cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Verbal aptitudes of disturbed children from thematic protocols.

Studies (1, 2, 4) indicate that the increase in the complexity of the formal aspects of stories children tell is dependent on age. This study explored whether children's stories may be suitable vehicles for measuring verbal aptitude especially for disturbed children who often respond poorly to structured verbal tests. Twelve normal and 16 disturbed children (referred for diagnosis) between the ages of 9-5 and 12-9 were given the Binet, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), and the Auditory Apperception Test (AAT) in three separate sessions with half of each group taking the TAT before the AAT. The system employed for scoring the srories is a rnodification of Tomkins' quantitative approach to thematic data (3). The following factors in the TAT stories are given equal weight: number of words, ratio of qualifiers (adjectives and adverbs) to number of words, number of emotional states, number of situations resolved, and number of characters. The Binet IQs of the normal group correlate (rho) .923 with the age-adjusted TAT standard scores (5 factors combined). Although the disturbed group did relatively poorly on the Binec (mean IQ 20 points lower than the normals) and their TAT scores correlated only ,103 with Binet IQs, they equalled the performance of the normal group on the TAT. The words, qualifier ratios, and conditions each separately correlated significantly with IQ for the normal (.874, 351 and .637), but only the qualifier ratio did for the disturbed (.791). Only for the disturbed were there significant relationships of words, as well as conditions, with resolutions (.722 and .726) and of words, conditions, and resolutions each respectively with characters (.765, ,730 and .500). Also, increased responsiveness to the AAT was evident for the disturbed children. Mean number of additional words for those who were responsive to the AAT were 711 compared to 172 for the normal; on the TAT mean additional words for the disturbed who were more responsive to the TAT were 186 (cf. 154 for the normal). This evidence suggests measurement of structural components in thematic data may provide an estimate of verbal aptitude in disturbed children when the Binet does not. Study of the structural components of thematic data, especially with consideration of the verbal factorial loadlog, not determined here, seems needed.
Methylprednisolone and isoproterenol inhibit airway smooth muscle proliferation by separate and additive mechanisms

Abstract To determine whether glucocorticoids and β-adrenoceptor agonists act independently to inhibit airway smooth muscle (ASM) proliferation, the present study investigated the effects of methylprednisolone (MP) and isoproterenol (ISO) alone and in combination on leukotriene D 4 -induced ASM proliferation. MP and ISO had no effect on unstimulated ASM cell growth. In contrast, MP and ISO demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of LTD 4 -induced proliferation, and the inhibitory effect was additive for combinations of MP and ISO. The competitive cAMP receptor antagonist, Rp -cAMPS, ablated the ISO-induced inhibition but had no affect on the inhibitory response to MP. In cells exposed to both ISO and MP, Rp -cAMPS attenuated the growth inhibition to levels achieved by MP alone. Accordingly, these findings demonstrate that glucocorticoids and β-adrenergic agonists inhibit LTD 4 -induced ASM proliferation, and that their inhibitory effects are mediated by different signaling pathways.
In Situ Single Shot Peak Intensity Calibration of Multi-joule Ultra-intense Laser Focus

In situ single shot peak intensity has been calibrated to be 1.25×1017Wcm-2/J energy at the ultra-intense focus of a multi-joule laser pulse using optical field ionization of high charge states of inert gases.
Theory and Practice Ellis, Rod R. Language Teaching Research & Language Pedagogy. Malden, MA: Wiley–Blackwell, 2012. Pp. xiv, 394. $49.95, paper. ISBN 978‐1‐4443‐3611‐5.

The article reviews the book "Language Teaching Research and Language Pedagogy," by Rod R. Ellis.
Successful elimination of traumatic tattoos by the Q-switched alexandrite (755-nm) laser.

Traumatic tattoos are very difficult to eradicate because of the resultant deep penetration of foreign body particles. Previous treatments, such as surgical excision and dermabrasion, commonly resulted in incomplete removal or significant scarring or both. Three patients with traumatic tattoos were
Racial Differences in Employment Outcome After Traumatic Brain Injury at 1, 2, and 5 Years Postinjury

Abstract Gary KW, Arango-Lasprilla JC, Ketchum JM, Kreutzer JS, Copolillo A, Novack TA, Jha A. Racial differences in employment outcome after traumatic brain injury at 1, 2, and 5 years postinjury. Objectives To examine racial differences in competitive employment outcomes at 1, 2, and 5 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to determine whether changes in not competitive employment rates over time differ between blacks and whites with TBI after adjusting for demographic and injury characteristics. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Sixteen TBI Model System Centers. Participants Blacks (n=615) and whites (n=1407) with moderate to severe TBI. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure Employment status dichotomized as competitively employed versus not competitively employed. Results After adjusting for demographic and injury characteristics, repeated-measures logistic regression indicated that (1) the odds of not being competitively employed were significantly greater for blacks than whites regardless of the follow-up year (all P P ≤.004); and (3) changes over time in the odds of not being competitively employed versus being competitively employed were not different between blacks and whites ( P =.070). In addition, age, discharge FIM and Disability Rating Scale, length of stay in acute and rehabilitation, preinjury employment, sex, education, marital status, and cause of injury were significant predictors of employment status postinjury. Conclusions Short- and long-term employment is not favorable for people with TBI regardless of race; however, blacks fare worse in employment outcomes compared with whites. Rehabilitation professionals should work to improve return to work for all persons with TBI, with special emphasis on addressing specific needs of blacks.
Antioxidant activity of selected Spanish wines in corn oil emulsions.

