cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An experimental evaluation of specification techniques for improving functional testing

Abstract Numerous specification techniques have been proposed to improve the development of computer software. This article reports results from one experiment to compare the effectiveness of functional testing given three different sets of software specifications. Three groups of experienced programmers independently developed functional test cases for the same automated cruise control software. One group worked solely from a natural language description, one was given a graphical real-time structured analysis (RTSA) specification to augment the natural language description, and a third was given, in addition to the English language description and the RTSA specification, an executable specification. Two measures of performance were evaluated: the degree of statement coverage achieved by the test cases created by each group, and the amount of time taken to create the test cases. No significant difference in performance was found among any of the groups for either of the measures. Individual differences in performance among the subjects were observed. Additional statistical tests were used to evaluate the effect of other factors on these individual differences. Such differences appear to be attributable to variations among the subjects in effort, ability, motivation, and understanding of the assignment. These results suggest that software engineering researchers should investigate people-related management issues that, perhaps, exert the most significant short-run influence on the performance of software engineers.
Market uncertainties and cyclical dumping

Abstract The paper formulates a theory of the firm to analyze the incidence of cyclical dumping in foreign markets in the forms of price discrimination as well as less than marginal cost. Cyclical dumping arises due to fluctuations in demand in home and foreign markets and the firm's inability to fully adjust its output to these fluctuations. The paper analyzes the impacts of various shocks on the current and future incidence of both types of dumping within a unified framework.
Unrepressing the Kingdom: Pastoral Theology as Aesthetic Imagination

This essay draws from Jesus’ convictions, expressed in the Gospel of Luke and elsewhere, that the kingdom of God is to be found within and among persons and is epitomized in the lives of infants and young children. It locates children’s intuitions of the kingdom in their aesthetic sensibilities and capacity for artistic abandon, and considers possible psychosocial mechanisms, especially psychoanalytic conceptualizations of repression and its consequences for honest self-expression, by which these intuitions and sensibilities become displaced over time. It conceives of pastoral theology, like psychotherapy and the arts, as an heroic effort to unearth repressed shame and desire, i.e., to find language for what matters most, in service to recovering childlike attunement to the beauty of God’s kingdom.
Tissue engineered intrasynovial tendons: in vivo graft survival and tensile strength

Rabbit flexor tendons can be harvested, acellularized, and used as scaffolds for reseeding of flexor tendon constructs. The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical characteristics of seeded and unseeded flexor tendon constructs to autologous grafts in vivo in the rabbit model. The experimental groups were created using acellularized rabbit tendon scaffolds: scaffolds with no cells, and scaffolds re-seeded with either tenocytes or adipoderived stem cells. Autologous flexor tendon grafts were used as controls. All constructs bridged a zone II defect in the rabbit and were explanted at 2, 4, 10, or 20 weeks. These tendons were then tested for ultimate tensile strength (UTS) or processed for histology. The experimental groups exhibited UTS comparable to autologous grafts up to 4 weeks, and were significantly weaker at 10 weeks (p < 0.000–0.024). At 20 weeks, UTS was significantly improved (p = 0.013) in tenocyte-seeded constructs compared with 10 weeks. There was no significant difference in UTS between seeded or unseeded constructs at 2, 4, and 20 weeks. In all groups, there were more cells at the repair ends, and the cells penetrated to the core of the grafts over time. The goal of this technology is the development of tissue engineered tendon grafts for clinical use. This study provides proof of the concept that tissue-engineered flexor tendons—both acellularized and reseeded—can survive and incorporate over time. Further work will focus on bioreactor preconditioning of reseeded constructs to increase ultimate tensile strength.
Peptide Coated Titanium Rods Show Increased Bone Formation in a Rat Femur Model

In vitro, groups have demonstrated that peptide modified surfaces influence short and long term cell responses like attachment, shape and function via cell receptors known as integrins. These receptors translate information to the nucleus via sets of complex signaling pathways. Little is known about the ability of these surfaces to influence the inherently complex in vivo environment, however. The present study was designed to evaluate the quality and quantity of new bone formed in response to gold coated titanium rods modified with the peptide sequence Arg-Gly-Asp-Cys (RGDC). Quantitative histomorphometric analysis of histologic sections perpendicular to the implant long axis showed a thicker (P < 0.01) shell of new bone formed in response to peptide modified implants (26.2 microns ± 1.9 vs. 20.5 microns ± 2.9) as early as 2 weeks. Mechanical pull-out testing conducted at 4 weeks revealed the average pull-out force of peptide modified rods was 38% greater than gold control rods. The significant difference in the thickness of new bone formed around the implant was maintained at 4 weeks (32.7 microns ± 4.6 vs. 22.6 microns ± 4.0). These results demonstrate the feasibility of developing peptide coated biomaterials designed to elicit a host response at the cell receptor level.
Alpha-Particle Emission During Nuclear Fission at Moderate Excitation Energies

