cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of saturated pixels on security of steganographic schemes for digital images

When hiding messages in digital images, care needs to be exercised how the embedding changes are executed in or near saturated pixels. In this paper, we consider three different rules that are currently being used that adjust the embedding in saturated pixels and assess their impact on empirical steganographic security of four modern embedding algorithms. Surprisingly, the rules can have a major effect, especially in image sources with stronger noise. We show that the preferred way to treat saturated patches during message hiding is to adjust the pixel costs to entirely avoid making embedding changes in saturated pixels despite the ensuing loss of embedding capacity. This paper hopes to raise the awareness of the importance of treatment of saturated pixels in steganography to avoid introducing easily correctable flaws that may negatively affect security.
A Review of “The Essay Film: From Montaigne, After Marker”

The documentary film. Non-fiction filmmaking. These are terms that encompass a vast array of movies and practices. The films commonly grouped under these terms, however, often have very little in c...
Sentiment Trends and Classifying Stocks Using P-Trees

For people who are not exposed to the financial markets but who would be interested to invest in stocks for them it is important to know which ticker symbols to follow, based on which investment decisions can be made. In this work, we propose how we can classify stock ticker symbols from tweets vertically using P-Trees. The solution described in this paper analyzes 3000 financial and news symbols vertically from the Twitter platform and finds the ticker symbols which are most frequently been discussed. It also provides an ability to scan through the tweet texts associated with the common ticker occurrences so that the context can be identified to help users make better informed business decisions. The paper also discusses on the bias of investors and the affect it has on the volatility of the stocks in the market. We also show how sentiment analysis can be run on the pulled tweets and why we chose the Microsoft Azure Sentiment Analyzer over the other Sentiment Analyzer tools. Finally, we provide some future direction where we plan to take this research forward and conclude with some closing remarks.
The importance of career development in constructing vocational rehabilitation transition policies and practices

BACKGROUND: To address prevailing gaps in employment rates between working-age people with disabilities and those without, vocational rehabilitation professionals can use targeted career development initiatives for their consumers as they progress through school and into the professional world. With education at the core, vocational rehabilitation counselors are poised to collaborate with teachers, employers, and policymakers to promote work experience and self-advocacy among their transition-age consumers, which has been shown to increase employment rates. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to present a synthesis focusing on the intersection of the career development and secondary transition literature to provide guidance for the evaluation and development of policy, to contribute to a needed area of knowledge generation in vocational rehabilitation, and to underscore the application of research-based practices in transition services. METHODS: The literature search, identification, and synthesis were guided by the overarching question, how can rehabilitation professionals use what is known about career development to assist with secondary transition preparation and planning through the services and resources they provide? RESULTS: The search resulted in the identification of 20 articles specific to the intersection of career development, secondary transition preparation and planning, and improving postsecondary outcomes. CONCLUSION: Suggestions for practices and further research are presented in the context of U.S. national rehabilitation law, specifically the recent (2014) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. © 2017-IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.
Resazurin Live Cell Assay: Setup and Fine-Tuning for Reliable Cytotoxicity Results

In vitro cytotoxicity tests allow for fast and inexpensive screening of drug efficacy prior to in vivo studies. The resazurin assay (commercialized as Alamar Blue®) has been extensively utilized for this purpose in 2D and 3D cell cultures, and high-throughput screening. However, improper or lack of assay validation can generate unreliable results and limit reproducibility. Herein, we report a detailed protocol for the optimization of the resazurin assay to determine relevant analytical (limits of detection, quantification, and linear range) and biological (growth kinetics) parameters, and, thus, provide accurate cytotoxicity results. Fine-tuning of the resazurin assay will allow accurate and fast quantification of cytotoxicity for drug discovery. Unlike more complicated methods (e.g., mass spectrometry), this assay utilizes fluorescence spectroscopy and, thus, provides a less costly alternative to observe changes in the reductase proteome of the cells.
Education for Understanding Science and the Earth System for Long-Term Sustainability

Within our human society, we are facing a challenge of complex interacting problems that has the potential to affect us in our lifetime, and will certainly determine the quality of life for our children in the future. It is now clear that human activity affects our global environment in ways that we did not think or imagine as being possible only a few years ago. It appears that these impacts will affect the general quality of life, and more specifically, the availability of energy, minerals, and other natural resources, as well as the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. How is it that this human species, with its ever-expanding complexity of technological innovations, its great powers of discovery, and its new developments in the exchange of knowledge finds itself attempting to understand these interactions between our many human systems and our physical, biological, and geological natural systems? A consensus is building that we must take steps to not only understand this system but develop new life patterns that will assure we and our future progeny will interact, eco-evolve and integrate our activities for a sustainable world.
Antenna bounds for reduced basis problems

