cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chaotic inflation in supergravity after Planck and BICEP2

The consequences of some of the simplest versions of chaotic inflation in supergravity, where the inflation field is one of the scalar fields in chiral matter multiplets, are studied, showing that with a two-parameter sextic potential all current Planck/BICEP2 data can be matched. Furthermore, adding a small non-minimal coupling to gravity can provide a CMB power suppression at large angular scales.
Migratory patterns and habitat use of the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) in the western North Atlantic

Globally, population declines for the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) have resulted in calls for informed management of populations, including in the western North Atlantic, where they have been listed as a Species of Concern by NOAA Fisheries. However, information on movements and habitat use, critical for informed management of this sand tiger population, is limited. We investigated horizontal and vertical movements of sand tigers along the US east coast using pop-up archival satellite transmitters, supplemented by acoustic telemetry. Thirteen sand tiger sharks were tagged with satellite and acoustic transmitters in Delaware Bay in late August and early September 2008. Ten of these provided satellite data for horizontal tracks using a Kalman filter. Males left Delaware Bay in autumn and moved south along the continental shelf until reaching waters off North Carolina. Females moved east to waters near the edge of the continental slope. Average depth of males was positively correlated with shark size. All individuals spent at least 95% of their time in waters of 17–23°C. Sand tiger sharks appear most susceptible to fisheries in November and December. Slight expansion of the boundaries and timing of an existing shark-directed bottom longline area closure would likely reduce by-catch of sand tiger sharks and enhance recovery of the stock.
Ethylene and propylene polymerization catalyzed by a model Ziegler-Natta catalyst prepared by gas phase deposition of magnesium chloride and titanium chloride thin films

Model Ziegler-Natta catalysts are prepared by gas phase deposition of ultra-thin TiCl4/ MgCl2 films in UHV conditions. A monolayer of TiCl4 chemisorbed on a solid solution of titanium and magnesium chloride is formed in this way. The reduction and alkylation of TiCl4 by its reaction with a liquid layer of AlEt3 condensed on the halide film is monitored by XPS. Most of the TiCl4 is reduced by AlEt3 and is incorporated in the mixed titanium /magnesium chloride. The model catalyst is active in the polymerization of ethylene and propylene at 300 K, both in the absence and in the presence of AlEt3 in the reaction cell. The polymers that form over the catalyst film have been characterized by Raman spectroscopy. The weak signals from methyl end groups and unsaturations suggest high molecular weight for both polymers. The polypropylene film has a high degree of isotacticity even without the use of any electron donor. For the propylene polymerization reaction the overall turnover frequency is in the range between 0.1 and 1 molecule/(site s).
Life cycle of the corn-soybean agroecosystem for biobased production.

Biobased product life cycle assessments (LCAs) have focused largely on energy (fossil fuel) usage and greenhouse gas emissions during the agriculture and production stages. This paper compiles a more comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI) for use in future bioproduct LCAs that rely on corn or soybean crops as feedstocks. The inventory includes energy, C, N, P, major pesticides, and U.S. EPA criteria air pollutants that result from processes such as fertilizer production, energy production, and on-farm chemical and equipment use. Agroecosystem material flows were modeled using a combination of GREET (the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation model), a linear fractionation model that describes P biogeochemical cycling, and Monte Carlo Analysis. Results show that the dominant air emissions resulted from crop farming, fertilizers, and on-farm nitrogen flows (e.g., N2O and NO). Seed production and irrigation provided no more than 0.002% to any of the inventory emissions or energy flows and may be neglected in future LCAs of corn or soybeans as feedstocks from the U.S. Corn Belt. Lime contributes significantly (17% of total emissions) to air emissions and should not be neglected in bioproduct LCAs. (A)
Trusted platform-as-a-service: a foundation for trustworthy cloud-hosted applications

The applications we use are increasingly packaged as network services running in the cloud under the control of a service provider. Users of these services have no basis to determine if these services are trustworthy, beyond the assurances of the service provider. Our work addresses the problem of how to build support for trustworthy services in the cloud, within the context of a larger trust management framework.This paper shows how users can gain insights and trust into service applications by leveraging trust in a neutral third party: a cloud provider that hosts application services on an infrastructure and platform that it controls. A trusted cloud provider may act as a root of trust to attest cloud-hosted services to their clients---a trusted platform cloud. We have prototyped this approach in a trusted platform-as-a-service cloud provider supporting a Python/Django web framework. The cloud provider seals instances of service applications and attests their Python source code to external users. Once launched and attested, service instances run with an independent identity and are isolated from tampering by the cloud customer, except through well-defined operator interfaces that are part of the service definition.
Implementation of a simple electronic transfusion alert system decreases inappropriate ordering of packed red blood cells and plasma in a multi-hospital health care system.

