cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Over-Swinging on 3-2: Evidence from MLB

The 3 ball and 2 strike (3-­2) count in baseball is unique in that, aside from fouls, the next pitch will end the plate appearance. Given that batters and pitchers face strong pressures to perform well on a full count, this paper focuses on this count to address the general question “do baseball players play to win?”. I analyze data (Statcast) provided by Major League Baseball (MLB) to compare actual with optimal batter swing and pitcher pitch location strategies on all pitches on all counts (3-­2, 3-­1, 3-­0, 2-­2, 2-­1, 2-­0, 1-­2,1-­1, 1-­0, 0-­2, 0-­1, 0-­0) during the 2019 baseball season. The evidence on pitchers is broadly consistent with the “playing to win” thesis. For batters, however, I find that they tend to swing too much on 3-­2 pitches outside the strike zone. By reducing their propensity to swing, batters would increase the win probability of their teams. In particular, I estimate that if all 3-­2 count batters on a team acted as if they were facing a 3-­1 count, then team scoring over the course of a season would increase by just under 33 runs resulting in an extra 3.2 games won. I also point to a behavioral economics explanation for over-­swinging: batters, who must make split-­second decisions whether to swing, are subject to an action bias, which is activated when the norm in baseball is to swing on a 3-­2 count. I suggest that such a norm may stem from the demand side of baseball—fan pressure. Finally, I document over-­swinging on 3-­2 occurred before the 2019 season and that one MLB hitting coach, John Mallee, became aware of over-­ swinging in the early 2010s. His effort to address this issue had a statistically significant, but quantitatively modest effect on over-­swinging for batters on his teams with an even more modest spillover effect on other teams’ batters. Given this limited success I suggest that teams consider a novel solution: pay batters for backward Ks.
State of the field: An informatics-based systematic review of the SOD1-G93A amyotrophic lateral sclerosis transgenic mouse model.

Numerous sub-cellular through system-level disturbances have been identified in over 1300 articles examining the superoxide dismutase-1 guanine 93 to alanine (SOD1-G93A) transgenic mouse amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathophysiology. Manual assessment of such a broad literature base is daunting. We performed a comprehensive informatics-based systematic review or ‘field analysis’ to agnostically compute and map the current state of the field. Text mining of recaptured articles was used to quantify published data topic breadth and frequency. We constructed a nine-category pathophysiological function-based ontology to systematically organize and quantify the field's primary data. Results demonstrated that the distribution of primary research belonging to each category is: systemic measures an motor function, 59%; inflammation, 46%; cellular energetics, 37%; proteomics, 31%; neural excitability, 22%; apoptosis, 20%; oxidative stress, 18%; aberrant cellular chemistry, 14%; axonal transport, 10%. We const...
Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells: When, Where, and How

Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have profound medicinal effects at body sites of tissue injury, disease, or inflammation as either endogenously or exogenously supplied. The medicinal effects are either immunomodulatory or trophic or both. When to deliver these mediators of regeneration, where, and by what delivery apparatus or mechanism will directly determine their medical efficacy. The MSCs help manage the innate regenerative capacity of almost every body tissue and the MSCs have only recently been fully appreciated. Perhaps the most skilled physician-manager of the body's innate regenerative capacity is in orthopedics where the vigorous regeneration and repair capacity of bone through local MSCs-titers is expertly managed by the orthopaedic physician. The challenge is to extend MSCs expertise to address other tissue dysfunctions and diseases. The medicine of tomorrow will encompass optimizing the tissues' intrinsic regenerative potential through management of local MSCs.
Southern Hemisphere extratropical circulation: Recent trends and natural variability

Changes in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerly jet location, and magnitude are linked with changes in ocean circulation along with ocean heat and carbon uptake. Recent trends have been observed in these fields but not much is known about the natural variability. Here we aim to quantify the natural variability of the SH extratropical circulation by using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) preindustrial control model runs and compare with the observed trends in SAM, jet magnitude, and jet location. We show that trends in SAM are due partly to external forcing but are not outside the natural variability as described by these models. Trends in jet location and magnitude, however, lie outside the unforced natural variability but can be explained by a combination of natural variability and the ensemble mean forced trend. These results indicate that trends in these three diagnostics cannot be used interchangeably.
The excitation of 12 micron emission from very small particles

The results of IRAS observations of visual reflection nebulae illuminated by stars with effective temperatures between 3000 and 33,000 K are presented. The ratio of the energy radiated in the IRAS 12-microns band to the total energy radiated at far-infrared wavelengths (60 and 100 microns) is about 0.2, with little or no dependence on the temperature of the illuminating star for stellar temperatures between about 5000 and 33,000 K. This is interpreted as requiring that visual photons as well as ultraviolet photons are capable of exciting 12-microns emission from very small particles.
Role of Mixed-Function Oxidases in Insecticide Resistance

