cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exurban Areas Around Large Urban Areas in the U.S., 1950-2010

Exurban areas are defined as contiguous census tracts having a density above a minimum surrounding 59 large urban areas. The sizes of exurban areas in terms of both land area and number of housing units varied widely in 2010. Absolute size is related to the size of the urban area. When the ratios to the urban area sizes are taken as the measures of exurban development, this changes to a modest negative relationship, with smaller urban areas having relatively larger exurban areas. Exurban areas are larger in the Northeast and South and smaller in the West. Areas where urban and exurban expansion is limited, as by an arid climate, have smaller exurban areas. Areas vary considerably in the amount of development at urban densities. Simple regression models do well in predicting exurban land area and housing units. Changes in exurban size from 2000 to 2010 ranged from significant declines to large increases and were not related to urban size and change and only weakly related to region. Changes were lower for areas located on large bodies of water.
Atlas Nods: The Libertarian Case for a Basic Income

Proposals for a universal basic income are generating interest across the globe, with pilot experiments underway or in the works in California, Canada, Finland, Italy, Kenya, and Uganda. Surprisingly, many of the most outspoken supporters of a universal basic income have been self-described libertarians — even though libertarians are generally considered to be antagonistic toward redistribution and a universal basic income is, at its core, a program of income redistribution. What explains such strong libertarian support for a policy that seems so contrary to libertarian ideals? This Article seeks to answer that question. We first show that a basic safety net is not only consistent with, but likely required by, several strands of libertarian thought. We then explain why libertarians committed to limited redistribution and limited government might support a system of unconditional cash transfers paid periodically. Delivering benefits in cash, rather than in-kind, furthers autonomy by recognizing that all citizens — even poor ones — are the best judges of their needs. Decoupling such transfers from a work requirement acknowledges that the state lacks the ability to distinguish between work-capable and work-incapable individuals. Providing payments periodically, rather than through a once-in-a-lifetime lump sum grant, ensures that all individuals can receive a minimum level of support over lifespans of variable lengths, while also allowing individuals to adjust payment flows through financial market transactions. Although our main objective is to assess the fit between libertarian theory and a universal basic income, we also address various design choices inherent in any basic income scheme: who should receive it?; how large should it be?; which programs might it replace?; and should it phase out as market income rises? Lastly, we consider the relationship between a basic income and the political economy of redistribution. We find that the case for a basic income as a libertarian “second-best” is surprisingly shaky: libertarians who oppose all redistribution but grudgingly accept a basic income as the least-worst form of redistribution should reconsider both aspects of their position. We conclude by drawing out lessons from our analysis for non-libertarians, regardless of whether they are supportive or skeptical of basic income arguments.
Next generation space interconnect research and development in space communications

Interconnect or “bus” is one of the critical technologies in design of spacecraft avionics systems that dictates its architecture and complexity. MIL-STD-1553B has long been used as the avionics backbone technology. As avionics systems become more and more capable and complex, however, limitations of MIL-STD-1553B such as insufficient 1 Mbps bandwidth and separability have forced current avionics architects and designers to use combination of different interconnect technologies in order to meet various requirements: CompactPCI is used for backplane interconnect; LVDS or RS422 is used for low and high-speed direct point-to-point interconnect; and some proprietary interconnect standards are designed for custom interfaces. This results in a very complicated system that consumes significant spacecraft mass and power and requires extensive resources in design, integration and testing of spacecraft systems.
HIV-Infected Women Gain More Weight than HIV-Infected Men Following the Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy

Abstract Background: Obesity is prevalent among HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Cross-sectional studies have suggested that HIV-infected women are more likely to be overweight than men, but observational studies evaluating sex differences in body mass index (BMI) increases following ART initiation are conflicting. Materials and Methods: We pooled data from three randomized clinical trials of ART initiation in persons with HIV in the United States. BMIs were compared between 760 women and 3041 men to test whether BMI changes in the first 96 weeks following initiation of ART differed by sex at birth. Linear regression estimated the relationship between sex and change in BMI from pre-ART initiation to week 96. Results: After 96 weeks, women gained an average of 1.91 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.64–2.19), men gained an average of 1.39 kg/m2 (95% CI 1.30–1.48); p for sex difference <0.001; the sex difference persisted within each pre-ART initiation BMI subgroup. After adjusti...
Maxwell's other demon

Careful experiments have revealed that the laws of nature (or at least elementary particles called kaons) can distinguish between past and future. Numerical calculations based on the Standard Model of particle physics now predict different results for such experiments. Is this a hint of physics beyond the Standard Model?
Asymptotic Properties of Stochastic Delay Systems