Abstract Background and objectives Prescriber adherence to institutional blood component ordering guidelines can be low. The goal of this study was to decrease red blood cell (RBC) and plasma orders that did not meet institutional transfusion guidelines by using data within the laboratory information system to trigger alerts in the computerized order entry (CPOE) system at the time of order entry. Methods At 10 hospitals within a regional health care system, discernment rules were created for RBC and plasma orders utilizing transfusion triggers of hemoglobin 1.6, respectively, with subsequent alert generation that appears within the CPOE system when a prescriber attempts to order RBCs or plasma on a patient whose antecedent laboratory values do not suggest that a transfusion is indicated. Orders and subsequent alerts were tracked for RBCs and plasma over evaluation periods of 15 and 10 months, respectively, along with the hospital credentials of the ordering health care providers (physician or nurse). Results Alerts triggered which were heeded remained steady and averaged 11.3% for RBCs and 19.6% for plasma over the evaluation periods. Overall, nurses and physicians canceled statistically identical percentages of alerted RBC (10.9% vs. 11.5%; p = 0.78) and plasma (21.3% vs. 18.7%; p = 0.22) orders. Conclusions Implementing a simple evidence-based transfusion alert system at the time of order entry decreased non-evidence based transfusion orders by both nurse and physician providers.
Note on the behavior of residual security returns for winner and loser portfolios

Abstract Portfolios are formed directly and exclusively upon residual return behavior in the months prior to portfolio formation. The empirical behavior of residual return in the post-formation period is then examined. Based upon the overall time period studied (1932 through 1977), the average residual return is essentially zero in the months subsequent to the portfolio formation. However, systematic (i.e., non-zero) residual behavior is observed in particular years. Moreover, the results suggest the possibility that ‘abnormal’ returns observed after certain events (e.g., earnings announcements) may at least in part reflect more general phenomena associated with being ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in terms of residual returns in the months previous to the event.
Dependence of cyclic nucleotide production and luteinizing hormone receptor formation upon ribonucleic acid synthesis in cultured rat granulosa cells.

The role of newly synthesized RNA in the differentiation of granulosa cells isolated from diethylstilbestrol-treated immature rats was studied during culture with actino-mycin D. Choleragen-induced LH receptor formation and cGMP production at 48 h were completely inhibited by actinomycin D (≥100 ng/ml) added as late as 20 h after the initiation of culture and were partially reduced by addition of the antibiotic from 30–48 h. In contrast, addition of actinomycin D to freshly prepared cells enhanced choleragen-stimulated cAMP accumulation during the 48-h culture period. This effect was caused by both elevation of adenylate cyclase activity at 3 and 6 h of culture and inhibition of choleragen-induced phosphodiesterase activity during culture. The increase in cAMP production by actinomycin D was confined to the first few hours of culture, since the antibiotic did not enhance cAMP levels when added after 3 h and significantly reduced cAMP accumulation when added from 20–48 h of culture. Actinomycin D inhibited...
Thermal conductivity of heavily doped low‐pressure chemical vapor deposited polycrystalline silicon films

The lateral thermal conductivity of heavily doped low‐pressure chemical vapor deposited polycrystalline silicon films is measured using polycrystalline silicon microbridges elevated three micrometers above a silicon substrate. The bridges, lightly doped in their central regions and heavily doped elsewhere, are fabricated using a sacrificial silicon‐dioxide layer and phosphorus out‐diffusion from doped oxide. Voltage‐current characteristics measured on the bridges both under high vacuum and in silicone oil are used to calculate lateral thermal conductivity in the polycrystalline silicon. The experimental values for the thermal conductivity of heavily doped polycrystalline silicon range from 0.29 to 0.34 W cm−1 K−1 and average 0.32 W cm−1 K−1. These values agree closely with results obtained by a second method that employs uniformly doped polycrystalline silicon bridges. In the second method, high‐vacuum, voltage‐current characteristics are measured and the indicated thermal conductivities for two samples a...
Fast algorithm and architecture for constrained adaptive sidelobe cancellation

This paper describes an efficient implementation of auxiliary constraints for a concurrent block least squares adaptive sidelobe canceller when a single array of sensors is used to form one or more main beams. The approach is to compute QR decomposition of the auxiliary data matrix and then send this information to main beam processors, where the constraints are applied using a blocking matrix and the individual residuals are computed. The blocking matrix can be chosen with special structure which is used to derive a new fast algorithm and architecture for constrained main beam processing that reduces the operation count from order n3 to order n2, where n is the number of auxiliary sensors.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Differential impact of cumulative SES risk on methylation of protein-protein interaction pathways as a function of SLC6A4 genetic variation in African American young adults.