The realization that insects were able to metabolize modern synthetic organic insecticides, and that insect resistance to these insecticides was often associated with an enhanced metabolic detoxi-cation capability, came initially as something of a shock during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was difficult to comprehend how any organism could possibly attain the complex enzymatic machinery necessary to metabolize such a chemical, which until a few short years earlier had never even seen the light of day and the development of which clearly could not have been foreseen by the insect at which it was directed. Could it really be that the chemical itself was in some way dictating the synthesis of new enzymes, a heretical evolutionary thought, or was it possible that the insects were pre-adaptively equipped to metabolize the insecticide? The latter was obviously a more comfortable concept from a genetic, evolutionary standpoint, although it posed some difficult questions regarding the natural substrates and catalytic functions of the insecticide-metabolizing enzymes.
Studying Adolescent Mothers' Decision Making about Adoption and Parenting

Over the past fifteen years, numerous studies have explored adolescent sex uality and pregnancy. Reviewing that literature, one finds a predominance of data dealing with the incidence of contraception, abortion, and live births. In addition, a significant num ber of studies have explored outcome data: maternal, infant, and long-term follow-up. Such research has indi cated the following: 1. The mean age of first inter course is diminishing for both males and females.4
Effectiveness of Fresh to You, a Discount Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market in Low-Income Neighborhoods, on Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption, Rhode Island, 2010–2011

INTRODUCTION Eating fruits and vegetables is associated with lowered risk for many chronic diseases. However, most Americans, especially members of low-income and minority populations, do not eat adequate amounts. Fresh to You is a public-private partnership program that brings discount fresh produce markets into low-income neighborhoods. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of Fresh to You to assess the effect of the program on children's consumption of fruits and vegetables. METHODS A local produce distributor brought the Fresh to You markets to 6 community organizations serving low-income families in Rhode Island. The markets, held weekly for 5 months at each site, sold fresh produce at below-retail prices. Parents (N = 480) of children aged 3 to 13 years were recruited at the markets to participate in a 5-month cohort study. The primary outcome was change in children's fruit and vegetable intake, measured by a validated screener. We also conducted postintervention focus groups at each site with parents and qualitative interviews with site contacts to collect feedback about Fresh to You. RESULTS From baseline to 5 months, there was a significant increase in children's daily fruit and vegetable consumption of 0.48 cups (t = 4.16, P < .001). Data from follow-up parent surveys, focus groups, and site contact interviews provided positive feedback about Fresh to You and recommendations for improvement. CONCLUSION Fresh to You was effective at increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables among racially and ethnically diverse low-income children aged 3 to 13 years whose parents shopped at the markets. The intervention could serve as a model program for replication in other cities. Refinements and a more rigorous evaluation are needed.
Polymerisation of membrane tubulin.

AMPLE evidence now exists that, in addition to soluble, cytoplasmic tubulin, many tissues contain variable proportions of particulate tubulin as judged from colchicine-binding studies1–6. This colchicine-binding activity is not contamination from cytoplasmic microtubules, and is associated with a fraction enriched in plasma membrane markers6. The activity exhibits the ligand-binding properties of purified tubulin and reacts with antibodies against soluble brain tubulin. Finally, when the binding activity is solubilised from membranes it exhibits normal binding behaviour toward antimitotic agents, normal thermal lability, and normal interaction with antibody6. What was not clear was whether this tubulin could participate in polymerisation reactions to form microtubules. We report here that solubilised, labelled tubulin copolymerises with cytoplasmic tubulin through repeated cycles of polymerisation and depolymerisation.
It's the Little Things That Matter: An Examination of Knowledge Workers' Energy Management

Executive Overview Recently, Pfeffer (2010) called for a better understanding of the human dimension of sustainability. Responding to this call, we explore how individuals sustain an important human resource—their own energy—at work. Specifically, we focus on strategies that employees use at work to sustain their energy. Our findings show that the most commonly used strategies (e.g., switching to another task or browsing the Internet) are not associated with higher levels of human energy at work. Rather, strategies related to learning, to the meaning of one's work, and to positive workplace relationships were most strongly related to employees' energy.
Bypassing translation initiation.

A high-resolution cryo-EM reconstruction of a ribosome-bound dicistrovirus IRES (Schuler et al., 2006) and the crystal structure of its ribosome binding domain (Pfingsten et al., 2006) provide new insights into an exceptional eukaryotic translation mechanism.
Facile synthesis of the tricyclic core of sarain A. 3-Oxidopyridinium betaine cycloaddition approach.