Bounds on antenna performance parameters are examined for arbitrary geometries and their substructures. The relation between a geometry and its substructures is cast in terms of basis reduction. Antenna parameters expressible as Rayleigh quotients are shown to be bounded for all substructures by the corresponding bound on the full structure. Certain parameters have secondary bounds arising from the Poincare Separation Theorem.
Use of Mental Health Services by Adolescents After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract Background Mental health problems are common after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many patients in need of mental health services do not receive them, but studies have not consistently used prospective and objective methods or followed samples for more than 1 year. Objective To examine adolescents' use of mental health services after TBI. Design Secondary analysis from multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial. Setting Five level 1 U.S. trauma centers. Participants Adolescents aged 12-17 years with moderate-to-severe TBI were recruited for a randomized clinical trial (n = 132 at baseline, 124 at 6 months, 113 at 12 months, and 101 at 18 months). Methods Participants were randomly assigned to counselor-assisted problem-solving or Internet resource comparison. Follow-up assessments were completed at 6, 12, and 18 months after baseline. Generalized estimating equations with a logit link were used to examine use of mental health services. Treatment group and participant impairment were examined as predictors of use. Main Outcome Measurements Mental health care use was measured with the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents; daily functioning and clinical outcome with the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale; behavioral and emotional functioning with the Child Behavior Checklist; and executive dysfunction with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. Results Use of mental health services ranged from 22% to 31% in the 2 years post-TBI. Participants with impairments were about 3 times more likely than those without impairments to receive services (odds ratio 4.61; 95% confidence interval 2.61-8.14; P Conclusions Less than one half of adolescents with behavioral health needs after TBI received mental health services. Future studies are needed to examine barriers associated with seeking services after TBI and psychoeducation as preventive care for this population. Level of Evidence II
Long-term Outcomes of Pediatric En Bloc Compared to Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: A Single-Center Experience With 25 Years Follow-Up.

BACKGROUND Pediatric en bloc kidneys are considered marginal for transplantation into adults. We aimed to compare the long-term outcomes of pediatric en bloc versus living donor kidney transplantation. METHODS A retrospective review was undertaken on pediatric en bloc and living donor kidney transplants performed at our center between 1990 and 2001. The outcomes compared between the groups included 25 year graft survival and longitudinal glomerular filtration rate. RESULTS There were 72 pediatric en bloc and 75 living donor kidney recipients included in the analysis. Pediatric donors were 16.9 ± 11.2 months old and weighed 10.7 ± 3.8 kg with terminal serum creatinine of 0.50 ± 0.45 mg/dL. Living donors were 40.1 ± 9.4 years old and serum creatinine was 0.90 ± 0.16 mg/dL at the time of donation. En bloc kidney recipients had higher dialysis vintage (23.0 ± 29.2 months vs 14.3 ± 14.7 months; P = 0.03), and longer cold ischemia time (30.5 ± 9.8 hours vs 2.6 ± 0.9 hours, P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier estimate revealed similar graft survival between the groups up to 27 years of follow up (log rank P = 0.78). Estimated glomerular filtration rate was significantly higher in pediatric en bloc kidney recipients from years 5 through 17 posttransplantation. CONCLUSIONS Pediatric en bloc kidneys conferred long-term graft survival similar to living donor kidneys over a 25-year period after transplantation along with superior graft function. These findings support improved utilization of pediatric kidneys for transplantation into adults which not only helps to alleviate organ shortage but also provide excellent long-term function.
Building Life into Information Systems

Just as Christopher Alexander’s ultimate goal is to enlighten architects and improve their products for society’s sake, incorporating the wholeness theory into systems development can have similar benefits to society’s information systems. The following discussion explores an approach informed by the theory of wholeness and life.
Chickenpox Exposure and Herpes Zoster Disease Incidence in Older Adults in the U.S.

Objectives.Exposure to varicella zoster virus through close contact with people with chickenpox was suggested to boost specific immunity, reducing the risk of herpes zoster (HZ). Since the introduc...
Congenital atresia of the foramen of Monro.

Two cases of congenital atresia of the foramen of Monro are described, one 8 days old and the other 2 months old. Both are associated with a parieto-occipital paraventricular diverticulum and spontaneous ventriculostomy with the passing of the cerebrospinal fluid to the posterior fossa and the formation of a cyst in the supracerebellar region which compressed and displaced the structures of the posterior fossa.
Highlights from the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the ASER 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course.