Exposure to cumulative SES risk in childhood may interact with variability at the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5HTTLPR) to alter DNA methylation across interacting sets of proteins. DNA was obtained from 388 African Americans at age 19. Genotype at the 5HTTLPR was determined, and methylation ratios for C-phosphate-G (CpG) residues were assessed. Exposure to cumulative SES risk was determined using repeated parental reports at ages 11–13. At high SES risk, CpG methylation patterns indicated altered cellular stress response in women, but not men, who carried a short allele at the 5HTTLPR. These changes in methylation patterns may lead to increases in mental and physical health risks. No genotype effect emerged for either women or men at low SES risk. Methylation patterns provide guidance in identifying pathways by which genetic susceptibility is transformed into adverse outcomes years later.
Self‐Conceptions and the Expectations of Significant Others*

(1966). Self-Conceptions and the Expectations of Significant Others. The Sociological Quarterly: Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 323-343.
Ciproxifan, an H3 receptor antagonist, alleviates hyperactivity and cognitive deficits in the APPTg2576 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

Previous research has indicated that the blockade of H(3)-type histamine receptors may improve attention and memory in normal rodents. The purpose of this study was to determine if ciproxifan, an H(3) receptor antagonist, could alleviate the hyperactivity and cognitive deficits observed in a transgenic mouse model (APP(Tg2576)) of Alzheimer's disease. APP(Tg2576) mice displayed significantly greater locomotor activity than wild-type mice, but APP(Tg2576) mice provided with daily ciproxifan treatment showed activity levels that did not differ from wild-type mice. In the swim maze, APP(Tg2576) mice exhibited significantly longer escape latencies, but the APP(Tg2576) mice treated daily with ciproxifan had latencies that were indistinguishable from controls. In probe trials conducted one hour after the last training trial, ciproxifan-treated APP(Tg2576) mice spent more time near the previous platform location and made more crossings of this area than did saline-treated APP(Tg2576) mice. APP(Tg2576) mice also demonstrated a significant impairment in the object recognition task that was reversed by acute treatment with ciproxifan (3.0mg/kg). These data support the idea that modulation of H(3) receptors represents a novel and viable therapeutic strategy in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
On the origin of glauconitic and chamositic granules

Glauconitic minerals range from green smectite to 10A glauconite, occur mainly in peloids (most of which were fecal pellets), and apparently were produced largely by neoformation replacing several kinds of substrate. Chamositic minerals, berthierine and chamosite, occur in Recent and ancient peloids, but mostly in ancient ooids, and they developed by alteration of a precursor Al-rich clay mineral. Ooid sheaths were built by rolling of cores on ue sea floor. Glauconitic greensands and chamositic oolitic ironstones are condensed sequences deposited as sandwaves during long periods of reduced influx of sediment. Some are associated with hardgrounds.
A LARGE-SCALE MULTI ETHNIC STUDY OF A DIRECT MEASURE OF INSULIN SENSITIVITY DEMONSTRATES THAT SOUTH ASIANS ARE THE MOST INSULIN RESISTANT ETHNIC GROUP IN THE US

Methods: A total of 892 non-diabetic subjects (548 White,106 South Asian, 103 East Asian, 86 Hispanic and 49 Black) underwent a 4-hour insulin suppression test (IST) as a part of IR related studies at Stanford over the last ~20 years. We used generalized estimating equations assuming an exchangeable correlation structure to determine the association between race/ethnicity and steady state plasma glucose (SSPG) derived from an IST, accounting for correlation of outcomes among subjects from the same study. We similarly determined whether differences in plasma triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels among race/ethnic groups could be explained by differences in SSPG. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and BMI.
High-resolution capillary isoelectric focusing of complex protein mixtures from lysates of microorganisms.

High-resolution capillary isoelectric focusing separations of complex protein mixtures have been obtained for cellular lysates of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Eschericia coli, and Deinococcus radiodurans. High quality separations are shown to be achievable for total protein concentrations of <0.1 mg/mL. The separation reproducibility was examined, and the influence of the capillary inner wall coating on resolution investigated using fused- silica capillaries coated with various hydrophilic polymers including hydroxypropyl cellulose, poly(vinyl alcohol), and linear polyacrylamide. Proteins having an isoelectric point (pI) difference of 0.004 are shown to be separated using a linear carrier ampholyte (linear pH gradient between two electrodes) of 3−10. Approximately 45 discrete peaks in the pI range of 5−7 were obtained for S. cerevisiae, ∼80 peaks in the pI range of 4.5−8.5 for E. coli, and ∼210 peaks in the pI range of 3−8.8 for D. radiodurans.
Acoustic properties of silica aerogels from 400 mK to 400 K

Abstract Using acoustic resonant spectroscopy, we have studied the low-frequency elastic properties of silica aerogels with densities between 0.045 and 0.267 g/cm 3 over a temperature range of 400 mK to 400 K . We observe a large change in the elastic moduli between 20 and 100 K , accompanied by a damping peak, and attribute this to a thermally activated relaxation process. Above 100 K , the elastic moduli increase linearly with temperature, a phenomenon normally associated with elastomers such as rubber, and indicative of a significant entropic contribution to the stiffness of the aerogels.
The depressed teen and contraception.

