cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Not knowing the competition: evidence and implications for auction design

In a government auction program where first‐price auctions generate significantly higher revenue than English auctions, I document evidence that bidders are uncertain about the number of auction entrants. Motivated by additional data evidence, I estimate a structural model of auctions in which rivals' participation is stochastic, allowing for bidders' risk aversion and asymmetry. Counterfactual simulations reveal that bidders' uncertainty about the number of entrants, combined with risk aversion, substantially softens the revenue impact of low competition in first‐price auctions. This explains the observed revenue patterns and uncovers an empirically important reason for sellers to favor first‐price auctions over English auctions.
Patterns of Recurrence of Phonotraumatic Vocal Fold Lesions Suggest Distinct Mechanisms of Injury.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To examine patterns of recurrence of benign phonotraumatic vocal fold lesions over time for insights into pathophysiology. STUDY DESIGN Case series with mathematical modeling. METHODS Medical records and stroboscopic exams of adults who underwent microlaryngoscopic resection of phonotraumatic vocal fold lesions over a 13-year period were reviewed for time to recurrence after surgery. Uniform and log-normal probability distributions were fitted to the time to recurrence curves for vocal fold polyps, midfold masses, and pseudocysts. Model fits were compared using the Akaike information criterion corrected, a standard measure of the goodness of fit. Stochastic simulations were used to verify that the mechanistic hypotheses were concordant with the selected probability distributions and empiric data. RESULTS Of 567 patients who underwent microlaryngoscopic resection, 65 had a recurrence (16 polyps, 14 midfold masses, and 35 pseudocysts). Midfold mass and pseudocyst recurrences were predominantly seen in younger women. Polyps were best fit by a uniform distribution rather than log-normal, whereas midfold masses and pseudocysts were better fit by log-normal rather than uniform. Stochastic simulations suggest that polyps recur sporadically according to a paroxysmal-developmental model, whereas midfold mass and pseudocyst recurrences follow a force-multiplication, damage-accumulation process. CONCLUSIONS Vocal fold polyps are acute lesions evenly distributed by age and gender that recur uniformly over time, suggesting they arise from sudden tissue reactions to phonotraumatic stress. Pseudocysts and midfold fibrous masses are chronic lesions predominantly found in young women that recur with log-normal distribution over time, suggesting gradual damage accumulation in larynges predisposed to enhanced phonotrauma. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 131:2523-2529, 2021.
Clearance of buprenorphine during pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.

Buprenorphine is emerging as the preferred pharmacologic treatment for opioid use disorder during pregnancy. We examined the relative plasma clearance of buprenorphine (BUP) across pregnancy. Pregnant women with opioid use disorder participating in a prospective, observational study from 2013 to 2016 on stress in pregnancy who were receiving BUP for opioid use disorder were included. Women with an active eating disorder or suicidal ideation were excluded. Research visits occurred at 4–6-week intervals across pregnancy and the early postpartum period and included medication exposure history and blood samples. All assays for BUP serum concentrations at steady state were completed. Relative weight-adjusted clearance (Cl) was calculated using Cl = (daily dose [mg]/ body weight [kg])/serum concentration [ng/ml]. We collected 112 maternal blood samples from 29 women throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. Serum concentrations for BUP ranged from < 0.2 to 15.8 ng/ml. Eleven women, with greater than three collected samples, increased their daily dose of BUP during pregnancy; however, there were no significant differences in relative clearance of BUP across this same period. This data suggests that women with opioid use disorder receiving BUP did not demonstrate a significant increase in BUP clearance across pregnancy despite increase in dosages during pregnancy. When selecting an appropriate BUP dosage for management of perinatal opioid use disorder, gestational stage appears not to be an important covariate and should be based on an individualized approach.
Optimizing over subsequences generates context-sensitive languages

Phonological generalizations are finite-state. While Optimality Theory is a popular framework for modeling phonology, it is known to generate non-finite-state mappings and languages. This paper demonstrates that Optimality Theory is capable of generating non-context-free languages, contributing to the characterization of its generative capacity. This is achieved with minimal modification to the theory as it is standardly employed.
475-P: School Nurses Report Low Confidence in Many Skills with Diabetes Devices