The American Society of Emergency Radiology 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course encompassed a wide range of topics: traumatic and nontraumatic emergencies, radiation dose management, technical innovations and advancements, emergency preparedness, mass casualties, military radiology, and teleradiology. This article highlights the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the meeting (Scientific and Educational Abstracts Presented at the ASER, Emerg Radiol 16:501–516, 2009).
UNUSUAL PARADOXICAL ARTERIAL EMBOLISM INVOLVING RIGHT UPPER EXTREMITY IN A PATIENT WITH PULMONARY EMBOLISM AND PATENT FORAMEN OVALE

Paradoxical arterial embolism (PDE) may cause the first symptoms in patients with a coexisting hypercoagulable state and PFO. Most pts with PFO are asymptomatic. However, in the younger population it could be the underlying etiology of recurrent arterial embolus events, such as cryptogenic stroke or
Crime in the Rural Context

The study of crime in a rural context, or rural criminology, is advancing rapidly, even though it was slow to develop during much of the twentieth century. This article addresses five key areas within rural criminology, including agricultural crime, environmental crime, drugs, violence, and rural communities and crime. The literature in each area is reviewed, and implications of rural crime scholarship for criminological theory are noted, especially for how this research reveals fallacies and suggests revisions to place-based theories and concepts like social disorganization theory and collective efficacy. This article on crime in a rural context is not comprehensive, however, but observes that there are substantial bodies of literature on issues associated with hate crime and hate groups, crime at rural-located parks, recreation areas, tourist sites, and other public places, gangs, other forms of organized crime, and issues associated with policing, courts, jails, and other infrastructural aspects of the criminal justice system.
Why Do Consumers Love to Use Lululemon’s Reusable Shopping Bags?

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible reasons with regards to the practice of reusing Lululemon shopping bags by consumers, allowing for insight on the sustainable practices. Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was used as a framework to develop a part of the proposed research model and hypotheses. In addition to the TRA’s variables, multiple other variables were considered that may answer our question of why consumers are choosing to use Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags (RSB). An online survey was used to collect the data. SPSS software was used to run reliability analysis, correlations, multiple regressions, and descriptive statistics. The total useable sample was 210. It was found that there were positive significant relationships between a) attitude towards Lululemon and intention to use Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags, b) attitude towards using reusable shopping bags and intention to use Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags, c)intention to use Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags and actual use of Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags, d) brand loyalty and actual use of Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags, e) perceived convenience and actual use of Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags, and f) perceived aesthetic of Lululemon’s reusable shopping bag and actual use of Lululemon’s reusable shopping bags.
Identifying Criminal Justice Faculty Research Interests Using Voyant and NVivo

Inspired by Gao’s text analysis of communication studies faculty, this study looks at the trends from 176 faculty publications from the criminal justice department at the University of Nevada, Reno...
Predictors of Colpocleisis Outcomes in an Older Population Based Cohort.

Purpose:Colpocleisis is an obliterative surgical option for women with pelvic organ prolapse that is often performed in a frail population. However, because outcomes remain largely unknown we aimed...
Fully Analog ReRAM Neuromorphic Circuit Optimization using DTCO Simulation Framework

Neuromorphic inference circuits using emerging devices (e.g. ReRAM) are very promising for ultra-low power edge computing such as in Internet-of-Thing. While ReRAM synapse is used as an analog device for matrix-vector-multiplications, the neuron activation unit (e.g. ReLU) is generally digital. To further minimize its power and area consumption, fully analog neuromorphic circuits are needed. This requires Design-Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO). In this paper, we use our Software+DTCO framework for fully analog neuromorphic inference circuit optimization using ReRAM as an example. The interaction between software machine learning, ReRAM, current comparator, and ReLU are studied. It is found that the neuromorphic circuit is very robust to the variation of ReLU, which confirms the importance of DTCO simulation.
Opportunities for fishery partnerships to advance climate-ready fisheries science and management

Abstract Climate change poses unprecedented challenges for fisheries management systems. Increased environmental variability and uncertainty due to climate change are creating shifts in productivity and distribution of fished species, and subsequent social-ecological impacts that require timely implementation of adaptive management strategies. Yet many proposed “climate-ready” fisheries actions – such as integrating climate factors into stock assessments and increasing flexibility in decision-making – either complicate or add to existing responsibilities of fishery managers and strain existing institutions. In the United States, many fisheries management agencies have explicitly acknowledged certain capacity shortfalls and institutional limitations to addressing current and projected impacts of climate change on marine fisheries. Many resource and capacity gaps across the adaptive fisheries management cycle could be filled through more effective fishery partnerships among management agencies, fishing industries, private sector, and academia. Partnership approaches are key to unlocking capacity for achieving climate-ready fisheries yet expanded implementation may require a shift towards a model that empowers and obligates fishery stakeholders to take on expanded roles with appropriate guidelines and oversight, while establishing increased roles for agencies as facilitators and auditors for certain tasks. Building and institutionalizing more effective fishery partnerships to achieve climate-ready fisheries will require clear guidance and enabling conditions.
PLK1 Induces Chromosomal Instability and Overrides Cell-Cycle Checkpoints to Drive Tumorigenesis.

Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is an essential cell cycle regulator that is frequently overexpressed in various human cancers. To determine whether Plk1 overexpression drives tumorigenesis, we established transgenic mouse lines that ubiquitously express increased levels of Plk1. High Plk1 levels were a driving force for different types of spontaneous tumors. Increased Plk1 levels resulted in multiple defects in mitosis and cytokinesis, supernumerary centrosomes, and compromised cell cycle checkpoints, allowing accumulation of chromosomal instability (CIN) which resulted in aneuploidy and tumor formation. Clinically, higher expression of PLK1 positively associated with an increase in genome-wide copy number alterations in multiple human cancers. This study provides in vivo evidence that aberrant expression of PLK1 triggers CIN and tumorigenesis and highlights potential therapeutic opportunities for CIN-positive cancers.
Architecting a Secure Wireless Interconnect for Multichip Communication: An ML Approach

Compute-intensive platforms such as micro-servers and embedded systems have already undergone a shift from a single-chip to multichip architecture to achieve better yield and lower cost. However, performance of multichip systems is limited by the latency and power-hungry chip-to-chip wired I/Os. On the other hand, wireless interconnections are emerging as an energy-efficient and low latency interconnect solution for such multichip systems as it can mask long multi-hop off-chip wired I/O communication. Despite efficient communication, the unguided on and off-chip wireless communication introduce security vulnerabilities in the system. In this work, we propose a reconfigurable, secure millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) wireless interconnection architecture (AReS) for multichip systems capable of detecting and defending against emerging threats including Hardware Trojans (HTs) and Denial-of-Service (DoS) using a Machine Learning (ML)-based approach. The ML-based approach is used to classify internal and external attack to enable the required defense mechanism. To serve this purpose, we design a reconfigurable Medium Access Control (MAC) and a suitable communication protocol to enable sustainable communication even under jamming attack from both internal and external attackers. The proposed architecture also reuses the in-built test infrastructure to detect and withstand a persistent jamming attack in a wireless multichip system. Through simulation, we show that, the proposed wireless interconnection can sustain chip-to-chip communication even under persistent jamming attack with an average 1.44xand 1.56x latency degradation for internal and external attacks respectively for application-specific traffic.
Pet Attachment and the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.

Abstract. Background: Pet ownership is often assumed to have mental health benefits, but the effect of pets on suicide risk has a scant literature. Aims: Using the interpersonal theory of suicide, ...
Student and Instructor Responses to Remote Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This qualitative study examines the student experience in a chemical engineering program at a large, public research-intensive university during the shift to remote teaching due to COVID-19. Data sources include a free response survey completed by 380 students and focus groups including 35 graduate and undergraduate student instructors. The most common challenge students identified was staying engaged in their studies, especially during class. Several instructional practices emerged that can transfer back to in-person instruction.
Friendship Development Among Children in School

This book reports the author's five-month ethnography of first-grade children's friendships. It is the first detailed investigation of the dynamic, psychosocial processes by which young children formulate friendships in school. The book addresses two major questions: How does the social-ecology of a public school classroom affect children's interactions and peer relations, and what are the important psychosocial processes by which children initiate and cultivate friendships at school. The book aims to generate hypotheses about friendship development among young children, and specifically, to identify the chain of events by which children come to consider themselves friends and to analyze these events from a developmental perspective.
Economic Markets and Technological Advancements

National Security is a topic much on the minds of everyone these days, and there are many facets of this topic that deserve discussion. Economic Markets and Technological Advancements merit more discussion than they have thus far received because of the potentially tremendous impact they have on increasing the opportunity for real security. This article focuses on two distinct areas that greatly impact the national security of the United States: the role of economic freedom in the world and the role of natural resources. As the Vice President of the Heritage Foundation, a former State Secretary of Natural Resources (for Virginia), and a sub-cabinet member in the Reagan Administration (Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks), I have seen, over the years, the importance that these key areas play in determining public policy, as it relates to national security in particular, as well as a host of other policy areas. It is a privilege for me to explain why these aspects rate consideration in seeking policies that assure our national security.
Composition Differences Between Globular Cluster and Halo Field Giants