Tansy is a 15-year-old who lives with her mother Brenda and two younger brothers ages 5 and 3. Tansy’s father has little contact with her. Her brothers’ father is mom’s live-in boyfriend Jim. Tansy gets good grades in school but has been brought by her mom who is concerned because Tansy is keeping more to herself recently and has become more irritable. Brenda was 16 when she had Tansy and her concern is that Tansy has become sexually active and may also become a teen mother. She would like Tansy to use contraception. Tansy is rather sullen in the interview with her mother present but she is more forthcoming when her mom is asked to leave. When assured that the interview is confidential Tansy admits that she has initiated sexual intercourse and has begun smoking marijuana and tobacco. She expresses some negative feelings about her mother. A little probing reveals she feels shunted aside by her mom’s “new family”. Tansy certainly is at risk for early childbearing as she looks for “someone to love who will love me”. Too often that equates in the adolescent psyche with a baby. She responds yes when asked “During the past month have you been bothered by feeling down depressed or hopeless?” (excerpt)
The impact of mutual coupling on MIMO radar emissions

The effects of mutual coupling between antenna elements are considered with regard to the impact upon co-located MIMO radar emissions. Because this sensing scheme intentionally couples the spatial and fast-time (waveform) domains, it is shown that MIMO radar is sensitive to any electromagnetic mutual coupling effects that are not adequately characterized in the transmit array manifold. This sensitivity leads to mismatch that will degrade the radars sensitivity on receive.
Kinetics of heterogeneous ice nucleation on the surfaces of mineral dust cores inserted into aqueous ammonium sulfate particles

Ice freezing of aqueous ammonium sulfate particles containing hematite or corundum mineral dust cores is studied by aerosol flow tube infrared spectroscopy (AFT-IR). The cores induce freezing heter...
Flashlamp pumping of Nd:glass disk amplifiers

We present experimental results and a model of Nd:glass disk amplifiers which are used in inertial confinement fusion research. We first review our previous measurements on pulsed xenon flashlamps. We then discuss out measurements on the enhancement of the Nd fluorescence decay rate in laser disks by amplified spontaneous emission. Using these data, we have constructed a model of flashlamp pumping which treats the transfer efficiency of pump light from the flashlamps to the disks as an empirical function. We have found a simple description of this cavity transfer function which provides an excellent fit to the amplifier results for various pump pulselengths. We discuss the concept of the pump area ratio for describing the flashlamp packing density and show that amplifier performance is optimized for values of this parameter near unity. We finally present results for both a singlesegment and a multisegment disk amplifier. We have used these devices to investigate new amplifier designs for a large scale fusion driver.
Effect of porcine follicular fluid on the postcastration secretion of gonadotropins in rhesus monkeys.

Abstract Porcine follicular fluid (pFF) contains a nonsteroidal factor(s) that modifies pituitary secretion of both FSH and LH under certain physiological and experimental conditions. The aim of this study was to further define the activity of pFF on basal and pulsatile gonadotropin secretion after bilateral oophorectomy in monkeys. Sexually mature female rhesus monkeys underwent bilateral oophorectomy during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. For 10 consecutive days, beginning on the day of surgery, monkeys were given twice daily sc injections of 2.5 ml normal saline (group I, control; n = 3), 2.5 ml steroid-free pFF (group II; n = 3), or 5.0 ml steroid-free pFF (group III; n = 3). Blood was drawn daily for 32 days, beginning the day before castration. One day before and on days 6 and 20 after castration, monkeys were placed in a restraining chair, and blood samples were drawn every 15 min for 6 h via an indwelling venous catheter. All samples were radioimmunoassayed for FSH and LH. In gr...
Evidence for two distinct perceptual alterations in irritable bowel syndrome

Background and aims—Visceral hyperalgesia has been implicated as a factor contributing to symptom generation in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, previous studies using intestinal balloon distension have used psychophysical procedures which do not provide adequate and unbiased measures of visceral sensitivity. Methods—Three psychophysical tasks were examined in 45 patients with IBS (positive Rome criteria) and 14 controls using rectal balloon distension with a computerised distension device. Discomfort threshold and tolerance were assessed during an ascending series of phasic pressure stimuli and during an interactive threshold tracking procedure. In addition, stimulus response functions were generated from intensity and unpleasantness ratings of the rectal distensions. Results—Discomfort threshold and tolerance for the ascending stimuli were significantly lower for the patients with IBS compared with the controls. In contrast, discomfort thresholds during the tracking procedure and stimulus response curves for the ascending series were not different between the groups. A factor analysis of the psychophysical data was consistent with the presence of two distinct and unrelated perceptual alterations related to rectal distension: hypervigilance for visceral stimuli, manifested as lowered response criteria for using the descriptor "discomfort"; and rectal hypersensitivity, manifested as a lower discomfort threshold and left shift of the stimulus response curves. Conclusions—Patients with IBS as a group have a greater propensity to label visceral sensations negatively and show a lower tolerance for rectal balloon distension. A subgroup of patients also have baseline rectal hypersensitivity, assessed by unbiased measures of discomfort threshold and stimulus intensity judgements. Keywords: irritable bowel syndrome; visceral hypersensitivity; pain threshold
Heterogeneous eect of residency matching and prospective payment on labor returns and hospital scale economies

