cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PURIFICATION AND ACTIVITIES OF PERTUSSIGEN, A SUBSTANCE FROM BORDETELLA PERTUSSIS

pertussis is described. Starting from acetone extracted cells, pertussigen was solubilized by 1 M sodium chloride in 0.05 M sodium pyrophosphate at pH 7.4. The extract was then fractionated by a combination of hydroxylapatite column chromatography, precipitation at pH 4.5 and sucrose density gradient electrophoresis. All fractions and the original cells were tested in mice for their ability to increase susceptibility to histamine, induce lymphocytosis, stimulate IgE with specificity to hensT egg albumin, induce hypoglycemia, and protect mice from intracranial infection with B. pertussis. In addition, these fractions were tested for their ability to enhance the susceptibility to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in Lewis rats. All of these activities were found in the purest preparation of pertussigen, and it is thus thought that they are all induced by this substance.
Autoritätscodes - Die Invarianzhypothese

Anders als altere Theorien zeigen die Ergebnisse der neueren Forschung, das in industriellen Gesellschaften die politischen Ordnungen nicht konvergieren. Fusend auf diesem Befund stellt der vorliegende Beitrag als Kontinuitatsfaktor sozialer Modernisierung namentlich die Codes politischer Autoritat heraus. Hauptfunktion derartiger Stile ist es, wie sich zeigt, die Identitat einer Gesellschaft im Generationenwandel aufrechtzuerhalten, sie zu vertiefen und zu schutzen.
CHROMATE GENERATION BY CHROMATE DEPLETED SUBSURFACE MATERIALS

Soluble chromate concentrations as high as 200 μg Cr L-1 have been reported in water samples from monitoringwells tapping alluvial deposits allegedly contaminated bylaboratory waste as well as control wells off site andupgradient (shallow aquifer) near Davis California, U.S.A. In this report we present evidence that these Cr(VI) levelscould have been generated by geogenic processes rather thanby anthropogenic inputs. We tested the hypothesis thatnative Cr(III) has been and can be oxidized to chromate bynative manganese oxides. Twenty-three drill core samples(all unsaturated) were retrieved from depths varying from1.5 to 22.5 m in 6 different wells. Visible nodules ofMnO2 were dispersed throughout many of the samples andcarbonates were also present. Sample pH values averagedabout 8.0 and organic C was mostly less than 1.0 g kg-1. Total Mn and Cr averaged 835 and 191 mg kg-1respectively. All samples had the capability to oxidizeadded Cr(III) to Cr(VI). To determine the inherent capabilityof the samples to produce Cr(VI) from native Cr(III), subsamples were extracted with 5 mM CaSO4 plus 5 mM MgSO4 until Cr(VI) was no longer detected. After freeze-drying, deionized-distilled water was added to theleached samples to approximately field capacity (0.03 MPa). Freeze drying did not generate Cr(VI). These samples wereincubated in polyethylene film bags at room temperature inthe dark. After 1 week incubation, water in the samples wasextracted by centrifugation and the extracts were analyzedfor Cr(VI). All of the samples generated Cr(VI), and theconcentrations in the extracts ranged from 20 to 100 μg Cr L-1. Total chromium, endemic chromium VI and chromium VI generated in leached samples were not statistically different between samples from onsite and control samples taken offsite and upgradient in respect to the shallowest aquifer.
Mechanisms in Vapour Epitaxy of Semiconductors

Epitaxial growth may be achieved by a variety of techniques, e.g. solution, flux, gel, molecular beam, and vapour. Vapour phase growth is by far the most widely used technique for semiconductors. It consists of oriented crystal growth of a material transported from the gas phase onto a suitable solid substrate. Strictly speaking, vapour phase growth should refer to growth due to condensation of the material from its own vapours, as in an evaporation-condensation process. However, the term is commonly used to describe all epitaxial growth processes involving transport from the gas phase, whether the gaseous medium actually contains vapours of the crystallizing material or simply a mixture of gaseous reactants capable of undergoing chemical conversion at the solid surface to yield the epitaxial layer. In fact, the most commonly employed techniques for semiconductor epitaxy correspond to the latter case, where a gaseous compound or combination of compounds is transported to the vicinity of the solid surface, at which point a chemical reaction occurs which results in formation and deposition of the semiconductor material. Although such a process is more correctly called gas phase epitaxy, the term vapour epitaxy is in widespread use and will be used here also.
Beyond the Psychological Wage: Du Bois on White Dominion:

W.E.B. Du Bois’s reading of whiteness as a “public and psychological wage” is enormously influential. This essay examines another, lesser known facet of Du Bois’s account of racialized identity: hi...
The Influence of Weather on the Incidence of Primary Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Abstract Background Intracerebral hemorrhage has been associated with changes in various weather conditions. The primary aim of this study was to examine the collective influence of temperature, barometric pressure, and dew point temperature on the incidence of primary spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH). Methods Between January 2013 and December 2016, patients with sICH due to hypertension or amyloid angiopathy with a known time of onset were identified prospectively. Meteorological variables 6 hours prior to time of onset were obtained from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration via two weather stations. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation, random populations of meteorological conditions in a 6-hour time window during the same years were generated. The actual meteorological conditions 6-hours prior to sICH were compared to those from the randomly generated populations. The false discovery rate method was used to identify significant meteorological variables. Results Time of onset was identified in 455 of 603 (75.5%) patients. Distribution curves for change in temperature, mean barometric pressure, and change in barometric pressure 6-hours prior to hemorrhage ictus were found to be significantly different from the random populations. (FDR approach P Conclusions We concluded that barometric pressure primarily influences the incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage. The association described in the literature between temperature and intracerebral hemorrhage is likely confounded by variations in barometric pressure.
Role of Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns and Uncontrolled Inflammation in Pediatric Sepsis-Induced Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome.

The incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in sepsis varies from 17 to 73% and furthermore, increases the risk of death by 60% when controlled for the number of dysfunctional organs. Several MODS phenotypes exist, each unique in presentation and pathophysiology. Common to the phenotypes is the stimulation of the immune response by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), or danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) causing an unremitting inflammation. Two of the MODS phenotypes are discussed in detail, thrombocytopenia-associated multiple organ failure (TAMOF) and the hyperinflammatory phenotype–macrophage activating syndrome (MAS) and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). In the end, we will briefly review the role of mitochondrial dysfunction as a significant contributor to the pathogenesis of MODS.
chiSIM: an agent-based simulation model of social interactions in a large urban area

Cities are complex, dynamic, evolving adaptive systems comprised of people as well as interconnected physical infrastructure. Simulation modeling can help us understand and shape the evolution of our cities. In this paper, we describe an agent-based simulation modeling framework applied to Chicago, called chiSIM (for the Chicago Social Interaction Model). Each person residing in Chicago is represented as an agent in chiSIM; all places where people can be located in Chicago also are represented. The model simulates the movements of people between locations on an hourly basis during the course of a typical day. Co-located agents engage in various kinds of social interactions, such as exchanging information, engaging in business transactions, or simply sharing physical proximity. We discuss technical approaches to large-scale urban modeling including development of synthetic populations, efficiency gains through distributed processing, logging and analysis of simulation results, and visualization.
Omnidirectional Channel Sounder With Phased-ArrayAntennas for 5G Mobile Communications

We describe a 60-GHz channel sounder with phased-array antennas and 1-GHz bandwidth. It estimates the angle of departure (AoD)/angle of arrival (AoA) of channel multipath components (MPCs) by sweeping the antenna space of the transmitter/receiver through 5.6° electronically steerable beams. The associated 26.1-dBi gain and resultant 36-dBm EIRP of the beams enable sounding up to hundreds of meters. Both ends integrate multiple arrays to extend the ±45° field of view (FoV) of the individual arrays to an omnidirectional view; the additional advantage of integrating multiple arrays is to quicken the channel sweep period to just $262~ {\mu s}$ , corresponding to a maximum closing velocity of 33 km/h for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) scenarios. The receiver is mounted on a mobile robot whose navigational system enables rapid, autonomous, and untethered data collection. Over-the-air (OTA) methods to characterize the array beams patterns, calibrate the system impulse response, and compensate for clock drift are proposed such that properties of the MPCs can be extracted with high fidelity through super-resolution techniques. To substantiate the latter, we compare estimated properties against ground-truth values from extensive field measurements. The mean absolute error in angle was reported as 2.87°.
Association of Number of Indoor Tanning Salons With Neighborhoods With Higher Concentrations of Male-Male Partnered Households