Low metallicity (−3 <= [Fe/H] <= − 1) halo field giants exhibit the expected correlation of Na and Mg abundances, based on the assumption that Na is produced in the same nucleosynthetic sites as are the alpha elements, confirming a result noted by Sneden (1998). On the other hand, giants in at least some globular clusters (especially M13, but also M15 and NGC 6752) do not exhibit the Mg vs Na correlation found among halo field giants (Hanson et al., 1998). The very large [Na/Fe]-ratios and widely scattered [Mg/Fe]-ratios found among M13 giants depend, on the average, on evolutionary state and are probably induced by deep mixing of stellar envelopes through the CNO hydrogen-burning shell. Why M13 (and M15 and NGC 6752) giants should experience deep mixing whereas field halo giants in the same evolutionary state mix not at all is an anomaly unexplained by current theories of stellar evolution. By contrast, giants in the outer halo cluster NGC 7006 show little evidence of deep mixing (Kraft et al., 1998). These differences in the degree of deep mixing among stars in related, but different, stellar populations may be connected to the so-called’ second parameter effect’.
Predictors of health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a key treatment goal for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), where the task is optimal disease management rather than achieving a cure (1). HRQOL is a key outcome in clinical trials as well as clinical care. Implicit in the measurement of HRQOL as a JIA outcome is the notion that medical interventions, such as drug therapies, can affect not only clinical parameters (pain, joint count, and functional status) but also more distal outcomes, such as HRQOL. The article by Haverman et al shows, as do others, that HRQOL is worse for children with JIA than for their nonaffected peers (2,3). However, Haverman et al go beyond the current literature in 2 important ways. First, using patient self-report, they show how widespread low HRQOL is in this population. Their analysis documents that half of children with JIA have impaired ( 1 SD below the norm) HRQOL compared to 16% of their nonaffected peers. It is one thing to know that children with JIA have lower HRQOL compared to healthy peers, yet quite another to understand that fully half of children in treatment experience impaired HRQOL. Such data should be a wakeup call to clinicians that this is a serious problem. This leads to the second contribution by Haverman et al, i.e., they include nonmedical factors when considering the different issues that may affect HRQOL in children with JIA. In addition to the traditional clinical predictors of pain and functional status, the authors document that subjective burden of medication use and school absences are predictors of impaired HRQOL. This has clear clinical implications; although current medical treatments target symptoms such as pain and physical functioning, standard treatment regimens do not include treatments targeted at nonmedical factors such as these. Other research has documented that a substantial proportion of children with JIA who report no or mild clinical symptoms experience suboptimal HRQOL and that a considerable proportion of variance remains unaccounted for in predicting HRQOL using clinical symptoms and disease activity (4). The findings of Haverman et al showing that nonmedical factors are related to HRQOL underscores the growing imperative for clinicians to assess and attend to “disorders of HRQOL.” More research is needed to explore additional nonmedical factors that may lead to impaired HRQOL. And longitudinal analyses will be required to establish temporal order, a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality. Nevertheless, the accompanying article makes strides toward an empirical foundation for the treatment of the whole child within the context of medical care for JIA.
A Mixed Ordered Probit Analysis of Corporate Credit Ratings

Using a U.S. entity credit ratings dataset, I examine the performance of Mixed (Random Parameters) Ordered Probit (MOP) model with more conventional Standard (Fixed Parameters) Ordered Probit (SOP) model in analysis and explanation of corporate credit ratings. Consistent with the discrete choice literature, I find that a MOP model is better able to extract, to a fuller extent, the underlying behavioral information in the model covariates than SOP. I show that the likelihood ratio test rejects the SOP model in favor of the MOP model. The understanding of behavioral responsiveness of variations in levels of model covariates on probability outcome (i.e. levels of credit ratings) is significant for economic decisions.
The Common Algebraic Structure of Exit-Automata and Machines

A notion, of “exit-automaton” is introduced to play a role analogous to “machine scheme” or “program scheme”. Exit-automata and machines are equipped with algebraic structure leading to a simple characterization of their behaviors.
Nestmod: the NetMod - NEST interface

NESTMOD is a combined analytical modeling and simulation tool, based on the existing tools NetMod and NEST. It provides both transient and steady-state response statistics from models of interconnected local area networks that can execute at any level of detail desired. This gives users the potential to model both networks of extremely large scope (hundreds of thousands of nodes), and to look at great detail for any combination of the ISO layers. This paper describes the interface implementation, and presents an example to illustrate the potential power of the tool.
Effects of a standing table on work productivity and posture in an adult with developmental disabilities

The standing table is an assistive device designed to encourage occupational performance of the upper extremities while helping the person compensate for limitations in standing posture. We conducted three single-subject studies of a standing table used by a 52-year-old man with spastic cerebral palsy and mental retardation. In the first study, positioning in the standing table resulted in no discernible difference in work output per hour in comparison to his customary seated posture. In the second study, positioning in the standing table resulted in an unexpectedly small increase in work output in comparison to his customary method of standing without special support at the work bench. In the third study, we demonstrated that the standing table dramatically improved the erectness of his posture as measured by an infrared motion detector in comparison to his customary method of standing. Because work productivity depends on multiple factors, improved posture and biomechanical stability do no always result in a proportionate improvement in work output. There remain multiple justifications of equipment such as the standing table in work settings for adults with developmental disabilities.
Phomalactone from a Phytopathogenic Fungus Infecting ZINNIA elegans (ASTERACEAE) Leaves