New diabetes devices are increasingly standard of care for pediatric type 1 diabetes management. Youth often need caregiver assistance to use these devices, including at school. The aim of this study was to assess school nurse confidence with devices, which, to our knowledge, no study has previously evaluated. School nurses in Pennsylvania were recruited to complete a questionnaire, designed by our group and demonstrating content validity, evaluating confidence in specific skills. Each item was scored on a 5-point scale with low confidence considered a response of 1-2, moderate confidence 3, and high confidence 4-5. Respondents (n=269) were 99% female, 96% white, and mean age was 52 years. The majority had experience with insulin pumps (95%) and continuous glucose monitors (CGM, 92%), but not sensor-augmented pumps (34%). Primary forms of device training were informal learning from parents (68%), other nurses (49%), or web searches (49%); fewer (37%) received formal training from a medical center. Median response for insulin pump-related items was 3.1/5 and for CGM items 3.5/5, suggesting moderate confidence overall. We found a moderate positive correlation between confidence with pumps (0.47, p 0.05) between device confidence and years of experience as a school nurse, grades covered, or geographic region. A high proportion of nurses reported low confidence with certain skills, including operating a sensor-augmented pump (63%), setting a temporary basal rate (58%), changing the pump site (54%), knowing when CGM calibration is appropriate (48%), overriding pump calculations (42%), monitoring a CGM tracing (42%), or suspending insulin delivery (40%). Our findings suggest that school nurse confidence with diabetes devices varies by type of skill. Further validation of this questionnaire may help identify gaps in skills and tailor education as newer technology continues to emerge. Disclosure C. March: None. A. L. Hill: None. T. M. Kazmerski: None. G. E. Switzer: None. E. Wallace: None. L. M. Siminerio: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott Diabetes, Bayer U. S., Research Support; Self; Becton, Dickinson and Company. E. Miller: None. I. Libman: Advisory Panel; Self; Novo Nordisk. Funding Cochrane Weber Endowment Award
The Effects of Bilateral Labor Agreements: Evidence from the Philippines

Facilitating legal and safe international labor migration is arguably the most promising way to promote economic development. Due to data limitations, however, little is known about whether one of the primary legal tools that developing countries use to promote international labor migration — a kind of treaty known as a Bilateral Labor Agreement (“BLA”) — actually affect the flow of workers or the terms of those workers’ employment. We explore the effect of BLAs using administrative data from one of the world’s most prolific promoters of labor migration and signers of BLAs: the Philippines. We find no evidence that signing BLAs has increased either the international migration of Filipino workers or the return of remittances to the Philippines. This suggests that the negotiation of new BLAs may only have modest effects on promoting labor migration or improving the terms of migrant workers’ employment.
Cholesterol Is a Dose-Dependent Positive Allosteric Modulator of CCR3 Ligand Affinity and G Protein Coupling

Cholesterol as an allosteric modulator of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) function is well documented. This quintessential mammalian lipid facilitates receptor-ligand interactions and multimerization states. Functionally, this introduces a complicated mechanism for the homeostatic modulation of GPCR signaling. Chemokine receptors are Class A GPCRs responsible for immune cell trafficking through the binding of endogenous peptide ligands. CCR3 is a CC motif chemokine receptor expressed by eosinophils and basophils. It traffics these cells by transducing the signal stimulated by the CC motif chemokine primary messengers 11, 24, and 26. These behaviors are close to the human immunoresponse. Thus, CCR3 is implicated in cancer metastasis and inflammatory conditions. However, there is a paucity of experimental evidence linking the functional states of CCR3 to the molecular mechanisms of cholesterol-receptor cooperativity. In this vein, we present a means to combine codon harmonization and a maltose-binding protein fusion tag to produce CCR3 from E. coli. This technique yields ∼2.6 mg of functional GPCR per liter of minimal media. We leveraged this protein production capability to investigate the effects of cholesterol on CCR3 function in vitro. We found that affinity for the endogenous ligand CCL11 increases in a dose-dependent manner with cholesterol concentration in both styrene:maleic acid lipid particles (SMALPs) and proteoliposomes. This heightened receptor activation directly translates to increased signal transduction as measured by the GTPase activity of the bound G-protein α inhibitory subunit 3 (Gα i3). This work represents a critical step forward in understanding the role of cholesterol-GPCR allostery in regulation of signal transduction.
Critical race comics: Centering black subjectivities and teaching racial literacy

This article seeks to explore the complexities of Black subjectivities as written and illustrated by comic book creators of color who wrestle with the enigmatic qualities of blackness as they write...
Sodium content of menu and commissary provisions in rural jail exceeds heart-healthy dietary recommendations.

