cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transforming education with community-developed teaching materials: evidence from direct observations of STEM college classrooms

The Classroom Observation Project employs direct observations of geoscience teaching across the USA using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to quantify the use of reformed teaching practices. We report on 345 RTOP observations used to evaluate the extent of teaching reform when curricular materials developed as part of the InTeGrate Project (ITG) were used. The InTeGrate Project has published 40 modules of curricular materials that teach geoscience in the context of societal issues and support instructors through guided use of student-centered instructional practices. All ITG materials were developed by teams of instructors, follow a consistent structure, and were evaluated against a project rubric. RTOP scores for classes observed when ITG materials were used (ITG; n = 50, M = 54.0) are significantly higher than RTOP scores for classes observed when ITG materials were not used (non-ITG; n = 295; M = 39.8; p < .0001). ITG observations all have RTOP scores in the student-centered (≥ 50) or transitional (31–49) instructional categories, and none in the teacher-centered instructional category (≤ 30), demonstrating that ITG materials support more student-centered teaching in class sessions where they are used. In 33 paired observations of the same instructor teaching with and without ITG materials, mean RTOP scores when teaching with ITG are greater than mean RTOP scores when teaching without ITG (M = 54 and M = 47.1, respectively). RTOP observations reveal that more student-centered instructional practices occur in class sessions in which ITG materials are used. There is a small range of RTOP scores when individual ITG activities are used by multiple instructors, suggesting that using ITG materials results in a consistent quality of instruction. The complete absence of teacher-centered instruction when using ITG materials means the materials are a useful resource for practicing reformed teaching methods. The model of the ITG Project in the creation and broad dissemination of ready-made curricula for use in large numbers of classrooms can be replicated to transform teaching and learning in other disciplinary communities.
Quantifying the difference in risk of adverse events by induction treatment regimen in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The differences in overall morbidity by induction treatment regimen for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are unknown. We examined a cohort of children with ALL who received induction ch...
Quarantined-at-Home Teaching Experience: My E-Learning Plan and Implementation.

Using my own teaching experience in quarantined-at-home settings, I describe and reflect on my e-learning plan and its implementation. I am teaching two groups of undergraduate students consisting of 80 students. I have taught half of the course content during the first half of the semester in a formal university setting. However, after the novel corona breakout, we are engaged in online teaching. In line with university guidelines and available support, I initiated my e-learning plan based on blended learning and led by the core objectives to maintain accessibility and quality. Using asynchronous and synchronous modes I used common and easily available options to enhance two-way teacher-student communication. The feedback that I received after three weeks of implementation of my e-learning plan proved my understanding of the study context as workable and realistic. My conceptual models about the objectives leading the e-learning plan and the implementation model presented in this article can be helpful for the teachers teaching social sciences for the first time in ‘quarantined’ settings.
Fungal Infections in the Immunocompromised Host

Systemic mycoses are important opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. Candida, Aspergillus, and Mucoraceae are the most common causes of serious fungal infection in granulocytopenic patients, while Cryptococcus neoformans, Histoplasma capsulatum, and Coccidioides immitis are important pathogens in patients with impaired cellular immunity. Infections with less virulent fungi, such as Trichosporon, Fusarium, Alternaria, Pseudallescheria, dematiaceous fungi, and others, are being recognized more frequently.
Quantifying direct and indirect effect for longitudinal mediator and survival outcome using joint modeling approach.

Longitudinal biomarkers are widely used in biomedical and translational researches to monitor the progressions of diseases. Methods have been proposed to jointly model longitudinal data and survival data, but its causal mechanism is yet to be investigated rigorously. Understanding how much of the total treatment effect is through the biomarker is important in understanding the treatment mechanism and evaluating the biomarker. In this work, we propose a causal mediation analysis method to compute the direct and indirect effects, when a joint modeling approach is used to take the longitudinal biomarker as the mediator and the survival endpoint as the outcome. Such a joint modeling approach allows us to relax the commonly used "sequential ignorability" assumption. We demonstrate how to evaluate longitudinally measured biomarkers using our method with two case studies, an AIDS study and a liver cirrhosis study.
Adversarial Attack on Graph Neural Networks as An Influence Maximization Problem.

Graph neural networks (GNNs) have attracted increasing interests. With broad deployments of GNNs in real-world applications, there is an urgent need for understanding the robustness of GNNs under adversarial attacks, especially in realistic setups. In this work, we study the problem of attacking GNNs in a restricted and realistic setup, by perturbing the features of a small set of nodes, with no access to model parameters and model predictions. Our formal analysis draws a connection between this type of attacks and an influence maximization problem on the graph. This connection not only enhances our understanding on the problem of adversarial attack on GNNs, but also allows us to propose a group of effective and practical attack strategies. Our experiments verify that the proposed attack strategies significantly degrade the performance of three popular GNN models and outperform baseline adversarial attack strategies.
Primary radial nerve palsy associated with humeral shaft fractures according to injury mechanism: early exploration is needed?