A new approach to a suitably functionalized tricyclic core of sarains has been developed by means of Katritzky's cycloaddition using 3-oxidopyridinium betaines. A key step was the regioselective di...
Insecticidal Aerosols Against the Mexican Fruit Fly

Two experimental aerosols, one containing allethrin and the other tetramethrin, were compared with a standard aerosol containing pyrethrins plus DDT that has been used to disinsect aircraft. Caged adult Anastrepha ludens (Loew) were exposed to 6, 8, 10, 12, and 40/g aerosol per 28.3 m3. Knockdown was determined after 10-minute exposure and mortality at 24, 48, and 72 hours. The allethrin aerosol was the most effective of the three because of a combination of fast kill and the small increase in dose required to obtain a large increase in kill.
Imaging frameworks: design for reuse in real-time imaging

Imaging systems are traditionally developed using structured analysis and design techniques at best. Such approaches tend to be rigid with respect to changing needs, technologies, devices and algorithms-for example, when additional compression algorithms are needed or attached devices are changed large parts of software applications employing those techniques and interfacing with those devices must be modified to accommodate the change. In a larger perspective, these systems are difficult or impossible to reuse; each new problem requires a new solution. This is generally undesirable and often not necessary, but only if best practices in software engineering are employed. These best practices have been explored and documented in detail with regard to object-oriented systems, which suggests that it is an appropriate paradigm to employ in the development of future imaging systems. This work examines these best practices, in the form of patterns and design principles, with reference to imaging systems.
Ankle distraction as a treatment for end stage osteoarthritis: follow-up at 10 years

s / Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 22 (2014) S57–S489 S273 spin sequence. A semi-automatic region-of-interest analysis was performed for specific areas (healthy cartilage, area of OA, region of MFX). To allow stratification with regards to the anatomical (collagen) structure, subregional analysis was carried out (deep superficial cartilage layer). Statistical analysis-of-variance was performed. Results: In healthy cartilage values were 56,76 ms (SD 14,44) in the superficial layer and 41,21 ms (SD 18,35) in the deep layer. The knees with OA showed results of 56,51ms (SD 14,52) in the superficial layer and 49,05 ms (SD 18,38) in the deep layer. After MFX, results for T2 averaged at 61,33 ms (SD 21,18) in the superficial layer and 53,35 (SD 21,89) in the deep layer. Comparison between layers within each group and (statistical) comparison between the groups showed that the superficial layer does not vary significantly between the groups, whereas the deep cartilage zone varies in between the groups. Most important, the increase of T2 values between deep and superficial zone showed a clearly significant difference in between the different groups and was able to differentiate in between healthy cartilage, induced OA and cartilage repair tissue after MFX (Table 1). Conclusions: Comparing ultra-high fieldMR T2 values between healthy cartilage, OA and cartilage repair sites at 7 T underlines the known fact that healthy cartilage is defined by a significant increase of T2 values between deep and superficial zone. With the used sheep model using T2 mapping, differences between healthy cartilage, OA and cartilage repair sites are detectable based on their zonal appearance. Hence, its application can help to evaluate cartilage repair procedures or therapeutical approaches in OA at the one hand and prove the value of ultrahigh field cartilage T2 mapping for diagnosis and follow-up imaging in the future on the other hand. This evaluation is supposed to be a step towards a more detailed understanding of high resolution zonal
Skin cancer prevention: education and public health issues

Objectives To examine current public health initiatives related to skin cancer prevention and early detection, and public education issues. Data Sources Review articles, research reports, web sites, and government reports. Conclusions Skin cancer remains a major public health problem. Efforts to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with skin cancer are gradually shifting toward primary prevention. Primary prevention efforts should not only be limited to using sunscreen, but should also focus on reductions in ultraviolet light exposure. Secondary prevention efforts include professional skin examinations and skin self-examination. Tertiary efforts focus on the prevention and detection of additional primary skin cancers. Implications for Nursing Practice Nurses can influence the public to practice primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies for skin cancer.
Post-therapeutic relapse of psoriasis after CD11a blockade is associated with T cells and inflammatory myeloid DCs.

UNLABELLED To understand the development of new psoriasis lesions, we studied a group of moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients who experienced a relapse after ceasing efalizumab (anti-CD11a, Raptiva, Genentech). There were increased CD3(+) T cells, neutrophils, CD11c(+) and CD83(+) myeloid dendritic cells (DCs), but no increase in CD1c(+) resident myeloid DCs. In relapsed lesions, there were many CD11c(+)CD1c(-), inflammatory myeloid DCs identified by TNFSF10/TRAIL, TNF, and iNOS. CD11c(+) cells in relapsed lesions co-expressed CD14 and CD16 in situ. Efalizumab induced an improvement in many psoriasis genes, and during relapse, the majority of these genes reversed back to a lesional state. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of the transcriptome of relapsed tissue showed that many of the gene sets known to be present in psoriasis were also highly enriched in relapse. Hence, on ceasing efalizumab, T cells and myeloid cells rapidly enter the skin to cause classic psoriasis. TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00115076.
Come Together: Antibody Linkers to Combat Hemophilia