Protons, deuterons, and helium ions of various energies up to 42 MeV were used to induce fission in thin targets of ${\mathrm{Th}}^{232}$, ${\mathrm{U}}^{235}$, ${\mathrm{U}}^{238}$, and N${\mathrm{P}}^{237}$. $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle emission during fission was detected by a system of solid-state detectors coupled to a coincidence-gated pulse-height analysis system. $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles emitted prior to fission were distinguished from fission-accompanied $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles by the tight angular correlation between $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle and fission fragments which prevails in the latter case. It was found that the probability of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ emission during fission is insensitive to excitation energy over the energy interval from about 5 to 38 MeV for a variety of heavy nuclei from thorium to plutonium. There is a suggestion that $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle emission is fractionally more probable for spontaneous fission than for fission of the same nuclei excited to energies \ensuremath{\ge}5 MeV. $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle emission in the fission of ${\mathrm{At}}^{213}$ (${\mathrm{Bi}}^{209}$+42 MeV $\ensuremath{\alpha}$) was detected, the probability of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-accompanied fission being about $\frac{1}{3}$ of that for a typical thorium or uranium nuclide. A possible effect of angular momentum on the probability of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ emission during fission was looked for by forming ${\mathrm{Pu}}^{239}$ in two different ways, the excitation energy being the same but the angular momentum being different. No significant effect was observed. A correlation between the energy of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles and the sharpness of their angular distribution relative to the fission fragments, which had been seen at lower energies, was observed here to hold as well at higher excitation energies. In an experiment to determlne whether a correlation exists between the probability of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle emission and the mass ratio of the two heavy fission fragments, there is a suggestion that near-symmetric fragments have slightly less probability of emitting an $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particle than asymmetric heavy fragments, although the effect is not very pronounced.
Problems and paradigms: Chromosome reproduction: Units of DNA for segregation

Evidence is summarized which indicates that the DNA loop anchoring proteins in chromosomes are effectively heterodimers that stack and are fastened into a bilaterally symmetrical array along the chromonemal axis. The evidence consists primarily of the observations made twenty five to thirty years ago on the pattern of sister chromatid exchanges and the way the DNA chains are sorted in the formation of diplochromosomes in cells that have undergone endoreduplication. The evidence indicates that each chain of DNA in the single duplex, which is assumed to run the length of a chromosome, is anchored to a bilaterally symmetrical axis of heterodimers that sort the two original chains among the four derived chromatids of each diplochromosome in a very precise way. These observations are considered in the context of investigations on the nature of scaffold proteins and the loop anchorage sequences, as well as the advances being made on the nature of DNA binding proteins and the roles of topoisomerase II.
Determination of the Combined Ventilation Factor and Capacitance for Ice Crystal Aggregates from Airborne Observations in a Tropical Anvil Cloud

Abstract The ventilation factor and capacitance used in numerical models to represent ice crystal aggregates directly affects the growth rate of the ice crystal aggregates, and consequently the sink of atmospheric water vapor. Currently, numerical models that prognose ice water content (IWC) and water vapor mixing ratio represent the capacitance and ventilation factor of precipitation-sized particles with simplified geometries, such as hexagonal plates. The geometries of actual precipitation-sized particles are often more complex, and a test of the values being employed is needed. Aircraft observations obtained during a Lagrangian spiral descent through the sublimation zone of a tropical anvil cloud have been used to determine an estimate of combined dimensionless capacitance and ventilation factor for the nonpristine geometries exhibited by ice crystal aggregates. By combining measurements of bulk ice water content, the particle size distribution, and environmental subsaturation, the change in ice water ...
Influences on Teachers’ Corrective Feedback Choices in Second Language Writing

As research on corrective feedback targeting linguistic accuracy in second language (L2) writing expands in scope and quality, we continue to gain insights about the effects of feedback on L2 writers. Nevertheless, comparatively little research has focused on the teachers themselves – those who make the pedagogical decisions about the use of feedback in the classroom. Thus, we have sought to better understand the variables that may shape practitioners’ choices about feedback targeting linguistic accuracy. The purpose of this study was to analyze learner, teacher, and situational variables that may influence correct feedback choices in the L2 classroom. Data were collected by means of an electronic survey distributed to over 1000 ESL/EFL writing teachers in 69 different nations. In addition to investigating the entire data set, we examined those practitioners who provide the most and least feedback targeting linguistic accuracy. We analyzed variables such as learner age, proficiency, purposes for language learning, the ESL/EFL context, and type of institution, as well as the teachers’ L1, level of education, academic background, years of experience, and professional responsibilities. A number of systematic differences between groups were observed. Explanations for these findings are explored and suggestions are given for future research.
The Significance and Clinical Factors Associated With a Subcentimeter Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases

Prognosis after resection of colorectal liver metastases is influenced by various factors. A positive margin of resection (MOR) has been shown to adversely influence prognosis. Although a 1-cm MOR has been accepted as adequate, the data to support this guideline are sparse. Our hepatobiliary database was queried for patients who underwent liver resection for colorectal metastases between January 1992 and July 2003. All patients were divided into three groups: MOR 1 cm (group C). Operative reports from each hepatic resection were analyzed to determine local factors that may have contributed to a subcentimeter MOR. A total of 112 patients (67 men and 45 women) underwent liver resection for colorectal metastases with negative margins. Fifty-three patients were in group A, 26 patients were in group B, and 33 patients were in group C. Group C demonstrated decreased local recurrence (LR; P = .003), distant recurrence (DR; P = .008), and disease-free recurrence (P = .002). A significant difference in the overall time to LR (P = .003), time to DR (P = .003), and disease-free survival (P = .002) was also demonstrated. Factors associated with a subcentimeter MOR included nonanatomical resection (P = .043), proximity to a major vessel (P = .003), and central location (P = .002). A 1 cm should be attempted, because an adequate margin is often underestimated. Considerations should be made for extended resections when tumors are centrally located or near major vessels.
The effects of radiation waves on dark stripe dynamics

We study the evolution of a narrow dark stripe in a nonlinear defocusing medium. It is shown that radiation waves are shed during the evolution and should influence the interaction force between pairs of stripes.
Teacher and student gender and peer group gender composition in German foreign language classroom discourse : An exploratory study

Abstract In recent years, issues of gender have gained greater prominence in second language research. However, gender has received little or no attention in the study of classroom discourse, despite the fact that communication in the L2 often is both the means and the goal of language instruction. This exploratory study draws on gender-released research in first and second language, as well as on student self-reported data, to outline specific points for further, observational investigations on the effects of student, peer group, and teacher gender.
Development of Flavor Descriptors for Pawpaw Fruit Puree: A Step Toward the Establishment of a Native Tree Fruit Industry

The pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a native tree fruit with potential as a high-value niche crop for farmers in fresh-market and processing ventures. With a flavor resembling a combination of banana, mango, and pineapple, this fruit could compete with exported specialty fruits in the United States such as mango and papaya. The study objective was to develop a descriptive language for frozen pawpaw fruit puree, thereby assisting growers in the selection of superior varieties for fresh-market and processing ventures. Panelists generated 13 visual, 17 flavor, and 12 texture puree descriptors. Using these descriptors with fruit collected from Southeast Ohio (SEO) wild patches and two varieties (1–23 and 10–35), panelists identified both sour and bitter tastes in SEO puree compared to puree from either variety. The varieties also displayed positive characteristics of stronger melon and fresh flavors compared to SEO puree. Additional language descriptors for pawpaw puree may be needed.
Doppler-derived left ventricular filling pressures and the regulation of heart rate recovery after exercise in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Slowed heart rate (HR) recovery after exercise is strongly predictive of increased long-term mortality. The factors responsible for impaired HR regulation are not fully understood. We performed echocardiography with tissue Doppler imaging in 121 patients before maximal exercise testing. HR recovery was measured 1 minute after the end of exercise in the supine position. The best echocardiographic correlate of HR recovery was the ratio of early mitral flow velocity (E) to early diastolic mitral annular velocity (Ea; r = -0.781, p /=10. Receiver-operator characteristic analysis showed that an E/Ea >/=10.3 predicted 1-minute HR recovery of </=18 beats/min, with 83% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Neither left ventricular ejection fraction nor the presence of a "slow relaxation" mitral inflow pattern (E/A <1.0) was predictive of impaired HR recovery. Thus, slowed HR recovery is strongly associated with increased E/Ea, a marker of increased left ventricular filling pressures. E/Ea at rest may become a simple, reliable, and sensitive predictor of increased long-term mortality, even in the absence of overt heart failure.
Enhancing regulatory effectiveness by improving the process for identifying and resolving generic issues