Zinnia elegans Jacq. plants are infected by a fungus that causes dark red spots with necrosis on leaves, particularly in late spring to the middle of summer in the Mid-South of the United States. This fungal disease causes the leaves to wilt and eventually kills the plant. The fungus was isolated, cultured in potato dextrose broth, and identified as Nigrospora sphaerica by molecular techniques. Two major lactone metabolites (phomalactone and catenioblin A) were isolated from liquid culture of N. sphaerica isolated from Z. elegans. When injected into leaves of Z. elegans, phomalactone caused lesions similar to those of the fungus. The lesion sizes were proportional to the concentration of the phomalactone. Phomalactone, but not catenioblin A, was phytotoxic to Z. elegans and other plant species by inhibition of seedling growth and by causing electrolyte leakage from photosynthetic tissues of both Z. elegans leaves and cucumber cotyledons. This latter effect may be related to the wilting caused by the fungus in mature Z. elegans plants. Phomalactone was moderately fungicidal to Coletotrichum fragariae and two Phomopsis species, indicating that the compound may keep certain other fungi from encroaching into plant tissue that N. sphaerica has infected. Production of large amounts of phomalactone by N. sphaerica contributes to the pathogenic behavior of this fungus, and may have other ecological functions in the interaction of N. sphaerica with other fungi. This is the first report of isolation of catenioblin A from a plant pathogenic fungus. The function of catenioblin A is unclear, as it was neither significantly phyto- nor fungitoxic.
Irrigated rice culture in monsoon Asia: The search for an effective water control technology

Abstract In areas with monsoon rainfall rice is planted in the wet season with the assumption that the rainfall is generally adequate. Sporadic wet-season drought generates sporadic demand for irrigation—demand that cannot always be met—leading to farmer destruction of their own irrigation systems in a desperate attempt to extract water from the system and save standing crops. Desert irrigation systems are easier to design and less troublesome to operate because the irrigated area is well defined by the amount of water available, rainfall-dependent standing crops are absent and all farmers are acutely aware of their water allocation and rights. Structuring the monsoon systems to formalize the allocation of sporadic wet season scarcity, while protecting the civil works from farmer damage, is an unpleasant but necessary task. Unless the resulting high-quality core systems of the large public schemes of monsoon Asia are run as regulated and monitored public utilities, the rent-seeking activities of system designers, operators and individual farmers will continue to insure that actual system performance bears little resemblance to design intentions.
Programming systems and languages 1965-1975

In spite of impressive gains by PL/I, Fortran and Cobol remain the languages in which most of the world's production programs are written and will remain so into the foreseeable future. There is a great deal of theoretical interest in Algol 68 and in extensible languages, but so far at least they have had little practical impact. Problem-oriented languages may very well become the most important language development area in the next five to ten years. In the operating system area all major computer manufacturers set out to produce very ambitious multiprogramming systems, and they all ran into similar problems. A number of university projects, though not directly comparable to those of the manufacturers, have contributed greatly to a better understanding of operating system principles. Important trends include the increased interest in the development of system measurement and evaluation techniques, and increased use of microprogramming for some programming system functions.
Nickel diffusion and silicide island formation on silicon (111)

Abstract Crystalline nickel disilicide islands have been observed on the Si(111) surface by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The nickel disilicide islands coalesce following a high temperature anneal (≈1260K). The islands differ from those formed at lower temperature in both shape and orientation. To explain the differences, we discuss kinetically limited growth accompanying phase and surface segregation of Ni from the bulk silicon wafer, and condensation of a Ni-rich NiSi 2−x liquid phase at the surface. Condensation from the liquid phase to NiSi 2 is concluded to be responsible for the structure of the crystallites. High temperature growth conditions lead preferentially to A-type (non-twinned) silicide structures.
Discovery and optimization of benzenesulfonanilide derivatives as a novel class of 11β-HSD1 inhibitors.