Importance Both indoor tanning and skin cancer are more common among sexual-minority men, defined as gay and bisexual men, than among heterosexual men. Convenient access to indoor tanning salons may influence use patterns. Objective To investigate whether indoor tanning salons are disproportionately located in areas with higher concentrations of gay men. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study used geographic information systems to integrate census data and business location data obtained from ArcGIS and Google Maps for the 10 US cities with the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations in 2010, ie, Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; San Diego, California; Dallas, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; and Denver, Colorado. The association of indoor tanning salon locations with proportions of gay men, using the concentration of male-male partnered households as a proxy measure for the latter, was examined. Data analysis was performed in October 2018. Exposures Census tracts with at least 1%, 5%, or 10% male-male partnered households, adjusting for median household income, percentage young women, and percentage non-Hispanic white residents. Main Outcomes and Measures Presence of 1 or more indoor tanning salons within census tracts. Results Across the 10 cities and 4091 census tracts in this study, there were 482 823 unmarried partnered households, of which 35 164 (7.3%) were male-male. The median (interquartile range) percentage of male-male partnered households per census tract was 0% (0%-10.6%). Odds of indoor tanning salon presence in areas with at least 10% male-male households were more than twice those of areas with less than 10% male-male households (odds ratio, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.59-2.97). When sensitivity analyses using a 1-mile euclidian buffer around each tanning salon were conducted, this association remained significant (odds ratio, 2.48; 95% CI, 2.14-2.88). After adjusting for median household income, percentage young women, and percentage non-Hispanic white residents, the odds of an indoor tanning salon being within 1 mile of a census tract with at least 10% male-male households remained twice that of census tracts with less than 10% male-male households (odds ratio, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.71-2.35). Conclusions and Relevance In this study, indoor tanning salons were more likely to be located near neighborhoods with higher concentrations of male-male partnered households, possibly contributing to the disproportionate use of indoor tanning by sexual-minority men.
Beam flatness modulation for a flattening filter free photon beam utilizing a novel direct leaf trajectory optimization model.

Flattening filter free (FFF) linear accelerators produce a fluence distribution that is forward peaked. Various dosimetric benefits, such as increased dose rate, reduced leakage and out of field dose has led to the growth of FFF technology in the clinic. The literature has suggested the idea of vendors offering dedicated FFF units where the flattening filter (FF) is removed completely and manipulating the beam to deliver conventional flat radiotherapy treatments. This work aims to develop an effective way to deliver modulated flat beam treatments, rather than utilizing a physical FF. This novel optimization model is an extension of the direct leaf trajectory optimization (DLTO) previously developed for volumetric modulated radiation therapy (VMAT) and is capable of accounting for all machine and multileaf collimator (MLC) dynamic delivery constraints, using a combination of linear constraints and a convex objective function. Furthermore, the tongue and groove (T&G) effect was also incorporated directly into our model without introducing nonlinearity to the constraints, nor nonconvexity to the objective function. The overall beam flatness, machine deliverability, and treatment time efficiency were assessed. Regular square fields, including field sizes of 10 × 10 cm2 to 40 × 40 cm2 were analyzed, as well as three clinical fields, and three arbitrary contours with "concave" features. Quantitative flatness was measured for all modulated FFF fields, and the results were comparable or better than their open FF counterparts, with the majority having a quantitative flatness of less than 3.0%. The modulated FFF beams, due to the included efficiency constraint, were able to achieve acceptable delivery time compared to their open FF counterpart. The results indicated that the dose uniformity and flatness for the modulated FFF beams optimized with the DLTO model can successfully match the uniformity and flatness of their conventional FF counterparts, and may even provide further benefit by taking advantage of the unique FFF beam characteristics.
e-Cigarette Use Among Young Adult Cancer Survivors Relative to the US Population

This survey study uses data from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey to evaluate e-cigarette use in young adults who have a history of cancer relative to young adults without cancer.
Power Affects Perceptions of Sexual Willingness: Implications for Litigating Sexual Assault Allegations

How potential sexual partners and third-party observers perceive women's sexual intentions can affect the propensity to commit or excuse sexual aggression. We examined the effect of feelings of pow...
The Impact of Hispanic-Targeted Advertising on Consumers’ Brand Love in Services

In advertising, many targeted advertisements (ads) focus on a specific ethnic group. However, limited research exists about the effect that ads have on developing relationships between the consumer...
Carotid Artery Dissection

Carotid artery dissection (CAD) is a diverse clinical condition; patients have variable presentations, broad predisposing factors, and varying severity. Patients with CAD can present with head, face, or neck pain; partial Horner syndrome; focal neurological deficits related to cerebral or retinal ischemia; or no symptoms. Urgent management is essential, including administration of anticoagulant or antiplatelet agents to reduce the risk of thromboembolic complications. Patients with recurrent cerebral ischemic events or symptomatic hemodynamic insufficiency from flow-limiting stenosis should consider endovascular intervention. CAD patients with contraindications to antithrombotic medications may require surgical treatment. Medical therapy provides an excellent first-line management strategy for minimizing the thromboembolic stroke risk in CAD patients.
Second Harmonic Amplification

Hybridized OPA and idler SHG suppresses back-conversion in OPA, dramatically improving efficiency. Spatiotemporal analysis of CSP and LNB-based devices demonstrates up to 55% energy conversion to signal and efficient fractional harmonic pump upconversion.
System-level finite element simulation of piezoelectric energy harvesters with rectified interface circuits