Hemophilia is a rare genetic disorder in which blood clots abnormally slowly. There is currently no cure for the disease, but patients can inject themselves with missing clotting factors to prevent severe bleeding. Because they can be needed three times a week, these injections are inconvenient, and they are expensive—up to $200,000 per year. Worse, one-third of all patients develop antibodies against the injected protein, making the treatment ineffective. Now, Kitazawa et al. have created a new antibody-based therapy for hemophilia that can be delivered with subcutaneous injection and that replaces the missing clotting factor for weeks at a time. Hemophilia A results from lack of factor VIII (FVIII) in the blood. FVIII brings together two other clotting factors, FIXa and FX. When assembled, this complex activates FX and allows the formation of a clot, which halts bleeding. Kitazawa and colleagues simulated the activity of FVIII with an engineered antibody that binds to both FIXa and FX. To do this, they first immunized animals with either FIXa or FX to generate a monoclonal antibody to each factor. They then concatenated the genes for these two antibodies, creating a gene for a combined antibody that could recognize both factors (hBS23). When hBS23 was added to FVIII-deficient blood, it restored clotting in a manner similar to that of FVIII therapy. The authors then injected a single dose of hBS23 into monkeys with artificial hemophilia (that is, neutralized FVIII) and found that one subcutaneous injection sustained blood concentrations of bBS23 and supported proper blood clotting for at least 28 days. The work of Kitazawa et al. demonstrates that the activity of FVIII can be reproduced through a FVIII-mimetic antibody. This approach is appealing because compared with current treatments, it provides a longer therapeutic window after a single injection and avoids the development of anti-FVIII antibodies. These studies show promise for improved treatment of hemophilia, although further work will be needed to assess and optimize this antibody therapy before it can be used in humans. T. Kitazawa et al. , A bispecific antibody to factors IXa and X restores factor VIII hemostatic activity in a hemophilia A model. Nat. Med. 18 , 1570–1574 (2012). [[Abstract]][1] [1]: http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v18/n10/full/nm.2942.html
Education and migration in a border city

Abstract Major demographic processes (fertility, mortality and migration) are both causes and consequences of future and previous processes. Demographers in border locations have special methodological challenges and usually face more rapidly changing dynamics than other locations. Migration is a process most difficult to both measure and understand; unlike birth and death, it does not happen to everyone, but is selective. Age, education, health, wealth, occupation, gender and family composition all contribute to making a person more or less likely to move from one place to another or remain where they are, as are a host of other factors. This study attempts to sort out some of these factors, using primarily Census data from 1990 and 2000. We began with the local concern that El Paso's persistently low indices of education and income result from an outflow of the more educated segments of the community. However, our findings suggest that the relationship between migration and education is not linear. More...
On Retirement: A Conversation with Daniel Levinson

Daniel Levinson discusses developmental dilemmas facing men and women in late adulthood and explores their implications for retirement and leadership succession in family firms.
A simple parcel method for prediction of cumulus onset and area-averaged cloud amount over heterogeneous land surfaces

Abstract The purpose of this note is to compare several methods for predicting the onset and quantitative amount of cloud cover over heterogeneous land surfaces. Among the methods tested are that of Wilde et al. (1985) and a new, simple parcel approach. Model comparison is accomplished by running each model using a series of six initial conditions from the Wangara experiment. Case days were chosen because they had relatively quiet synoptic conditions, and exhibited the formation of cumulus clouds from an initially mostly clear sky during the period of solar heating. Each model contains two or three free parameters that were systematically varied until the optimum agreement was reached between observed and predicted cloud amount. The single best run for each method was chosen based on the RMSE and coefficient of determination. The best runs are compared and plotted against the observations for the six case days. Results of these limited tests do not necessarily suggest the absolute degree of accuracy to wh...
A geometrical model of dermal capillary clearance

A new microscopic model is developed to describe the dermal capillary clearance process of skin permeants. The physiological structure is represented in terms of a doubly periodic array of absorbing capillaries. Convection-dominated transport in the blood flow within the capillaries is coupled with interstitial diffusion, the latter process being quantified via a slender-body-theory approach. Convection across the capillary wall and in the interstitial phase is treated as a perturbation which may be added to the diffusive transport. The model accounts for the finite permeability of the capillary wall as well as for the geometry of the capillary array, based on realistic values of physiological parameters. Calculated dermal concentration profiles for permeants having the size and lipophilicity of salicylic acid and glucose illustrate the power and general applicability of the model. Furthermore, validation of the model with published in vivo experimental results pertaining to human skin permeation of hydrocortisone is presented. The model offers the possibility for in-depth theoretical understanding and prediction of subsurface drug distribution in the human skin following topical application, as well as rates of capillary clearance into the systemic circulation. A simpler approach that treats the capillary bed as a homogeneously absorbing zone is also employed. The latter may be used in conjunction with the capillary exchange model to estimate measurable dermal transport and clearance parameters in a straightforward manner.
How defects in central tolerance impinge on a deficiency in regulatory T cells

