3; CI 1.4, 37.1) and 35–44 (RR 3.9; CI 1.1, 14.7) years. Twenty-six of the 28 cases of invasive cervical cancer in HIV-positive women were in women known to be HIV-positive during admission. Conclusion: The prevalence of invasive cervical cancer was higher for women who were HIV positive than for women who were HIV negative. This lends support to the inclusion of invasive cervical cancer in the revision of the surveillance case definition for AIDS in 1993.
Promotion of gas bubble formation by ingested nuclei in the ciliate, Tetrahymena pyriformis

Cells of the ciliateTetrahymena pyriformis were suspended with carmine or graphite particles or with Halobacterium gas vesicles, all of which promote bubble formation in aqueous suspensions when tested with 10 atm and above (0.1−0.5×107 Pa) (carmine and graphite) or 25 atm and above (gas vesicles) of nitrogen supersaturations. All three particles were ingested, but only the gas vesicles promoted intracellular gas bubble formation if the cells containing them were nitrogen or methane saturated in a slow stepwise fashion prior to rapid decompression. Cell rupture did not occur until gas saturation pressures greater than 25 atm were used; this suggests that the ciliate pellicle and cytoplasm cannot resist the mechanical forces of an expanding gas phase induced by decompression from between 25 and 50 atm and thus provides an estimate of the physical strength of these cellular components. The inability of the ingested carmine, graphite, and collapsed gas vesicles to induce intracellular gas bubble formation suggests that the phagocytic process somehow altered them. This procedure may thus provide a tool for the study of early events in the digestive processes of ciliates.
A graphical procedure for determining the gain of a servomechanism (or a specified maximum modulus less than unity

A PROBLEM of frequent occurrence in servomechanism analysis and design is that of determining the gain K of the forward-frequency transfer function $[G(s)]_{s} = j \omega = \left [ {K(1+a_{1}s+ \ldots + a_{m}s^m)} \over {s^k (1+b_{1}s + \ldots + b_{n}s^n)}\right ]s = j \omega \eqno{\hbox{(1)}}$ of a single-loop unity feedback system, Fig. 1, such that the over-all frequency transfer function ${C(j \omega) \over R(j \omega)} = {G(j \omega) \over 1+G(j \omega)} = {\vert G(j \omega)\vert e^{j \alpha 1} \over \vert 1+G(j \omega) \vert \epsilon ^{j \alpha 2}} = M \epsilon ^{(j \alpha 1-\alpha 2)} = M \epsilon ^{(j \alpha)} \eqno{\hbox{(2)}}$ has a specified maximum modulus M = Mm. Accordingly, those textbooks1?4 which present a comprehensive integrated accountof basic servo mechanism theory advance the outline of a simple graphical procedure for determining the required gain K, providing Mm > 1.
Lack of correlation between interspecific divergence and intraspecific polymorphism at the suppressor of forked region in Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.

Abstract Levels of DNA sequence polymorphism at the suppressor of forked [su(f)] region in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans are estimated by restriction map analysis. su(f) is located at the base of the euchromatic portion of the X chromosome where the level of crossing-over per physical length is extremely low. In a survey of 55 alleles from three natural populations of D. melanogaster, only 2 restriction sites of 27 hexanucleotide and 108 tetranucleotide restriction sites scored are polymorphic. Among 103 alleles from three natural populations of D. simulans, just one polymorphic restriction site is found in 109 tetranucleotide-recognizing restriction sites scored. The few polymorphisms in these surveys yield estimates of per site heterozygosities (0.00, 0.0002, and 0.0005, respectively) at least a factor of 10 less than the average observed at loci located in regions of the genome with normal levels of crossing-over. Because under a broad category of models of molecular evolution (including the neutral theory) a correlation between levels of polymorphism and interspecific divergence is expected, the DNA sequence divergence is examined for the su(f) region. Contrary to the predicted correlation, the estimated divergence (0.12 substitution per silent site) is, in fact, greater than that observed at loci in regions of normal crossing-over. According to an alternative hypothesis (hitchhiking effect model) intraspecific polymorphism is swept out of the population in regions of the genome closely linked to rare but selectively favored variants as they quickly go to fixation; the rate of divergence is, however, unaffected by these rare hitchhiking events. Thus, the observed paucity of polymorphism and lack of correlation with divergence are in accord with the theory of the hitchhiking effect and several recent reports of polymorphism and divergence in other genomic regions with reduced crossing-over per physical length.
Cooperativity in Thyroid Hormone Receptor Binding to DNA Response Elements