Wines contain phenolic compounds that may be useful for preventing lipid oxidation as dietary antioxidants. This study was aimed at evaluating the antioxidant activity in corn oil emulsions of seventeen selected Spanish wines and two California wines. The inhibition of hydroperoxide formation at 10 IM gallic acid equivalents (GAE) varied from 8.4% to 40.2% with the red wines, from 20.9% to 45.8% with the rosewines, and from 6.5% to 47.0% with the white wines. The inhibition of hydroperoxide formation at 20 IM GAE varied from 11.9% to 34.1% with the red wines, from 0.1% to 34.5% with the rosewines, and from 3.3% to 37.2% with the white wines. The inhibition of hexanal formation at 10 IM GAE varied from 23.6% to 64.4% with the red wines, from 42.7% to 68.5% with the rosewines, and from 28.4% to 68.8% with the white wines. The inhibition of hexanal formation at 20 IM GAE varied from 33.0% to 46.3% with the red wines, from 11.3% to 66.5% with the rosewines, and from -16.7% to +21.0% with the white wines. The antioxidant effect decreased with increasing concentration. This antioxidant activity was related to the five main groups of phenolic compounds identified in wines by HPLC. The relative antioxidant activity correlated positively with the total phenol content of wines (by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and by HPLC), benzoic acids, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols, for the inhibition of hydroperoxides and hexanal at 10 and 20 IM GAE.
Field Dependence and Stimulus Complexity in a Figure Copying Task

Field dependence is often associated with studies of cognitive style from Witkin's laboratory but Piaget also considered the concept a fundamental factor in the development of visuoperceptual analysis. Assessment has traditionally relied on two measures, the Rod-and-Frame Test and the Embedded Figures Test. A new task was developed, based on the Rod-and-Frame Test, in which a target stimulus is drawn within a misleading frame. Misleading frames significantly influenced the orientation of drawings created by 36 kindergartners in Exp. 1, and the drawing of more complex stimulus figures was influenced by the frames for a group of 65 adults in Exp. 2. Field-dependent behavior is related to the complexity of the task and to age. The correlation of scores on the Embedded Figures Test with performance on this task was low for both groups.
Local events in atmospheric aerosol concentrations

Abstract During summer-fall 1982 air particulate samples were obtained in the Philadelphia Airshed and subsequently analyzed using proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis. Comparison of the time variations of concentration shows the predominantly regional nature of the sulfur air particulate matter as contrasted with local events.
Postoperative use of pediatric pain scales: children's self-report versus nurse assessment of pain intensity and affect

The purpose was to examine nurses' use of pediatric pain scales and to compare their estimate of the child's pain intensity and affect with the child's self-report. The Analog Chromatic Continuous Scale (ACCS) was used for pain intensity and the McGrath Affective Faces Scale (MAFS) for pain affect. Self-report of pain was obtained from 124 hospitalized postoperative children aged 5 to 17 years and compared with estimates of 44 pediatric nurses randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Experimental nurses used the ACCS and MAFS to obtain pain ratings whereas control nurses made estimates according to their customary method of assessment. Findings revealed that only 36% of the nurses had at any time used a pediatric pain scale. Correlations between the experimental nurses' ratings and the child's self-report were significantly higher than the control nurses' estimates and the child's self-report. The correlation between the child's self-report of pain intensity on the ACCS and of affect on the MAFS was r =.612, suggesting that nurses' use of both an intensity and affective pediatric pain scale would more accurately reflect the child's pain experience.
Failure of Mammalian Thyrotropin-Releasing Factor Preparation To Elicit Metamorphic Responses in Tadpoles

Mammalian thyrotropin-releasing factor (TRF) was injected either intracranially in the vicinity of the pituitary gland or into the ventricle of the heart in bullfrog tadpoles. No sign of acceleration of metamorphosis was noticed, even after injecting 4 U of TRF. Intraperitoneal injections of up to 10 U of TRF were similarly ineffective. Possible implications of the failure of the mammalian TRF to elicit a response in the tadpole are discussed. (Endocrinology 82: 1067, 1968)
Reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene by Fe(II) in cement slurries.