Abstract A novel series of benzenesulfonanilide derivatives of 11β-HSD1 inhibitors were identified via modification of the sulfonamide core of the arylsulfonylpiperazine lead structures. The synthesis, in vitro biological evaluation, and structure–activity relationship of these compounds are presented. Optimization of this series rapidly resulted in the discovery of compounds (S)-10 and (S)-23 (11β-HSD1 SPA IC50 = 1.8 and 1.4 nM, respectively).
Modulation of the thalamic relay of taste by stimulation of the tongue with ice water

Abstract The interaction of thermal and gustatory stimulation of the tongue was studied by recording extracellular spike potentials of single thalamic neurons which responded to the dual stimulation. These spike potentials recorded on a magnetic tape were used to obtain interspike interval dot patterns. They revealed that prolonged cooling of the tongue with ice water temporarily abolished the response to gustatory stimuli. As the neurons responding to the dual stimulation were found in close proximity to modality specific neurons for cooling, it appeared likely that some interaction of the thermal and gustatory relays could take place at the thalamic level of the central nervous system.
A dosimetric leaf‐setting strategy for shaping radiation fields using a multileaf collimator

A dosimetric leaf-setting strategy of using multileaf collimators (MLC) for shaping radiation fields has been developed. Existing MLC leaf-setting strategies are all based upon geometric criteria. This new approach, however, matches a prescribed field contour with a MLC using clinically consistent dosimetric criteria. The leaf positions are determined using an iterative optimization algorithm. An empirical dose model was developed to compare the dosimetric-based leaf-setting strategy with the geometric-based leaf-setting strategies. Differences up to half a centimeter in the leaf positions and isodose lines were found between setting the MLC geometrically and setting the MLC dosimetrically. The dosimetric leaf-setting strategy provides the ability to achieve better dose conformation for a clinically desired isodose line. Since the desired isodose line that covers a treatment volume is typically higher than 50% of the maximum dose, the scalloping effects due to the finite leaf width at the leaf edge or 50% isodose lines are much reduced. Another benefit of the dosimetric leaf-setting is that it separates the leaf-setting process from the treatment planning process, and this frees the treatment planning vendors from developing detailed dose models for various existing types and future upgrades of MLC systems.
Localization of α-bungarotoxin binding sites in the ciliary ganglion of the embryonic chick: An autoradiographic study at the light and electron microscopic level

Binding sites for [125I]alpha-bungarotoxin were localized in the chick ciliary ganglion by light and electron microscopic autoradiography. Groups of four ganglia were incubated for 4 h with 20 nM [125I]alpha-bungarotoxin alone or with radioactive alpha-bungarotoxin plus either 1 microM unlabeled alpha-bungarotoxin or 100 microM d-tubocurarine. Specific binding to various morphological regions was determined by subtracting the densities of autoradiographic grains in the presence of competing nonradioactive ligands from the densities in the absence of those ligands. Most of the specific binding in the ganglion (91%) was associated with neurons. Seventy-four per cent was found within 1.2 micron of neuronal plasma membranes and 17% was found overlying neuronal cell bodies. Analysis of the specific binding associated with neurons, but not with the neuronal plasma membranes, revealed that lysosomes and multivesicular bodies were 9- and 32-fold more heavily labeled than other cellular organelles. The grain density over choroid cell bodies was significantly higher than that over ciliary neurons. Most (greater than 75%) of the autoradiographic grains within 0.25 micron of neuronal plasma membranes were found in "complex" contact regions of the membranes, which are characterized by extensive membrane evaginations. However, after correcting for the amount of plasma membrane present in the various regions of the membrane studied, alpha-bungarotoxin binding was found to be uniform. Few (less than 10%) of the specialized membranes between pre- and postsynaptic neurons were found in these "complex" contact regions suggesting that the bulk of alpha-bungarotoxin binding to neuronal membranes is located at some distance from the sites of transmitter release. The density of alpha-bungarotoxin binding sites in the neuronal plasma membrane was low (approximately 100-200 sites/micron 2 of neuronal membrane) compared to published values of the density of binding sites at the neuromuscular junction. Since alpha-bungarotoxin does not bind preferentially to specialized synaptic membranes, it seems unlikely that the binding sites for this toxin are the neuronal nicotinic receptors.
The Integration of Genetic Propensities into Social-Control Models of Delinquency and Violence among Male Youths

This study, drawing on approximately 1,100 males from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, demonstrates the importance of genetics, and genetic‐environmental interactions, for understanding adolescent delinquency and violence. Our analyses show that three genetic polymorphisms—specifically, the 30-bp promoter-region variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) in MAOA, the 40-bp VNTR in DAT1, and the Taq1 polymorphism in DRD2—are significant predictors of serious and violent delinquency when added to a social-control model of delinquency. Importantly, findings also show that the genetic effects of DRD2 and MAOA are conditional and interact with family processes, school processes, and friendship networks. These results, which are among the first that link molecular genetic variants to delinquency, significantly expand our understanding of delinquent and violent behavior, and they highlight the need to simultaneously consider their social and genetic origins.
Identification of the products of autonomous mitochondrial protein and glycoprotein synthesis.