The human Thyroid Hormone Receptor (TR) is a member of the nuclear receptor (NR) protein family. Members of this family of proteins are responsible for propagating the signals from specific hormone ligands by binding to specific DNA response elements and regulating the transcription of target genes. Like many NRs, TR is composed of multiple domains. The N-terminal region contains two zinc-coordinating modules that can bind DNA. The C-terminal region contains a ligand binding domain that can bind thyroid hormones, co-regulator proteins, and is also able to dimerize in solution. Depending on the DNA sequence and ligation status, TR can bind different DNA response elements and function as either a heterodimer, a homodimer, or a monomer. The DNA associated dimerization capability has a major impact on the NR function as a transcription regulator. We have investigated the structural basis behind the cooperativity observed for TR binding to different DNA response elements. We have found specific interactions between the DNA binding domains are able to facilitate the cooperative binding at certain DNA response elements. The DNA mediated cooperative binding is observed even in the isolated DNA binding domains of TR and is thus not a result of the dimerization interface in the ligand binding domain.
Continental uplift at convergent boundaries

Abstract As a continent converges on an ocean ridge, it over-rides an increasingly thin and hot subducting plate. As a consequence, the leading edge of the continent is uplifted and the uplift progresses inland during convergence. The elevated continent tends to take the shape of the flank of the ocean ridge being over-ridden. After the spreading center collides with the trench, the subducted plate continues to sink, displacing asthenospheric isotherms upward. This process results in thinning of the continental lithosphere. The combined isostatic effect of these processes coupled with inherited crust and lithosphere configurations can be calculated from the drift and spreading velocities and geophysical estimates of crust and lithosphere thicknesses. The calculation assumes isostatic adjustment not only for the continental lithosphere (Archimedes' Principle) but for the subducted oceanic lithosphere even though the asthenosphere is free to flow (generalized Pratt's Principle). This is in conformity with the absence of a large regional free air gravity anomaly in western United States (Marsh and Marsh, 1976). Calculated elevations for western United States are in good first-order agreement with today's topography. Continent—ocean ridge collisions as well as continent—continent collisions result in extensive continental uplift. The collision of India with Asia (Molnar and Taponnier, 1975) and North America with the East Pacific Rise (this paper) present excellent examples of these two processes. The collision of North America with the East Pacific Rise resulted in an eastward dipping continental surface that progressed inland with time. This process formed the late Eocene erosion surface of western North America which has now retreated to the “gangplank” (High Plains) east of the Rocky Mountains. Thinning of the Basin and Range crust and Colorado Plateau lithosphere in response to upward displaced asthenosphere isotherms has resulted in the sinking of the Basin and Range with continued uplift of the Colorado Plateau.
RNA global alignment in the joint sequence–structure space using elastic shape analysis

The functions of RNAs, like proteins, are determined by their structures, which, in turn, are determined by their sequences. Comparison/alignment of RNA molecules provides an effective means to predict their functions and understand their evolutionary relationships. For RNA sequence alignment, most methods developed for protein and DNA sequence alignment can be directly applied. RNA 3-dimensional structure alignment, on the other hand, tends to be more difficult than protein structure alignment due to the lack of regular secondary structures as observed in proteins. Most of the existing RNA 3D structure alignment methods use only the backbone geometry and ignore the sequence information. Using both the sequence and backbone geometry information in RNA alignment may not only produce more accurate classification, but also deepen our understanding of the sequence–structure–function relationship of RNA molecules. In this study, we developed a new RNA alignment method based on elastic shape analysis (ESA). ESA treats RNA structures as three dimensional curves with sequence information encoded on additional dimensions so that the alignment can be performed in the joint sequence–structure space. The similarity between two RNA molecules is quantified by a formal distance, geodesic distance. Based on ESA, a rigorous mathematical framework can be built for RNA structure comparison. Means and covariances of full structures can be defined and computed, and probability distributions on spaces of such structures can be constructed for a group of RNAs. Our method was further applied to predict functions of RNA molecules and showed superior performance compared with previous methods when tested on benchmark datasets. The programs are available at http://stat.fsu.edu/ ~jinfeng/ESA.html.
Forecasting travel for very large cities : challenges and opportunities for China

Urban travel forecasting, a component of the field of urban transportation planning, has entered its sixth decade, having been introduced in the early 1950s in North America, from which it spread to other developed countries, and then to developing countries such as China. Although this field is relatively mature, many new research directions are being pursued; at the same time practitioners experience ongoing difficulties with applying commercial software systems in correct and meaningful ways. China is presently undergoing rapid urbanization, implying major investments in road and transit systems, as well as airports and intercity surface transportation systems. Wise investment decisions require forecasts of future urban travel in China's congested cities. To understand the state of travel forecasting, the authors recently held discussions with professionals at several planning agencies of China's largest cities, as well as university departments engaged in related teaching and research. Our objective h...
Evolution and the Other World