Fe(II) is a potentially effective reductant for treating chlorinated organics in soils by degradative solidification/stabilization (DS/S) process. DS/S is a modification of conventional S/S that pr...
The extent of the unstable Monin-Obukhov layer for temperature and humidity above complex hilly grassland

An analysis is given of radiosonde measurements of the potential temperature, specific humidity, and wind profiles under unstable windy conditions during the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment in Kansas. It is found that about 86 percent of the profiles have a height range over which the Monin-Obukhov (1954) similarity is valid. It is shown that the Businger-Dyer version of the similarity functions (Businger, 1988) is satisfactory for analyzing radiosonde profiles.
Assessing the photo-degradation of geosynthetics by outdoor exposure and laboratory weatherometer

Abstract The current accelerated weathering methods, which include two laboratory weatherometers and one outdoor method, are described together with the natural outdoor exposure method. The correlation between various accelerated methods and the natural outdoor method on geosynthetics was illustrated based on available published data. The data show that the Xenon Arc exhibited a higher degradation rate than the UV-fluorescent weatherometer. However, such acceleration may be mainly contributed by the elevated incubation temperature rather than the irradiance. In order to perform proper comparison between different incubation environments (either for different weatherometers or weatherometer and natural outdoor method) both the temperature and radiant energy must be recorded and incorporated in the analysis.
Enhancement of melatonin's antigonadal action by daily injections of the serotonin uptake inhibitor fluoxetine in male hamsters.

The antigonadal effects of daily melatonin injections in golden hamsters are known to be dependent on the time of day when injections are given. As the serotonergic system of the brain has been shown to undergo daily variations, and to influence gonadotrophic activity, it was decided to investigate the relationship between melatonin effects and brain serotonergic function by employing the selective inhibitor of serotonin uptake fluoxetine (Lilly 110140). Daily injections of fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) were administered at two different times of day (late scotophase or late photophase) in combination with or without melatonin (25μg) at either early or late photophase. Following nine weeks on a long photoperiod (14L/10D) testicular widths and weights in all groups receiving late-photophase melatonin were significantly diminished. Average testicular widths and weights in groups receiving fluoxetine plus late-photophase melatonin were smaller than those groups receiving late-photophase melatonin alone. Furthermore, animals receiving fluoxetine plus early-photophase melatonin also showed signs of gonadal regression. These results support the hypothesis that altered serotonergic function is a component of melatonin-induced gonadal inhibition in the male hamster.
Open source software for visualization and quality control of continuous hydrologic and water quality sensor data

It is common for in situ hydrologic and water quality data to be collected at high frequencies and for extended durations. These data streams, which may also be collected across many monitoring sites require infrastructure for data storage and management. The Observations Data Model (ODM), which is part of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Hydrologic Information System (HIS), was developed as a standard data model in which to organize, store, and describe point observations data. In this paper we describe ODM Tools Python, an open source software application that allows users to query and export, visualize, and perform quality control post processing on time series of environmental observations data stored in an ODM database using automated Python scripting that records the corrections and adjustments made to data series in the quality control process and ensures data editing steps are traceable and reproducible. We developed a workflow for scripting of time series data quality control.ODM Tools automatically scripts manual quality control data edits in Python.ODM Tools preserves provenance of quality control edits.ODM Tools is open source and cross platform compatible.ODM Tools demonstrates options for desktop application development and deployment using Python.
Prevention of cervical, vaginal, and vulval cancers: role of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (6, 11, 16, 18) recombinant vaccine

The relationship between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and malignancies of the uterine cervix, vagina, and vulva has been established. The development of a quadrivalent HPV recombinant prophylactic vaccine represents the first time in history that primary prevention of these cancers is offered to girls and women. The prevalence of oncogenic HPV subtypes in cervical cancers has been the most studied, but prevalence has also been established for vaginal and vulvar cancers. Clinical trials demonstrate impressive efficacy in disease prevention as well as excellent safety and tolerability. The role the quadrivalent HPV recombinant vaccine promises to have in the reduction of gynecologic malignancies will depend on various factors, including acceptance and accessibility of the vaccine, duration of immunity, and cross-protection against other oncogenic HPV subtypes. The HPV vaccine’s role in disease reduction will probably be viewed in the context of a strategy that involves continued secondary screening and lifestyle modification to reduce modifiable risk factors, along with widespread vaccination.
Persistence of Virulent Treponema Pallidum Despite Penicillin Therapy in Congenital Syphilis

The first suggestion that penicillin might not always eradicate infection in patients with syphilis emerged from the studies of Collart, Borel, and Durel," who found spirochetes in sections of lymph nodes from both rabbits and huinans with old, treated syphilis. In reviewing these studies, Willcox, in 1964, suggested that the eye might offer an excellent environment for the persistence of treponemes. Shortly thereafter, Smith and Israel reported finding spirochetes in aqueous humor of patients with chronic ocu­ lar disease and a history of treated syphilis. The findings of both groups of investigators have since been repeatedly confirmed.' However, proof that the organisms observed were Treponema pallidum, and virulent, has been difficult to obtain. In a few instances this has been accomplished by transfer of in­ fection to experimental animals," but most such attempts have failed.'
The leucine rich amelogenin protein (LRAP) adsorbs as monomers or dimers onto surfaces.