Based on the equivalent impedance analysis, a method is proposed to realize a coupled-field simulation study of piezoelectric energy harvesters of rectified interface circuits through an equivalent linear circuit. The method opens up opportunities for finite element packages to analyze, design, and optimize energy harvesters at a system level, either adding the capability of simulating rectified circuit interfaces, or reducing a nonlinear circuit interface simulation into a faster and more stable linear simulation that can be solved more conveniently. The nonlinear rectified circuit is replaced with an equivalent external linear circuit of two passive electrical elements in series. The types and values of the passive elements are explicitly determined for the standard AC-DC (SEH) and synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (SSHI) circuit interfaces. For validation, this equivalent linear circuit is applied to a bimorph beam harvester in ANSYS, and a system-level analytical approach is introduced which integrates two established analytical approaches. The agreement between the ANSYS results and those of the integrated analytical approach validates this equivalent linear circuit method and the integrated analytical approach.
Interfacial processes in electrochemical energy systems

Electrochemical energy systems such as batteries, water electrolyzers, and fuel cells are considered as promising and sustainable energy storage and conversion devices due to their high energy densities and zero or negative carbon dioxide emission. However, their widespread applications are hindered by many technical challenges, such as the low efficiency and poor long-term cyclability, which are mostly affected by the changes at the reactant/electrode/electrolyte interfaces. These interfacial processes involve ion/electron transfer, molecular/ion adsorption/desorption, and complex interface restructuring, which lead to irreversible modifications to the electrodes and the electrolyte. The understanding of these interfacial processes is thus crucial to provide strategies for solving those problems. In this review, we will discuss different interfacial processes at three representative interfaces, namely, solid–gas, solid–liquid, and solid–solid, in various electrochemical energy systems, and how they could influence the performance of electrochemical systems.
Spatial proximity and access to buprenorphine or methadone treatment for opioid use disorder in a sample of people misusing opioids in Southern California.

Abstract Background In response to the opioid crisis, over the last 10 years substantial strides have been made to increase the availability of evidence-based treatments for opioid use disorder, in particular buprenorphine maintenance, in the United States. Despite these worthwhile efforts, uptake rates of evidence-based treatment remain relatively low. As part of a broader study of opioid misuse, we examined proximity to evidence-based treatment as a potential barrier to treatment access. Methods In 2017–2018, we surveyed 218 individuals misusing prescription opioids or using street opioids in three Southern Californian counties. The study calculated driving distance from place of residence to the closest treatment provider offering buprenorphine or methadone treatment for opioid use disorders. Results Median distance to providers was 3.8 km (2.4 miles). Seventy one (33%) participants had received some form of treatment in the last 3 months; however, only 26 (40%) of these had received buprenorphine or methadone maintenance treatment. Participants receiving treatment at the time of their interview were traveling an average 16.8 km (10.4 miles) to reach treatment, indicating that as a group this population was both willing and able to seek and engage with treatment. Conclusions In the suburban and exurban communities in which our study was based, our findings suggest that simple physical proximity to providers of evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder is no longer a critical barrier. Other barriers to uptake of buprenorphine or methadone maintenance treatment clearly remain and need to be addressed. Disclaimer Findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Subcellular localization of Escherichia coli osmosensory transporter ProP: focus on cardiolipin membrane domains

SummaryThe role for speciﬁc lipids in the spatial distribution ofthe membrane proteins and formation of the lipid-protein membrane domains is an emerging theme inthe studies of the supramolecular organization of thebacterial cell. A combination of the lipid and proteinvisualization techniques with manipulation of the celllipid composition provides a useful tool for thesestudies. This MicroCommentary reviews the ﬁrstexperimental example demonstrating an involvementof the phospholipid cardiolipin in recruitment of amembrane protein (speciﬁcally H + -osmoprotectantsymporter ProP) to the Escherichia coli cell poles.The properties of cardiolipin domains employed increating a speciﬁc environment for structural organi-zation and function of membrane protein complexesare also discussed. In this issue of Molecular Microbiology , Romantsov andcolleagues in Janet Wood’s group (Romantsov et al .,2007) present experimental evidence for the direct role ofcardiolipin (CL) in polar and septal targeting of the
Health Care Projects At The INEL

The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (IN-EL) has four programs directly supporting the Clinton Administration's Health Care and National Information Infrastructure initiatives. An Idaho Medical Information Consortium (IMIC) was formed to leverage DOE and private sector resources to provide improved health care to rural regions. A DOEANEL cooperative relationship with the Medical University of South Carolina was established. A commercial radioisotope production facility based on an operating ML reactor has been proposed. A proposal to privatize a dormant INEL nuclear reactor for conversion to a clinical brain tumor treatment facility is under consideration by DOE.
Chapter 11 – The relevance of multiple- choice tests in assessing science understanding