Purpose This paper determined sodium provisions from a seven-day cycle menu and commissary at a rural Southwest County jail and compared it to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) recommendations for sodium. Design/methodology/approach A seven-day cycle menu and commissary items were used to determine sodium content for each meal and commissary pack. Estimates for the menu and commissary packs paired with the menu (commissary scenarios) were converted to a daily average of sodium and compared to DRI and DASH recommendations. Findings Menu provisions provided 167% of daily DRI sodium recommendations and 256% of daily DASH sodium recommendations. The sodium content for individual commissary scenarios averaged 218% of DRI and 334% of DASH recommendations. Commissary items are notably high in sodium and if eaten can significantly exceed dietary recommendations. Originality/value Small changes to one meal within the cycle menu and the inclusion of fresh or frozen produce could reduce sodium content to align with DRI and DASH recommendations.
Public perception of sustainable interior design practices in residential settings

To better understand public perception of sustainable interior design practices in residential settings, two groups of seventy-five home improvement show attendees responded to a twenty question survey. The survey comprised of questions aimed at establishing attitudes about ecology, factors that influence sustainable design preferences and demographics. The ecology section utilized an abridged version of the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (Dunlap et al. Journal of Environmental Education, 9:10, 2000), which is a survey utilized to predict environmental world views. Items in the sustainable design section were chosen to reflect participants’ opinions about sustainable design features in the home, along with factors that influence decisions to take action. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between public perception and the integration of residential sustainable interior design features and understand: 1. What role do environmental world views and attitudes play in the integration of sustainable interior design practices into the home? 2. What is the public’s perception of sustainable interior design? 3. How does perception influence the integration of sustainable interior design into the home?
Large Time Asymptotics for the Porous Media Equation

In this note I compute asymptotic expansions for certain solutions of the degenerate parabolic partial differential equation $$ {u_t} = \left( {{u^n}} \right)xx + b\left( {{u^{\lambda }}} \right)x $$ (1.1) .
Functionally Degenerate--Y Not So?

The Y chromosome of the common fruit fly has few functional genes but regulates the expression of hundreds of autosomal and X-linked genes.
Synthesis and degradation of dimethyl nitrosamine in the natural environment and in humans

Publisher Summary Dimethyl nitrosamine (DMNA) is a simplest form of N-nitrosamines. DMNA and other nitrosamine are carcinogenic as well as teratogenic and mutagenic. In this chapter, the processes of DMNA formation in various environments and the degradation of DMNA and other nitrosamines by various biogenic processes are reviewed. Endogenous formation and degradation of DMNA in humans are also included in this review, since they are involved with microbial processes in various degrees and are also considered to be the most important reactions that induce human cancer. Instead, DMNA is the product of chemical and microbial processes in the natural environment and in the human body system. A major source of DMNA for humans is endogenous production rather than ingestion from the food. DMNA can be decomposed chemically and biochemically. The product derived from the enzymatic degradation of DMNA is responsible for methylating the nucleotides that trigger the process of carcinogenesis.
Short and sweet

I enjoyed Eric Wooltorton's article on CMAJ 's first year of publication, and particularly his selection of excerpts from articles published in 1911.[1][1] G.E. Armstrong certainly must have had excellent pulmonary function if he was able to deliver the last sentence in his President's Address for
Wired But Not Connected: Accessibility of Academic Library Home Pages

Summary The main library Web pages representing Yahoo!'s list of the “100 Most Wired Colleges” were analyzed for accessibility to people with disabilities. Forty of the pages were judged accessible using Bobby, the online automated service developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology. Frequencies of accessibility errors, recommendations, questions, tips, and browser compatibility errors are provided. The study found no relationship between accessibility of the library home pages and indicators of institutional resources, as represented by Yahoo! ranking (computer resources), Association of Research Libraries composite ranking (extent of library resources), and Carnegie Classification (range and extent of academic and research resources). Guidelines for accessible Web pages and an Adaptive PC Computer Workstation are included.
The KEKB accelerator and the BELLE detector

We report on the status of the KEKB accelerator and the BELLE detector. The goals of this project are to observe CP nonconservation effects in the decays of B mesons, as well as to make more precise tests of the Standard Model of electroweak interactions via the decays of B- and D-mesons and τ leptons. The project was started in 1994 and is expected to begin physics operation in early 1999.
THE EFFECTS OF ESTROGEN ON UTERINE HENOL-STIMULATED OXIDASE1

Uterine phenol-stimulated DPNH oxidase is not present in spayed, spayedadrcnalectomized, hypophysectomized, or immature rats. Small doses of estrogens for three days greatly increase the activity of the enzyme system in all of these animals. The intracardiac administration of 10 5g. of estradiol produced a significant increase in enzymatic activity in 2 hours in spayed rats, 12 hours in immature and hypophysectomized rats, but failed to elicit activity in 12 hours in spayed-adrenalectomized animals. Rats weighing 110–160 gm. showed a cyclical correlation between enzyme activity and the vaginal smear but 185–24 Ogm. rats did not show this correlation. The early increase in uterine weight due to water imbibition following the administration of estrogen is not related to enzymatic activity. Testosterone, cortisone, and progesterone did not enhance enzymatic activity in the rat uterus.
BAC to the future: functional genomics in mammals.