The Generic Issues Program first began formally in response to a Commission directive in October of 1976. In 1983, it became one of the first programs to make successful use of probabilistic risk information to aid in regulatory decision-making. In the 16 years since the program became quantitative, 836 issues have been processed. Of these, 106 reactor safety issues were prioritized as requiring further evaluation to determine the final resolution. Approximately a dozen generic issues remain unresolved. Although there is far less reactor licensing activity than in the 1970s, new issues continue to be identified from research and operational experience. These issues often involve complex and controversial questions of safety and regulation, and an efficient and effective means of addressing these issues is essential for regulatory effectiveness. Issues that involve a significant safety question require swift, effective, enforceable, and cost-effective regulatory actions. Issues that are of little safety significance must be quickly shown to be so and dismissed in an expeditious manner so as to avoid unnecessary expenditure of limited resources and to reduce regulatory uncertainty. Additionally, in the time since the generic issue program began, probabilistic risk assessment techniques have advanced significantly while agency resources have continued to diminish. Accordingly, the paper discusses the steps that have been taken to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the generic issue resolution process. Additionally, four resolved issues are discussed, along with key elements of a proposed new procedure for resolving potential generic issues.
When Do Latent Class Models Overstate Accuracy for Diagnostic and Other Classifiers in the Absence of a Gold Standard

Summary Latent class models are increasingly used to assess the accuracy of medical diagnostic tests and other classifications when no gold standard is available and the true state is unknown. When the latent class is treated as the true class, the latent class models provide measures of components of accuracy including specificity and sensitivity and their complements, type I and type II error rates. The error rates according to the latent class model differ from the true error rates, however, and empirical comparisons with a gold standard suggest the true error rates often are larger. We investigate conditions under which the true type I and type II error rates are larger than those provided by the latent class models. Results from Uebersax (1988, Psychological Bulletin 104, 405–416) are extended to accommodate random effects and covariates affecting the responses. The results are important for interpreting the results of latent class analyses. An error decomposition is presented that incorporates an error component from invalidity of the latent class model.
Hard x-ray polarimeter for gamma-ray bursts and solar flares

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The quantification of pain: An analysis of words used to describe pain and analgesia in clinical trials

In this study 116 subjects were asked to quantify the descriptive pain terms commonly used in analgesimetry by using the visual analog scale as a tool. The results showed highly variable responses. Several words that have been assigned the same value on an ordinal scale do not convey the same meanings as on the visual analog scale. The words some and terrible are probably the least useful terms to quantify pain. The word complete for describing pain relief showed the least variation. The data on global ratings varied greatly; 10% of the participants gave the same values to the terms very good and excellent. The unequal differences between descriptive terms that are commonly considered equidistant on an ordinal scale are clearly demonstrated. We propose an approach to quantifying pain that takes into account the interindividual variations in interpretation of descriptive pain terms.
Sexual differentiation of behavior in the zebra finch: effect of early gonadectomy or androgen treatment.

Abstract Treatment of nestling zebra finches with estradiol benzoate (EB) has been shown to masculinize singing in females and demasculinize copulatory behavior in males, suggesting that sexual differentiation of these behaviors is under hormonal control such that testicular hormones induce the capacity for song and ovarian hormones suppress the capacity for mounting. Two experiments were carried out to obtain a more complete picture of sexual differentiation in this species. In Experiment 1, nestlings were injected daily for the first 2 weeks after hatching with testosterone propionate (TP), dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP), or a combination of DHTP and EB. As adults, birds were gonadectomized and implanted with TP prior to testing, then tested again after implantation with EB. Singing was not increased in females by any of the treatments. The only effect of either TP or DHTP given alone was defeminization of female proceptive behavior by DHTP. Thus androgens appear to have less influence than estrogens on sexual differentiation of behavior in this species. The combination of DHTP and EB demasculinized mounting in males. In Experiment 2, nestlings were gonadectomized at 7–9 days of age and implanted with TP prior to testing in adulthood. Early gonadectomy had little effect on later behavior; early castrated males sang, danced, and copulated normally and early ovariectomized females neither sang nor mounted.
Effect of Chemical Reactions on the Hydrologic Properties of Fractured and Rubbelized Glass Media

Abstract Understanding the effect of chemical reactions on the hydrologic properties of geological media, such as porosity, permeability and dispersivity, is critical to many natural and engineered sub-surface systems. Influence of glass corrosion (precipitation and dissolution) reactions on fractured and rubbelized (crushed) forms HAN28 and LAWBP1, two candidate waste glass forms for a proposed immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) disposal facility at the Hanford, WA site, was investigated. Flow and tracer transport experiments were conducted using fractured and rubbelized forms, before and after subjecting them to corrosion using vapor hydration testing (VHT) at 200 °C temperature and 200 psig pressure, causing the precipitation of alteration products. Data were analyzed using analytical expressions and CXTFIT, a transport parameter optimization code, for the estimation of the hydrologic characteristics before and after VHT. It was found that glass reactions significantly influence the hydrologic properties of ILAW glass media. Hydrologic properties of rubbelized glass decreased due to precipitation reactions, whereas those of fractured glass media increased due to reaction which led to unconfined expansion of fracture aperture. The results are unique and useful to better understand the effect of chemical reactions on the hydrologic properties of fractured and rubbelized stony media in general and glass media in particular.
A neuromime system for neural circuit analysis