A gentle and elementary introduction to the theory of stochastic lime delay systems is presented in this contribution. First an introduction to the stability problem in the discrete case is given. This class of systems is simpler from a dynamical point of view, as they remain finite dimensional, and provide thus a ‘wann-up’ for what is to come. Since continuous time stochastic systems are analyzed in the language of Ito-calculus, an elementary introduction to the latter is included to make these notes self-contained. Delay-independent and delay dependent conditions for stochastic stability arc derived. Some of these are new. In the absence of equilibria, invariant distributions may still exist. Existence conditions, and the stationary Fokker-Planck equation are discussed. These results are further extended to the class of stochastic neutral systems. Finally. a new realistic design procedure is suggested for dynamic controllers in the absence of precise delay information.
Bayesian credible intervals for monitoring liquid blending rates

We consider the problem of constructing confidence interval s (CIs) for the blending coefficient of different liquid, suc h as the blended underground storage tank (UST) leak data for compliance. For this problem, confidence intervals based on F ieller's Method have been proposed. This method utilizes a blending coefficient estimator which is a ratio of two correlated norma l random variables. However, this method assumes normally distributed random errors in the UST leak model and therefore may be inappropriate for the UST leak data which typically have heavy-tailed empirical distributions. In this paper we develo p a Bayesian approach assuming non-normal random errors with the Power Exponential Distribution (PED). A real-data example using Cary blended site data is given to illustrate both the Fieller's C Is and the Bayesian credible intervals. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to compare the coverage probability and average width of CIs for both methods. For data with heavy-tailed distributions, the simulations show that both Fieller's an d Bayesian intervals perform adequately in terms of coverage. However, Bayesian intervals perform better in terms of yielding CIs with shorter expected width.
Qimhi, David (1160–?1235)

David Qimhi (1160–?1235) was an outstanding Jewish biblical commentator, grammarian, and lexicographer, and the son of an illustrious family of grammarians (he was the son of Joseph Qimhi, author of two grammatical treatises, Sēfer ha zikkārōn ‘Book of remembrance’ and Sefer gālūy ‘Open book’, and brother to Moses Qimhi, author of the short grammar Mahalakh sӗvīlē ha-da’at ‘The course of paths to the knowledge’). After the invasion of Andalusia by the Almohades in 1148, his father moved first to northern Castile and then to Provence. Qimhi was born and lived in Narbonne, where he worked as Hebrew teacher. In matters of the Hebrew language, he was a disciple of his older brother Moses, and in his works he continued the traditions of his family. By the time Qimhi started writing, major advances in research by scores of Spanish Jewish grammarians (10th–12th centuries) had been achieved. The main goal of this school was to improve understanding of the Hebrew bible. For this purpose, they adopted comparative Semitics as a method and produced a significant number of monographs devoted to particular topics. Since most of the works of this school were written in Judeo-Arabic, they were known predominantly to Jewish scholars of Muslim countries and unknown in Western Europe.
Pain Medicine During an Opioid Epidemic Needs More Transparency, Not Less

Nada Gligorov (2018), in this issue’s target article, covers a lot of ground concerning the science and ethics of pain management. I find substantial chunks of her argument compelling, including he...
Skill of Seasonal Arctic Sea Ice Extent Predictions Using the North American Multimodel Ensemble

AbstractPrevious studies have outlined benefits of using multiple model platforms to make seasonal climate predictions. Here, reforecasts from five models included in the North American Multimodel ...
Self-Optimizing and Self-Programming Computing Systems: A Combined Compiler, Complex Networks, and Machine Learning Approach

There exists an urgent need for determining the right amount and type of specialization while making a heterogeneous system as programmable and flexible as possible. Therefore, in this paper, we pioneer a self-optimizing and self-programming computing system (SOSPCS) design framework that achieves both programmability and flexibility and exploits computing heterogeneity [e.g., CPUs, GPUs, and hardware accelerators (HWAs)]. First, at compile time, we form a task pool consisting of hybrid tasks with different processing element (PE) affinities according to target applications. Tasks preferred to be executed on GPUs or accelerators are detected from target applications by neural networks. Tasks suitable to run on CPUs are formed by community detection to minimize data movement overhead. Next, a distributed reinforcement learning-based approach is used at runtime to allow agents to map the tasks onto the network-on-chip-based heterogeneous PEs by learning an optimal policy based on $Q$ values in the environment. We have conducted experiments on a heterogeneous platform consisting of CPUs, GPUs, and HWAs with deep learning algorithms such as matrix multiplication, ReLU, and sigmoid functions. We concluded that SOSPCS provides performance improvement up to $4.12\times $ and energy reduction up to $3.24\times $ compared to the state-of-the-art approaches.
User Authentication Using Image Processing Techniques