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the weaknesses of multiple-choice items for assessing conceptual understanding. Standardized tests are most often collections of multiple-choice items given, over time, to a large body of test takers. Results from the tests are used to formulate norm-referenced scores, assuming that the traits measured fall into a formal distribution of results. Parents generally want an independent check on how effective the schools are, not trusting the educational establishment to police themselves and spend tax dollars wisely. The cognitive model of learning finds that every level of learning is cognitively demanding, as schemas are continually restructured to include more relationships and examples. Constructing a test in which students must judge which view is closest to their own requires that they be able to identify their own ideas and discriminate between their own ideas and several others. It is reasonable to question whether such test items could perform better than open-ended questions.
HMM_RA: An Improved Method for Alpha-Helical Transmembrane Protein Topology Prediction

alpha-helical transmembrane (TM) proteins play important and diverse functional roles in cells. The ability to predict the topology of these proteins is important for identifying functional sites and inferring function of membrane proteins. This paper presents a Hidden Markov Model (referred to as HMM_RA) that can predict the topology of alpha-helical transmembrane proteins with improved performance. HMM_RA adopts the same structure as the HMMTOP method, which has five modules: inside loop, inside helix tail, membrane helix, outside helix tail and outside loop. Each module consists of one or multiple states. HMM_RA allows using reduced alphabets to encode protein sequences. Thus, each state of HMM_RA is associated with n emission probabilities, where n is the size of the reduced alphabet set. Direct comparisons using two standard data sets show that HMM_RA consistently outperforms HMMTOP and TMHMM in topology prediction. Specifically, on a high-quality data set of 83 proteins, HMM_RA outperforms HMMTOP by up to 7.6% in topology accuracy and 6.4% in alpha-helices location accuracy. On the same data set, HMM_RA outperforms TMHMM by up to 6.4% in topology accuracy and 2.9% in location accuracy. Comparison also shows that HMM_RA achieves comparable performance as Phobius, a recently published method.
Arts and crafts as adjuncts to STEM education to foster creativity in gifted and talented students

Studies have found little correlation between creativity and being gifted or talented, but do show that creative people are more broadly trained, have more avocational interests, and display more ability in these interests than the average person. In the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, the avocational interests of the most successful professionals are unusually likely to involve fine arts such as painting or music; literary accomplishments; or crafts such as woodworking and metalworking, mechanics and electronics. Four types of evidence are brought together in this review to explore why such avocations might stimulate the creative capacity of STEM professionals. First, STEM professionals themselves argue that beyond verbal and mathematical skill, success requires a vivid visual and spatial imagination; hand–eye coordination and manipulative ability; skill with making and interpreting models; and a highly developed aesthetic or artistic sensibility. Second, controlled statistical studies of large groups (hundreds to thousands) of STEM professionals reveal strong correlations between artistic, musical, literary and crafts activities and measures of success in STEM subjects such as Nobel Prizes, numbers of patents or companies founded. Third, STEM professionals involved in these statistical studies themselves can describe specific ways in which their avocations stimulate their vocational successes. And fourth, many of these specific stimuli (such as improved observational and visual thinking skills, manipulative skills and tool use, and improved learning and retention strategies) also improve STEM learning in well-controlled classroom trials. The knowledge and skills required to be professionally creative are, in short, learnable.
Fault Recognition in the Presence of Error With NURBS-Based Metamodels

Condition-based maintenance (CBM) offers the possibility of replacing the predominant maintenance-as-scheduled paradigm with a maintenance-on-demand paradigm. In all CBM algorithms, faults must first be recognized, then characterized and finally reconciled. Multiple CBM methods have been proposed, including model-free, model-based and metamodel-based methods. However, the signals from real systems are obscured by sources of error. This research examines the impact of error upon a metamodel-based CBM approach using a simulated system to reveal the significance of error in the all-important step of fault recognition. The use of a simulated system allows control of the type and magnitude of both the error and of the fault signals allowing their significance to be evaluated. As a result of this research, a stronger theoretical foundation metamodel-based CBM techniques is established and several promising behaviors are identified.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Kinetics of sodium channel modification as the basis for the variation in the nerve membrane effects of pyrethroids and DDT analogs