Abstract Background Radial nerve palsy is a common complication associated with humeral shaft fractures. The purposes of this study were 1) to evaluate the status of primary radial nerve palsy in patients with humeral shaft fracture according to injury mechanism, 2) to estimate the risk factors of primary RNP, and 3) to evaluate whether early exploration is helpful for radial nerve recovery. Methods This study analyzed 162 patients with humeral shaft fractures from January 2014 to December 2019. All patients were surgically treated in our hospital. Of these, 109 high-energy injuries were identified and compared with 53 low–energy injuries. The risk factors of radial nerve palsy were analyzed, and the prevalence of radial nerve palsy and status of radial nerve exploration according to injury mechanism were evaluated. Nerve recovery rate according to early nerve exploration was investigated. Results There were 31 cases of radial nerve palsy among 162 patients; 27 in the high-energy humeral shaft fracture group, and four in the low-energy humeral shaft fracture group. Logistic regression analysis for risk factors showed that the injury mechanism was significantly associated with primary radial nerve palsy. Among 31 radial nerve palsy patients, 21 radial nerves were explored and 19 radial nerves were recovered completely (80.6%). In the high-energy humeral shaft fracture group, 18 radial nerves were explored during surgery among 27 radial nerve palsy cases, and 16 cases were recovered (88.9%). The other nine radial nerves were not explored, and only five cases were recovered (55.6%) Conclusions This study confirmed that the incidence of radial nerve paralysis was higher in high-energy humeral shaft fractures than in low-energy fractures. The more common fracture patterns were oblique, transverse, wedge, and comminuted in HE-HSF. This study suggests that these patterns are not directly associated with radial nerve palsy, but that high-energy injury is associated with a specific fracture pattern. Early nerve exploration during surgical treatment in patients with radial nerve palsy associated with humeral shaft fracture was helpful especially after high-energy injury.
Context-Specific, Scenario-Based Risk Scales

Reacting to an emergency requires quick decisions under stressful and dynamic conditions. To react effectively, responders need to know the right actions to take given the risks posed by the emergency. While existing research on risk scales focuses primarily on decision making in static environments with known risks, these scales may be inappropriate for conditions where the decision maker's time and mental resources are limited and may be infeasible if the actual risk probabilities are unknown. In this article, we propose a method to develop context-specific, scenario-based risk scales designed for emergency response training. Emergency scenarios are used as scale points, reducing our dependence on known probabilities; these are drawn from the targeted emergency context, reducing the mental resources required to interpret the scale. The scale is developed by asking trainers/trainees to rank order a range of risk scenarios and then aggregating these orderings using a Kemeny ranking. We propose measures to assess this aggregated scale's internal consistency, reliability, and validity, and we discuss how to use the scale effectively. We demonstrate our process by developing a risk scale for subsurface coal mine emergencies and test the reliability of the scale by repeating the process, with some methodological variations, several months later.
An anatomically based surface EMG model

A model of the surface EMG signal based on a realistic arm anatomy is presented. A finite element volume conductor model was developed using magnetic resonance (MR) images of the upper arm of a healthy male subject. The model includes both resistive and capacitive material properties. To examine the ability of the model to predict the potential distribution around the surface of the arm, experimental and simulated data were compared during the application of a sub-threshold current source to the skin surface. The agreement between the simulated and experimental data varied with the choice of material properties used, with the closest approximation to the experimental data yielding a mean root mean square (RMS) error at the recording electrodes of 18% or 27%, depending on the site of the applied current source. To examine the influence of limb geometry on the EMG signal, action potentials from a curved muscle fiber in the realistic volume conductor model and an idealized cylindrical model were compared. The specific geometry of the limb caused substantial variations in the shapes of the surface potentials. However, more qualitative features of the surface EMG signal, such as the rate of decay of the surface action potential amplitude, were similar in both the realistic and idealized volume conductor models.
'Atypical' and 'suspicious' diagnoses in breast aspiration cytology.