What special students of so-called psychic phenomena will think of Mr. Henry Holt's two generous volumes I do not know, but to me, and no doubt to many like me, they are quite the most important and significant, as they are the most entertaining, exposition of the subject. This is indeed something more than a dead book; it is a life—as it were the voice of a friend confiding to us through the hours of a long winter night the lessons, still mingled with hesitations and questions, of his ripe experience. The publicity of high spirits may abound; but there are pages also which will reveal their full meaning only to those who know the author as a friend in the literal sense of the word, passages, for those who understand, of almost sacred privacy. So, for instance, the minute account of the spectacle unfolding at sunrise to the eyes of the watcher at the author's summer home has its place and weight for all readers as an argument that, as these lovely things are far beyond “our ancestors' universe of darkness and silence,” so there may be infinite ranges of perception still to be discovered by mankind; but to one who has entered that hospitable “gate, open to all who care to come,” and with the kindly guidance of his host has seen the sunlight falling from mountain top to valley and from valley to lake, the printed words will be something more than the speech of a book to its unseen audience.
Adolescent suicidal risk assessment in clinician-patient interaction: A study of verbal and acoustic behaviors

Suicide among adolescents is a major public health problem: it is the third leading cause of death in the US for ages 13-18. Up to now, there is no objective ways to assess the suicidal risk, i.e. whether a patient is non-suicidal, suicidal re-attempter (i.e. repeater) or suicidal non-repeater (i.e. individuals with one suicide attempt or showing signs of suicidal gestures or ideation). Therefore, features of the conversation including verbal information and nonverbal acoustic information were investigated from 60 audio-recorded interviews of 30 suicidal (13 repeaters and 17 non-repeaters) and 30 non-suicidal adolescents interviewed by a social worker. The interaction between clinician and patients was statistically analyzed to reveal differences between suicidal vs. non-suicidal adolescents and to investigate suicidal repeaters' behaviors in comparison to suicidal non-repeaters. By using a hierarchical ensemble classifier we were able to successfully discriminate non-suicidal patients, suicidal repeaters and suicidal non-repeaters.
Impact of Heat Transfer on Contaminant Dispersion in a Public Building

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are effective at predicting dispersion of contaminants in or near a building. It is well known that thermal effects impact the flow around and within structures. This study assesses the importance of time of day, building materials, sky cover, etc. on the local thermal heating of a building. All these features affect the buoyancy, and thus, the resulting flow and dispersion about and inside a building. This study examines that impact through including full thermal coupling with flow calculations for an environmentally friendly building, including thermal radiation, conduction, and convection effects with a CFD model for both the interior and exterior of a building. The emphasis here is on simulating the impact of heating on contaminant dispersion.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
The stroke unit: psychological aspects of recovery.

Abstract Several years’ observation of both general medical wards and a stroke unit suggests that the stroke unit is far better suited to care for both the psychological and physical needs of the cerebrovascular-accident victim. The staff's team organization and its expectations from patients may be the chief factors in the stroke unit's success. Psychological effects of each unit on the patient, and their impact on recovery, are explored.
SPREADSHEET MARKOV ANALYSIS FOR PLANT POWER RELIABILITY

A framework is developed for comparing the reliability of the existing system for three proposed design changes. In this investigation the metric chosen was mean time to failure, since the cost of system failure is great compared to the cost of subs..
Incidence of Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates That Test Susceptible to Cephalosporins and Aztreonam by the Revised CLSI Breakpoints

The incidence of aztreonam and cephalosporin susceptibility, determined using the revised CLSI breakpoints, for extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates was evaluated. Our analysis showed that results for aztreonam and/or ≥1 cephalosporin were reported as susceptible or intermediate for 89.2% of ESBL-producing E coli isolates (569/638 isolates) and 67.7% of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae isolates (155/229 isolates).
Teaching elementary queueing theory with a computer algebra system

Computer algebra systems such as Maple, Mathematica and MACSYMA are readily available for a wide range of PC's and workstations. Many college campuses have site licenses for these software tools and make them widely available to students through PC labs, across networks and on time sharing systems. Additionally student versions of these software tools are widely available at nominal cost. Computer algebra systems provide sophisticated computational support and are intuitive to use. In this paper we describe how we use a computer algebra system to support an upper division undergraduate course teaching elementary queueing theory. We discuss the significant enhancement added by using a computer algebra system for this course work. We present the traditional approach to this material, i.e., deriving the closed form solutions for a specific queueing model then we show how we approach the material using numerical solutions based on the general equations for steady state probabilities for a Poisson Birth-Death process. We present several examples and discuss the strengths of our approach.
Reinsurance and the liability insurance crisis