Both central (thymic) and peripheral (nonthymic) mechanisms are important for the induction and maintenance of T cell tolerance. Mice with a defect in Foxp3, required for the generation and activity of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, exhibit massive lymphoproliferation and severe inflammatory infiltration of multiple organs, in particular the lungs, liver, and skin. We have explored how this phenotype is influenced by an additional defect in central tolerance induction, generated by either crossing in a null mutation of the Aire gene or substituting the nonobese diabetic (NOD) genetic background. The double-deficient mice had fulminant autoimmunity in very early life and a gravely shortened lifespan vis-a-vis single-deficient littermates. They showed massive lymphoproliferation and exacerbated inflammatory damage, particularly in the lungs and liver. Yet, the range of affected sites was not noticeably extended, and, surprisingly, many organs, or regions of organs, remained untouched, suggesting additional important mechanisms to enforce immunological self-tolerance.
Hydrogen Diffusion in the Hydrogen Collision Model of Amorphous Silicon Metastability

The trap-controlled model of H diffusion that underpins the H collision model of amorphous silicon metastability provides new insight into thermal and light-enhanced H diffusion in a-Si:H. The longstanding puzzle of the linear DB-dependence of diffusion coefficient with doping is resolved. Expressions for the light-induced H diffusion coefficient are derived with and without D-for-H exchange reactions. It is shown that D-for-H exchange does not affect the long-time diffusion coefficient that is measured under illumination.
Changes in acyl group composition of diacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine, alkenylacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine and diacyl-glycerophosphorylcholine in myelin and microsomal fractions of mouse brain during development.

—Age-related changes in acyl group composition of diacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine (GPE), alkenylacyl-GPE and diacyl-glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC) were examined in myelin and microsomal fractions of mouse brain during development. In general, the phosphoglycerides in the myelin fraction showed an increase in the proportions of 18:1 and 20:1 and a decrease in the proportions of 16:0, 20:4(n-6) and 22:6(n-3) with increasing age. These changes were especially obvious with the acyl groups of alkenylacyl-GPE. The acyl group profiles of phosphoglycerides in the microsomal fraction were different from those in the myelin fraction. During development, there was an increase in 22:6 and a decrease in 20:4 in the phosphoglycerides of microsomes. These changes were especially obvious with the diacyl-GPE. Starting from 2 weeks of age, there was also an increase in the proportions of 18:1 and 20:1 in alkenylacyl-GPE in the microsomal fraction but this change was not as dramatic as that in the myelin fraction. In general, the acyl groups of diacyl-GPC in both myelin and microsomal fractions showed only little age-related changes as compared to the ethanolamine phosphoglycerides. Results suggest an induction in the synthesis of monoenoic fatty acids in brain during development. The monoenoic fatty acids synthesized during this period are rapidly and preferentially incorporated into the ethanolamine plasmalogen for further utilization in synthesis of the myelin membranes.
Peer culture in the preschool

(1988). Peer culture in the preschool. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 27, Becoming a Student, pp. 19-24.
Substrate thickness considerations in electron beam lithography

A comprehensive theoretical and experimental study of the spatial distribution of electron energy dissipation in a very thin polymer film for dot, line, and parallel line exposures over a wide range of substrate thickness and exposure dosage is reported. The two Monte Carlo models used in the theoretical calculations are reviewed and the theoretical results obtained are discussed. Experimental fabrication of thin substrates and effective techniques of electron beam lithography on such substrates are described. The concept of equienergy dissipation contours is discussed and then used to compare experimental data with theory. Good agreement between experiment and theory has been obtained. With substrate thickness as a variable, the fundamental influence of electron scattering on the resolution of electron beam lithography has been verified.
Transcription of bacteriophage φX174 in vitro: Selective initiation with oligonucleotides

Transcription in vitro of φX174 RFI † DNA with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase yields three major RNA species of molecular weights 1·87, 1·60 and 1·34×106, the largest of these corresponding to one round of transcription around the DNA circle. In addition there are seven minor species with molecular weights ranging from 0·07 to 0·84×106 which account for about 10 to 20% of the total incorporation of nucleotides into RNA. When rho factor is present in the reaction mixture, the three largest RNAs are no longer made, and instead RNAs of molecular weight 1·00, 0·70, 0·42, 0·35 and 0·07×106 are synthesized. By initiating synthesis at specific promotor sites with oligonucleotide primers and examining the RNA products on polyacrylamide gels, it has been possible to map all of these RNA species and to establish the existence of shared sites of initiation and termination. Three of the RNAs are shown to be artifacts of the synthesis conditions used. The others result from the combined action of three promotors, two rho-independent termination sites, and two rho-dependent termination sites. RNA molecules initiated from two of the promotors begin with 5′-terminal ATP, from the other promotor with 5′-terminal GTP.
Synthesis and metal complexation of dihydroxyphosphino‐functionalized crosslinked styrene/maleic anhydride copolymers