A high-throughput pipeline to engineer bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) expressing tagged genes of higher eukaryotes allows large-scale protein localization and interaction studies.
How to Develop an Echocardiographic Teaching File

An echocardiographic teaching file is a successful method for today's sonographer and student sonographer of staying informed of new procedures, unusual cases, and equipment advances as well as maintaining proficiency on routine examinations. However, developing a teaching file is not an easy process, and one must follow a series of steps. To begin, there are four basic ingredients of the file: a subject file, case material, reference material, reference material, and a user's guide. Methods for developing each ingredient are discussed and analyzed. The result of this analysis is the basis for the proposed echocardiographic teaching file. The major factors to consider in setting up a file are space, cost, and time. One should try to minimize these parameters, so that the file is not a burden. Obviously, the initial development of the file will be time-consuming, but the maintenance should not take a large amount of time. The end result is an echocardiographic teaching file compatible with administrative p...
Chlorinated polyethylene modification of blends derived from waste plastics. Part II: Mechanism of modification

Previous publications have shown that the stress-strain behavior, especially ductility, of some incompatible polymer blends are greatly improved by the addition of slurry produced chlorinated polyethylenes (CPE). This improvement is greatest for blends containing polyethylene and PVC. The most effective CPE's have some residual polyethylene crystallinity and may be described as block-like polymers with ethylene sequences and chlorine containing sequences. It is postulated that CPE addition improves the blend properties by increasing the adhesion between domains in the blend via interactions with the blend components. This hypothesis was explored by thermal analysis, dynamic mechanical testing, adhesion studies, and microscopy. It is concluded that the interaction of CPE with polyethylene derives from compatibility of rather long methylene sequences in CPE with the polyethylene which results in good adhesive bonding. The interaction of CPE with PVC may not be owing to segmental compatibility but simply good mutual adhesion between similar polar materials. There is no interaction or adhesion between CPE and polystyrene as would be expected. CPE addition to blends is accompanied by a decrease in component domain size. The relationship between CPE structure and its effectiveness as a blend modifier is discussed.
Individual differences in the mechanisms underlying the onset and maintenance of paternal behavior and the inhibition of infanticide in the monogamous biparental California mouse, Peromyscus californicus

Virgin male Peromyscus californicus tend to behave infanticidally or nonparentally towards pups, whereas virtually all males exhibit parental behavior following birth of their own young. Most males (65–75%) living with their pregnant partner attacked or ignored unfamiliar pups and did not become “parental” (behave parentally) prior to birth of their young. However, a significant minority of males (34%) living with their partner became parental after just 24 h of postcopulatory cohabitation with the female and remained parental throughout their mate's pregnancy. Males that were infanticidal before the birth of their young became parental only after their young were born. The presence of the mother was necessary for the postpartum maintenance of paternal behavior and the inhibition of infanticide in males that were infanticidal prepartum. In contrast, males that were paternal prior to birth of their young continued to be paternal after birth, even in the absence of postpartum contact with the mother. Thus, different mechanisms are involved in the inhibition of infanticide and the onset and maintenance of paternal behavior.
New frontiers in the philosophy of intellectual property

New Frontiers in the Philosophy of Intellectual Property, edited by Annabelle Lever, is an important and wide ranging collection, focusing primarily on the philosophy of patents and copyrights from...
Effect of Temperature on the Vacuum Ultraviolet Transmittance of Lithium Fluoride, Calcium Fluoride, Barium Fluoride, and Sapphire*

The effect of temperature on the vacuum ultraviolet transmittance of LiF, CaF2, BaF2, and sapphire has been measured. At the short-wavelength edge, the transmittance curves shift to longer wavelengths as the temperature is raised. Thus, near the short-wave cutoff, windows are rendered opaque to the shortest wavelengths by relatively modest increases in temperature. The importance of these observations to vacuum ultraviolet photochemistry and spectroscopy at elevated temperatures is discussed.
Drop motion in a rotating immiscible liquid body

The interaction of liquids is an important part of many processes and is often used for such purposes as causing a separation of solution components by mass transfer between phases, allowing a chemical reaction between liquids or their components, providing direct contact heating or cooling, or creating emulsions. Containerless space processing may well involve the interaction of liquids in the form of drops. For example it may be desirable to form an alloy in space by merger of two or more drops. Encapsulation of a volatile liquid by a second less volatile and immiscible liquid might be a means for avoiding volatilization. Rotation of such systems would enhance mixing where desirable and/or provide means for drop management. In this study, single drop behavior in rotating liquid bodies is studied experimentally.
Manipulation of individual viruses: friction and mechanical properties