Insurance-industry accounts of the liability insurance crisis of the mid-1980s often cite disruption of supply in reinsurance markets as an important contributing factor. Economic theories of the crisis have not explored this explanation for the severity of the crisis. This article investigates the extent to which events in reinsurance markets affected liability insurance market outcomes. It documents significant shocks to reinsurance supply in the early 1980s and finds evidence of subsequent disruptions to the price and availability of reinsurance. Regression analysis of liability insurance profitability over the time period supports the hypothesis that problems in reinsurance markets played an important role in the crisis.
Collegiate transitions: The other side of the story

While this volume has defined and explored the common elements of collegiate transition, there are layers of complexity in students' characteristics and educational pathways that make this transition experience different for every student.
A Solution for the Force Distribution Problem in Redundantly Actuated Closed Kinematic Chains

Proper control of robotic systems which incorporate closed kinematic chains is important in many applications. Among these are the multi-robot work cell and legged vehicles. In these no unique solution exists for the force distribution corresponding to a specified trajectory. A framework within which additional constraint equations may be written is presented here, and the force distribution solved in closed form for a walking machine application. These constraints are related to system performance goals of interest, such as improved traction and/or load sharing among the legs. The proposed technique is shown to be computationally simpler than other alternative solutions to the same problem.
India and Information Technology: A Historical & Critical Perspective

AbstractThis article uses a historical and critical perspective to analyze the growth of India's IT industry. India's quest for technology development in the pre- and post independent period of its history is analyzed. Its history, colonial past, culture, entrepreneurship climate, educational facilities and IT diffusion are all examined within this umbrella. The study uses historical data starting from the turn of the twentieth century as it tries to identify the factors and then go beyond those factors to understand the strong historical and cultural roots that have affected the gradual evolution of the IT industry in India. The study shows that India's current position is a result of almost eight decades of sustained efforts by its political leaders and intelligentsia - aided by social, cultural, and historical factors that have driven public policy - to build a strong technology-infrastructure and to achieve self- reliance.
Acetabular cup geometry and bone-implant interference have more influence on initial periprosthetic joint space than joint loading and surgical cup insertion.

Environmental variations in patient-dependent and surgical factors were modeled using robust optimization with a finite element acetabular cup-pelvis model. A previously developed statistical optimization scheme was used to: (1) determine the cup geometry and the optimal cup-bone interference that maximized bone-implant contact areas and minimized changes in the gap volume between the implant and bone surface during gait loading and unloading; and (2) determine the relative contributions of design, patient-dependent, and surgical factors to variations in bone-implant contact areas and a change in gap volume. The statistical analyses indicated that the design variables, namely the equatorial diameter and eccentricity, explained most of the variations in the performance measures. Further, the hemispherical designs performed better than the nonhemispherical designs. The 58mm hemispherical cup, with 2mm diametral interferences, minimized the change in gap volume and attained 82% and 81% of the maximum predicted total and rim contact areas, respectively. The equatorial diameter and eccentricity, not the patient-dependent and surgical factors, explained most of the variations in the performance measures. Perfect surface apposition was not attained with any of the cup designs.
Geochemistry of the 1984 Mauna Loa Eruption: Implications for magma storage and supply

The 1984 eruption of Mauna Loa volcano, Hawaii, produced about 220×106 m3 of lava of remarkably homogeneous composition. No significant compositional changes occurred during the 22-day eruption, and along the 20 km vent system, even though crystallinity increased substantially, accompanying a decline in the eruption rate. Such homogeneity in lava composition is typical of many historic Mauna Loa eruptions. The 1984 lava, along with most other homogeneous Mauna Loa lavas, is multiply saturated, crystallizing olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase. Bulk compositions are “perched” at the intersection of an olivine-control trend with a trend for more differentiated lavas. There is no evidence to indicate that the 1984 lava is a differentiate of the 1975 magma, or that it results from mixing a new batch of magma with differentiated melt remaining in the magmatic plumbing system after the 1975 eruption. It is proposed that these lavas are erupted directly from a small, continuously replenished magma reservoir located about 3–4 km beneath the summit caldera. Successive eruptions therefore provide a sampling of magma chamber processes, and small but discernible changes in lava composition reflect the competing processes of magma supply, differentiation, and eruption.
Validating sensors in the field via spectral clustering based on their measurement data