Abstract The effects of a wide range of pyrethroids and DDT analogs on the membrane potential and membrane sodium currents were studied in crayfish giant axons. Compounds differed greatly in their ability to produce depolarizing afterpotentials, repetitive firing, and membrane depolarization. The differences observed at the membrane potential level could be explained by differences in the kinetics with which the insecticides interact with the nerve membrane sodium channel. The compounds containing a cyano group at the α position retain sodium channels in a modified open state persistently, depolarize the membrane, and block the action potential without causing repetitive firing. The pyrethroids without an α-cyano group and DDT analogs retain sodium channels in a modified open state only transiently, cause large depolarizing afterpotentials, and evoke repetitive firing with minimal effect on the resting potential. The effects of the phenoxybenzyl pyrethroids were found to be intermediate between these two extremes suggesting that a continuous variation exists in kinetics with which pyrethroids and DDT analogs modify sodium channels. It was not necessary to assume a second site of action to account for the variability observed. The implications of these results to the construction of quantitative structure-activity relationships is discussed.
The empirical properties of two classes of designs for transferable discharge permit markets

Abstract Previous work by Atkinson and Lewis (J. Environ. Econ. Manag.1, 237–250 (1974)) and Anderson et al. (“An Analysis of Alternative Policies for Attaining and Maintaining a Short-Term NO2 Standard,” MATHTECH, Inc., Princeton, N.J., 1979) has indicated the tremendous cost advantages to be achieved by moving from a policy based on emission standards to one based on marketable emission permits. As Tietenberg (Land Econ.56, 391–416 (1980)) points out, however, neither of the major permit designs treated in the literature are optimal from all points of view. This has triggered a search for alternative permit designs, which, while they may not minimize compliance costs, have sufficient other virtues as to make them attractive on other grounds. The purpose of this paper is to examine, within the context of an empirical mathematical programming model, the air quality, emission, and cost consequences of two classes of the permit designs which can be implemented in the absence of information on control costs. This case study involves particulate control in St. Louis.
Weakness of the San Andreas Fault revealed by samples from the active fault zone

The San Andreas Fault is weak compared with the surrounding rock, but the cause of weakness is debated. Measurements of the strength of rocks taken from the active fault indicate that the San Andreas Fault is inherently weak and does not heal after rupture, causing it to slip aseismically in central California.
Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Simple Obstacle-Related Graphical Depictions for Head-Mounted Displays

An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate construction of synthetic imagery, presented in a binocular, stereoscopic, see-through head-mounted display (HMD) for depicting obstacles commonly encountered in helicopter operations. In Phase 1, participants examined still images to identify obstacles from graphics depicting two levels of ground-plane representation and three levels of object complexity (depth). They then rated the depictions and responded to perspective-view still images of an obstacle field, indicating which areas corresponded with obstruction-free locations. Context played a major role in identifying obstructions, and presence of guy-wire references was important, both for identification of towers and of areas in the forward view that would be free from obstructions. Preliminary flight-simulator trials indicate pilots having experience with power-line flying interpret the representations literally and not schematically or generically.
APPLICABILITY OF SEMI-EMPIRICAL METHODS TO THE STUDY OF SMALL WATER CLUSTERS : CUBIC STRUCTURES FOR (H2O)N (N = 8, 12, 16)

Abstract Although up to 15 different crystalline structures for water ice have been observed, the most stable form, ice I h , has a hexagonal structure. This structure, in which each oxygen is surrounded by four other oxygens arranged in a regular tetrahedron, maximizes the number of hydrogen bonds for the system, while accommodating the structure of the water monomer with minimal strain. Small clusters of water cannot achieve maximum hydrogen bonding without introducing both non-linear hydrogen bonds and some distortion of the monomer geometry. Thus it is of considerable interest that the lowest energy structure for (H 2 O) 8 predicted by both ab initio calculations and the TIP4P empirical potential has cubic-like D 2 d symmetry (C.J. Tsai, J.D. Jordon, J. Phys. Chem. 97 (1993) 5208). For the 8-mers and next larger clusters ( n = 8, 12), the energy ordering of the structures predicted using the TIP4P potential generally agrees with that predicted by MP2. Because of the potential utility of semi-empirical calculations for studying growth processes for water clusters and ice lattices, this study was undertaken to determine whether the cubic structures were predicted to be stable using semi-empirical methods. The energies and structures for water clusters predicted using MNDO-PM3 are compared with ab initio, empirical and experimental results.
Weight Control Beliefs and Behaviors of Middle School Athletes

ABSTRACT The current study examined the weight control practices and beliefs of 371 middle school athletes. The participants in the study participated in an average of 4.4 sports. More than 36% of the athletes indicated that they wanted to lose weight and more than 44% declared that they looked fat. While significant numbers of the students reported using their sports participation to lose and to maintain weight, fewer athletes engaged in fasting, vomiting, and taking pills. The girls participating in the study were significantly more likely than boys to engage in all forms weight control behaviors and to endorse weight dissatisfaction beliefs. Weight dissatisfaction and weight control behaviors are broken down by sport.
Automatic Solar Image Motion Measurements