BACKGROUND In 1996, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) recommended five categories for the diagnosis of breast aspiration cytology: benign, atypical, suspicious, malignant, and unsatisfactory. The authors evaluated the usefulness of separating inconclusive diagnoses into the aforementioned atypical and suspicious categories. The current study examined the correlation between cytologic and histologic findings made in breast aspiration cytology specimens that were categorized in accordance with these NCI guidelines. METHODS From 1992 to 2000, 7727 breast aspirations were performed at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center (Miami, FL). Aspirates were classified using criteria similar to the NCI recommendations. Four hundred eighty-nine aspirates (6%) were classified as being cytologically ‘atypical’ or ‘suspicious’. Of those, 225 ‘atypical’ aspirates and 162 ‘suspicious’ aspirates had available histologic follow-up data and were included in the study. RESULTS Among the ‘atypical’ aspirates, 118 (52%) yielded malignant findings on histologic evaluation. Infiltrating ductal carcinoma (n = 87; 74%) was the most common malignant diagnosis, followed by infiltrating lobular carcinoma (n = 12; 10%). Among ‘suspicious’ aspirates, 135 (83%) yielded malignant findings on histologic analysis. The most common benign diagnosis in both ‘atypical’ and ‘suspicious’ aspirates was proliferative fibrocystic changes with or without atypia, followed by fibroadenoma. CONCLUSIONS Most aspirates that yielded suspicious findings on cytologic examination proved to be malignant, as did > 50% of aspirates that yielded atypical findings. Infiltrating lobular carcinoma commonly was underdiagnosed as being atypical on cytologic examination. Benign lesions with atypical or suspicious cytologic diagnoses included certain cases of atypical ductal hyperplasia. The authors concluded that the distinction between the atypical and suspicious categories, as recommended by the NCI, is not warranted. Therefore, they suggest the use of a single term, such as ‘equivocal’, to describe inconclusive diagnoses on breast fine-needle aspiration cytology. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.
Action of Liver Glutamine Transaminase and l-Amino Acid Oxidase on Several Glutamine Analogs PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF THE 4-S, O, AND NH ANALOGS OF α-KETOGLUTARAMIC ACID

Abstract The l-glutamine analogs, l-albizziin (l-α-amino-β-ureido-propionic acid), S-carbamyl-l-cysteine, and O-carbamyl-l-serine were found to be substrates for purified rat liver glutamine transaminase, and the α-keto acid product formed in each case was found to cyclize to a lactam analogous in structure to the cyclic form of α-ketoglutaramic acid (2-pyrrolidone-5-hydroxy-5-carboxylic acid). Evidence was obtained that the initial product of transamination of albizziin, S-carbamylcysteine, and O-carbamylserine are the corresponding α-keto acids, which were found to be converted by ω-amidase (followed by spontaneous decarboxylation) to β-aminopyruvate, β-mercaptopyruvate, and β-hydroxypyruvate, respectively. Incubation of the glutamine analogs with l-amino acid oxidase from Crotalus adamanteus venom gave the corresponding cyclic lactam forms; the products obtained from albizziin and S-carbamyl-cysteine were rapidly and irreversibly dehydrated in acid or base to yield 2-imidazolinone-4-carboxylic acid and 2-thiazolinone-4-carboxylic acid, respectively. Neither α-ketoglutaramate nor 2-oxazolidone-4-hydroxy-4-carboxylic acid (which was isolated as the corresponding barium salt) was dehydrated under these conditions.
Multiple viral determinants contribute to pathogenicity of the acutely lethal simian immunodeficiency virus SIVsmmPBj variant.

Abstract Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) induces an immunodeficiency syndrome similar to human AIDS. Although the disease course of SIV-induced immunodeficiency is generally measured in months to years, a disease syndrome that results in death in 5 to 14 days has been described in pig-tailed macaques infected with the SIVsmmPBj (PBj) strain. The purpose of this study was to derive an acutely lethal PBj molecular clone in order to study viral genes involved in pathogenesis. Six infectious molecular clones were generated; acutely fatal disease was induced by experimental inoculation of pig-tailed macaques with virus stocks derived from either of two clones, PBj6.6 or PBj14.6. Molecular chimeras were constructed by exchange of regions of the genome of PBj6.6 and a nonlethal, related clone, SIVsmH4. Only a chimera expressing the PBj genome under the control of a SIVsmH4 long terminal repeat induced death soon after inoculation. These studies suggest that multiple viral genes of PBj are critical for development of acute disease. More specifically, the env gene but not the long terminal repeat PBj was required for acute disease induction; however env must act in concert with another gene(s) of the PBj genome.
ADHD Symptoms as Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization

Preliminary evidence underscores links between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. However, little is known about whether ADHD symptoms are uniquely associated with IPV perpetration and victimization beyond well-established risk factors of IPV commonly associated with the disorder. In a cross-sectional design, 433 college students rated their ADHD symptoms as well as frequencies of psychological and physical IPV perpetration and victimization. Additional risk factors of IPV included childhood maltreatment, primary psychopathy, alcohol abuse, and illicit drug use. Correlational analyses indicated that students with greater ADHD symptom severity reported higher rates of psychological and physical IPV perpetration, and higher rates of psychological IPV victimization. Regression analyses indicated that ADHD symptoms were not additive risk factors of psychological IPV perpetration and victimization. Students reporting any alcohol abuse or illicit drug use endorsed high rates of psychological IPV perpetration and victimization, regardless of their level of ADHD symptoms. However, students who reported no alcohol abuse or drug use, but did report greater ADHD symptom severity-particularly inattention, indicated higher rates of psychological IPV perpetration and victimization than those reporting no alcohol abuse or drug use and low ADHD symptoms. These findings extend prior research by indicating that alcohol abuse and illicit drug use moderate associations between ADHD symptoms and psychological IPV perpetration and victimization. Investigations are needed to identify mechanisms of the association between ADHD symptoms and IPV perpetration and victimization, particularly those abusing alcohol and drugs, for appropriate prevention and intervention efforts to be developed.
HIV-1 resistance conferred by siRNA cosuppression of CXCR4 and CCR5 coreceptors by a bispecific lentiviral vector