In this paper we introduce a spectral-based method for validating sensor nodes in the field via clustering of sensors based on their measurement data. We formalize the notion of peer consistency in measurement data by introducing a notion called “sensor indexing” and model the problem of identifying bad sensors as a problem of detecting peer inconsistency. Suppose all sensors have peers. Then by examining a certain number of leading eigenvectors of the measurement data matrix, we can identify those bad sensors which are inconsistent to peer sensors in their reported measurements. Further, we show that by deemphasizing or removing measurements obtained from these bad sensors we can improve the performance of sensor-based applications. We have implemented this spectral-based peer validation method and measured its performance by simulation. We report the effectiveness of the method in identifying bad sensors, and demonstrate its use in deriving accurate solutions in a localization application.
The Broad Spectrum Revolution at 40: Resource diversity, intensification, and an alternative to optimal foraging explanations

More than 40 years ago Kent Flannery coined the term Broad Spectrum Revolution (BSR) in reference to a broadening of the subsistence base of Late Pleistocene hunter–gatherers in the Near East that preceded and helped pave the way for the domestication and plants and animals and the emergence of agriculture. Set within a demographic density model that projected differential rates of population growth and emigration in different resource zones of the Near East, Flannery’s BSR quickly became a global construct linking resource diversification and intensification to imbalances between population and environmental carrying capacity. In recent years the BSR has proven especially attractive to researchers working within an optimal foraging theory (OFT) framework in which diversification and intensification of subsistence only occurs within the context of resource depression, caused by either demographic pressure or environmental deterioration. This OFT perspective, that situates human societies in a one-way adaptive framework as they are forced to adapt to declining availability of optimal resources, however, is increasingly being called into question. Numerous examples of diversification and intensification are being documented in contexts of resource abundance shaped, in part, by deliberate human efforts at ecosystem engineering intended to promote resource productivity. An alternative approach, framed within a newer paradigm from evolutionary biology, niche construction theory (NCT), provides a more powerful explanatory framework for the BSR wherever it occurred.
Molecular mechanisms of reduced glutathione transport: role of the MRP/CFTR/ABCC and OATP/SLC21A families of membrane proteins

The initial step in reduced glutathione (GSH) turnover in all mammalian cells is its transport across the plasma membrane into the extracellular space; however, the mechanisms of GSH transport are not clearly defined. GSH export is required for the delivery of its constituent amino acids to other tissues, detoxification of drugs, metals, and other reactive compounds of both endogenous and exogenous origin, protection against oxidant stress, and secretion of hepatic bile. Recent studies indicate that some members of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP/CFTR or ABCC) family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins, as well as some members of the organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP or SLC21A) family of transporters contribute to this process. In particular, five of the 12 members of the MRP/CFTR family appear to mediate GSH export from cells namely, MRP1, MRP2, MRP4, MRP5, and CFTR. Additionally, two members of the OATP family, rat Oatp1 and Oatp2, have been identified as GSH transporters. For the Oatp1 transporter, efflux of GSH may provide the driving force for the uptake of extracellular substrates. In humans, OATP-B and OATP8 do not appear to transport GSH; however, other members of this family have yet to be characterized in regards to GSH transport. In yeast, the ABC proteins Ycf1p and Bpt1p transport GSH from the cytosol into the vacuole, whereas Hgt1p mediates GSH uptake across the plasma membrane. Because transport is a key step in GSH homeostasis and is intimately linked to its biological functions, GSH export proteins are likely to modulate essential cellular functions.
Novel zero-current / zero-voltage transition DC-DC converter

A new class of zero-current transition (ZCT) and/or zero-voltage transition (ZVT) turn-on and turn-off switching together main switch of the DC-DC converter is presented. In addition, all semiconductor devices operate under soft-switching, and they are not experienced any additional voltage stresses. The new converter is capable of regulating the output voltage for a wide load and input voltage range, while maintaining the stability of the system. The theoretical analysis of a converter is presented and is verified by experiment of 60-600V/15V, 30-300mA DC-DC buck converter. The 18% increase of overall efficiency is achieved with compared to the hard-switching converter.
Comparison of the effects of pindolol and propranolol on exercise performance in young men with systemic hypertension

Abstract To determine the effect of intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA) on exercise performance during β blockade, 12 hypertensive men were studied. The subjects underwent graded treadmill testing while taking pindolol (a β blocker with ISA), propranolol (a β blocker without ISA) and placebo, in a double-blind, crossover fashion. Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen consumption (VO 2 ), cardiac output and stroke volume were determined at 25, 45, 60 and 75% of each subject's VO 2 max. Heart rate was significantly lower with pindolol compared with placebo at all stages of exercise, but significantly higher compared with propranolol at all stages of exercise except at 75% of VO 2 max and at VO 2 max (no significant differences between the 2 β blockers were recorded at these stages). Mean arterial pressure was statistically equivalent with pindolol and propranolol at all stages of exercise and significantly lower while β-blocked compared with placebo conditions at 45, 60 and 75% of VO 2 max. Cardiac output and VO 2 were statistically equivalent across all 3 treatments at all submaximal levels of exercise. It was concluded that, although heart rate was significantly higher with pindolol compared with propranolol at the 3 lower rates of work, cardiac output and VO 2 were not different between the drugs, thus making little impact on exercise performance.
Quality/Quantity Improvement in an Automotive Paint Shop: A Case Study