Conventional password transformation plot for client authentication in order to provide access to the system is to change password into some form of hash esteems. These secret word plans are nearly straightforward as well as quick in light of the fact that those depend on content and famed cryptography. In any case, those can be presented to digital assaults using secret key by cracking device or hash-breaking on the web locales. Assailants can altogether make sense of a unique secret word from hash esteem if it is generally basic and clear. Therefore, numerous hacking mishaps are happening transcendentally in frameworks receiving these hash oriented plans. This project recommends an upgraded secret word preparing plan in view of picture utilizing visual cryptography (VC). Not the same as the customary plan in light of hash and content, the proposed system changes a client identification word of plain text type into 2 pictures encoded by Visual Cryptography. The server just saves client identification word and one of the pictures rather than secret key. At the point when the client sign in and upload the other picture, then server extracts client identification word by using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Thus, it confirms client through contrasting extricated ID and spared one. This proposed system has bring down calculation, counteracts digital assault went for hash splitting, and underpins confirmation not to uncover individual data, for example, ID to assailants.
Adequacy: What Makes a Simulation Good Enough?

We examine several notions of what makes a simulation adequate, i.e., good enough for application. Social simulations, or artificial societies, are complex systems that integrate data from multiple sources, model intricate behaviors and processes, and generate large amounts of data. Adequacy, thus, is a nuanced concept that has to be applied at every stage of the development of the simulation, from initial conceptualization to final use. We go through this process step by step, and suggest some best practices for developing adequate models, drawn from experience with developing large-scale social simulations in multiple domains.
Bifurcation stenting techniques and outcomes in patients with stable coronary artery disease: more evidence suggesting simpler is safer.

Bifurcation coronary artery lesions are a common finding in contemporary interventional cardiology practice, and their treatment can be technically challenging. In the era of balloon angioplasty and bare-metal stents, the associated rates of complications and restenosis were unattractively high.
Can Grade Inflation in Prerequisite Courses Affect Student Performance in Business Finance

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of grade inflation in prerequisite courses on student performance in business finance. Some studies indicate that performance in business finance can be affected by performance in prerequisite courses. The ordered-probit regression model is employed to analyze a sample of 229 students during the period from 2005 to 2009. The results indicate that students who earned higher grades in prerequisite mathematics and economics courses are more likely to perform better in business finance. Grade inflation generally is not a significant determinant in explaining student performance in business finance. However, students who received highly curved grades in financial accounting are more likely to perform better in business finance. The results suggest that the quantitative knowledge that students obtain prior to the business finance course has an impact on their performance in the course. Grade inflation in the prerequisite courses except for financial accounting does not seem to affect student performance in finance. Business students should be serious about the quantitative-oriented prerequisite coursework. Instructors should constantly improve their teaching skills, and administrators should maintain the rigor of curriculum and provide instructors with necessary support to help business students to complete the program successfully.
RECURRENT THROMBOSIS IN A PATIENT WITH BIVENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICES

There are few patients with bilateral Heartware left ventricular assist devices (HVAD) as destination therapy. Management of VAD complications without transplant as an option is challenging and unprecedented. 68 year old female with severe biventricular cardiogenic shock requiring veno-arterial
Inquiry-based stress reduction: A systematic review of the empirical literature.

Objective This paper reviewed the empirical research on inquiry-based stress reduction (IBSR; also called "The Work"), which has similarities to third-wave cognitive behavioral approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Widely used as a self-help intervention, IBSR has only recently been subjected to empirical research. Method We reviewed empirical studies (published and unpublished) that examined IBSR. Results We found 17 empirical studies (15 independent samples) that examined IBSR. Several studies reported positive changes on variables such as stress, anxiety, and well-being. However, only three studies evaluated IBSR using randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Concerns related to treatment feasibility and cost-effectiveness of IBSR are noted. Conclusions There are some promising initial findings on IBSR. However, additional research employing high-quality research designs is necessary to explore the efficacy and effectiveness of IBSR in various contexts.
Dual Credit Compliance Issues with COVID-19

High school leaders are facing new challenges regarding dual credit programs and the COVID-19 emergency Conflicting with traditional instructional procedures, school reopening policies have many high schools implementing various remote learning modalities of instruction High school leaders must adjust their dual credit university partnership procedures to reflect these new conditions, ensuring students and instructors have access to necessary technology resources ©2020, Journal of School Administration Research and Development All rights reserved
ExTraMapper: Exon- and Transcript-level mappings for orthologous gene pairs.