Crosslinked styrene (St)/maleic anhydride (MA) copolymers were synthesized, hydrolyzed with dicarboxylic acid, and converted to bear dihydroxyphosphino functionalities. The St-MA copolymers were prepared by azobisisobutyronitrile-initiated polymerization in toluene at 90 °C in the presence of 2, 10, or 20% divinylbenzene crosslinker. The MA moiety was hydrolyzed into dicarboxylic acid to improve the hydrophilicity of the copolymers. The phenyl ring of St was phosphorylated with phosphorus trichloride in the presence of aluminum chloride and then hydrolyzed and oxidized with nitric acid at room temperature. The structures of the hydrolyzed and dihydroxyphosphino-functionalized copolymers were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The complexation behavior of these functionalized copolymers toward metal ions in 25 ppm aqueous solutions was observed over time periods of up to 7 h. The adsorption toward Pb(+2) was highest, followed by those of Cu(+2), Cr(+3), and Ni(+2). On the dihydroxyphosphino-functionalized St-MA (20% divinylbenzene) copolymer, the adsorption of Pb(+2) showed a linear relationship with the concentrations and fit the Langmuir isotherm. The kinetics of Pb(+2) adsorption on this dihydroxyphosphino-functionalized copolymer also fit the rate equation of the moving boundary model, t = [1 - 3(1 - X) 2/3 + 2(1 - X)], where X is the fractional conversion. The metal-ion adsorption kinetics of this copolymer appeared to be particle diffusion control, in which the moving boundary advanced from the surface toward the center.
Production and optimization of carotenoid-enriched dried distiller’s grains with solubles by Phaffia rhodozyma and Sporobolomyces roseus fermentation of whole stillage

Whole stillage--a co-product of grain-based ethanol--is used as an animal feed in the form of dried distiller's grain with solubles (DDGS). Since animals cannot synthesize carotenoids and animal feed is generally poor in carotenoids, about 30-120 ppm of total carotenoids are added to animal feed to improve animal health, enhance meat color and quality, and increase vitamin A levels in milk and meat. The main objective of this study was to produce carotenoid (astaxanthin and β-carotene)-enriched DDGS by submerged fermentation of whole stillage. Mono- and mixed cultures of red yeasts, Phaffia rhodozyma (ATCC 24202) and Sporobolomyces roseus (ATCC 28988), were used to produce astaxanthin and β-carotene. Media optimization was carried out in shake flasks using response surface methodology (RSM). Macro ingredients, namely whole stillage, corn steep liquor and glycerol, were fitted to a second-degree polynomial in RSM. Under optimized conditions, astaxanthin and β-carotene yields in mixed culture and P. rhodozyma monoculture were 5 and 278, 97, and 275 μg/g, respectively, while S. roseus produced 278 μg/g of β-carotene. Since the carotenoid yields are almost twice the quantity used in animal feed, the carotenoid-enriched DDGS has potential application as "value-added animal feed or feed blends."
Medication error Reporting by community pharmacists in Vermont

ABSTRACT Objective To document community pharmacists' awareness and use of the United States Pharmacopeia Medication Errors Reporting (USP MER) program. Design Telephone survey Setting Community pharmacies in Vermont. Participants One self-identified community pharmacist from each community pharmacy. Intervention Each operating community pharmacy in Vermont was contacted by telephone between June 2002 and February 2003. The first individual to self-identify himself or herself as a pharmacist was asked to participate. The telephone surveys were conducted using a standard script. Main Outcome Measure Survey responses to questions about awareness and use of USP MER Results A pharmacist was contacted in 98% (122/124) of all operating community pharmacies in Vermont. Nine (7%) pharmacists refused to participate, leaving 113 pharmacists who responded to the survey. Although more than one half of all respondents (70/113; 62%) had heard of USP MER, less than one quarter (24/113; 21%) had ever submitted a report. Significantly more pharmacists employed by independent pharmacies had submitted a report, compared with pharmacists from other pharmacy types (chain, supermarket, mass merchandiser; P = .03). Submitting reports through a corporate hierarchy or to a corporate program was the reason most frequently cited by pharmacists for not submitting reports directly to USP MER (37%). Whether corporate reports were forwarded to USP MER is unknown. Conclusion The majority of Vermont community pharmacists were aware of USP MER. However, use was low. Barriers to reporting to a common system such as USP MER may differ depending on pharmacy type. Further research to document the barriers to submitting reports is warranted.
Costs of Defense and a Test of the Carbon-Nutrient Balance and Growth-Differentiation Balance Hypotheses for Two Co-Occurring Classes of Plant Defense