This paper describes the design and implementation of a continuous improvement project at an automotive paint shop. The development is based on a recently developed improvement methodology for production systems with quality-quantity coupled operations, whereby increasing the probability to complete a job during a cycle time leads to decreasing job quality. The implementation of the first stage of the project resulted in over 9% throughput improvement. The second stage predicts additional improvement of 9.5%.
Design trends and trade-offs for sensorless operation of switched reluctance motor drives

The aligned to unaligned phase inductance ratio and the number of stator and rotor poles strongly affect the resolution of indirect rotor position sensing methods for switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives. A higher inductance ratio increases the resolution, while higher number of phases increases the available sampling window for indirect position sensing. However, these requirements are conflicting design criteria for an SRM. In this paper, the design considerations and trade-offs for sensorless SRM drives are analyzed by computer simulations. The existing indirect position sensing methods and their applicability for various SRM drives are also discussed.
Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) Damage to Birdsfoot Trefoil Seed Production

Two insecticide timing field experiments were conducted each year from 1988 to 1990 to study control of three plant bugs, Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), and Plagiognathus chrysanthemi (Wolll), in birds foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus L., seed production. A new technique was developed to Cornbine plant bug sweep counts. Counts were weighted based on the damage potential of the species and stage. The weighted counts were then Cornbined into plant bug equivalents (PBE). When PBE reached 153 per 20 sweeps and bugs were not controlled, seed yield was significantly reduced and shriveled seed increased from 3 to 20%. However, plant bug populations up to 127 PBE per 20 sweeps did not significantly reduce seed yield. Crop maturity, rated on a scale of 1-5, showed that plant bugs significantly delayed crop development. A single application of malathion at the bud stage adequately controlled plant bugs. Multiple applications of insecticide did not provide any seed yield benefit Compared with a single bud stage spray.
Acoustic characteristics of ejectives in Ingush

The purpose of the paper is to investigate acoustic characteristics which distinguish ejectives from pulmonic stops in Ingush (a Northeast Caucasian language), and to compare Ingush ejectives to those of other languages. The articulation of ejectives is relatively well understood, but their acoustic effects are less clear. Working with a native speaker of Ingush, ejectives and pulmonic voiceless stops were compared for VOT, closure duration, and post-burst power; and pitch, amplitude, and voice quality of the following vowel. Ingush results are compared to published descriptions of ejectives in several other languages. Ingush ejectives do not have all the same acoustic features as any other language studied. The characteristics of ejectives vary with each language, and do not pattern together to form just two types of ejectives, as has been claimed based on binary comparisons.
The role of evapotranspiration in climate

A knowledge of the moisture balance at the earth's surface is essential to an understanding of climate. Precipitation and its areal distribution have been investigated in much detail. Evapotranspiration, which is the reverse of precipitation and represents the combined evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration from plants, is little understood and seldom measured. Actual evapotranspiration depends on climatic factors but is limited by the amount of available moisture in the soil. On the other hand, potential evapotranspiration which may be defined as the amount of water which would be lost from a surface completely covered with vegetation if there is sufficient water in the soil at all times for the use of the vegetation depends on climate alone.
The review section

Public Library Collection Development in the Information Age. Edited by Annabel K. Stephens. New York: Haworth Press, 1998. 211 pp. $54.95 hardcover. ISBN 078900528X (also published as The Acquisit...
Securing spontaneous communications in wireless pervasive computing environments

Spontaneous communications for either personal or shared activities are becoming very common in wireless pervasive computing environments. However, there still remain challenging problems in this type of communications, especially their security over ad-hoc wireless channels. In this paper we present an approach to using a visual code system in order to establish secure spontaneous communications among wireless devices in pervasive computing environments. After briefly discussing the visual code system, we describe two distinct models of spontaneous communications, and then discuss how the visual code system can be leveraged in order to secure spontaneous communications in those models. We also demonstrate our approach through a proof-of-concept implementation.
Constructing the global distribution of chorus wave intensity using measurements of electrons by the POES satellites and waves by the Van Allen Probes