A system of electronic analog neurons (neuromines) for modeling the activity in small neuronal networks is described. The system consists of sixteen analogs that simulate the integrative neuronal properties at the axon hillock and sixty-four analogs that serve to simulate synaptic interactions. The neuromime properties are based on a potential model incorporating the following properties: membrane potential, threshold, refractory period, adaption, post-inhibitory rebound, accommodation and pacemaker potential. Use of matrix switch boards provides for convenient interconnection of the neuromime elements, allowing the construction of even complex circuits.
Polarized Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (pFCS): A Single-Molecule Method for Simultaneously Measuring Homo-FRET, Brightness, and the Diffusion of Protein Complexes in Living Cells

FRET is a phenomenon where excited state energy of a fluorescent donor molecule is transferred, by a non-radiative dipole-dipole coupling mechanism, to a nearby acceptor. Because the efficiency of FRET provides information regarding the distance separating the donor and acceptor, FRET is used to study protein interactions in living cells. In conjunction with automated microscopy, FRET can also be used to screen for drugs that perturb specific protein-protein interactions. The utility of FRET, however, is limited by the possibility of both false positive (caused by over expression and molecular crowding), and by false negative signals (resulting from separation distances greater than 10 nm and from very low dipole orientation factors). To overcome these limitations we have developed Polarized Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (pFCS), a single-molecule based method to characterize the interactions of proteins in complexes. Using pFCS, Homo-FRET (a 1-10 nm proximity gauge), brightness (a measure of the number of fluorescent subunits in a complex), and the lateral diffusion coefficient (an attribute sensitive to viscosity, mass, and the shape of a protein complex) can be simultaneously measured. With these measurements, the interpretation of FRET can be rigorously constrained thus reducing the likelihood of both false negative and false positive interpretations. Standards consisting of tandem covalently linked concatemers of between 1 and 6 Venus molecules were used to validate pFCS in both solution and in cells. The utility of pFCS was demonstrated by measuring differences in Homo-FRET, subunit stoichiometry and correlation time between Venus-tagged CaM-kinase-II holoenzyme (α or β).
Crack propagation and spalling of white cast iron balls subjected to repeated impacts

Abstract In ongoing research by the Bureau of Mines directed toward the conservation of strategic and critical materials, the mechanisms of spalling were investigated in high chromium white cast irons. These irons are used extensively in mining and mineral processing equipment even though fracturing and spalling from severe contact pressures result in major wear problems. In the laboratory, specimens in the form of balls, 75 mm in diameter, were subjected to repetitive impacts, up to 300 000, to produce cracking and spalling. Three high chromium white cast iron alloys, each with 10 different heat treatments, were investigated. The interiors of the impacted specimens were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The crack patterns were related to residual and hertzian impact stresses and compared with the work of others on ball-bearing spalling. It was found that near the surface the eutectic carbides crack perpendicular to the surface owing to a tensile stress produced along the perimeter of contact. Farther from the surface, the eutectic carbides crack owing to a cyclic hertzian shear stress that initiates a crack front parallel to the surface of the specimen. It is primarily the merging of the perpendicular and parallel crack fronts that initiates spalling in white cast irons.
Evaluation of N-Hydroxymethyl-DL-Methionine-Ca and Di-Hydroxymethyl-L-Lysine-Ca in a Blended Corn Based Ration for Lactating Cows

Abstract Five lactating cows were fed ad libitum a ration of 67% corn silage and 33% concentrate and 2.2 kg hay per head daily in a 5 × 5 Latin square to evaluate five treatments: 1) negative control, 2) 64 g/day di-hydroxymethyl-L-lysine-Ca, 3) 24 g/day N-hydroxymethyl-DL- methionine-Ca, 4) 64 g/day di-hydro-xymethyl-L-lysine-Ca and 24 g/day Nhydroxymethyl-DL-methionine-Ca, and 5) 638 g/day formaldehyde-treated sodium caseinate. Nitrogen supplements were blended with the corn silage and concentrate at time of feeding. Dry matter of the basal ration contained 11 to 12% crude protein. Mean daily milk yields were 27.4, 26.9, 26.1, 27.1, and 29.9 kg for the respective treatments. Yields of milk, milk protein, and milk fat and efficiency of feed conversion to 4% fat-corrected milk were greatest with formaldehyde-treated casein. Amino acid derivatives had no effect on feed intake, milk production, milk composition, or utilization of dietary nitrogen. Concenrations of methionine and lysine in plasma, relative to the other indispensable amino acids, were not different among treatments. We suggest that the low pH of the ration resulted in considerable dissociation of the derivatives prior to consumption.
Hypoxia induces AP-1-regulated genes and AP-1 transcription factor binding in human endothelial and other cell types