One of the goals of chemical ecology is to assess costs of plant defenses. Intraspecific trade-offs between growth and defense are traditionally viewed in the context of the carbon-nutrient balance hypothesis (CNBH) and the growth-differentiation balance hypothesis (GDBH). Broadly, these hypotheses suggest that growth is limited by deficiencies in carbon or nitrogen while rates of photosynthesis remain unchanged, and the subsequent reduced growth results in the more abundant resource being invested in increased defense (mass-balance based allocation). The GDBH further predicts trade-offs in growth and defense should only be observed when resources are abundant. Most support for these hypotheses comes from work with phenolics. We examined trade-offs related to production of two classes of defenses, saponins (triterpenoids) and flavans (phenolics), in Pentaclethra macroloba (Fabaceae), an abundant tree in Costa Rican wet forests. We quantified physiological costs of plant defenses by measuring photosynthetic parameters (which are often assumed to be stable) in addition to biomass. Pentaclethra macroloba were grown in full sunlight or shade under three levels of nitrogen alone or with conspecific neighbors that could potentially alter nutrient availability via competition or facilitation. Biomass and photosynthesis were not affected by nitrogen or competition for seedlings in full sunlight, but they responded positively to nitrogen in shade-grown plants. The trade-off predicted by the GDBH between growth and metabolite production was only present between flavans and biomass in sun-grown plants (abundant resource conditions). Support was also only partial for the CNBH as flavans declined with nitrogen but saponins increased. This suggests saponin production should be considered in terms of detailed biosynthetic pathway models while phenolic production fits mass-balance based allocation models (such as the CNBH). Contrary to expectations based on the two defense hypotheses, trade-offs were found between defenses and photosynthesis, indicating that studies of plant defenses should include direct measures of physiological responses.
The case for an all-female crew to Mars

A strong case can be made for an all-female crew, aged under 30 years, to Mars. The incidence of endothelial injuries on earth is six times higher in young men than in young women. On spaceflight, there is a far greater risk of endothelial injuries, with an accelerated aging process, complicating oxidative stress, and a Mg ion deficit with a self-sustaining inflammatory process. Pharmaceuticals in general are contraindicated because of malabsorption, and potential impairment in hepatic and renal perfusion. Also some pharmaceuticals deteriorate in space possibly associated with increased radiation. This prevents therapy for men in an attempt to compensate for their vascular disadvantages. Women have a considerable advantage because of endothelial protection, provided by estrogen, greater uptake of Mg in progressively diminishing storage sites in skeletal muscle and bone, and a physiological loss of iron, which is conducive to oxidative stress. Both estrogen and Mg are antioxidants and calcium blockers and compensate at least partly for diminished spaceflight vascular endothelial growth factor, thereby enhancing endothelial function, repair and angiogenesis. The only apparent disadvantage of an exclusively women crew for a Mars mission, may be the advisability of their avoiding space walks during menstruation, because of the greater risk at that time of decompression sickness. The optimal time would be during the follicular stage.
Foldy Transformation in the Pion-Hyperon System

A unitary transformation, which played the same role as the Foldy transformation in the pion-nucleon system, was constructed for the case where the pion interacts with both SIGMA and LAMBDA hyperons through gamma /sub 5/ couplings. The transformatien function and the transformed Hamiltoniam were very similar to those of the Foldy transformation, in spite of the complexity of the system in isotopic spin space. The application to practical problems was not considered in this paper. (auth)
Models for the adsorption and reactions of metal carbonyl compounds on alumina surfaces

Abstract Reaction models are presented to account for the observed behaviors of metal carbonyl compounds on aluminas. Among the major conclusions of the work are: 1. The relatively stable Mo(CO) 3 (ads) species on alumina involves a strong interaction between the terminal CO of a mononuclear metal species and a coordinatively unsaturated Al 3+ site on the surface. 2. A detailed mechanistic scheme is offered to account for oxidation of the metal center accompanied by H 2 formation, via an oxidative addition of surface OH at the metal center. 3. A molybdenum intermediate which serves as an active olefin metahesis catalyst is proposed to be a Mo(IV) alkylidene species.
Reconstruction of the lateral ankle ligaments A biomechanical analysis

The purpose of this study was to perform a biome chanical analysis of several commonly performed op erative procedures used to stabilize the lateral ankle. We performed the Evans, Watson-Jones, and Chris man-Snook procedures on 15 cadaveric ankles and tested the ankles for stability, motion, and isometry of graft placement. The Evans procedure allowed in creased anterior displacement, internal rotation, and tilt of the talus when compared to ankles with intact liga ments. Subtalar joint motion was restricted by the Evans procedure. The Watson-Jones procedure con trolled internal rotation and anterior displacement of the talus, but was less effective in controlling talar tilt and also restricted subtalar joint motion. The Chrisman- Snook procedure allowed increased internal rotation and anterior displacement of the talus when compared to ankles with intact ligaments. The procedure was effective in limiting talar tilt, but restricted subtalar joint motion.Based on the biomechanical data obtained, we de vise...
Diffusion Imaging in the Rat Cervical Spinal Cord