[1] We adopt a physics-based technique to infer chorus wave amplitudes from the low-altitude electron population (30–100 keV) measured by multiple Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES), which provide extensive coverage over a broad region in L-shell and magnetic local time (MLT). This technique is validated by analyzing conjunction events between the Van Allen Probes measuring chorus wave amplitudes near the equator and POES satellites measuring the 30–100 keV electron population at the conjugate low altitudes. We apply this technique to construct the chorus wave distributions during the 8–9 October storm in 2012 and demonstrate that the inferred chorus wave amplitudes agree reasonably well with conjugate measurements of chorus wave amplitudes from the Van Allen Probes. The evolution of the chorus wave intensity inferred from low-altitude electron measurements can provide real-time global estimates of the chorus wave intensity, which cannot be obtained from in situ chorus wave measurements by equatorial satellites alone, but is crucial in quantifying radiation belt electron dynamics.
A Group II Intron-Type Open Reading Frame from the Thermophile Bacillus (Geobacillus) stearothermophilus Encodes a Heat-Stable Reverse Transcriptase

The production of a stable cDNA copy of an unstable RNA molecule by reverse transcription is a widely used and essential technology for many important applications, such as the construction of gene libraries, production of DNA probes, and analysis of gene expression by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). However, the synthesis of full-length cDNAs is frequently inefficient, because the RT commonly used often produces truncated cDNAs. Synthesizing cDNA at higher temperatures, on the other hand, can provide a number of improvements. These include increasing the length of cDNA product, greater accuracy, and greater specificity during reverse transcription. Thus, an RT that remains stable and active at hot temperatures may produce better-quality cDNAs and improve the yield of full-length cDNAs. Described here is the discovery of a gene, designated trt, from the genome of the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus (Geobacillus) stearothermophilus strain 10. The gene codes for an open reading frame (ORF) similar to the ORFs encoded by group II introns found in bacteria. The gene was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and its protein product was partially purified. Like the host organism, the Trt protein is a heat-stable protein with RT activity and can reverse transcribe RNA at temperatures as high as 75°C.
The relationship between ethical pressure, relativistic moral beliefs and organizational commitment

Questionnaire data from 161 business professionals were analyzed to investigate a proposed interaction between pressure to engage in unethical work activity and relativistic moral beliefs with respect to business professionals’ organizational commitment and intentions to leave the organization. The results indicated that organizational commitment was lower and intention to leave was higher for professionals who felt pressured by their employer to engage in unethical work activity. The proposed interaction was also significant for organizational commitment demonstrating that organizational commitment was generally high, except for business professionals who felt pressured to engage in unethical behavior and did not adhere to a belief that ethics are relative.
Stubborn reliance on intuition and subjectivity in employee selection.

The focus of this article is on implicit beliefs that inhibit adoption of selection decision aids (e.g., paper-and-pencil tests, structured interviews, mechanical combination of predictors). Understanding these beliefs is just as important as understanding organizational constraints to the adoption of selection technologies and may be more useful for informing the design of successful interventions. One of these is the implicit belief that it is theoretically possible to achieve near-perfect precision in predicting performance on the job. That is, people have an inherent resistance to analytical approaches to selection because they fail to view selection as probabilistic and subject to error. Another is the implicit belief that prediction of human behavior is improved through experience. This myth of expertise results in an overreliance on intuition and a reluctance to undermine one’s own credibility by using a selection decision aid.
D-4F Decreases White Matter Damage After Stroke in Mice

Background and Purpose— Stroke-induced neuroinflammation and white matter damage are associated with neurological deficits. Whether D-4F, an apolipoprotein A-I mimetic peptide, treatment of stroke decreases neuroinflammation and white matter damage and improves functional outcome has not been investigated. Methods— Adult male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and were orally administered saline as a vehicle control and different doses of D-4F (2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 mg/kg) starting at 2 h after MCAo and daily until euthanized at 7 days after MCAo. D-4F treatment did not alter the blood levels of high-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, triglyceride, blood–brain barrier leakage, and infarction volume compared with control group. Results— D-4F (16 mg/kg) treatment of stroke significantly improved functional outcome, increased the white matter density and the number of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the ischemic boundary zone of the ipsilateral striatum, and increased myelin basic protein, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), but decreased inflammatory factor Toll-like receptor-4 and tumor necrosis factor-α expression in the ischemic brain 7 days after MCAo ( P <0.05, n=11/group). The neurite/axonal outgrowth in primary cultured neurons was significantly increased when treated with D-4F (100 ng/mL) and IGF1 (100 ng/mL) compared with the nontreatment control. Inhibition of IGF1 significantly attenuated D-4F or IGF1 treatment–induced axonal outgrowth. D-4F-treatment did not increase oligodendrocyte–progenitor cell proliferation but decreased oligodendrocyte–progenitor cell death. Conclusions— D-4F treatment initiated 2 h after MCAo decreases neuroinflammation and white matter damage and improves functional outcome after stroke. D-4F-induced increase in IGF1 may contribute to D-4F–induced neurite/axonal outgrowth after stroke.
The Future of Philanthropy: Questioning Today’s Orthodoxies, Re-Affirming Yesterday’s Foundations