We present our results on the manipulation of individual viruses using an advanced interface for atomic force microscopes (AFMs). We show that the viruses can be dissected, rotated, and translated with great facility. We interpret the behavior of tobacco mosaic virus with a mechanical model that makes explicit the competition between sample-substrate lateral friction and the flexural rigidity of the manipulated object. The manipulation behavior of tobacco mosaic virus on graphite is shown to be consistent with values of lateral friction observed on similar interfaces and the flexural rigidity expected for macromolecular assemblies. The ability to manipulate individual samples broadens the scope of possible studies by providing a means for positioning samples at specific binding sites or predefined measuring devices. The mechanical model provides a framework for interpreting quantitative measurements of virus binding and mechanical properties and for understanding the constraints on the successful, nondestructive AFM manipulation of delicate samples.
The Foreign and Domestic Dimensions of Modern Warfare: Vietnam, Central America, and Nuclear Strategy

In exploring the dangers arising with the advent of limited warfare after development of the atomic bomb in 1942, "The Foreign and Domestic Dimensions of Modern Warfare" focuses on Vietnam, Central America, and the nuclear arms race. During this era, Americans became engaged in a new kind of war. Enemies and objective slipped out of focus, causing political and military aims to mesh in a struggle to contain communism both at home and abroad. Policymakers in Washington had to formulate strategies dictated by limited war in their search for peace. These essays show that the making of foreign policy is immensely complicated, not subject to easy solution or simple explanation."
Anisotropic interaction potential between a Rydberg electron and an open-shell ion.

We develop a theoretical description of the anisotropic interaction between a Rydberg electron and an ionic core. An adiabatic formulation expresses the anisotropic nature of the interaction through angular-momentum operators of the core and the Rydberg electron. Terms with odd tensorial structure, such as a vector hyperpolarization proportional to L${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}_{\mathit{c}}$\ensuremath{\cdot}l\ensuremath{\rightarrow}, emerge in the long-range potential. Computed energies of neon n=10 Rydberg states are compared with recent experimental measurements. The vector term improves agreement between theory and experiment. The vector hyperpolarizability is calculated explicitly, along with some standard polarizabilities of ${\mathrm{Ne}}^{+}$. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
a String Model for D-Dimensional de Sitter Space-Time and Equations of Motion

De Sitter space–time is considered to be represented by a D-dimensional hyperboloid embedded in (D+1)-dimensional Minkowski space–time. The string equation is derived from a string action which contains a Lagrange multiplier to restrict coordinates to de Sitter space–time. The string system of equations is equivalent to a type of generalized sinh–Gordon equation. The evolution equations for all the variables including the coordinates and their derivatives are obtained for D=2,3 and 4.
Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Firm Size

We analyze Schumpeterian entrepreneurship within a general equilibrium model of a competitive economy patterned after Lucas. All individuals have access to exogenously growing knowledge. Those who acquire sufficient knowledge become entrepreneurs. If learning is only a function of ability, the faster the progress, the fewer the entrepreneurs, and the higher their pay relative to workers' wages. If knowledge is only a function of lifetime, the faster the progress is, the earlier the entry will be into the entrepreneurial group. When age and ability are considered together, the individuals (if any) who become entrepreneurs with faster progress are younger and more able than those (if any) who drop out of the group.
Comparison of risk adjusters for medicaid-enrolled children with and without chronic health conditions.

Objective.—Several capitation payment systems have been developed and implemented recently by public and private insurers as well as by individual managed care organizations. Many pediatricians have expressed concern that methods for establishing capitation rates may not adequately account for the higher expected expenditures for children with chronic health conditions. In this study, we evaluate a demographic- and 4 diagnosis-based models, paying particular attention to their performance for children with chronic health conditions. Methods.—We selected children 18 years of age and under who were enrolled in the Maryland Medicaid Program in 1995 and 1996. We defined the population of children with chronic health conditions using ICD-9 codes. Individual and group-level analyses were utilized to measure the ability of the different risk adjustment models to predict expenditures in 1996 based upon information available in 1995. Results.—All 4 diagnosis-based models significantly outperformed the demographic model for children overall and for children with chronic health conditions. Differences between diagnosis-based models were small, especially as the size of test populations increased. Conclusions.—Risk adjustment methods that account directly for health status promise to reduce incentives to exclude children with chronic illnesses from managed care plans and to provide a foundation for more appropriate payments to pediatricians who care for these children.
Generating panorama photos

Photo or video mosaicing have drawn a lot of interests in the research field in the past years. Most of the existing work, however, focuses on how to match the images or video frames. This paper presents techniques to handle some practical issues when generating panorama photos. We have found from the experiments that a simple translational motion model gives more robust results than affine model for horizontally panned image sequences. Realizing the fact that there would always be some misalignments between two images no matter how well the matching is done, we propose a stitching method that finds a line of best agreement between two images, to make the misalignments less visible. Also shown in this paper are methods on how to correct camera exposure changes and how to blend the stitching line between the images. We will show panorama photos generated from both still images and video.
Plateau's problem for H-convex curves