ISOLATED mitochondria synthesize proteins1–3 and glycoproteins3–6 independently but the percentage of the mitochondrial protein synthesized by the mitochondrion itself probably does not exceed 5% (ref. 3), the rest being synthesized on cytoribo-somes3. Mitochondrial structural protein was thought to be the product of mitochondrial protein synthesis, but this fraction is heterogeneous and contains denatured ATPase7. Nevertheless, multi-macromolecular fragments of mitochondria have been implicated as products of autonomous mitochondrial synthesis8.
Analysis of cacodylate injections by NMR spectroscopy

An NMR procedure was developed for the assay of sodium cacodylate injection. The results obtained by this technique compare favorably with those obtained by the NF X method and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The advantages of the NMR procedure over the other procedures are that it is highly specific for the cacodylate and that it is less time consuming.
Alteration of Na+ currents in dorsal root ganglion neurons from rats with a painful neuropathy.

Abstract Increased excitability of primary sensory neurons may be important for the generation of neuropathic pain from nerve injury. The currents underlying the action potentials of these neurons are largely carried by Na + , and changes in Na + currents have been postulated to contribute to this increased excitability. Using patch clamp in whole-cell mode, we recorded Na + currents from DRG neurons freshly isolated from rats with a chronic constriction injury (CCI), an animal model of neuropathic pain. We found significant changes in Na + currents after CCI when cell size and Na + channel properties were used to segregate DRG neurons. Most changes were concentrated in small neurons (≤25 μ m diameter) and in the slow, TTX-resistant current that is predominant in these cells. CCI produced two principle changes in these cells: it shifted the voltage-dependence of activation of the TTX-resistant current to more negative potentials, and it reduced the average density of this current. The decrease in density appears to be primarily due to the decrease in the number of small neurons expressing this current. The net result is a change in both activation and steady-state inactivation properties of the total Na + current to more negative potentials without a significant change in the density of the total Na + current. The change in activation properties of the TTX-resistant Na + current are similar to those produced by some hyperalgesic autacoids, and may contribute to the increase in primary afferent excitability and hyperalgesia that occurs after this lesion.
An artificial language for data-driven self-adaptation of networked robots in dynamic environments

The interactive dynamics of goal-oriented multi-agent networked robots with on-board sensing, computation, and actuation devices, present a complex distributed computational environment of high dimensionality. The generating physics of such a system operating in an uncertain environment can be adequately captured in an artificial language that expresses the causal patterns observable in sensor data with maximal compression while preserving the statistical predictability of system states under Markovian assumptions. Hence it enables time-constrained in-situ distributed computation, communication, and data-driven adaptive control in resource-constrained uncertain operational environments. The multivariate sensor data is partitioned and symbolized for deriving the alphabet of the language. Observed data from multiple sensors is expressed as a univariate sequence of symbols from this alphabet. The semantics of the language are extracted from the observed data streams as invariant patterns which capture the essential causal structure of the dynamic system. An undersea mine-hunting mission using an undersea robot with on-board side-scan sonar is used to illustrate the development and use of this physics-driven computational language for time-constrained situational awareness and adaptive control.
Generation and utilization of synthetic combinatorial libraries

The use of combinatorial chemistry is fundamentally changing the pace and scope of basic research and drug discovery. Since the introduction of synthetic peptide libraries several years ago, combinatorial chemistry has proven to be a powerful tool for the generation of immense molecular diversities of peptides, peptidomimetics and new organic compounds. This article briefly reviews methods for the generation and application of combinatorial libraries, with particular emphasis on soluble synthetic combinatorial libraries. The utility of these molecular diversities for basic research and drug discovery has been demonstrated through the identification of numerous highly active compounds such as antigenic peptides, receptor ligands, antimicrobial compounds and enzyme inhibitors.
Is plasma GABA of peripheral origin

Abstract Plasma levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) appear to be altered in affective disorders and alcoholism. Plasma levels of GABA were not affected by menstrual cycle, exercise, gender, gut flora, nor by cholinergic stimulation by bethanechol. An obvious peripheral source for plasma GABA could not be demonstrated.
The Role of Schools of Pharmacy in the Evaluation and Introduction of New Drug Products

AbstractThe concepts of biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinet ics emerged from the pharmaceutical sciences in the 1950s and were a natural progression of the emphasis given to physical pharmacy education that emerged in the 1940s. When schools of pharmacy prepared their postgraduates with an appropriate- balanced education in ruathematics, physical-analytical chemistry, organic chemistry and other basic sciences, and these people entered the RD and drug product development, and evaluation in human subjects became very dependent upon pharmacokinetic principles.With the establishment of clinical education, in America, and the placing of clinically trained pharmacy ed...