RNA interference (RNAi) mediated by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) has proved to be a highly effective gene silencing mechanism with great potential for HIV/AIDS gene therapy. Previous work with siRNAs against cellular coreceptors CXCR4 and CCR5 had shown that down regulation of these surface molecules could prevent HIV-1 entry and confer viral resistance. Since monospecific siRNAs targeting individual coreceptors are inadequate in protecting against both T cell tropic (X4) and monocyte tropic (R5) viral strains simultaneously, bispecific constructs with dual specificity are required. For effective long range therapy, the bispecific constructs need to be stably transduced into HIV-1 target cells via integrating viral vectors. To achieve this goal, lentiviral vectors incorporating both CXCR4 and CCR5 siRNAs of short hairpin design were constructed. The CXCR4 siRNA was driven by a U6 promoter whereas the CCR5 siRNA was driven by an H1 promoter. A CMV promoter driven EGFP reporter gene is also incorporated in the bispecific construct. High efficiency transduction into coreceptor expressing Magi and Ghost cell lines with a concomitant down regulation of respective coreceptors was achieved with lentiviral vectors. When the siRNA expressing transduced cells were challenged with X4 and R5 tropic HIV-1, they demonstrated marked viral resistance. HIV-1 resistance was also observed in bispecific lentiviral vector transduced primary PBMCs. Both CXCR4 and CCR5 coreceptors could be simultaneously targeted for down regulation by a single combinatorial lentiviral vector incorporating respective anti-coreceptor siRNAs. Stable down regulation of both the coreceptors protects cells against infection by both X4 and R5 tropic HIV-1. Stable down regulation of cellular molecules that aid in HIV-1 infection will be an effective strategy for long range HIV gene therapy.
9.4 – The Diagenesis of Biogenic Silica: Chemical Transformations Occurring in the Water Column, Seabed, and Crust

This chapter examines the chemical and structural transformations that take place in biogenically precipitated amorphous silica following the death of the biota, including chemical reactions that occur as this material sinks through the water column, as it is buried in the seabed, and ultimately as it is exposed to high pressures and temperatures in the Earth's crust. Initially the chapter focuses on the physical properties of the skeletal material in the biota and then examines how chemical reactions occurring in the water column and seabed change the chemical structure of the material, altering its solubility and dissolution kinetics. Finally, the long-term diagenetic changes of biogenic silica are examined as it is transformed from opal-A to opal-CT and ultimately to chert.
Modeling the effects of ionospheric scintillation on GPS/Satellite-based augmentation system availability

[1] Ionospheric scintillation is a rapid change in the phase and/or amplitude of a radio signal as it passes through small-scale plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere. These scintillations not only can reduce the accuracy of GPS/Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) receiver pseudorange and carrier phase measurements but also can result in a complete loss of lock on a satellite. In a worst case scenario, loss of lock on enough satellites could result in lost positioning service. Scintillation has not had a major effect on midlatitude regions (e.g., the continental United States) since most severe scintillation occurs in a band approximately 20° on either side of the magnetic equator and to a lesser extent in the polar and auroral regions. Most scintillation occurs for a few hours after sunset during the peak years of the solar cycle. Typical delay locked loop/phase locked loop designs of GPS/SBAS receivers enable them to handle moderate amounts of scintillation. Consequently, any attempt to determine the effects of scintillation on GPS/SBAS must consider both predictions of scintillation activity in the ionosphere and the residual effect of this activity after processing by a receiver. This paper estimates the effects of scintillation on the availability of GPS and SBAS for L1 C/A and L2 semicodeless receivers. These effects are described in terms of loss of lock and degradation of accuracy and are related to different times, ionospheric conditions, and positions on the Earth. Sample results are presented using WAAS in the western hemisphere.
Algorithmic tamper-proof security under probing attacks

Gennaro et al. initiated the study of algorithmic tamper proof (ATP) cryptography: cryptographic hardware that remains secure even in the presence of an adversary who can tamper with the memory content of a hardware device. In this paper, we solve an open problem stated in their paper, and also consider whether a device can be secured against an adversary who can both tamper with its memory and probe a few memory locations or wires at a time. Our results are as follows: - It is impossible to realize a secure cryptographic functionality with a personal identification number (PIN) where a user is allowed to make up to l incorrect consecutive attempts to enter her PIN, with no total limit on incorrect PIN attempts. (This was left as an open problem by Gennaro et al.) - It is impossible to secure a deterministic cryptographic device against an adversary who is allowed to both tamper with the memory of the device and probe a memory location; it is also essentially infeasible to secure it if the adversary's probing power is restricted to internal wires; it is impossible to secure it against an adversary whose probing power is restricted to internal wires, but who is also allowed to tamper with a few internal wires. - By extending the results of Ishai et al., we show that a cryptographic device with a true source of randomness can withstand tampering and limited probing attacks at the same time.
The Conformation of the ε- and γ-Subunits within theEscherichia coli F1 ATPase