The paper evaluates heterogeneous eect of participation in a residency matching program and changeover from fee-for-service to a prospective payment system on labor returns and economies of scale at acute-care public hospitals in Japan. A range of frontier technologies for multi-product output function is introduced with panel data quantile regression models, where endogenous treatment variables account for the fact that participation in both the residency matching program and the prospective payment reform was voluntary. The analysis exploits nationwide longitudinal databases on Japanese hospital participation in each of the reforms and on nancial performance of regional and municipal hospitals in 2006{2012. The results demonstrate a labor-capital trade-o
Stereochemical Control on the Michael Addition of Chiral 1,3-Oxazolidine-2-thiones to N-Crotonyl 1,3-Oxazolidin-2-ones.

Conjugated addition of non-chiral oxazolidinethione (II) to chiral N-crotonyl oxazolidinones proceeds with poor diastereoselectivity.
Chronic Angiotensin II Infusion Drives Extensive Aldosterone-Independent Epithelial Na + Channel Activation

The inability of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockade to reduce hypertension associated with high angiotensin (Ang) II suggests direct actions of Ang II to regulate tubular sodium reabsorption via the epithelial Na(+) channel (ENaC) in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron. We used freshly isolated aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron from mice to delineate the synergism and primacy between aldosterone and Ang II in controlling functional ENaC activity. Inhibition of MR specifically prevented the increased number of functionally active ENaC, but not ENaC open probability elicited by a low sodium diet. In contrast, we found no functional role of glucocorticoid receptors in the regulation of ENaC activity by dietary salt intake. Simultaneous inhibition of MR and Ang II type 1 receptors ameliorated the enhanced ENaC activity caused by low dietary salt intake and produced significantly greater natriuresis than either inhibitor alone. Chronic systemic Ang II infusion induced more than 2 times greater increase in ENaC activity than observed during dietary sodium restriction. Importantly, ENaC activity remained greatly above control levels during maximal MR inhibition. We conclude that during variations in dietary salt intake both aldosterone and Ang II contribute complementarily to the regulation of ENaC activity in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron. In contrast, in the setting of Ang II-dependent hypertension, ENaC activity is upregulated well above the physiological range and is not effectively suppressed by inhibition of the aldosterone-MR axis. This provides a mechanistic explanation for the resistance to MR inhibition that occurs in hypertensive subjects having elevated intrarenal Ang II levels.
Based on HJ-CCD image to monitoring degree of corn tasseling

Heading stage is the key stage of corn in whole growth phase, degree of corn tasseling directly related to the yield and quality in heading stage. Remote sensing data in the reflective optical domain function as a unique cost-effective source for providing spatially and temporally distributed information on key biophysical and biochemical parameters of vegetation. Based on remote sensing data to acquire the degree of the corn tasseling imformation and make field management measures in critical growing stage of corn which is an important application subject in precision agriculture, especially crop phenology monitoring application requirements of precision agriculture is increasingly urgent. The aim of this article was to establish the relationship between degree of the corn tassteling and vegetation index from satellite image. This study research object was corn in Gongzhuling and Nongan of Jinlin Province, A data mining approach based on HJ-CCD data to modeling the corn tasseling and mapping its spatial distribution in heading stage was presented. Firstly extracted the vegetation indices from HJ-CCD image data, and the response relationship were analyzed between degree of tasseling and vegetation indices. Secondly a MLR (multiple line regression) model was established, the vegetation indices (VIgreen) was significantly correctly to the corn degree of tasseling at the heading stage (R2=0.544). Thirdly the monitoring model accuracy was verified. It acquired a high accuracy (R2=0.502). In general, the result showed that puts forward based on HJ-CCD remote sensing data can monitoring the degree of corn tasseling and distribution, and The indigenous remote sensing data which owned the advantages as the higher revisit frequency and wide scene swath are able to satisfy monitoring and assessing corn tasseling. It will lay a theoretical basis on monitoring and identifying the degree of the tasseling. It makes utmost to achieve more per ear harvest of looks in the field of management in the key growth stage.
Challenging the Routines and Passivity That Characterize Arithmetic Instruction for Children with Mild Handicaps