The solar seeing image motion has been monitored electronically and absolutely with a 25 cm telescope at three sites along the ridge at the southern end of the Magdalena Mountains west of Socorro, New Mexico. The uncorrelated component of the variations of the optical flux from two points at opposite limbs of the solar disk was continually monitored in 3 frequencies centered at 0.3, 3 and 30 Hz. The frequency band of maximum signal centered at 3 Hz showed the average absolute value of image motion to be somewhat less than 2sec. The observer estimates of combined blurring and image motion were well correlated with electronically measured image motion, but the observer estimates gave a factor 2 larger value.
Influence of single-walled carbon nanotubes induced crystallinity enhancement and morphology change on polymer photovoltaic devices.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were determined to have significant interaction with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), which is helpful to form continuous active film with interpenetrating structure and improve the crystallinity of the resultant film for SWNTs/P3HT composite. Photovoltaic devices based on an active film with relatively higher crystallinity display much enhanced performance. The work function of carbon nanotubes modulated by electron transferring from P3HT to SWNTs is proposed to explain the high open-circuit voltage (VOC) obtained from the photovoltaic devices based on the SWNTs/P3HT system.
A gradient method for the matrix eigenvalue problemAx=λBx

LetA andB ben×m matrices. A gradient method for the minimization of the functionalF(x)=?Ax?(?Ax, Bx?/?Bx, Bx?)Bx?2 is developed. The minima ofF are the eigenvectors of the eigenproblemAx=?Bx. The concept of a non-defective eigenvalue for this generalized eigenvalue problem is developed. It is then shown that geometric convergence is attained for non-defective eigenvalues. A convergence rate analysis is given where it is shown that the rapidity of convergence of the gradient method to an eigenvalue ? depends on the degree of non-defectiveness of ? and the singular values ofA??B.
influence of insulin, sympathetic nervous system activity, and obesity on blood pressure: the Normative Aging Study

Objective To examine the association of insulin and sympathetic nervous system activity with blood pressure elevation in a cross-sectional study of 752 nondiabetic male participants of the Normative Aging Study, aged 43- 90 years. Methods Testing included a physical examination, medical history, fasting and post-carbohydrate insulin and glucose levels determinations, an anthropometric examination, and 24 h urine collection for catecholamine level determination. Total obesity was represented by body mass index, central obesity by the abdomen circumference:hip circumference ratio, and sympathetic nervous system activity by 24 h urinary excretion of norepinephrine. Results Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively) were positively related to body mass index, abdomen:hip ratio, norepinephrine excretion, and insulin levels in univariate analyses. The relationship between insulin level and SBP and DBP persisted after adjustment for body mass index, abdomen:hip ratio, norepinephrine, age, smoking, physical activity level, and antihypertensive medication use. The norepinephrine level was related to SBP and DBP after adjustment for insulin level, age, smoking, physical activity level, and antihypertensive medication use, and these relationships remained marginally significant after further adjustment for body mass index and abdomen: hip ratio. In contrast, neither body mass index nor abdomen:hip ratio were related to blood pressure after adjustment for insulin level. Among participants in the lowest tertiles both of insulin and of norepinephrine levels, 10% were hypertensive, compared with 35% in the highest tertiles of these variables. In a multiple logistic regression model, insulin level, norepinephrine level, and an interaction term for insulin level with norepinephrine excretion were independent predictors of hypertension. Conclusions The results suggest that insulin level and sympathetic nervous system activity are associated with hypertension among middle-aged and elderly men.
Type 1 Gaucher disease presenting with extensive mandibular lytic lesions: Identification and expression of a novel acid β-glucosidase mutation

The finding of extensive lytic lesions in the mandible of a 19-year-old Ashkenazi Jewish woman led to the diagnosis of Type 1 Gaucher disease. She had extensive skeletal involvement, marked hepatosplenomegaly, and deficient acid β-glucosidase activity. Mutation analysis identified heteroallelism for acid β-glucosidase mutations N370S and P401L, the latter being a novel missense mutation in exon 9. Expression of the P401L allele resulted in an enzyme with a reduced catalytic activity (specific activity based on cross-reacting immunological material ∼0.21), which was similar to that of the mild N370S mutant enzyme. The expression studies predicted a mild phenotype for the proposita's N370S/P401L genotype which was inconsistent with her severe diffuse skeletal disease and organ involvement. Since lytic mandibular lesions may be complicated by osteomyelitis, pathologic fracture, and tooth loss, regular dental assessments in Type 1 Gaucher patients should be performed. Am. J. Med. Genet. 84:334–339, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Axon caliber related to neurofilaments and microtubules in sciatic nerve fibers of rats and mice.