F(1) is the water-soluble portion of the ubiquitous F(1)F(0) ATP synthase. Its structure includes three alpha- and three beta-subunits, arranged as a hexameric disc, plus a gamma-subunit that penetrates the center of the disc akin to an axle. Recently Hausrath et al. (Hausrath, A. C., Gruber, G., Matthews, B. W., and Capaldi, R. A. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 96, 13697-13702) obtained an electron density map of E. coli F(1) at 4.4-A resolution in which the coiled-coil alpha-helices of the gamma-subunit could be seen to extend 45 A from the base of the alpha(3)beta(3) hexamer. Subsequently the structure of a truncated form of the E. coli gamma-subunit in complex with epsilon has been described (Rodgers, A. J. W., and Wilce, M. C. J. (2000) Nat. Struct. Biol. 7, 1051-1054). In the present study the 4.4-A resolution electron density map of E. coli F(1) is re-evaluated in light of the newly available data on the gamma- and epsilon-subunits. It is shown that the map of the F(1) complex is consistent with the structure of the isolated subunits. When E. coli F(1) is compared with that from beef heart, the structures of the E. coli gamma- and epsilon-subunits are seen to be generally similar to their counterparts in the bovine enzyme but to undergo major shifts in position. In particular, the two long, coiled-coil alpha-helices that lie along the axis of F(1) both unwind and rotate. Also the epsilon-subunit rotates around the axis by 81 degrees and undergoes a net translation of about 23 A. It is argued that these large-scale changes in conformation reflect distinct functional states that occur during the rotation of the gamma-subunit within the alpha(3)beta(3) hexamer.
Zero correlation with lower-order terms for automorphic L-functions

Let πj be a self-contragredient automorphic cuspidal representation of GLmj(&#x1d538;ℚ) for j = 1,…,k. Using a refined version of the Selberg orthogonality, we recompute the n-level correlation of high non-trivial zeros of the product L(s,π1)⋯L(s,πk). In the process, we are able to extract certain low-order terms which suggest the asymptotics of these statistics are not necessarily universal, but depend upon the conductors of the representations and hence the ramification properties of the local components coming from each πj. The computation of these lower-order terms is unconditional as long as all mj ≤ 4.
Mobile P2P Databases

A mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) database is a database that is stored in the peers of a mobile P2P network. The network is composed by a finite set of mobile peers that communicate with each other via short-range wireless protocols, such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, Zigbee, or ultra wide band (UWB). These protocols provide broadband (typically tens of Mbps) but short-range (typically 10–100 meters) wireless communication. On each mobile peer there is a local database that stores and manages a collection of data items or reports. A report is a set of values sensed or entered by the user at a particular time, or otherwise obtained by a mobile peer. Often a report describes a physical resource, such as an available parking slot. All the local databases maintained by the mobile peers form the mobile P2P database. The peers communicate reports and queries to neighbors directly, and the reports and queries propagate by transitive multi-hop transmissions. Figure 1 below illustrates the definition. Encyclopedia of GIS
Shifts in Contractile Regulatory Protein Subunits Troponin T and Troponin I in Cardiac Hypertrophy

To examine the molecular basis of hypertrophied heart failure, we investigated the changes in cardiac contractile regulatory proteins. The guinea pigs were subjected to chronic pressure overload with aortic banding to induce ventricular hypertrophy, and in-situ pressure-volume relations were recorded together with biochemical characterizations to ascertain the contractile modifications. Immunoblots of left and right ventricular samples revealed four distinct troponin T isoforms, which underwent alterations during hypertrophy. The higher molecular weight bands TnT1 and TnT2 shifted towards the lower molecular weight isoforms TnT3 and TnT4. For TnI, a single prominent band was detected, whose intensity also increased with pump failure. The findings provide the first direct evidence of TnT and TnI shifts in an experimentally induced hypertrophied heart failure and has novel mechanistic implications for the future studies.
Ohmic damping of center-of-mass oscillations of a molecular monolayer

The electrostatic moments on the atoms or molecules of a monolayer solid are the source of an electric field with spatial variation determined by the reciprocal-lattice vectors of the monolayer. Center-of-mass oscillations of the monolayer generate an oscillating electric field in a metallic substrate. The contribution of the resulting Ohmic loss to the damping of the oscillation on a normal metal is evaluated for adsorption dipole moments, with parameters for Xe/Ag(111), and for the molecular quadrupole moments in a monolayer herringbone lattice, with parameters for ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}/\mathrm{Pb}$ and ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}/\mathrm{Ag}(111).$ The analysis is very similar to the theory of the anomalous skin effect: the anomalous response arises because the spatial length scale of the driving field is small compared to the mean free path of electrons in the normal metal.
Suitability of selected North American grasshopper species as hosts for grasshopper parasites from Pakistan