This article challenges the notion that rote practice in arithmetic computation should be the focus of instruction for children with mild handicaps in mathematics. Students were presented with worksheets containing two sample computation items and explored the characteristics of each item with the examiner. Students were then instructed to create items like the ones in the sample and answer them. Emphasis was on student production based on an understanding of the structure of the computation items. The performance of approximately 30 normally achieving students in Grades 3 through 6 was compared with that of grade-matched peers with mild handicaps. The results of the study indicate that students with mild handicaps are capable of understanding the characteristics of items well enough to create like items, though averaging 3 years behind their normally achieving peers. Of the items created by students in both groups, high percentages correct were evident. Neither normally achieving students nor students wi...
Economic forecasting in agriculture

Abstract Forecasts of agricultural production and prices are intended to be useful for farmers, governments, and agribusiness industries. Because of the special position of food production in a nation's security, governments have become both principal suppliers and main users of agricultural forecasts. They need internal forecasts to execute policies that provide technical and market support for the agricultural sector. Government publications routinely provide private decision makers with commodity price and output forecasts at regional and national levels and at various horizons. Routine forecasts are not found in the agricultural economics journals that are the sources for most of this review. The review emphasizes methodological contributions and changes. Short-term output or ‘outlook’ forecasting uses a unique form of leading indicator. Because the production process has long been well understood, production forecasts are based on the quantifiable features of livestock or a growing crop. Price forecasts are largely made by conventional econometric methods, with time series approaches occupying minor roles. Because of the dominance of agricultural economists, there has been an overemphasis on explanation, and little interest in the predictive power of models. In recent years, some agricultural economists have begun to compare forecasts from different methods. Findings generally conform to widely held beliefs. For short-term forecasting, combining leads to more accurate forecasts, better than those produced by vector autoregression, which surprisingly is the best single method. Also surprising is that econometric models and univariate methods both do badly compared with naive models.
Predicting infant attachment classification from multiple, contemporaneous measures of maternal care☆

Abstract This investigation was designed to test whether stylistic differences in maternal caregiving were associated with both secure and insecure mother-infant attachment classifications in a low-income sample. Multiple measures of maternal interactive behavior and care were collected from a sample of 95 urban, low-income mothers and their 12-month-old infants. Contemporaneous relations to attachment were found only at the broad level of composite scores of caregiving. Scores derived from different measures were aggregated to create composites reflecting three caregiver styles—sensitive, controlling, and unresponsive. Mothers of infants with secure attachment classifications showed greater sensitivity and less controlling behavior than mothers of infants with resistant and avoidant attachments, respectively. Mothers of infants with resistant attachments appeared less responsive to their infants' signals than those of infants with avoidant attachments. Group differences were significant, but modest. These results contribute to the growing body of studies relating parental care with infant attachment patterns and indirectly support the more recent conceptual work on intergenerational transmission of attachment. They also raise methodological issues that need to be considered in future work on caregiving and infant-mother attachment.
Mutants of S. cerevisiae defective in the maintenance of minichromosomes.

ABSTRACT We have isolated yeast mutants that are defective in the maintenance of circular minichromosomes. The minichromosomes are mitotically stable plasmids, each of which contains a different ARS (autonomously replicating sequence), a centrometeric sequence, CEN5 , and two yeast genes, LEU2 and URA3 . Forty minichromosome maintenance-defective (Mcm - ) mutants were characterized. They constitute 16 complementation groups. These mutants can be divided into two classes, specific and nonspecific, by their differential ability to maintain minichromosomes with different ARS s. The specific class of mutants is defective only in the maintenance of minichromosomes that carry a particular group of ARS s irrespective of the centromeric sequence present. The nonspecific class of mutants is defective in the maintenance of all minichromosomes tested irrespective of the ARS or centromeric sequence present. The specific class may include mutants that do not initiate DNA replication effectively at specific ARS s present on the minichromosomes; the nonspecific class may include mutants that are affected in the segregation and/or replication of circular plasmids in general.
Soft-x-ray amplification at 50.3 å in nickellike ytterbium

Nickellike ions of ytterbium (Yb42+) have been produced in long exploding foil plasmas. The plasmas were formed by short-pulse laser irradiation of thin foils of ytterbium with line-focused high-intensity 0.53-μm light. Soft-x-ray line emissions at 50.26 and 56.09 A are identified as 4d–4p, J = 0−1 transitions in the nickellike ionization stage of ytterbium. The energy emitted in the line at 50.26 A along the axis of the plasma is observed to increase nonlinearly with plasma length, consistent with a small-signal gain of 1.2 ± 0.4 cm−1.
Lesbians Choosing Children

Being a lesbian does not rule out the possibility of being a mother. Lesbians considering parenthood need resources and support services that address their concerns. Social group work techniques provide a unique approach for enabling lesbian couples to explore the affects parenting may have on their relationships, patterns of intimacy and communication styles.
Learning from Dumbledore's Pensieve: metaphor as an aid in teaching reflexivity in qualitative research:

This article suggests that the Pensieve — a magical instrument featured prominently in the Harry Potter books — is a useful metaphor for teaching qualitative researchers about reflexivity. Teaching...
A game-theoretic approach to anonymous networking