Philanthropy today has reached an impasse, in both theory and practice. This article maps a way beyond that impasse by taking us back to philanthropy’s core function and traditional values. The standard academic model sees philanthropy as subordinate and supplemental to our society’s other public sectors, the market and the state, and uses their metrics to measure its performance. Current law, best reflected in the federal income tax code, closely parallels that perspective. This article proposes to reverse the dominant theoretical perspective and reveal a radically different relationship among society’s three public sectors, the market, the state, and the philanthropic. Following both classical western philosophy and the West’s three Abrahamist faiths, this perspective places philanthropy first and measures everything, including our current economic and political systems, by a neo-classical philanthropic standard: the highest good of all humankind.
Sexual dysfunction and psychological distress in methadone maintenance.

We administered the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory to 25 methadone maintenance patients who had been on a stable dose of methadone for at least 2 months, and obtained ratings of depression and anxiety, levels of sex hormones, and liver function tests. Five subjects with significantly lower Global Sexual Satisfaction Index scores (p < .0001) had more psychological symptoms, higher methadone doses, poorer body image, and less sexual drive and satisfaction, but normal fund of sexual information and lifetime experience. Sexual dysfunction among methadone maintenance patients may be due to coexisting psychiatric problems rather than caused by opiates. Methadone patients presenting with sexual dysfunction should receive psychiatric evaluation.
The Crisis of American Legal Thought and the Transformation of Sovereignty

In the late 20th Century U.S. legal theory splintered due to a crisis of interpretation into competing antithetical views, often defined around personal identity: on the one side, critical legal studies, around which or out of which were marshalled critical race theory, lat/crit, feminist legal theory and even law and literature as opposing economic analyses of law (law and economics). This conflict was not resolvable by recourse to European Kelsenian legal theory due to the principle of value neutrality found in the work of Weber and influencing Kelsen and (ironically) Duncan Kennedy. This paper outlines the roots of that conflict and explains why Kelsen could provide no solution. 16 pages, 11 annotations. A theoretical paradigm shift is also necessary in order to address a second contemporary theoretical crisis, the crisis of sovereignty.
Identität in Farbe: Gedanken über Stefan Budian

Der Philosoph fragt seit den alten Griechen immer wieder: „Ti esti?“ Oder: „Was ist es?“ Was ist die Essenz dessen, was wir wahrnehmen? Sind die Kunstler vielleicht diejenigen, die diese Frage zwar auch nicht beantworten konnen, die uns aber eine Antwort im Werk zu zeigen vermogen?
Bacterial Riboswitches and Ribozymes Potently Activate the Human Innate Immune Sensor PKR

The innate immune system provides the first line of defense against pathogens through the recognition of nonspecific patterns in RNA to protect the cell in a generalized way. The human RNA-activated protein kinase, PKR, is a dsRNA binding protein and an essential sensor in the innate immune response, which recognizes viral and bacterial pathogens through their RNAs. Upon activation via RNA-dependent autophosphorylation, PKR phosphorylates the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF2α, leading to termination of translation. PKR has a well-characterized role in recognizing viral RNA, where it binds long stretches of double-stranded RNA nonsequence specifically to promote activation; however, the mechanism by which bacterial RNA activates PKR and the mode by which self RNA avoids activating PKR are unknown. We characterized activation of PKR by three functional bacterial RNAs with pseudoknots and extensive tertiary structure: the cyclic di-GMP riboswitch, the glmS riboswitch-ribozyme, and the twister ribozyme, two of which are ligand-activated. These RNAs were found to activate PKR with comparable potency to long dsRNA. Enzymatic structure mapping in the absence and presence of PKR reveals a clear PKR footprint and provides a structural basis for how these bacterial RNAs activate PKR. In the case of the cyclic di-GMP riboswitch and the glmS riboswitch-ribozyme, PKR appears to dimerize on the peripheral double-stranded regions of the native RNA tertiary structure. Overall, these results provide new insights into how PKR acts as an innate immune signaling protein for the presence of bacteria and suggest a reason for the apparent absence of protein-free riboswitches and ribozymes in the human genome.