Abstract Three species of Sacrophagidae (Diptera) and four of Scelionidae (Hymenoptera) that are parasites of grasshoppers or grasshopper eggs in Pakistan were imported into the United States and exposed to 16 and 24 species of North American grasshoppers representing the three major sub-families. The hosts that were provided were unacceptable, and the exotic parasites were not promising for control of American grasshoppers.
Comparative properties of sums of independent binomials with different parameters

Abstract This paper presents some results on how certain kinds of changes in parameters induce a first-order stochastic change in the sums of independent binomials with different parameters. These results are useful for qualitative economic analysis. For example, in situations in which a decision-making unit receives observations from a variety of sources or subsamples, these results help predict the effects of changes in the composition and sizes of subsamples on the economic variables under consideration.
Bias and variance analysis of MUSIC location estimates

Presents a statistical performance analysis of the MUSIC location estimator. Explicit and concise asymptotical expressions for both the bias and variance of MUSIC location estimates are derived for multiple source cases. These expressions are valid over a wide range of SNR extending down into the resolution threshold region of MUSIC, where analysis is of particular interest. These expressions, though asymptotical, can also be accurately applied to limited number of observation cases. In comparison with previous analysis, this new statistical analysis results in significantly less complicated statistics and derivations and is more general in that it accurately examines both the bias and variance of MUSIC location estimates. Further, this analysis approach can be applied to other eigenspace spatial-spectrum based location estimators. >
Parallel QCD machines

Abstract We review the characteristics of several parallel computers which have been used to calculate the predictions of lattice QCD then briefly describe some proposals for new machines.
Common antigens found on fetal cells and viral transformed adult prostatic tissue

In vivo and in vitro immunologic cross reactivity between SV40 virus transformed prostatic tissue and fetal antigens of LVG/LAK strain hamsters has been studied. The hamsters immunized with fetal antigens demonstrated significant resistance to tumor growth. Complement-dependent humoral cytotoxicity of target SV40 tumor cells in microtest plates was used to demonstrate the presence of significant antibody titer in fetal-immunized hamsters. When the immune sera were absorbed with SV40 transformed prostatic tissue, cytotoxicity indices were markedly lower than with the unabsorbed immune sera. The transformed prostatic tissue was found to have an elevated tartrate inhibited acid phosphatase indicative of the presence of epithelial components in the transformed tissue. These experiments demonstrate in vivo and in vitro cross reactivity between fetal antigens and tumor associated antigens of transformed prostatic tissue. This study suggests a similarity between fetal antigens and antigens of a specific organ tissue (prostate) transformed by a DNA oncogenic virus.
Stochastic Learning and a Quantal Model of Signal Detection

Psychologists approach problems differently from engineers, in that they are concerned with actual, not optimal, behavior. They ask what mechanisms humans use, how their behavior can best be described, and what affects their performance. This paper will discuss one such behavioral problem, the way in which a change in an auditory signal is detected. It will be necessary to consider three clearly established factors that contribute to actual detection behavior: the physiological effect of the signal on the observer, his motivations, and the learning that takes place.
Dynamic Restrictions on Movement of Prices Due to Homogeneity of Demand

Demand of goods is known to be homogeneous of degree zero in prices and income, so that if all prices and income in the economy increase by the same factor, then the demand of goods will remain unchanged. Interestingly, in a case of an efficient capital market combined with constant elasticity demand and a technology with constant returns, homogeneity also implies that all prices within an industry must move together. In particular, if in an economy with N industries ( j = 1, .... N), each with Nj firms (i = 1 . . . . . Nj), all firms change prices then, for any two firms i and i i ~ ih h, either dP.;/P.; = d P ~ / p h or = 0 . i i The proof is simple. Firm i's quantity demanded, qj (Pj . . . . . P~, m ) , is a function of all prices in the economy and income m. Differentiating q~ totally with respect to time:
A Framework for Measuring Differences in Data Characteristics

A data mining algorithm builds a model that captures interesting aspects of the underlying data. We develop a framework for quantifying the difference, called the deviation, between two datasets in terms of the models they induce. In addition to being a quantitative, intuitively interpretable measure of difference, the deviation between two datasets can also be computed very fast. Our framework covers a wide variety of models including frequent itemsets, decision tree classifiers, and clusters, and captures standard measures of deviation such as the misclassification rate and the chi-squared metric as special cases. We also show how statistical techniques can be applied to the deviation measure to assess whether the difference between two models is significant (i.e., whether the underlying datasets have statistically significant differences in their characteristics), and discuss several practical applications.
Progressive image transmission using vector quantization on images in pyramid form