Various uniqueness results and non-uniqueness results for minimal surfaces are derived together with applications to boundary estimates and to finiteness theorems.
Corrigenda: “Large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow from the corotational Maxwell model” [Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics 166 (2011) 1081–1099]

BC, Bird-Carreau; CB, Curtiss-Bird; CJ, corotational Jeffreys; CM, corotational Maxwell; SE, simple emulsion; GE, Goddard integral expansion; K-BKZ, Kaye–Bernstein– Kearsley–Zapas; L, Lodge rubberlike; NGJ, nonlinear generalized Jeffreys; O3, 3-constant Oldroyd; OWFS, modified Oldroyd–Walters–Fredrickson–Spriggs; RD, rigid dumbbell; R, reptation; SK, shish-kebab; N1; N2, first and second normal stress differences; n g x; c0 ð Þ; ‘ g ðxÞ; , multiple relaxation times.
DYNAMICS OF OPEN-ECONOMY BUSINESS-CYCLE MODELS: ROLE OF THE DISCOUNT FACTOR

This paper examines the dynamic implications of different preference formulations in open-economy business-cycle models with incomplete asset markets. In particular, we study two preference formulations: a time-separable preference formulation with a fixed discount factor, and a time-nonseparable preference structure with an endogenous discount factor. We analyze the moment implications of two versions of an otherwise identical open-economy model—one with a fixed discount factor and the other with an endogenous discount factor—and study impulse responses to productivity and world real-interest-rate shocks. Our results suggest that business-cycle implications of the two models are quite similar under conventional parameter values. We also find that the approximation errors associated with the solutions of these two models are of the same magnitude.
Computer-graphics-based approach to range sensor simulation

A technique for simulating ultrasonic and laser range transducers is described in this paper. The purpose of this work is to develop a means whereby sensor data can be artificially replaced by simulated data so that navigation and path planning algorithms can be tested off- line. It is important that the simulated range data be generated in real time. Further, the simulation must display actual sensor characteristics such as reflectance. The simulation was implemented on a silicon graphics workstation by utilizing the Z-buffer hardware incorporated in the system. The technique is explained in the paper together with a brief discussion of results.
Central inhibition of interleukin-6 trans-signaling during peripheral infection reduced neuroinflammation and sickness in aged mice.

During systemic infection, inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6 are produced in excess in the brain of aged mice and induce severe behavioral deficits. However, no studies have examined how pro-inflammatory IL-6 trans-signaling is involved in the exaggerated production of IL-6 in the aged brain, nor the extent to which IL-6 trans-signaling affects other markers of neuroinflammation, adhesion molecules, and behavior. Therefore, this study investigated in aged mice the presence of IL-6 signaling subunits in microglia; the central effects of soluble gp130 (sgp130)—a natural inhibitor of the IL-6 trans-signaling pathway—on IL-6 production in microglia; and the effects of sgp130 given intracerebroventricularly (ICV) on neuroinflammation and sickness behavior caused by i.p. injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Here we show that microglia isolated from aged mice have higher expression of IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) compared to microglia from adults; and the level of mRNA for ADAM17, the enzyme responsible for shedding membrane-bound IL-6R in trans-signaling, is higher in the hippocampus of aged mice compared to adults. Additionally, we show in aged mice that peripheral LPS challenge elicits a hyperactive IL-6 response in microglia, and selective blockade of trans-signaling by ICV injection of sgp130 mitigates this. The sgp130-associated inhibition of IL-6 was paralleled by amelioration of exaggerated and protracted sickness behavior in aged mice. Taken together, the results show that microglia are important regulators of the IL-6 trans-signaling response in the aged brain and sgp130 exerts an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the pro-inflammatory arm of IL-6 signaling.
No association between hyperbilirubinemia and attention-deficit disorder.

To the Editor.— Jangaard et al1 recently reported outcomes of healthy newborns with total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels of ≥19 mg/dL in Nova Scotia. Although they found no cases of kernicterus and no increased risk of cerebral palsy, developmental delay, deafness, visual abnormalities, or autism in infants with TSB levels of ≥19 mg/dL, they reported an increased risk of attention-deficit disorder (ADD) (adjusted relative risk: …
Protein tyrosine phosphatase activity in Leishmania donovani

L. Donovani promastigotes were grown to late-log and 3-day stationary phase to determine the level of protein tyro sine phosphatase activity in crude extracts and in fractions following gel filtration column chromatography. Over 90% of the activity was soluble in a low salt extraction buffer in both phases of growth. Several peaks of activity were resolved following gel filtration of the crude extracts indicating that multiple tyrosine phosphatases are present in these cells. Tyrosine phosphatase activity was lower in 3-day stationary than in late log-phase cells and a reduction in the major peak of activity, eluting in a gel fraction corresponding to an Mr of approximately 168kDa, was observed. In vivo tyrosine phosphorylation was revealed by Western blot analysis. The degree of phosphorylation of at least two proteins differed in cells obtained from late log phase cultures as compared with 3-day stationary phase cultures. These observations indicate that changes in the balance between tyrosine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation occur with increasing culture age. (Mol Cell Biochem 127/128: 143–149, 1993)
Isolated anomalous connection of a great vein to the left atrium. The syndrome of cyanosis and clubbing, "normal" heart, and left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiogram.