Amelogenin is believed to be involved in controlling the formation of the highly anisotropic and ordered hydroxyapatite crystallites that form enamel. The adsorption behavior of amelogenin proteins onto substrates is very important because protein–surface interactions are critical to its function. We have previously used LRAP, a splice variant of amelogenin, as a model protein for the full-length amelogenin in solid-state NMR and neutron reflectivity studies at interfaces. In this work, we examined the adsorption behavior of LRAP in greater detail using model self-assembled monolayers containing COOH, CH3, and NH2 end groups as substrates. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments indicated that LRAP in phosphate buffered saline and solutions containing low concentrations of calcium and phosphate consisted of aggregates of nanospheres. Null ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to study protein adsorption amounts and quaternary structures on the surfaces. Relatively high amounts of adsorption occurred onto the CH3 and NH2 surfaces from both buffer solutions. Adsorption was also promoted onto COOH surfaces only when calcium was present in the solutions suggesting an interaction that involves calcium bridging with the negatively charged C-terminus. The ellipsometry and AFM studies revealed that LRAP adsorbed onto the surfaces as small subnanosphere-sized structures such as monomers or dimers. We propose that the monomers/dimers were present in solution even though they were not detected by DLS or that they adsorbed onto the surfaces by disassembling or “shedding” from the nanospheres that are present in solution. This work reveals the importance of small subnanosphere-sized structures of LRAP at interfaces.
Variations in the solar wind speed along the earth's orbit

Comparison of solar wind speed data obtained from the Pioneer 6 and 7 and Vela 3, 4, and 5 satellites from January 1969 through July 1970 has been undertaken. The distribution of measured speeds is similar for all satellites, despite wide separations along the Earth's orbit. For satellite separations (along the Earth's orbit) of 0.5 AU or less, the speeds measured by different satellites are closely correlated, i.e., it is usually possible to predict (to within ± 100 km sec−1) the arrival of a particular solar wind speed at one satellite on the basis of earlier measurements at another. For separations larger than ≈ 1.0 AU it is usually not possible to make accurate predictions in this manner. This appears to be evidence that: (1) the boundary conditions on the coronal expansion at the base of the corona are a sensitive function of latitude and/or (2) the boundary conditions at any one point on the Sun evolve sufficiently in ≈ 4 days to alter significantly the speed of the wind at 1 AU.
On the zigzag form of charged domain walls

Unusual domain walls have been found in ferrofluid patterns on thin film materials with low magnetization that is in or near the plane of the film. These walls carry a net magnetic charge and are characteristically kinked in a regular manner to form a zigzag. A simple account is given of the energetics of such walls whose form follows from a compromise between magnetostatic terms and the energy of anisotropy. It is argued that an array of closure domains at straight edges in these materials should have a boundary of similar character, and these too have been observed.
Semantic and Visual Factors Affecting the Representation of Map Information

In past research evidence has been found for both mental imagery and propositional hierarchies in subjects' map representations. How the visual and semantic factors associated with maps influence the use of one form of representation or another was the subject of the study reported here. Subjects were required to make relational judgments about city pairs. The results of experiment 1 indicated that superordinate relationships (the relationship of the counties of which the cities were members) affected only the most difficult perceptual judgments, but affected all judgments made from memory. Experiment 2 was done to determine the extent to which these findings were attributable to perceptual distortions rather than propositionally stored rules. Results of experiment 3 showed the degree of perceptual distinction necessary for propositional rules to have no significant influence on relational judgments.
Nanomolar concentrations of ouabain block ethanol-inducible Na+, K+-ATPase activity in brain

Abstract The effect of low concentrations of ethanol on Na + , K + -ATPase activity, defined as ouabain-inhibitable 86 Rb + (K + ) uptake, was investigated in a crude synaptosome preparation which was subject to minimal subcellular fractionation procedures. Moderate (20–30%) but potent (EC 50 = 3.8 mM) stimulation of total ouabain (1 mM)-inhibitable K + uptake by ethanol was observed following incubation periods of up to 20 min. The activity of the ethanol-induced component of K + uptake was antagonized by nanomolar concentrations of ouabain. Thus, the moderate stimulation of total ouabain-inhibitable K + uptake by ethanol was attributable to the activation of a component of K + uptake which was very sensitive (VS; IC 50 = 2.8×10 −10 M) to inhibition by ouabain. Slightly higher concentrations of ouabain (10 −9 –10 −6.6 M) stimulated K + uptake above control (no ethanol or ouabain) in both the absence and presence of ethanol. The selectivity of the VS-ethanol interaction was demonstrated by the lack of any ethanol effect on two other components of two other components of ouabain-inhibitable K + uptake which accounted for inhibition of K + uptake by concentrations of ouabain above 10 −6.6 M and were defined as sensitive (S; IC 50 = 10 −6 M) and insensitive (I; IC 50 = 10 −4 M) to ouabain. These results define the ethanol-inducible component of ouabain-inhibitable Na + ,K + -ATPase activity and promote the view that changes in Na + ,K + -ATPase-dependent ion translocation may contribute to ethanol intoxication in vivo.
Thermodynamics of biexcitons in a GaAs quantum well