Hypoxia results in differential expression of specific genes in certain cell types. In endothelial cells, hypoxia activates several genes that are known to be inducible by transcription factor AP-1, including endothelin-1 and platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B). In this study we demonstrated that other AP-1-inducible genes are activated by hypoxia in these cells, including collagenase IV and c-jun, and sought to correlate the activation of genes by hypoxia with the activation of transcription factor AP-1. Depending upon the type of cell studied, hypoxic exposure resulted in the induction of AP-1 transcription factor DNA-binding activity with wide variations in levels of binding. The magnitude of activation of transcription factor AP-1 by hypoxia did not always strictly correlate with the level of induction of AP-1-inducible genes. This finding indicates a requirement for additional mechanisms of controlling transcription beyond the simple activation of AP-1 factor DNA-binding activity for the activation of AP-1-inducible genes during hypoxia. Hypoxia has been reported to lower the intracellular redox potential. The effect of redox state changes on AP-1 transcription factor activity and on the activation of AP-1-inducible genes was also studied. PDTC, a potent reducing agent, activated the AP-1 transcription factor in HeLa cells, and also resulted in increased accumulation of c-jun mRNA in these cells. In contrast to PDTC-mediated activation of the AP-1 transcription factor and the subsequent induction of the AP-1-regulated c-jun gene, hypoxic activation of AP-1 transcription factor binding to its cognate DNA sequence did not activate the c-jun gene in HeLa cells, thus documenting distinct differences in signals generated by the reducing intracellular microenvironments created by hypoxia and PDTC. These results demonstrate the induction of AP-1 transcription factor activity by hypoxic environments, but suggest that additional factors or cell-specific signals are involved in the regulation of hypoxia-induced genes.
Feature-aided tracking with hyperspectral imagery

Target tracking in an urban environment presents a wealth of ambiguous tracking scenarios that cause a kinematic-only tracker to fail. Partial or full occlusions in areas of tall buildings are particularly problematic as there is often no way to correctly identify the target with only kinematic information. Feature aided tracking attempts to resolve problems with a kinematic-only tracker by extracting features from the data. In the case of panchromatic video, the features are often histograms, the same is true for color video data. In the case where tracks are uniquely different colors, more typical feature aided trackers may perform well. However, a typical urban setting has similar size, shape, and color tracks, and more typical feature aided trackers have no hopes in resolving many of the ambiguities we face. We present a novel feature aided tracking algorithm combining two-sensor modes: panchromatic video data and hyperspectral imagery. The hyperspectral data is used to provide a unique fingerprint for each target of interest where that fingerprint is the set of features used in our feature aided tracker. Results indicate an impressive 19% gain in correct track ID with our hyperspectral feature aided tracker compared to the baseline performance with a kinematic-only tracker.© (2007) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Polyethylene glycol versus vegetable oil based bisacodyl suppositories to initiate side-lying bowel care: A clinical trial in persons with spinal cord injury

Introduction: Neurogenic bowel dysfunction resulting from spinal cord injury (SCI) frequently requires bowel care (BC) with stimulant suppositories for initiation of effective defecation. The excessive time required for BC and bowel complications have limited quality of life after SCI. Objective: To test the hypothesis that: the time required for bowel care with bisacodyl suppositories can be reduced by substituting a polyethylene glycol base (PGB) for the traditional hydrogenated vegetable oil base (HVB) in the suppository. Setting: Inpatient SCI medicine unit. Subjects: Fourteen persons with SCI with chronic stable paralysis from upper motor neuron SCI for greater than one year with a stable HVB bisacodyl suppository initiated BC. Design: Crossover Controlled. Method: Subjects received HVB bisacodyl suppositories for six sequential BC sessions and then were crossed over to PGB bisacodyl suppositories for six more BCs. Outcome measures: BC event times were utilized to derive BC intervals: suppository insertion to first flatus=Time to flatus, first flatus until the beginning of stool flow=Flatus to stool flow, begin stool flow until end stool flow=Defecation period, end stool flow until end of clean up=Clean up, and suppository insertion until end clean up=Total bowel care time. Results: The data included two groups of BC sessions: HVB (n=84) and PGB (n=81). Mean times in minutes and P values from t tests for paired samples yielded: Time to flatus: (HVB 31, PGB 12.8 P<0.002), Defecation period: (HVB 58, PGB 32, P<0.0005), Clean up: (HVB 1.9, PGB 3.2 P=0.165), Total bowel care time: (HVB 102, PGB 51.2 P<0.0005). Conclusion: This analysis suggests that PGB based bisacodyl suppositories may stimulate reflex defecation sooner and shorten the Total BC Time as compared with HVB bisacodyl suppositories.
Effect of Amputation of Apical Portion of Uterine Horn Upon Labor