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the state of the art approach for assessing the status of the spinal cord noninvasively, and can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in cases of disease or injury. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), is sensitive to the thermal motion of water molecules and allows for inferences of tissue microstructure. This report describes a protocol to acquire and analyze DWI of the rat cervical spinal cord on a small-bore animal system. It demonstrates an imaging setup for the live anesthetized animal and recommends a DWI acquisition protocol for high-quality imaging, which includes stabilization of the cord and control of respiratory motion. Measurements with diffusion weighting along different directions and magnitudes (b-values) are used. Finally, several mathematical models of the resulting signal are used to derive maps of the diffusion processes within the spinal cord tissue that provide insight into the normal cord and can be used to monitor injury or disease processes noninvasively.
Self knowledge and self consciousness: Thoughts about oneself

You and I reach for a dollar bill on the floor, each saying “I saw it first.” The content of what we say is identically the same. How then is your claim referred to you and mine to me? We argue that the reference of self-ascriptions is effected by the occasion of the occurrence of the first-person indexical rather than by the content of the thought or assertion which then occurs. That this is true has further implications for exotic, self-fulfilling self-ascriptions, like the CartesianCogito; for views like those of Geach and Anscombe, who hold that ‘I’ is not a singular referring expression at all; and for views which hold that the first-person indexical is a singular referring expression with a very special, “systematically ambiguous” content.
Gesture synthesis adapted to speech emphasis

Avatars communicate through speech and gestures to appear realistic and to enhance interaction with humans. In this context, several works have analyzed the relationship between speech and gestures, while others have been focused on their synthesis, following different approaches. In this work, we address both goals by linking speech to gestures in terms of time and intensity, to then use this knowledge to drive a gesture synthesizer from a manually annotated speech signal. To that effect, we define strength indicators for speech and motion. After validating them through perceptual tests, we obtain an intensity rule from their correlation. Moreover, we derive a synchrony rule to determine temporal correspondences between speech and gestures. These analyses have been conducted on aggressive and neutral performances to cover a broad range of emphatic levels, whose speech signal and motion have been manually annotated. Next, intensity and synchrony rules are used to drive a gesture synthesizer called gesture motion graph (GMG). These rules are validated by users from GMG output animations through perceptual tests. Results show that animations using intensity and synchrony rules perform better than those only using the synchrony rule (which in turn enhance realism with respect to random animation). Finally, we conclude that the extracted rules allow GMG to properly synthesize gestures adapted to speech emphasis from annotated speech.
Identification of a Nonpeptide Ligand That Releases Bioactive Insulin-like Growth Factor-I from Its Binding Protein Complex

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) has both metabolic and mitogenic activities mediated through interaction with the type 1 IGF receptor. The circulation of IGF-I in blood and interstitial fluid is not free but bound mostly to a family of six high affinity IGF-binding proteins, which form stable complexes with IGF and neutralize its bioactivity. Therefore, displacement of this large pool of endogenous IGF from the binding proteins could elevate "free" IGF levels to elicit beneficial effects in diabetes and other IGF-responsive diseases comparable with those produced by administration of exogenous IGF-I. We report here the identification of a nonpeptide ligand NBI-31772, which displaces IGF-I from all six IGF-binding proteins at low nanomolar concentrations from screening of the in-house chemical libraries. Furthermore, the released free IGF-I was shown to be biologically active in an in vitro bioassay. Thus, NBI-31772 could serve as a valuable lead molecule for the design of novel therapeutics to treat diabetes and other IGF-responsive diseases.
Linear, parameter‐varying control and its application to a turbofan engine

This paper describes application of parameter-dependent control design methods to a turbofan engine. Parameter-dependent systems are linear systems, whose state-space descriptions are known functions of time-varying parameters. The time variation of each of the parameters is not known in advance, but is assumed to be measurable in real-time. Three linear, parameter-varying (LPV) approaches to control design are discussed. The first method is based on linear fractional transformations which relies on the small gain theorem for bounds on performance and robustness. The other methods make use of either a single (SQLF) or parameter-dependent (PDQLF) quadratic Lyapunov function to bound the achievable level of performance. The latter two techniques are used to synthesize controllers for a high-performance turbofan engine. A LPV model of the turbofan engine is constructed from Jacobian linearizations at fixed power codes for control design. The control problem is formulated as a model matching problem in the ℋ∞ and LPV framework. The objective is decoupled command response of the closed-loop system to pressure and rotor speed requests. The performance of linear, ℋ∞ point designs are compared with the SQLF and PDQLF controllers. Nonlinear simulations indicate that the controller synthesized using the SQLF approach is slightly more conservative than the PDQLF controller. Nonlinear simulations with the SQLF and PDQLF controllers show very robust designs that achieve all desired performance objectives. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.