Photoluminescence from GaAs quantum wells displays sharp spectral features associated with the free exciton. At high excitation density and low temperature, an additional component appears just below the lowest (heavy-hole) excitonic emission. Previous studies have attributed this feature to the biexciton, consisting of two electrons and two holes, because it appears below the exciton line and grows superlinearly with respect to the exciton intensity. In this paper, we considerably strengthen this identification by analyzing time- and space-resolved photoluminescence data that imply a dynamic chemical equilibrium between the excitons and biexcitons, i.e., a law of mass action. This thermodynamic (complementary to spectroscopic) evidence for biexcitons is based on the interdependent temporal decay and spatial transport behavior of the two components on a picosecond time scale. As the excitons recombine, the law of mass action describes the equilibrium over more than two orders of magnitude in exciton density as determined from the measured photoluminescence intensity and volume of the exciton gas.
Teaching with technologies: A reflexive auto-ethnographic portrait

Abstract This reflective article chronicles the process of my development as a writer, a learner, a teacher, and a researcher who happens to engage the practices of writing, learning, teaching, and researching with emerging technologies. Using a colonial metaphor that captures my initial exposure to school-based literacies, I demonstrate how a colonial pattern permeates current dynamics of technology used both in and out of schools. I use this frame to raise issues and ask questions about teaching with technologies in socially just and responsible ways.
Sucrose-based epoxy monomers and their reactions with diethylenetriamine

Two sets of sucrose-based epoxy monomers, namely, epoxy allyl sucroses (EAS), and epoxy crotyl sucroses (ECS), were prepared by epoxidation of octa-O-allyl and octa-O-crotyl sucroses (OAS and OCS, respectively). Synthetic and structural characterization studies showed that the new epoxy monomers were mixtures of structural isomers and diastereoisomers that contained varying numbers of epoxy groups per sucrose. EAS and ECS can be tailored to contain an average of one to eight epoxy groups per sucrose. Quantitative 13C-NMR spectrometry and titrimetry were used independently to confirm the average number of epoxy groups per sucrose. Sucrose-based epoxy monomers were cured with diethylenetriamine (DETA) in a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and their curing characteristics were compared with those of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and diepoxycrotyl ether of bisphenol A (DECEBA). EAS and DGEBA cured at 100 to 125°C and exhibited a heat of cure of about 108.8 kJ per mol epoxy. ECS and DECEBA cured at 150 and 171°C, respectively, and exhibited a heat of cure of about 83.7 kJ per mol epoxy. Depending upon the degree of epoxidation (average number of epoxy groups per sucrose) and the concentration of DETA, glass transition temperatures (Tgs) of cured EAS varied from −17 to 72°C. DETA-cured ECS containing an average of 7.3 epoxy groups per sucrose (ECS-7.3) showed no DSC glass transition between −140 and 220°C when the ratio of amine (NH) to epoxy group was 1:1 and 1.5:1. Maximum Tgs obtained for DETA-cured DGEBA and DECEBA polymers were 134 and 106°C, respectively. DETA-cured bisphenol A-based epoxy polymers degraded at about 340°C, as observed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). DETA-cured sucrose-based epoxy polymers degraded at about 320°C. Sucrose-based epoxies cured with DETA were found to bind aluminum, glass, and steel. Comparative lap shear tests (ASTM D1002–94) showed that DETA-cured epoxy allyl sucroses with an average of 3.2 epoxy groups per sucrose (EAS-3.2) generated a flexible adhesive comparable in bond strength to DGEBA. However, DETA-cured ECS-7.3 outperformed the bonding characteristics of both DGEBA and EAS-3.2. All sucrose-based epoxy polymers were crosslinked and insoluble in water, N,N-dimethylformamide, tetrahydrofuran, acetone, and dichloromethane. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. A Polym. Chem. 36: 2397–2413, 1998
Plasma corticosteroids and chlorides in striped bass exposed to tricaine methanesulfonate, quinaldine, etomidate, and salt

Abstract Plasma chloride and corticosteroid concentrations were measured in yearling striped bass (Morone saxatilis) exposed to 25 mg/L tricaine methanesulfonate, 2.5 mg/L quinaldine, or 0.1 mg/L etomidate (an experimental drug), alone and in combination with 10 g/L salt (NaCl). Plasma chloride levels were unaffected in all treatments during a 15-min exposure and during a 10-min period of close confinement in a dipnet. Plasma corticosteroids increased in fish exposed to salt alone and in fish exposed to tricaine methanesulfonate or quinaldine, either alone or in combination with salt. Etomidate alone or combined with salt limited the increase in plasma corticosteroids during exposure and confinement. Etomidate appears to be a useful drug for suppressing physiological changes during the handling and transportation of striped bass.
Making Congestion Pricing Equitable