Motivation Access to large-scale genomics and transcriptomics data from various tissues and cell lines allowed the discovery of wide-spread alternative splicing events and alternative promoter usage in mammalians. Between human and mouse, gene-level orthology is currently present for nearly 16k protein-coding genes spanning a diverse repertoire of over 200k total transcript isoforms. Results Here, we describe a novel method, ExTraMapper, which leverages sequence conservation between exons of a pair of organisms and identifies a fine-scale orthology mapping at the exon and then transcript level. ExTraMapper identifies more than 350k exon mappings, as well as 30k transcript mappings between human and mouse using only sequence and gene annotation information. We demonstrate that ExTraMapper identifies a larger number of exon and transcript mappings compared to previous methods. Further, it identifies exon fusions, splits, and losses due to splice site mutations, and finds mappings between microexons that are previously missed. By reanalysis of RNA-seq data from 13 matched human and mouse tissues, we show that ExTraMapper improves the correlation of transcript-specific expression levels suggesting a more accurate mapping of human and mouse transcripts. We also applied the method to detect conserved exon and transcript pairs between human and rhesus macaque genomes to highlight the point that ExTraMapper is applicable to any pair of organisms that have orthologous gene pairs. Availability The source code and the results are available at https://github.com/ay-lab/ExTraMapper and http://ay-lab-tools.lji.org/extramapper. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Sensibilities of the Risorgimento. Reason and passions in political thought: by Roberto Romani, Leiden and Boston, 2018, 306 pp., €105 (hard cover), ISBN: 9789004359161

There are not many good monographs on relevant albeit lesser-known topics of the Italian Risorgimento in English. The few that have been published contain a lack of philosophical reflection on the ...
Evaluation of drug-drug interactions in hospitalized patients on medications for OUD

Introduction Medications used to treat OUD have common metabolic pathways and pharmacodynamic properties that can lead to drug-drug interactions (DDIs) that may go unnoticed in the inpatient setting. The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency of DDIs between medications prescribed for OUD and commonly used inpatient medications. Methods This was a retrospective review of orders for buprenorphine, buprenorphine-naloxone, and methadone to identify potential DDIs. Adult inpatients with an order for one of these medications for OUD were included. Medication regimens were evaluated throughout the inpatient stay and on day of discharge for DDIs. DDIs were classified by severity and type of interaction (increased risk of QT prolongation, additive CNS effects/respiratory depression, and opioid withdrawal). The primary endpoint was the number of potential DDIs. Other endpoints included number of each classification/severity of DDI, duration of therapy of interacting medications, and modifications made to OUD medications because of DDIs. Results A total of 102 patients were included, with 215 inpatient interactions and 83 interactions at discharge identified. While inpatient, 85% of patients were on an interacting medication, and 46% of patients were on an interacting medication at discharge. The most common classification of DDI was additive CNS effects/respiratory depression (68.8% inpatient, 50.6% discharge), followed by QT prolongation (24.2% inpatient, 45.8% discharge). The majority of DDIs were classified as requiring close monitoring rather than contraindicated. Discussion There are opportunities to optimize the prescribing practices surrounding OUD medications in both the inpatient setting and at discharge to ensure patient safety.
TRIM28 is a transcriptional activator of the mutant TERT promoter in human bladder cancer

Bladder cancer (BC) has a 70% telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT or hTERT in humans) promoter mutation prevalence, commonly at -124 base pairs, and this is associated with increased hTERT expression and poor patient prognosis. We inserted a green fluorescent protein (GFP) tag in the mutant hTERT promoter allele to create BC cells expressing an hTERT-GFP fusion protein. These cells were used in a fluorescence-activated cell sorting-based pooled CRISPR-Cas9 Kinome knockout genetic screen to identify tripartite motif containing 28 (TRIM28) and TRIM24 as regulators of hTERT expression. TRIM28 activates, while TRIM24 suppresses, hTERT transcription from the mutated promoter allele. TRIM28 is recruited to the mutant promoter where it interacts with TRIM24, which inhibits its activity. Phosphorylation of TRIM28 through the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) releases it from TRIM24 and induces hTERT transcription. TRIM28 expression promotes in vitro and in vivo BC cell growth and stratifies BC patient outcome. mTORC1 inhibition with rapamycin analog Ridaforolimus suppresses TRIM28 phosphorylation, hTERT expression, and cell viability. This study may lead to hTERT-directed cancer therapies with reduced effects on normal progenitor cells.
The Intricacies of the Modern Health Care Behemoth

Known by some as the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, others by the often sardonic alias “Obamacare,” and most recently highlighted through contentious “repeal and replace” rhetoric, health care reform has reemerged as a hot topic of discussion in households across the country. Those affected by this issue include anyone who: (1) is currently sick or has been sick in the past, (2) has a friend or family member that is dealing or has dealt with an illness, or (3) is or knows someone who may one day receive that plastic bracelet bestowing the title of “hospital patient.” Basically, this refers to every American. And yet, so great is the divisiveness on how best to manage health care in the modern age, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) now finds itself in a paralytic state as advocates and critics tangle over the vast complexities at its core. The only commonality is the recognition that there is no simple solution.
Higgs boson to charm quark decay in vector boson fusion plus a photon