Anonymous wireless networking is studied when an adversary monitors the transmission timing of an unknown subset of the network nodes. For a desired quality of service (QoS), as measured by network throughput, the problem of maximizing anonymity is investigated from a game-theoretic perspective. Quantifying anonymity using conditional entropy of the routes given the adversary's observation, the problem of optimizing anonymity is posed as a two-player zero-sum game between the network designer and the adversary: The task of the adversary is to choose a subset of nodes to monitor so that anonymity of routes is minimum, whereas the task of the network designer is to maximize anonymity by choosing a subset of nodes to evade flow detection by generating independent transmission schedules. In this two-player game, it is shown that a unique saddle-point equilibrium exists for a general category of finite networks. At the saddle point, the strategy of the network designer is to ensure that any subset of nodes monitored by the adversary reveals an identical amount of information about the routes. For a specific class of parallel relay networks, the theory is applied to study the optimal performance tradeoffs and equilibrium strategies. In particular, when the nodes employ transmitter-directed signaling, the tradeoff between throughput and anonymity is characterized analytically as a function of the network parameters and the fraction of nodes monitored. The results are applied to study the relationships between anonymity, the fraction of monitored relays, and the fraction of hidden relays in large networks.
Viral release of iron and its bioavailability to marine plankton

The biological availability of Fe has been demonstrated to strongly influence both primary and secondary production in pelagic as well as coastal upwelling high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) regimes. Although nearly all of the dissolved Fe in marine surface waters is thought to be complexed by organic ligands, the character and origin of these Fe-organic complexes remains a mystery. Here we report that the activity of naturally occurring viral populations in an HNLC coastal upwelling system can regenerate sufficient concentrations of dissolved Fe to support the growth of the native phytoplankton community. When combined with studies that have demonstrated that Fe in virus-mediated lysates of heterotrophic bacteria and cyanobacteria is highly bioavailable to model marine plankton, our data demonstrate that viral activity in this marine system (and potentially others) is critical to the recycling of organically complexed Fe that supports as much as 90% of primary production in HNLC surface waters.
Histamine tolerance in rats with intramuscular adrenocortical transplants.

PROGRESSIVE resumption of function of adrenocortical transplants to the dorsal musculature in rats has been followed by submitting the animals to various stresses, such as histamine poisoning, exposure to cold, and water intoxication (Komrad and Wyman 1950). Seven days after operation rats with transplants recovered from doses of histamine fatal to adrenalectomized animals, but the maximum efficiency of the transplants was not tested. Although it has long been known that adrenalectomized rats are less resistant to histamine than normal rats (Crivellari 1927), and that rats with adrenocortical transplants can withstand doses of histamine which would kill adrenalectomized animals (Ingle 1937; Wyman and turn Suden 1937), we have found no report of a systematic quantitative determination of the degree of protection provided by transplants against histamine poisoning. Moreover the quantitation in previous reports is in terms of the m.l.d., whereas calculation of the LD50 is believed to be a more precise indica...
Differential gene expression during thermal stress and bleaching in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata.

The declining health of coral reefs worldwide is likely to intensify in response to continued anthropogenic disturbance from coastal development, pollution, and climate change. In response to these stresses, reef-building corals may exhibit bleaching, which marks the breakdown in symbiosis between coral and zooxanthellae. Mass coral bleaching due to elevated water temperature can devastate coral reefs on a large geographical scale. In order to understand the molecular and cellular basis of bleaching in corals, we have measured gene expression changes associated with thermal stress and bleaching using a complementary DNA microarray containing 1310 genes of the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata. In a first experiment, we identified differentially expressed genes by comparing experimentally bleached M. faveolata fragments to control non-heat-stressed fragments. In a second experiment, we identified differentially expressed genes during a time course experiment with four time points across 9 days. Results suggest that thermal stress and bleaching in M. faveolata affect the following processes: oxidative stress, Ca2+ homeostasis, cytoskeletal organization, cell death, calcification, metabolism, protein synthesis, heat shock protein activity, and transposon activity. These results represent the first medium-scale transcriptomic study focused on revealing the cellular foundation of thermal stress-induced coral bleaching. We postulate that oxidative stress in thermal-stressed corals causes a disruption of Ca2+ homeostasis, which in turn leads to cytoskeletal and cell adhesion changes,
Simplified procedures for fast reactor fuel cycle and sensitivity analysis

Simplified methods based on the weak dependence of the fast reactor spectra on exposure have been developed for fuel cycle and sensitivity analysis of both the homogenized core and the core-blanket systems, resulting in significant savings in computer time relative to a direct method of spectrum calculation. In this paper the development of simplified procedures to include space dependence of the spectrum is reported. These methods are extended to evaluate the sensitivity of fuel cycle cost and breeding when basic cross-section data are varied. A simple method to complement direct methods of exposure-dependent multigroup sensitivity analysis has also been developed. 13 refs.
Reliability of the Revised Functional Autonomy Measurement System (SMAF) for Epidemiological Research