Transportation policy makers increasingly consider congestion pricing a promising option for addressing urban traffic congestion problems. Although some congestion pricing projects have been undertaken in the United States, many proposals have been rejected because of concerns that congestion pricing is inequitable. This paper identifies and assesses ways of making congestion pricing equitable. The authors review notions of equity applicable to congestion pricing and explore the equity issues that arise in the context of cordon and area pricing systems and high-occupancy toll lanes.
Postmenopausal hormone therapy, SERMs, and coronary heart disease in women

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common serious illness and the leading cause of death among American women. A 50-year-old woman has about a 50% chance of developing CHD, and about a 30% chance of CHD mortality (1). Although men and women are equally likely to develop CHD during their lifetime, and more women than men die from CHD each year in the US, coronary disease is rare in women before menopause, typically presenting at a later age in women than in men (2). The low risk of CHD in premenopausal women and the increase in risk presumed to be associated with estrogen deficiency in the postmenopausal years, led to the hypothesis that estrogen might be protective against CHD. There are several biologically plausible mechanisms whereby estrogen might reduce the risk of CHD, including lowering LDLcholesterol and increasing HDL-cholesterol (3). The findings of multiple observational studies support the hypothesis that hormone users have a lower risk for CHD than nonusers (4). Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have an estrogen-like effect in some tissues and an anti-estrogenic effect in others. Like estrogen, SERMs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene lower LDL-cholesterol substantially (5, 6), suggesting that treatment with SERMs might also reduce CHD risk.
Teaching a computer to read

Current OCR devices generate too many errors due to missegmentation and multifont confusion. Some of these errors can be avoided or corrected though greater use of linguistic context and local shape consistency in printed matter. To teach machines to read, OCR designers should allow their devices to modify their internal parameters according to information gained through a family of internal feedback loops. >
Lessons Learned in Developing and Applying Land Use Model Systems: Parcel-Based Example

A variety of land use models is driven by theoretical advances, data availability, enhanced computation, and new policy-making needs. This paper describes the process of developing and applying a disaggregate model system that seeks to simulate the subdivision and land use change of parcels and the spatial allocation of households and employment across zones. Relying on multinomial logit specifications, random number generation, and a seemingly unrelated regression model with both spatial lag and spatial error components, the model development process was accompanied by a variety of challenges. Some issues are specific to the model presented here, but many are common for integrated transport-land use models. It is hoped that solutions to these issues and lessons learned offer useful insights for ongoing improvements in land use modeling endeavors of all types. Comparisons of road pricing and trend scenario results for the Austin, Texas, region highlight how policies may shape land and travel futures. Alth...
Oxidative Stress and Covalent Modification of Protein with Bioactive Aldehydes

The term "oxidative stress" links the production of reactive oxygen species to a variety of metabolic outcomes, including insulin resistance, immune dysfunction, and inflammation. Antioxidant defense systems down-regulated due to disease and/or aging result in oxidatively modified DNA, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Increased production of hydroxyl radical leads to the formation of lipid hydroperoxides that produce a family of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. Such reactive aldehydes are subject to Michael addition reactions with the side chains of lysine, histidine, and cysteine residues, referred to as "protein carbonylation." Although not widely appreciated, reactive lipids can accumulate to high levels in cells, resulting in extensive protein modification leading to either loss or gain of function. The use of mass spectrometric methods to identify the site and extent of protein carbonylation on a proteome-wide scale has expanded our view of how oxidative stress can regulate cellular processes.
A PORTFOLIO MODEL OF INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL FLOWS

THIS DISSERTATION seeks to provide a theoretical framework for analyzing international capital flows. A general statement of the problem is followed by a critical discussion of the traditional interest rate differential theory and its general failure adequately to explain observed capital flows. After a survey of portfolio theory centering on the work of Markowitz, Tobin, Sharpe, Lintner and others, several recent capital flow models utilizing portfolio theory are examined. This survey concentrates on the contributions of Branson, Grubel, Lee, Miller and Whitman. A theoretical model is derived which is consistent with contemporary portfolio theory. The model assumes that investors are risk averse, that they have homogeneous expectations, that a riskless rate of interest exists, and that investors decide between alternative investments on the basis of two criteria: risk and the rate of return. The model itself uses the means, variances and the covariances of the various expected rates of return, although the approach is consistent with alternative measures of central tendency and dispersion. Finally, by utilizing the Tobin Separation Theorem, it is argued that a single optimal portfolio consisting of both foreign and domestic assets exists. It is shown that this optimal portfolio, expressed as a ratio of foreign assets to total assets, together with the total wealth of the economy, determines the desired stock of foreign assets at any point in time. Capital flows emerge in this context as the determinants of the optimal portfolio and wealth itself change over time. The model explains gross capital outflows as being due to either a change in the optimal ratio of foreign assets to total assets arising from a change in the rates of return and/or the variance-covariance matrix (termed the stock adjustment component of the gross outflow) or a change in wealth (termed the flow component). Finally, the theoretical properties of the model in the context of a two-country, two-asset world are examined. Several testable hypotheses were derived from the model and examined with recent data from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Both exact and linear approximations of equations from the model were estimated bilaterally. Gross long-term portfolio capital outflows from the U.S. were estimated using domestic and foreign rates of return, their variances, their covariances, and wealth as the explanatory variables. In general, those multiple regression equations which made use of Koyck distributed lags yielded the best fit. The empirical test tended to confirm the usefulness of the portfolio approach in that the risk variables, in general, proved to be significant.
Institutional diffusion in international environmental affairs