The number of neurofilaments and microtubules present in nerve fibers was determined for sciatic nerves from adult mice and from rats of three different ages. More microtubules than neurofilaments were found in nonmyelinated fibers; the ratio of tubules/filaments was reversed in myelinated fibers and was found to change with axon caliber independent of the presence of a myelin sheath. A series of regression analyses indicated that axon caliber correlates best with the sum of the number of neurofilaments and microtubules per fiber. This correlation was only slightly better than that for neurofilaments alone. Axon caliber also correlated better with the filament-tubular material than with the thickness of the myelin sheath. The results were similar for both rats and mice, and age differences were not apparent in the samples of nerves analyzed.
Regulation of NEIL1 protein abundance by RAD9 is important for efficient base excision repair

RAD9 participates in DNA damage-induced cell cycle checkpoints and DNA repair. As a member of the RAD9-HUS1-RAD1 (9-1-1) complex, it can sense DNA damage and recruit ATR to damage sites. RAD9 binding can enhance activities of members of different DNA repair pathways, including NEIL1 DNA glycosylase, which initiates base excision repair (BER) by removing damaged DNA bases. Moreover, RAD9 can act independently of 9-1-1 as a gene-specific transcription factor. Herein, we show that mouse Rad9(-/-) relative to Rad9(+/+) embryonic stem (ES) cells have reduced levels of Neil1 protein. Also, human prostate cancer cells, DU145 and PC-3, knocked down for RAD9 demonstrate reduced NEIL1 abundance relative to controls. We found that Rad9 is required for Neil1 protein stability in mouse ES cells, whereas it regulates NEIL1 transcription in the human cells. RAD9 depletion enhances sensitivity to UV, gamma rays and menadione, but ectopic expression of RAD9 or NEIL1 restores resistance. Glycosylase/apurinic lyase activity was reduced in Rad9(-/-) mouse ES and RAD9 knocked-down human prostate cancer whole cell extracts, relative to controls. Neil1 or Rad9 addition restored this incision activity. Thus, we demonstrate that RAD9 regulates BER by controlling NEIL1 protein levels, albeit by different mechanisms in human prostate cancer versus mouse ES cells.
Late Cenozoic glacial history of the Ross embayment, Antarctica

Abstract Knowledge of the Cenozoic terrestrial and marine glacial history of Antarctica has been developed through studies of on-land surface outcrops and subsurface drillcores; and through examination of drillcores and piston cores obtained from a variety of offshore marine geological settings. These field and laboratory endeavors have been a major target of the Antarctic earth science community for more than thirty years. The Ross Sea sedimentary basins, including the Byrd basin (West Antarctica), Wilkes and Pensacola basins (East Antarctica), and the Transantarctic Mountains provide significant data on the Cenozoic glacial record; a record that has been traced back to at least 38 Ma (close to the Eocene-Oligocene boundary). This paper reviews the Late Cenozoic history of the Transantarctic Mountains and flanking sedimentary basins with emphasis on the debate between the ‘stabilist’ view of Antarctic ice sheet history (see Clapperton and Sugden, 1990) and our favored multi-glacial dynamic ice sheet model.
Ocular tumors: Triumphs, challenges and controversies.

The pediatric malignancy retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular tumor in the world, reflecting the rarity of uveal melanoma in populous nations like China and India.1,2 Kivela has estimated that there are approximately 8000 retinoblastomas yearly in the world and about 1000 fewer uveal melanomas, which typically occur in older adults.2
Studies on the Defective Haematopoietic Microenvironment of Sl/Sld Mice

Summary. Femurs and spleens of both Sl/Sld and +/+ origin were implanted into both Sl/Sld and +/+ hosts. Eight weeks later the +/+ grafts incorporated more radioactive iron than did the Sl/Sld ones. The number of colony forming units (CFU) in the marrow of +/+ femur grafts and in +/+ spleen grafts was several fold greater than that in Sl/Sld grafts. X-irradiation of femur and spleen donors with 950 R reduced the number of CFU in the grafts to 40–60%, whereas grafts from donors exposed to 2500 R supported no CFU growth at all. The haematopoietic cells in the grafts after 6 weeks were almost entirely of host origin. These studies suggest that Sl/Sld mice have a congenital defect in some stromal elements of their haematopoietic tissues which are essential for the normal growth of CFU. These stromal factors are likely to be cellular, are less radiosensitive than are the CFU, and support the growth of CFU rather than actually differentiate into these cells. These stromal factors are present in both spleens and femurs of mice. The model described here appears to be a useful one for further characterizing stromal factors essential for supporting haematopoiesis.