ConclusionThe apical portion of the uterine horn is not essential for the evacuation lf the uterus in the dog, rabbit and rat.
Novel time-stamped pixel structure for high-speed 2D CMOS visual motion sensor

A 32x32 visual motion sensor based on the time stamped pixel structure is proposed. The sensor pixel is formed by a time stamp component and a compact spatial based edge detector with a pixel size of 70x70μm 2 in standard 0.35μm CMOS process. It measures up to 6000 degree/s with focal length f = 10mm. Less than 5% rms variation for middle range velocity measurement and less than 10% rms variation for high and low velocity measurement have been achieved. This structure is good for scaling down with new fabrication processes to implement large scale 2D arrays with low power consumption in the near future.
Index of Refraction Anisotropy in InGaAs/InP Heterostructures Measured by Ellipsometry

We applied ellipsometry to characterize layers of InxGa1-xAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (001) InP. Samples with mismatched layers exhibit significant anisotropy in the index of refraction. We explain these observations by the presence of misfit dislocations which form in an asymmetric pattern. This results in asymmetric strain and, via piezo-optical effects, an anisotropy in the optical properties. This effect makes ellipsometry a more sensitive technique than double-crystal x-ray diffraction for detecting misfit dislocations in these heterostructures.
Beta-decay of light rare-earth130, 132Pr and132, 134Pm nuclei

Gamma-ray spectra of neutron-deficient isotopes of130, 132Ce and132, 134Nd have been investigated from the β-decay of130,132Pr and132,134Pm new gamma-bands of states were identified and the systematic trends are presented.
An advance directive redesigned to meet the literacy level of most adults: A randomized trial☆☆☆

Abstract Objective To determine whether an advance directive redesigned to meet most adults’ literacy needs (fifth grade reading level with graphics) was more useful for advance care planning than a standard form (>12th grade level). Methods We enrolled 205 English and Spanish-speaking patients, aged ≥50 years from an urban, general medicine clinic. We randomized participants to review either form. Main outcomes included acceptability and usefulness in advance care planning. Participants then reviewed the alternate form; we assessed form preference and six-month completion rates. Results Forty percent of enrolled participants had limited literacy. Compared to the standard form, the redesigned form was rated higher for acceptability and usefulness in care planning, P ≤ 0.03, particularly for limited literacy participants (P for interaction ≤0.07). The redesigned form was preferred by 73% of participants. More participants randomized to the redesigned form completed an advance directive at six months (19% vs. 8%, P = 0.03); of these, 95% completed the redesigned form. Conclusions The redesigned advance directive was rated more acceptable and useful for advance care planning and was preferred over a standard form. It also resulted in higher six-month completion rates. Practice implications An advance directive redesigned to meet most adults’ literacy needs may better enable patients to engage in advance care planning.
Intranasal Vaccination with an Engineered Influenza Virus Expressing the Receptor Binding Subdomain of Botulinum Neurotoxin Provides Protective Immunity Against Botulism and Influenza

Influenza virus is a negative, segmented RNA virus without DNA intermediate. This makes it safer as a vaccine delivery vector than most DNA viruses that have potential to integrate their genetic elements into host genomes. In this study, we developed a universal influenza viral vector, expressing the receptor binding subdomain of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A).We tested the growth characters of the engineered influenza virus in chicken eggs and Madin-Darby Canine Kidney epithelial cells (MDCK), and showed that it can be produced to a titer of 5×10E6 plaque forming unites/ml in chicken eggs and MDCK cells. Subsequently, mice intranasally vaccinated with the engineered influenza virus conferred protection against challenge with lethal doses of active BoNT/A toxin and influenza virus. Our results demonstrated the feasibility to develop a dual purpose nasal vaccine against both botulism and influenza.
Demand-Driven Acquisitions for Print Books: How Holds Can Help as Much As Interlibrary Loan

While there is a growing field of literature surrounding demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) for electronic books, libraries have been relatively silent regarding DDA for print books, with the notable exception of using interlibrary loan (ILL). This study will discuss how libraries can examine holds queue demand in conjunction with ILL to make collection development decisions related to print materials. It will also discuss how to work with catalogers to deflect ILL requests for these same high-demand items, so they can stay in the library for local patrons.
Design equations of arbitrary power split ratio waveguide T-junctions using a curve fitting approach