This article explores institutional diffusion in international environmental governance, specifying the conditions under which an existing set of institutions provides a template for new institutions. Prior institutional experiences can help to resolve bargaining problems, reduce transaction costs and provide information about likely performance. The authors discuss five examples of institutional diffusion in international environmental affairs and outline some causal mechanisms and conditions that facilitate or block the diffusion of institutional characteristics. As a baseline analysis, founded on assumptions that abstract from politics, a functional argument is developed about the conditions under which mimetic diffusion, reflecting a pattern of imitation, can occur. Although the focus in this short article is on this functional argument, the authors recognize that state interests and power, ideology, and private interests also play significant roles in facilitating or inhibiting institutional diffusion in international environmental affairs.
Middleware Support to the Specification and Execution of Active Rules for Biological Database Constraint Management

Constraints are important to ensure consistency and validity of biological data to computerize biological findings. Incorrect data could lead to serious scientific problems when conducting further biology research and experiments. We propose an XML-based active rule system named BioRule to enforce constraints on top of existing data sources. The BioRule system serves as a middleware to filter inconsistent data before populating or updating data sources. Biological semantics are specified in active rules, while the validation can be enforced by the BioRule system automatically according to the defined rules. To facilitate and simplify the specification of active rules, we developed a web-based user-friendly tool to guide end-users. Rule examples, over an existing biology application, are also provided in this paper to illustrate the specification of active rules though web-based interfaces for constraint validation.
Effect of Mobile Phase ph on the Separation of Drugs using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

AbstractWhen developing a HPLC assay method for drugs, the pH of the mobile phase can be effectively used as a tool to accomplish complete separation. Using two weak acids (hydrocortisone sodium succinate and methylprednisolone sodium succinate) and a weak base (promethazine hydrochloride), the changes in the chromatograms (retention times and separation of peaks) have been determined at 7 different pH values of a mobile phase with other conditions remaining the same. It has been shown that the retention times of weak acids will decrease with increasing pH values while those of weak bases will increase with increasing pH. The optimum pH value for the separation of these drugs has been determined to be 5.
Sinc Interpolation of Nonuniform Samples

It is well known that a bandlimited signal can be uniquely recovered from nonuniformly spaced samples under certain conditions on the nonuniform grid and provided that the average sampling rate meets or exceeds the Nyquist rate. However, reconstruction of the continuous-time signal from nonuniform samples is typically more difficult to implement than from uniform samples. Motivated by the fact that sinc interpolation results in perfect reconstruction for uniform sampling, we develop a class of approximate reconstruction methods from nonuniform samples based on the use of time-invariant lowpass filtering, i.e., sinc interpolation. The methods discussed consist of four cases incorporated in a single framework. The case of sub-Nyquist sampling is also discussed and nonuniform sampling is shown as a possible approach to mitigating the impact of aliasing.
Preliminary observations of volcanoes with the SIR-C radar

The two flights of the Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) in April and October 1994 provided a wealth of new image data over many of the world's volcanoes, including 13 of the 15 International Decade Volcanoes. A first look at these data shows that mapping of remote volcanoes (e.g., Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira in Africa) will now be easier, especially when aided by the collection of multi-parameter radar data over better known analogous volcanoes such as Kilauea, HI. The utility of the radar to identify different types of lava flows is shown for Fernandina volcano, Galapagos Islands. Growth of mudflow deposits ("lahars") that were emplaced on Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, during the six months between the two missions is also illustrated. Additionally, interferometric radar data were collected over several active volcanoes; the potential uses of these data for topographic mapping and ground deformation studies are discussed. >
A simple error classification system for understanding sources of error in automatic speech recognition and human transcription