A progressive image transmission scheme in which vector quantization is applied to images represented by pyramids is proposed. A mean pyramid representation of an image is first built up by forming a sequence of reduced-size images by averaging over blocks of 2*2 pixels. A difference pyramid is then built up by taking the differences between successive levels in the mean pyramid. Progressive transmission is achieved by sending all the nodes in the difference pyramid starting from the top level and ending at the bottom level. The kth approximate image can be formed by adding the information of level k to the previously reproduced (k-1)st approximation. To gain efficiency, vector quantization is applied to the difference pyramid of the image on a level-by-level basis. If the errors due to quantization at level k are properly delivered and included in the next level, k+1, then it is demonstrated that the original image can be reconstructed. An entropy coder is used to encode the final residual error image losslessly, thus ensuring perfect reproduction of the original image. The experiments demonstrate that it is possible to achieve simultaneously lossless and progressive transmission with compression. At the intermediate level, the use of vector quantization results in a coding gain over that obtained using only a Huffman coder. Excellent reproduction is achieved at a bit rate of only 0.06 bits/pixel. >
TPF: a dynamic system thrashing protection facility

Operating system designers attempt to keep high CPU utilization by maintaining an optimal multiprogramming level (MPL). Although running more processes makes it less likely to leave the CPU idle, too many processes adversely incur serious memory competition, and even introduce thrashing, which eventually lowers CPU utilization. A common practice to address the problem is to lower the MPL with the aid of process swapping out/in operations. This approach is expensive and is only used when the system begins serious thrashing. The objective of our study is to provide highly responsive and cost-effective thrashing protection by adaptively conducting priority page replacement in a timely manner. We have designed a dynamic system Thrashing Protection Facility (TPF) in the system kernel. Once TPF detects system thrashing, one of the active processes will be identified for protection. The identified process will have a short period of privilege in which it does not contribute its least recently used (LRU) pages for removal so that the process can quickly establish its working set, improving the CPU utilization. With the support of TPF, thrashing can be eliminated in its early stage by adaptive page replacement, so that process swapping will be avoided or delayed until it is truly necessary. We have implemented TPF in a current and representative Linux kernel running on an Intel Pentium machine. Compared with the original Linux page replacement, we show that TPF consistently and significantly reduces page faults and the execution time of each individual job in several groups of interacting SPEC CPU2000 programs. We also show that TPF introduces little additional overhead to program executions, and its implementation in Linux (or Unix) systems is straightforward.
Realizing Luttinger liquids in trapped ultra-cold atomic Fermi gases using 2D optical lattices

In this proceeding, we address the possibility of studying one-dimensional physics experimentally using optical lattices. These are periodic potentials created by laser fields in clouds of ultra-cold dilute atomic systems. We concentrate on the case of fermionic isotopes and study Luttinger liquid physics. In particular, we compare different regimes of spin coherence. We will argue that these systems are experimentally very attractive thanks to high degree of tunabilty and control, thus constituting an ideal laboratory for realizing model strongly correlated systems.
The Physical Properties of Coronal Streamers. II.

In this paper the plasma properties of three streamers observed in 2003 by the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) are presented for five heights from 1.75 to 5.0 R☉. The kinetic temperatures for protons (Tk,p) and the O5+ ions (Tk,O) are derived as a function of height with preferential heating of O5+ over protons recorded. By examining how Tk,p varies with latitude at each height, an idea of the magnetic field morphology is found. At 1.75 R☉ the elemental abundances (O, S, Ar, and Fe), electron temperature, and electron density are derived from the UV spectral data. All three streamers were quiescent with typical abundance values; however, no depleted cores were found. The first ionization potential (FIP) effect was detected for all three streamers with a bias of ~4. This is consistent with slow solar wind in situ measurements, thereby supporting the hypothetical connection between the two. All three streamers had a higher than expected electron temperature. The electron densities above 1.75 R☉ are derived from the Large Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraph (LASCO) C2 polarized brightness data. Estimates for the O5+ outflow velocities are obtained using the O VI λ1032 over λ1037 intensity ratios and the estimated electron densities. All three streamers showed evidence of significant outflows at 4.0 and 5.0 R☉.
Stable-bounded subsets of Lα, and sample unboundedness of symmetric stable processes

Let Xt be the Levy symmetric stable process with index α ∈ [1, 2), and let C be a convex, symmetric subset of Lα[0, 1]. We prove that if C does not have compact closure then supƒϵC ¦∝01ƒ(t)dXt¦ is infinite with probability one. This extends a result of Dudley in the case α = 2.
A serotonin-immunoreactive fiber system in the dorsal columns of the spinal cord.