Experimentally probing the charm-Yukawa coupling in the LHC experiments is important, but very challenging due to an enormous QCD background. We study a new channel that can be used to search for the Higgs decay $H\ensuremath{\rightarrow}c\overline{c}$, using the vector boson fusion (VBF) mechanism with an associated photon. In addition to suppressing the QCD background, the photon gives an effective trigger handle. We discuss the trigger implications of this final state that can be utilized in ATLAS and CMS. We propose a novel search strategy for $H\ensuremath{\rightarrow}c\overline{c}$ in association with VBF jets and a photon, where we find a projected sensitivity of about 13 times the SM charm-Yukawa coupling at 95% ${\mathrm{CL}}_{s}$ at High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). Our result is comparable and complementary to existing projections at the HL-LHC. We also discuss the implications of increasing the center of mass collision energy to 30 TeV and 100 TeV.
Checklist and Key to the Families, Subfamilies, Genera, and Subgenera of Mayfly Larvae (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) from Northern Iraq

The mayfly fauna (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) in Iraq is very poorly known, with only four taxonomic studies from northern Iraq, two of them conducted more than 30 years ago. There are no published keys or guides for larval identification for that fauna. We conducted the fifth study in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq and created the first hierarchical checklist and larval key to the families, subfamilies, genera, and subgenera. The checklist and key were produced after reviewing the diagnostic morphological features for each of these taxonomic levels using references from Europe, West Asia, North Africa, the Caucasus, the Trans-Caucasus, and the Middle East. Finally, an illustrated identification key for nine families, nine subfamilies, 19 genera, and 13 subgenera is provided with illustrations prepared from specimens collected during this study. Based on the findings of this research, at least 24 species of mayflies inhabit the region.
Some Nonsocial Antecedents of Entrapment

In the next several chapters we will attempt to synthesize the experimental research on entrapment. In practically every experiment to be described, the researchers have sought to delineate the antecedents of entrapment. Accordingly, they have tested the effect(s) of one or more independent variables on decision-makers’ willingness to persist in, or withdraw from, an entrapping dilemma.
Extendability of eigenvalues for continuous families of self-adjoint operators

We consider a continuous family {As}s∈S of self-adjoint operators in a separable Hilbert space parametrized by a complete metric space S. It is well known that simple isolated eigenvalues behave “well” under small changes of the parameter – they change continuously and do not disappear. On the other hand, eigenvalues embedded in the essential spectrum can display very “bad” behavior. Nevertheless, it turns out that for a Baire typical s all eigenvalues of As (if any) are extendable, that is, each of them belongs to a continuous branch of the (multivalued) eigenvalue function. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 47B25
Settlers, Liberty, and Empire: John Bulkley and the Mohegans

In the early 1700s, as Connecticut and the other private colonies were combating the Board of Trade's attempts to revoke their charters, a long-running dispute between the colony and the Mohegans, a once-powerful Native American tribe, came to the attention of royal officials. The dispute centered on a large tract of land (approximately 20,000 acres) in southeastern Connecticut, which, the Mohegans claimed, the colony had reserved for them in the late seventeenth century. Concerned that the colony had violated its agreements, the Mohegans, aided by powerful colonists with a pecuniary interest in this tract of land, appealed to the Privy Council. As a result of this appeal, what had been a narrow dispute over land became part of a larger conflict between the Crown, the colony, and the tribe over property and autonomy in the empire. The origins of the conflict between the Mohegans and Connecticut lie in the complicated aftermath of the Pequot War in the late 1630s. Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans, used the warfare between the English and the Pequots to undermine the powerful Pequot sachem, Sassacus. According to Michael Oberg, “With the Pequots under attack by the Narragansetts and the Dutch, and ensnared in an increasingly tangled web of controversy with the English, Uncas saw alliance with the newcomers as a means to increase his power and that of the Mohegans.”
Exploiting Context to Identify Lexical Atoms -- A Statistical View of Linguistic Context

Interpretation of natural language is inherently context-sensitive. Most words in natural language are ambiguous and their meanings are heavily dependent on the linguistic context in which they are used. The study of lexical semantics can not be separated from the notion of context. This paper takes a contextual approach to lexical semantics and studies the linguistic context of lexical atoms, or "sticky" phrases such as "hot dog". Since such lexical atoms may occur frequently in unrestricted natural language text, recognizing them is crucial for understanding naturally-occurring text. The paper proposes several heuristic approaches to exploiting the linguistic context to identify lexical atoms from arbitrary natural language text.
The Causes of Emigration from Singapore: How Much Is Still Political?