Abstract Objectives: To (1) discover the types of errors most commonly found in clinical notes that are generated either using automatic speech recognition (ASR) or via human transcription and (2) to develop efficient rules for classifying these errors based on the categories found in (1). The purpose of classifying errors into categories is to understand the underlying processes that generate these errors, so that measures can be taken to improve these processes. Methods: We integrated the Dragon NaturallySpeaking™ v4.0 speech recognition engine into the Regenstrief Medical Record System. We captured the text output of the speech engine prior to error correction by the speaker. We also acquired a set of human transcribed but uncorrected notes for comparison. We then attempted to error correct these notes based on looking at the context alone. Initially, three domain experts independently examined 104 ASR notes (containing 29,144 words) generated by a single speaker and 44 human transcribed notes (containing 14,199 words) generated by multiple speakers for errors. Collaborative group sessions were subsequently held where error categorizes were determined and rules developed and incrementally refined for systematically examining the notes and classifying errors. Results: We found that the errors could be classified into nine categories: (1) annunciation errors occurring due to speaker mispronunciation, (2) dictionary errors resulting from missing terms, (3) suffix errors caused by misrecognition of appropriate tenses of a word, (4) added words, (5) deleted words, (6) homonym errors resulting from substitution of a phonetically identical word, (7) spelling errors, (8) nonsense errors, words/phrases whose meaning could not be appreciated by examining just the context, and (9) critical errors, words/phrases where a reader of a note could potentially misunderstand the concept that was related by the speaker. Conclusions: A simple method is presented for examining errors in transcribed documents and classifying these errors into meaningful and useful categories. Such a classification can potentially help pinpoint sources of such errors so that measures (such as better training of the speaker and improved dictionary and language modeling) can be taken to optimize the error rates.
Structural analysis of poly(dimethylsiloxane) modified silica xerogels

Abstract A new type of inorganic-organic hybrid material incorporating poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) in tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) based glassy gels has been produced by a sol–gel process. SAXS and SEM studies indicate that these PDMS modified silica xerogels possess multiple size-scale morphologies, ranging from Angstroms to micrometers. The multiple-level hybrid materials show improved structural integrity relative to pure sol–gel glasses (xerogels). The effect of reaction time, water content, as well as content and molecular weight of PDMS on the structure of such materials were studied. These processing variables affect the relative rates of hydrolysis and condensation reactions, and consequently change the microstructure of the final product.
Firm Metrics with Continuous R&D, Quality Improvement, and Cournot Quantities

The paper considers a dynamic two-firm model of intra-industry trade in which the firms compete for the same market on the basis of product reliability. By assumption, the home firm always has the reliability cost advantage but it may or may not have the manufacturing cost advantage. The results suggest that reliability improvement always helps customers in that they pay a lower full quality price. Comparing the home firm with the foreign firm, metrics such as price, sales, profit margins, and variable profits depend on the relative costs, with the low cost firm performing better. Finally, although this is not the common outcome, the paper suggests that it is possible for the reliability cost advantages gained by R&D expenditures to overcome manufacturing cost disadvantages.
Learning to Reach Optimal Equilibrium by Influence of Other Agents Opinion

In this work authors extend the model of the reinforcement learning paradigm for multi-agent systems called "influence value reinforcement learning " (IVRL). In previous work an algorithm for repetitive games was proposed, and it outperformed traditional paradigms. Here, authors define an algorithm based on this paradigm for using when agents has to learn from delayed rewards, thus, an influence value reinforcement learning algorithm for two agents stochastic games. The IVRLparadigm is based on social interaction of people, specially in the fact that people communicate each other what they think about their actions and this opinion has some influence in the behavior of each other. A modified version of Q-learning algorithm using this paradigm was constructed. The so called TV Q-learning algorithm was implemented and compared with versions of Q-learning for independent learning and joint action learning. Our approach shows to have more probability to converge to an optimal equilibrium than IQ-learning and JAQ-learning algorithms, specially when exploration increases.
Role of Endothelial Dysfunction in Coronary Artery Disease and Implications for Therapy

Atherosclerosis is a complex process that is characterized by the accumulation of modified low-density lipoprotein (LDL), local inflammatory and immune responses, and reduced nitric oxide bioavailability within the arterial wall. These cellular changes lead to endothelial vasomotor dysfunction, plaque instability, and the development of clinical events such as stable angina and the acute coronary syndromes. The vascular endothelium plays a critical role in modulating both the inflammatory response and vasomotor abnormalities that occur in those with coronary artery disease or risk factors for disease. In these conditions, endothelial cells are activated by cytokines to express cellular adhesion molecules that facilitate the adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium, and their migration into the subintimal space. Cytokines stimulate inflammatory and smooth muscle cells in the intima to produce degradative enzymes, including metalloproteinases that can weaken the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic lesions and make them vulnerable to rupture. Endothelial cells also regulate vascular tone by the synthesis of nitric oxide. Atherosclerosis and other conventional risk factors for coronary artery disease are associated with endothelial vasodilator dysfunction in the coronary epicardial and resistance vessels, which likely contributes to myocardial ischemia. Several studies have demonstrated that lowering serum total and LDL cholesterol reverses endothelial vasomotor dysfunction, reduces myocardial ischemia, and lowers the risk of the acute coronary syndromes or need for revascularization. Improving endothelial function, for example, by lowering blood cholesterol should now be regarded as a goal of therapy in the treatment of coronary artery disease.