A case is reported of isolated anomalous drainage of the inferior vena cava into the left atrium, the second in the literature and the first with catheterization data and dyedilution curves. The anomaly is reflected by a well-defined clinical syndrome, is compatible with full cardiac competence at least until middle life, and should be relatively simple to correct surgically.
The role of nitric oxide in hippocampal long-term potentiation

Abstract Long-term potentiation is a long-lasting, use-dependent increase in the strength of synaptic connections. We investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO) in determining the duration of potentiation induced by high frequency stimulation of afferents in the CAI region of the rat hippocampus. The calcium/calmodulin-dependent production of NO can be initiated by activation of excitatory amino acid receptors and results in increased levels of cGMP in target cells. Here we report that only a relatively short-term potentiation can be induced in the presence of nitr-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), an NO synthase inhibitor. The effects of l-NAME on the duration of potentiation are partially reversed by coadministration of l-arginine, a precursor of neuronal NO, and by dibutyryl cGMP. Hemoglobin, which binds extracellular NO, also shortens the duration of stimulus-induced potentiation. The results suggest a role for NO in the maintenance of activity-dependent synaptic enhancements, possibly via the generation of cGMP.
Dual-window-based anomaly detection for hyperspectral imagery

We propose adaptive anomaly detectors that find materials whose spectral characteristics are substantially different from those of the neighboring materials.The target spectral vectors are assumed to have different statistical characteristics from the background vectors. In order to detect anomalies we use a dual rectangular window that separates the local area into two regions-- the inner window region (IWR) and outer window region (OWR). The statistical spectral differences between the IWR and OWR is exploited by generating subspace projection vectors onto which the IWR and OWR vectors are projected. Anomalies are detected if the projection separation between the IWR and OWR vectors is greater than a predefined threshold. Four different methods are used to produce the subspace projection vectors. The four proposed anomaly detectors have been applied to HYDICE (HYperspectral Digital Imagery Collection Experiment)images and the detection performance for each method has been evaluated.
Virtual Environments, Online Racial Discrimination, and Adjustment among a Diverse, School-Based Sample of Adolescents

Given the recent rise in online hate activity and the increased amount of time adolescents spend with media, more research is needed on their experiences with racial discrimination in virtual environments. This cross-sectional study examines the association between amount of time spent online, traditional and online racial discrimination and adolescent adjustment, including depressive symptoms, anxiety and externalizing behaviors. The study also explores the role that social identities, including race and gender, play in these associations. Online surveys were administered to 627 sixth through twelfth graders in K-8, middle and high schools. Multiple regression results revealed that discrimination online was associated with all three outcome variables. Additionally, a significant interaction between online discrimination by time online was found for externalizing behaviors indicating that increased time online and higher levels of online discrimination are associated with more problem behavior. This study highlights the need for clinicians, educational professionals and researchers to attend to race-related experiences online as well as in traditional environments.
A Low Cost Spectrographic Attachment for an Echelle Spectrometer

The report describes a simple, low cost photographic attachment for an echelle spectrometer. The crossed dispersion prism/echelle grating system provides a high resolution spectrum in a compact two dimensional format. It has been estimated that the echelle spectrum obtained on a 4 by 5 in. plate would require an 8-m long record if obtained with a conventional grating spectrograph. For many types of spectroscopic studies, the photographic plate is the detector best equipped to take advantage of the dispersing power of the echelle system. The advantages of photographic detection have been discussed in recent report.
Biotransformation and Degradation of the Insensitive Munitions Compound, 3-Nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one, by Soil Bacterial Communities.