ABSTRACT:Efforts to maintain a robust Singaporean economy have had to confront the serious challenge of substantial brain drain from the city-state. To address the negative effects of this problem, Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has adopted a policy of increasing reliance on a foreign labor force. Meanwhile, the PAP appears to ignore the continued loss of human and intellectual capital. This study examines the main determinants of emigration from Singapore, specifically the political factors. The analysis is based on two primary data surveys that investigated what Singaporeans think about emigration: the 2006 Asian Barometer and the 2000–2002 Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia. Contrary to some previous empirical literature, data from these surveys indicate that anti–PAP and pro-democratic ideas strongly influence the decision of native Singaporeans to leave the island state. These findings likewise suggest that democratization and an expansion of business and technical educati...
ON THE SUPERPOSITION OF ARRIVAL PROCESSES FOR VOICE AND DATA

The single inter-arrival distribution function of the superposition of N independent bursty arrival processes is obtained, assuming that each bursty arrival stream is an interrupted Poisson process. It is shown that this probability distribution function is hyperexponential with 2N phases. Its parameters are given by a closed form expression, and they can be easily computed. Using this probability distribution function, we address the problem of how many busrty arrival processes are required so that the resulting superposition process may be approximated by a Poisson process.
Poly(A) Polymerase from Vaccinia Virus-Infected Cells II. Product and Primer Characterization

The product of the in vitro reaction of a vaccinia virus-induced poly(A) polymerase (see preceding paper) with ATP is shown to be poly(A) by nuclease resistance and by annealing with poly(U). Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicates that the in vitro synthesized poly(A) is associated with large RNA which is sensitive to RNase. RNA which co-purifies with the virus-induced enzyme is similar to vaccinia virus-specific RNA with respect to size and poly(A) content. Double labeling studies indicate that the RNA which co-purifies with the enzyme becomes associated with the poly(A) synthesized in vitro. The poly(A) formed in vitro is located on the 3'-OH terminus of this RNA. During in vitro poly(A) synthesis (32)P from alpha-[(32)P]ATP is transferred to nucleosides other than 2',3'-AMP, primarily to CMP. Inclusion of poly(U) in the in vitro reactions results in an increase in the transfer of (32)P to UMP.
How to test atom and neutron neutrality with atom interferometry.

We propose an atom-interferometry experiment based on the scalar Aharonov-Bohm effect which detects an atom charge at the 10{sup -28}e level, and improves the current laboratory limits by 8 orders of magnitude. This setup independently probes neutron charges down to 10{sup -28}e, 7 orders of magnitude below current bounds.
Differentiation Within the Bacterial Flagellum and Isolation of the Proximal Hook

Purified and crude flagellar isolates from cells of Bacillus pumilus NRS 236 were treated with acid, alcohol, acid-alcohol, or heat, and were examined electron microscopically in negatively stained and shadow-cast preparations. Under certain conditions, each of these agents causes the flagella to break between the proximal hooks and the spiral filaments. In such preparations, filaments are seen in various stages of disintegration, whereas hooks of fairly constant length retain their integrity and morphological identity. When crude isolates of flagella are treated under these conditions, the hooks remain attached to membrane fragments or bear basal material. These findings substantiate previous structural observations that led to the view that the proximal hook is a distinct part of the bacterial flagellum and further confirm that the hook is tightly associated with basal material and the cytoplasmic membrane. It appears that the hook is a polarly oriented structure, and that the interactions between the hook and the basal material or the cytoplasmic membrane are different from those between the hook and the filamentous portion of the organelle. Moreover, both types of interaction apparently differ still from those by which the flagellin subunits are held together in the flagellar filament. Hooks were isolated by exploiting the differences in relative stability shown by the various morphological regions of the bacterial flagellum.
Regulation of FcεRI Expression during Murine Basophil Maturation: The Interplay between IgE, Cell Division, and FcεRI Synthetic Rate

Expression of Fc epsilonRI on basophils and mast cells is modulated by IgE Ab. Previous studies have noted in vivo receptor expression dynamics that are discordant with expectations derived from in vitro studies. The current study presents a formal hypothesis to explain the discordant observations and tests two assumptions that underlie a proposed model of receptor dynamics. After first showing that a murine model of receptor expression on basophils recapitulates observations made using human basophils, the effect of changes in IgE on basophil egress rates was examined. In the proposed model, egress rates from bone marrow (BM) were assumed to be unaffected by changes in IgE concentration. Egress was tested by examining the labeling of BM and peripheral blood (BL) basophils at various times after injection of BrdU with and without injection with IgE. The IgE Ab did not alter the appearance of BrdU label in peripheral BL basophils. In addition, BM and BL basophils were responsive to the elevations in IgE, with receptor expression increasing on BM basophils before BL basophils. It was also noted that BL basophils expressed approximately 50% of the receptor density of BM basophils. There was a 3-fold greater synthetic rate of Fc epsilonRI on BM basophils that readily explained the difference. These results provide support for the proposed hypothesis of rapid changes in receptor expression being controlled by cell replacement. The studies also support a model whereby receptor expression is limited by cell division and that basophils, once mature, slow their rate of receptor synthesis.
Fire Enhances Whitebark Pine Seedling Establishment, Survival, and Growth