The Functional Autonomy Measurement System (SMAF) is an instrument designed to assess disabilities related to 29 functions with a four-point scale (from 0: independent to -3: dependent). For epidemiological studies, a total score and five sub-scores can be obtained. A revised version was developed adding a -0.5 level to many items to indicate an activity accomplished independently but with difficulty. The objective of the study was to verify the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the total score and sub-scores of the SMAF. Ninety subjects were randomly recruited in nine different residential settings ranging from home to long-term-care hospitals. Half of the subjects were assessed by the same nurse within a 2-week interval (test-retest) and the other half were assessed twice by two different nurses within the same interval (inter-rater). Results show intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) of 0.95 and 0.96 for the total scores on test-retest and inter-rater reliability, respectively. The ICC were over 0.74 for all sub-scores for both types of reliability. A small systematic bias was present for two SMAF subscores on the inter-rater reliability. The addition of a new level did not modify the reliability of the scale.
Power, Right, and Truth Foucault’s Triangle as a Model for Clinical Power

Power has historically been viewed from a position of dominance and authority. Using this lens leads one to a destiny wherein one individual or society has power over another. The power over approach is a hierarchical view, one that leads to someone else being oppressed, and one wherein the prevailing hegemony continues. If a different lens is used, wherein power does not reside within a position, but rather, within a person and within a relationship bounded by knowledge, a new destiny of power to and power of is created. These two approaches to power are examined and clinical power is offered as a lens that culminates in the understanding of power as a right and as truth imbedded with awareness and relationships.
Scaffolding student participation in mathematical practices

The concept of scaffolding can be used to describe various types of adult guidance, in multiple settings, across different time scales. This article clarifies what we mean by scaffolding, considering several questions specifically for scaffolding in mathematics: What theoretical assumptions are framing scaffolding? What is being scaffolded? At what level is scaffolding implemented? What is the setting for scaffolding? And lastly, how can scaffolding manage the tension between providing appropriate calibrated support while also providing opportunities beyond learners’ current understandings? The paper describes how attention to mathematical practices can maintain a sociocultural theoretical framing for scaffolding and move scaffolding beyond procedural fluency. The paper first specifies the sociocultural theoretical assumptions framing the concept of scaffolding, with particular attention to mathematical practices. The paper provides three examples of scaffolding mathematical practices in two settings, individual and whole-class. Lastly, the paper considers how two teacher moves during scaffolding, proleptic questioning and revoicing, can serve to provide appropriate calibrated support while also creating opportunities beyond current proficiency.
Aubry, K. B., W. J. Zielinski, M. G. Raphael, G. Proulx, and S. W. Buskirk. 2012. Biology and Conservation of Martens, Sables, and Fishers: A New Synthesis. Cornell University Press, New York, New York. 580 pp. ISBN-978-0-8014-5088-4 (hardbound), $75.00

K. B. Aubry, W. J. Zielinski, M. G. Raphael, G. Proulx, S. W. Buskirk. 2012. Biology and Conservation of Martens, Sables, and Fishers: A New Synthesis. Cornell University Press, New York, New York. 580 pp. ISBN-978-0-8014-5088-4 (hardbound), $75.00. In recent decades, Martes species (martens, fishers, and sables) have garnered the attention of conservation biologists and policy makers over concerns regarding population declines and their important ecological and economic roles. These concerns prompted the establishment of the Martes Working Group and publication of a synthesis on Martes species (Buskirk et al. 1994). Since the 1994 synthesis, field and laboratory studies have filled key information gaps, new avenues of research have evolved (i.e., genetic analyses, pathogen-host ecology, multiscale habitat analyses), and potential impacts of global climate change have been raised. Accordingly, this new volume incorporates research developments of the last 2 decades into our understanding of Martes species. Providing a synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature into a single book, particularly involving multiple taxa, is a daunting task. We commend the editors for their efforts to produce a volume that goes beyond mere proceedings and that focuses on conservation of Martes species through hypothesis-driven research from across broad disciplines and emerging technologies. The book is divided into 5 topic areas that provide the foundation for the included chapters. The editors made a concerted effort to incorporate important advances in the 8 formally recognized species of the genus Martes , inviting 62 scientists from 12 countries to produce the 20 syntheses presented. The editors acknowledge that the treatment of individual species is uneven, with little known about the yellow-throated marten ( Martes flavigula ), the Japanese marten ( M. melampus ), and the Nilgiri marten ( M. gwatkinsii ). The opening section of the book, Evolution and biogeography of the genus Martes , addresses processes that affect Martes species at large spatial or temporal scales. The 1st chapter, Synthesis of Martes evolutionary history , presents the geographic and evolutionary history of the genus with a review of the fossil record and integrates this information with recent genetic …