Abstract Serotonin-immunoreactive fibers have been observed in the dorsal columns of the golden hamster spinal cord. The fibers were visualized using the PAP method which was intensified with a DAB - nickel substrate. The fibers were arranged preferentially in the mid-sagittal plane, and many were observed coursing from the dorsal columns into the dorsal gray matter. This serotonin-immunoreactive pathway may play a role in analgesia produced by dorsal column stimulation.
Response properties of peripheral retinula cells within Drosophila visual mutants to monochromatic Gaussian white-noise stimuli.

Abstract The spectral characteristics of retinula cells within three Drosophila visual mutants ( w, sev and ora ) were determined using monochromatic Gaussian white-noise as a stimulus. It was found that sev is more sensitive at 460 nm and less sensitive at 350 nm than the w mutant. There was no response in ora retinula cells to any light stimulus. The data suggest the possibility that the two central retinula cells (7 and 8) contribute to the response of the peripheral retinula cells (1–6).
Psychosocial issues: pelvic exenterative surgery.

This review of the literature describes the psychosocial consequences of all the elements associated with Pelvis Exenterative Surgery (PES): a diagnosis of cancer and/or its recurrence, impact of procedures such as simple or radical hysterectomy, prostatectomy, or colostomy. All studies report a high incidence of anxiety, depression, self-image insult, sexual dysfunction, social isolation, and dysfunction. There are few studies of the consequences of PES itself. Their consensus is that its psychosocial impact is not as catastrophic as one would expect. However, their methodological drawbacks do not yet permit a definitive conclusion. The interaction of the patients with their surgeon and treatment team during the preoperative period is examined with special attention to potential pitfalls. Acute psychiatric syndromes that may occur during the postoperative period (delirium, anxiety, depression, brief reactive psychosis) and their management is discussed. So are sexual dysfunctions. General principles of intervention in preparing patients for invasive procedures and facilitating favorable outcomes are described. J. Surg. Oncol. 2001;76:224-236.
Adiponectin receptors gene expression and insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic Mexican Americans with or without a family history of Type 2 diabetes

The recent discovery of two adiponectin receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) will improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the insulin-sensitising effect of adiponectin. The aim of this study was to determine for the first time whether skeletal muscle AdipoR1 and/or AdipoR2 gene expression levels are associated with insulin resistance. Using RT-PCR and northern analysis we measured AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 gene expression in skeletal muscle from healthy Mexican Americans with normal glucose tolerance who had (n=8) or did not have (n=10) a family history of Type 2 diabetes. Gene expression profiling indicated that the AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 isoforms are highly expressed in human skeletal muscle, unlike in mice where AdipoR2 expression was highest in the liver, and AdipoR1 was highest in skeletal muscle. In the study subjects, the expression levels of AdipoR1 (p=0.004) and AdipoR2 (p=0.04), as well as plasma adiponectin concentration (p=0.03) were lower in people with a family history of Type 2 diabetes than in those with no family history of the disease. Importantly, the expression levels of both receptors correlated positively with insulin sensitivity (r=0.64, p=0.004 and r=0.47, p=0.048 respectively). Collectively, these data indicate that both isoforms of the adiponectin receptor play a role in the insulin-sensitising effect of adiponectin.
T7-directed protein synthesis.

Abstract The protein composition of purified T7 phage particles, the patterns of protein synthesis after infection with wild-type and amber mutants of T7, and molecular weights of the individual polypeptide chains have been examined by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels containing SDS at neutral pH. Purified preparations of T7 particles contain 9 resolvable proteins, which together account for approximately 43% of the coding capacity of T7 DNA. The protein composition of partly assembled phage particles has also been examined, and the last step in the assembly of infective T7 particles identified. Comparing the protein compositions with electron micrographs of the particles permits the identification of a single protein as the major, if not the only, component of the tail. After infection of the host, T7 directs the synthesis of approximately 25–30 proteins, which together account for essentially all of the coding capacity of T7 DNA. From the time course of protein synthesis after infection, perhaps three classes of proteins can be distinguished, earliest, early, and late. Mutants in gene 1 are the only ones found so far which affect the control of protein synthesis. In the absence of gene 1 function, only the three earliest proteins are made. DNA synthesis is not required in order to synthesize late proteins, but they are made in much larger amounts when the synthesis of phage DNA is normal. So far, proteins have been identified for 12 of the 19 genes known for T7, including the genes for 6 of the 9 proteins of the T7 particle. Amber peptides can be identified in mutants from several genes, and correlation of their length with the position of the mutation permits determination of the direction of translation relative to the genetic map. This information has been combined with data available in the literature to orient the T7 DNA molecule, the direction of transcription and translation, and the genetic map relative to each other.
Transient dynamic response of some nonlinear structural systems

Abstract Examples of the transient dynamic response of various single-degree-of-freedom and many-degree-of-freedom simplified nonlinear structural systems are shown through a presentation of general equations of motion, nonlinear damping and restoring force functions, and the use of nonlinear-system response spectra. A few examples of response spectra are shown for widely different families of nonlinear systems having widely varying parameters.