Periodic fire is thought to improve whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) regeneration by reducing competition and creating openings, but the mechanisms by which fire affects seedling establishment are poorly understood. I compared seedling vegetation production in adjacent sites, one last burned in 1880 and the other in 1988, to test the hypothesis that recent fire increases whitebark pine seedling growth. I experimentally tested effects of fire on seedling recruitment and growth by planting seeds in prescribed burned and nearby unburned sites. Experimental results showed nearly three times greater seed germination and seedling survival in recently prescribed burn plots. Seedling vegetation production in the 1880 and 1988 burn sites were measured using stem diameter and number of new needle bundles. Stem diameter was approximately 26 % greater after the more recent fire in the 1988 burn site, and new needle bundle production was approximately 40 % greater in this site relative to seedlings in the adjacent site that was last burned in 1880. Seedling growth, measured as both above- and belowground biomass, was approximately 57 % greater in a recently prescribed burn site relative to growth in an adjacent site that was unburned since 1910. Higher growth rates after prescribed fire corresponded with greater soil NO3 − and soil-available P concentrations relative to unburned controls. However, high N concentrations in leaves of seedlings in unburned plots indicated that whitebark pine seedlings were not N-limited. Higher P, increased light availability, and earlier snowmelt after fire may be important factors in general postfire success of whitebark pine.
Cluster-Analysis Classification of Wintertime Wind Patterns in the Grand Canyon Region

Abstract Twelve typical wintertime wind patterns for the Grand Canyon region were derived from a two-stage cluster analysis wind-field classification scheme. The wind measurements were collected by a surface network of 15 stations deployed for a period of approximately three months. The wind patterns are strongly influenced by the complex terrain of the region. The analyses relate the wind patterns to meteorological conditions, providing insight into the physical processes generating the wind fields. Most patterns have a distinct diurnal cycle, caused by thermally induced winds near the ground. They provide evidence that thermally forced flows are important in winter and are not easily overridden by ambient flows. Some patterns differ primarily in the ratio of high- and low-elevation site wind speeds, indicating the importance of decoupling of the low-elevation winds in this basin area from the stronger ambient winds.
Sensitivity analysis for small imaging domains using the frequency-domain transport equation

Optical tomography of small tissue volumes, as they are encountered in rodent or finger imaging, holds great promise as the signal-to-noise levels are usually high and the spatial resolutions are much better than that of large imaging domains. To accurately model the light propagation in these small domains, radiative transport equations have to be solved directly. In the study at hand, we use the frequency-domain equation of radiative transfer (ERT) to perform a sensitivity study. We determine optimal source-modulation frequencies for which variations in optical properties, size, and location of a tissue inhomogeneity lead to maximal changes in the amplitude and phase of the measured signal. These results will be useful in designed experiments and optical tomographic imaging system.
Non-viable human embryos as a source of viable cells for embryonic stem cell derivation

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) hold great promise for use in regenerative medicine. However, the extraordinary potential of hESC as therapeutic tools is tempered by ethical, moral and political issues surrounding their derivation from human embryos. It has previously been proposed that ethical criteria applied to essential organ donation could be employed for derivation of hESC from irreversibly arrested, and thus organismically dead, human embryos produced during routine IVF procedures. Here, it is shown that arrested embryos do not resume normal development during extended culture, yet most of them contain a substantial number of living cells on embryonic day 6 (72% have >1 viable cell, 47% have >5 viable cells), suggesting that this class of non-viable embryos could be a rich source of viable cells for derivation of hESC lines.
Availability of Zinc and Comparison of In Vitro and In Vivo Zinc Uptake of Certain Oil Seed Meals

Abstract ISOLATED soy protein has been widely used as a vegetable protein source for studying zinc metabolism in poultry. A relationship between the chick’s dietary zinc requirements and phytates has been suggested. The zinc content of isolated soy protein is very low, and its effect on the chick’s dietary requirement seems to be in increasing the amount of added zinc necessary to fulfill this requirement. Sesame meals contain phytic acid but differ from isolated soy protein in that they contain relatively large amounts of zinc. The availability of zinc from sesame meals varied (Turk and Lease, 1962). Some meals behaved in a manner similar to isolated soy protein in increasing the chick’s dietary requirement. Sesame meals fell into three classes: (1) those from which zinc is available to the chick, (2) those from which zinc is partly or not available and (3) those from which zinc is not only unavailable but …
Joining of advanced high-strength steel to AA 6061 alloy by using Fe/Al structural transition joint