Design equations have been developed for the design of an H-plane rectangular waveguide T-junction with an arbitrary power split. These design equations were derived using curve fitting of data produced from a large number of EM simulation runs. A design procedure has been successfully developed and resulted in scalable, practically manufacturable structures. Various types of discontinuities were judiciously placed in the junction to provide adequate degrees of freedom and concurrently achieve diverse design goals. Added discontinuities included wedges and diaphragms which have been implemented as an integral part of the prescribed structures. For demonstration, T-junction designs at Ku-band have been fabricated and tested, which have adequate bandwidth performance covering the US-DBS 12.2–2.7 GHz frequency range. Both excellent match at the input port and in-phase flat power-split ratio over a relatively wide band at the output ports were successfully achieved—an essential requirement for high-performance antenna feeds. The dimensional tolerance of the developed design was also thoroughly investigated using extensive sensitivity analysis, and the developed structures proved to be appropriate for low-cost high-volume fabrication methods such as casting. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.
Source of outer zone protons

In the L = 2 to 5 range in the outer radiation belt, DAVIS et al. (1964) find that the spectra of the relatively stable 0.1 to 5 MeV protons show smooth but large variations with L and equatorial pitch angle, α0, as in Figure 1. Protons near Open image in new window Fig. 1 Low energy proton spectra at various distances from the earth, from Davis and Williamson (1963).
Sensitivity of an infaunal amphipod, Eohaustorius estuarius, to acute waterborne exposures of 4-nonylphenol: evidence of a toxic hangover.

Three independent trials were conducted using mortality and burial as endpoints. Amphipod mean lethal concentration to 50% (LC50) was 227 μg/L. One-hour burial as a sublethal endpoint increased the sensitivity of the toxicity test by 40%; however, most amphipods that survived exposure were able to recover within 24 to 48 h. This toxic hangover was dose-dependent.
High pressure floating zone growth and structural properties of ferrimagnetic quantum paraelectric BaFe12O19

High quality single crystals of BaFe12O19 were grown using the floating zone technique in 100 atm of flowing oxygen. Single crystal neutron diffraction was used to determine the nuclear and magnetic structures of BaFe12O19 at 4 K and 295 K. At both temperatures, there exist local electric dipoles formed by the off-mirror-plane displacements of magnetic Fe3+ ions at the bipyramidal sites. The displacement at 4 K is about half of that at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the specific heat shows no anomaly associated with long range polar ordering in the temperature range from 1.90 to 300 K. The inverse dielectric permittivity, 1/e, along the c-axis shows a T2 temperature dependence between 10 K and 20 K, with a significantly reduced temperature dependence displayed below 10 K. Moreover, as the sample is cooled below 1.4 K there is an anomalous sharp upturn in 1/e. These features resemble those of classic quantum paraelectrics such as SrTiO3. The presence of the upturn in 1/e indicates that BaF...
Parents' perceptions and attributions of infant vocal behaviour and development*

In the present study, parents of 3- to 12-month-old infants completed 3 questionnaires that assessed the nature and developmental course of parents’ beliefs about their infants’ vocal behaviour and development. Although all groups of parents considered their infants’ vocal behaviour to be generally communicative, meaningful, and related to the development of ’real’ language, these attributions varied with the age of the infant, the gender of the parent, as well as other parental measures, such as general knowledge of infant behaviour and development. These results suggest that parents (especially mothers) ascribe communicative function to infants’ early vocalizations. The role of these parental belief systems should be considered in future research investigating the evolution of parent-infant communication.
The role of social feedback in steady-state performance of human decision making for two-alternative choice tasks

With an eye towards design of human-in-the-loop systems, we investigate human decision making in a social context for tasks that require the human to make repeated choices among finite alternatives. We consider a human decision maker who receives feedback on his/her own performance as well as on the choices of others performing the same task. We use a drift-diffusion, decision-making model that has been fitted to human neural and behavioral data in sequential, two-alternative, forced-choice tasks and recently extended to the social context with an empirically derived feedback term that depends on choices of other decision makers. We show conditions for this model to be a Markov process, and we derive the steady-state probability distribution for choice sequences and individual performance as a function of the strength of the social feedback. It has recently been shown in behavioral experiments that human decision-making performance for a relatively easy task is decreased with this social feedback; we show that our analytic predictions agree with this finding.
High pressure EWOD digital microfluidics

We are developing new electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) digital microfluidic systems for operating at non-atmospheric conditions. The first generation is a compact pressure chamber with an electric feed-through, enabling EWOD operation within a gaseous medium of well-controlled pressure and composition. EWOD performance is insensitive to chamber pressure because the chip is of open-channel architecture. We demonstrate two different types of previously unachievable processes - (i) controlling evaporation rates of common solvents (water, methanol, acetonitrile) by adjusting the pressure of an inert gaseous medium (N 2 ), and (ii) controlling the reaction rate of a solid-liquid-gas-phase reaction by adjusting the pressure of a gas-phase reagent (H 2 ).