Insensitive munitions (IM) are a new class of explosives that are increasingly being adopted by the military. The ability of soil microbial communities to degrade IMs is relatively unknown. In this study, microbial communities from a wide range of soils were tested in microcosms for their ability to degrade the IM, 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO). All seven soil inocula tested were able to readily reduce NTO to 3-amino-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (ATO) via 3-hydroxyamino-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (HTO), under anaerobic conditions with H2 as an electron donor. Numerous other electron donors were shown to be suitable for NTO-reducing bacteria. The addition of a small amount of yeast extract (10 mg/L) was critical to diminish lag times and increased the biotransformation rate of NTO in nearly all cases indicating yeast extract provided important nutrients for NTO-reducing bacteria. The main biotransformation product, ATO, was degradable only in aerobic conditions, as evidenced by a rise in the inorganic nitrogen species...
Invasion by Exotic Earthworms Alters Biodiversity and Communities of Litter- and Soil-dwelling Oribatid Mites

Exotic earthworms are drivers of biotic communities in invaded North American forest stands. Here we used ecologically important oribatid mite (Arachnida: Acari) communities, as model organisms to study the responses of litter- and soil-dwelling microarthropod communities to exotic earthworm invasion in a northern temperate forest. Litter- and soil-dwelling mites were sampled in 2008-2009 from forest areas: (1) with no earthworms; (2) those with epigeic and endogeic species, including Lumbricus rubellus Hoffmeister; and (3) those with epigeic, endogeic, and anecic earthworms including L. terrestris L. Species richness and diversity of litter- and soil-dwelling (0-2 cm soil depth) oribatid mites was 1-2 times higher in sites without earthworms than in sites with worms. Similarly, litter-dwelling oribatid mites were between 72 and 1,210 times more abundant in earthworm-free sites than in sites with worms. Among earthworm invaded sites, abundance of litter-dwelling oribatid mites in sites without the anecic L. terrestris was twice as high in May and 28 times higher in October, compared to sites with L. terrestris. Species richness, diversity, and abundance of oribatid mites were greater in litter-layers than in the soil-layers that showed a varied response to earthworm invasion. Species compositions of both litter- and soil-dwelling oribatid mite communities of forests with no earthworms were markedly different from those with earthworms. We conclude that exotic earthworm invasions are associated with significant declines of species
A theoretical study of the electron affinity of methylene

Ab initio multireference configuration interaction calculations yield an electron affinity of 0.604±0.03 eV for methylene (3B1), in excellent agreement with the best observed value of 0.628±0.031 eV. The estimated theoretical error limit of 0.03 eV is based on energy convergence with respect to systematic expansion of both reference configuration space and one‐particle basis set. Convergence to the full CI electron affinity is rapid, and significantly accelerated when corrections for quadruple electron excitations are included.
Use of topical minoxidil in the treatment of male pattern baldness

This 12-month, double-blind, randomized study evaluated the safety and efficacy of topical minoxidil in the treatment of male pattern baldness. Three formulations were compared: 2% minoxidil solution, 3% minoxidil solution, and placebo. After 4 months all placebo patients crossed over to treatment with the 3% solution. Of the 96 patients randomized into the study, 79 were evaluable at month 12; 25 of these were in the 2% minoxidil group, 24 were in the 3% minoxidil group, and 29 were in the placebo-to-3% solution switchover group. At monthly intervals a hair count was obtained within a 1-inch diameter area on the scalp vertex. In addition, a gross visual estimate of the degree of new hair growth over the entire balding area was made independently by the investigator and the patient. At the end of 4 months there was significant regrowth of nonvellus (terminal and indeterminate) hairs in the patients using the 2% and 3% solutions (p = 0.0001). The mean nonvellus hair count at month 4 was 162.8 in the 2% minoxidil group, 155.4 in the 3% minoxidil group, and 107.1 in the placebo group. The mean increase in the 2% and 3% treatment groups was 58.2 and 48.8, respectively, whereas the mean increase in the placebo group was 4.0. Total hair counts at month 4 demonstrated significantly more growth of hair in the 2% minoxidil group than in the placebo group (p = 0.013), with no significant difference between the 3% minoxidil group and the other two treatment groups. All three groups treated with active medication showed significant increases in total hair count at month 12 (p
Segmentation and learning in the quantitative analysis of microscopy images

In material science and bio-medical domains the quantity and quality of microscopy images is rapidly increasing and there is a great need to automatically detect, delineate and quantify particles, grains, cells, neurons and other functional "objects" within these images. These are challenging problems for image processing because of the variability in object appearance that inevitably arises in real world image acquisition and analysis. One of the most promising (and practical) ways to address these challenges is interactive image segmentation. These algorithms are designed to incorporate input from a human operator to tailor the segmentation method to the image at hand. Interactive image segmentation is now a key tool in a wide range of applications in microscopy and elsewhere. Historically, interactive image segmentation algorithms have tailored segmentation on an image-by-image basis, and information derived from operator input is not transferred between images. But recently there has been increasing interest to use machine learning in segmentation to provide interactive tools that accumulate and learn from the operator input over longer periods of time. These new learning algorithms reduce the need for operator input over time, and can potentially provide a more dynamic balance between customization and automation for different applications. This paper reviews the state of the art in this area, provides a unified view of these algorithms, and compares the segmentation performance of various design choices.