Abstract Joining steel plates and aluminium plates by means of using Fe/Al structural (Triclad) transition joints has been well-received in the shipbuilding industry, but is rarely applied in other industries. In this work, 12.7 mm thick plates of advanced high-strength steel and AA 6061 alloy were successfully joined by using hybrid laser-arc welding with the help of Triclad transition joints. The parameters were optimized for welding dissimilar steels (A516 to advanced high-strength steel) and welding dissimilar aluminium alloys (AA 5456 to AA 6061). The optimization controlled the total heat input and kept the Al/Fe interface of the Triclad transition joint below the maximum allowable temperature of 315.56 °C in order to minimize the growth of brittle intermetallic phases and retain the mechanical properties of the Triclad transition joint. A finite element model was developed to study the temperature evolution at the Triclad interface and the heat distribution along the welded structure. A “4:1” ratio was used between the width of the Triclad transition joint and the thickness of the webs. This ratio improved the load-bearing property of the Triclad transition joint and compensated for the microcracks and brittle Al-rich intermetallic phases observed at the Triclad interface. Tensile strength of 220 MPa was achieved at the welded structure. The fracture occurred at the heat affected zone of the AA 5456-to-AA 6061 weld.
Methane Synthesis on Nickel by a Solid-State Ionic Method

The feasibility of electrochemically synthesizing methane by a Fischer-Tropsch type reaction by use of a solid oxide electrolyte has been demonstrated. This solid-state ionic approach provides in situ control of the oxygen activity at the gascatalyst interface by imposing a suitable voltage drop across an oxygen-conducting solid electrolyte from an external source. Methanation rates for hydrogen-carbon monoxide and hydrogen-carbon dioxide synthesis gas mixtures upon nickel electrodes showed substantial enhancement with the use of this technique, reaching values nearly two orders of magnitude higher than their intrinsic rates.
Dynamic conditionally linear mixed models for longitudinal data.

We develop a new class of models, dynamic conditionally linear mixed models, for longitudinal data by decomposing the within-subject covariance matrix using a special Cholesky decomposition. Here ‘dynamic’ means using past responses as covariates and ‘conditional linearity’ means that parameters entering the model linearly may be random, but nonlinear parameters are nonrandom. This setup offers several advantages and is surprisingly similar to models obtained from the first-order linearization method applied to nonlinear mixed models. First, it allows for flexible and computationally tractable models that include a wide array of covariance structures; these structures may depend on covariates and hence may differ across subjects. This class of models includes, e.g., all standard linear mixed models, antedependence models, and Vonesh–Carter models. Second, it guarantees the fitted marginal covariance matrix of the data is positive definite. We develop methods for Bayesian inference and motivate the usefulness of these models using a series of longitudinal depression studies for which the features of these new models are well suited.
Abstract A79: Socioeconomic status, health care density, and risk of prostate cancer among African-American men in a large prospective study

Background: Given the large racial differences in prostate cancer risk, further investigation of socioeconomic (SES) indicators at the individual and community level is warranted among high-risk groups. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between neighborhood deprivation, healthcare facilities, and prostate cancer risk among African-American men. Methods: In the large, prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, we analyzed baseline (1995–1996) data from African-American participants, ages 50–71 years. Incident prostate cancer cases (n=1,089) were identified through December 2006. Life-style and health risk information was ascertained by questionnaires administered at baseline. Area-level socioeconomic indicators were ascertained by linkage to the US Census and the Area Resource File. Multilevel survival models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Among African-American men, no associations were observed between area-level factors and development of nonadvanced prostate cancer. Compared to African-American men living in counties with the highest density of radiologists, those in the middle tertile had the highest risks of advanced prostate cancer (HR=2.88, 95% CI=1.61-5.18), however, no significant trend was found (Ptrend=0.08). Certain socioeconomic (SES) indicators were positively associated with prostate cancer risk among African-American men. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):A79.
Segregation effects in thin films

Abstract Atomic segregation and second-phase precipitation at surfaces and interfaces have a strong influence on many properties of bulk materials. Because these regions are different in chemistry and sometimes in lattice structure from the bulk, they can exert a pronounced influence on thin film properties, more so than in bulk materials owing to the large extent of the segregated and/or precipitated zones compared with the film thickness. Some of the similarities and the contrasting features of the segregation phenomena observed between thin films and bulk materials are noted. The thermodynamic aspects and diffusion kinetics which control segregation, the surface reactions and the formation of surface compounds in thin films are discussed. The influence of segregation and interfacial reactions on thin film properties and common experimental methods of studying segregation are briefly reviewed with selected examples.
The effect of substituents on the antiviral activity of 3-aminopropionitrile in plants.

Abstract Certain 3-alkylaminopropionitriles are highly active against TMV (tobacco mosaic virus) multiplication in leaf disks, local lesion production by TMV on Nicotiana glutinosa L. and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. Pinto), and local lesion production by TRV (tobacco ringspot virus) on Pinto beans. Maximum activity in both types of test occurs with straight-chain alkyl derivatives having 12–14 carbon atoms, and antiviral activity is progressively lower with compounds having longer or shorter substituents. Although appreciable activity is found at concentrations of the chemicals that are not visibly phytotoxic, and respiration is not inhibited when virus multiplication is severely curtailed, cytotoxicity has not been definitely excluded as a contributor to the antiviral effect.