cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design considerations for eye-safe single-aperture laser radars

The design considerations for low cost, shock resistant, compact and efficient laser radars and ranging systems are discussed. The reviewed approach with single optical aperture allows reducing the size, weight and power of the system. Additional design benefits include improved stability, reliability and rigidity of the overall system. The proposed modular architecture provides simplified way of varying the performance parameters of the range finder product family by selecting the sets of specific illumination and detection modules. The performance operation challenges are presented. The implementation of non-reciprocal optical elements is considered. The cross talk between illumination and detection channels for single aperture design is reviewed. 3D imaging capability for the ranging applications is considered. The simplified assembly and testing process for single aperture range finders that allows to mass produce the design are discussed. The eye safety of the range finder operation is summarized.
Successful Management of Peri-Implantitis Using a Titanium Brush and a Doxycycline-Saline Slurry for Surface Detoxification With Guided Bone Regeneration: A 5-Year Follow-Up.

Introduction The inflammation associated with peri-implantitis lesions can be difficult to manage and regeneration of lost bone is unpredictable. Unfortunately, opinions vary on the best method(s) for elimination of inflammation and restoration of residual osseous defects. This report describes the successful surgical management of a peri-implantitis lesion with reduction of inflammation and maintenance of nearly completely regenerated horizontal and vertical bone over 5 years. Case presentation A 55-year-old healthy, non-smoking, African-American female presented in 2013 with inflammation and >25% bone loss at implant site #18. Probing depths ranged from 6 to 13 mm with bleeding on probing (BOP). She was diagnosed with peri-implantitis. She reported a history of routine scaling every 6 months since implant and crown placement 3 years earlier (2010). Initial periodontal treatment consisted of non-surgical scaling and implant debridement. Deep pockets and BOP persisted at re-evaluation. Surgical treatment consisted of full thickness flap, soft tissue curettage with titanium curets, and detoxification of the implant surface with a doxycycline and sterile saline slurry using a titanium brush. Mineralized freeze-dried bone allograft and demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft in a 50:50 ratio was placed and covered with a resorbable collagen membrane. All postoperative visits were uneventful. Maximum probing depths around the treated implant at the 5+-year follow-up (2019) were 4 mm with no BOP and nearly complete bone fill. Conclusions This case illustrates that it is possible to successfully eliminate clinical inflammation associated with peri-implantitis, regenerate bone, and maintain health for >5 years.
Quadratic autoencoder for low-dose CT denoising

Recently, deep learning has transformed many fields including medical imaging. Inspired by diversity of biological neurons, our group proposed quadratic neurons in which the inner product in current artificial neurons is replaced with a quadratic operation on inputs, thereby enhancing the capability of an individual neuron. Along this direction, we are motivated to evaluate the power of quadratic neurons in representative network architectures, towards “quadratic neuron based deep learning”. In this regard, our prior theoretical studies have shown important merits of quadratic neurons and networks. In this paper, we use quadratic neurons to construct an encoder-decoder structure, referred to as the quadratic autoencoder, and apply it for low-dose CT denoising. Then, we perform experiments on the Mayo low-dose CT dataset to demonstrate that the quadratic autoencoder yields a better denoising performance.
Horseshoe abscess of the hand with rice bodies secondary to mycobacterium avium intracellulare infection.

Abstract A horseshoe abscess is caused by infection that spreads between the flexor tendon sheath of the thumb or little finger through the radial and ulnar bursae through communication between the two and/or the space of Parona. We present a case of an 80-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis who presented with 6 months of right hand and wrist soft tissue swelling, initially treated as a rheumatoid arthritis flare. MRI demonstrates the horseshoe abscess and after surgical irrigation and debridement with synovectomy, cultures demonstrated infection with mycobacterium avium intracellulare (MAI). This case demonstrates the importance of MRI in diagnosing and evaluating the extent of hand infections and for considering mycobacterial organisms for appropriate treatment and antibiotic regimen.
Mutational Analysis of Residues in PriA and PriC Affecting Their Ability To Interact with SSB in Escherichia coli K-12.

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli PriA and PriC recognize abandoned replication forks and direct reloading of the DnaB replicative helicase onto the lagging-strand template coated with single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB). Both PriA and PriC have been shown by biochemical and structural studies to physically interact with the C terminus of SSB. In vitro, these interactions trigger remodeling of the SSB on ssDNA. priA341(R697A) and priC351(R155A) negated the SSB remodeling reaction in vitro. Plasmid-carried priC351(R155A) did not complement priC303::kan, and priA341(R697A) has not yet been tested for complementation. Here, we further studied the SSB-binding pockets of PriA and PriC by placing priA341(R697A), priA344(R697E), priA345(Q701E), and priC351(R155A) on the chromosome and characterizing the mutant strains. All three priA mutants behaved like the wild type. In a ΔpriB strain, the mutations caused modest increases in SOS expression, cell size, and defects in nucleoid partitioning (Par−). Overproduction of SSB partially suppressed these phenotypes for priA341(R697A) and priA344(R697E). The priC351(R155A) mutant behaved as expected: there was no phenotype in a single mutant, and there were severe growth defects when this mutation was combined with ΔpriB. Analysis of the priBC mutant revealed two populations of cells: those with wild-type phenotypes and those that were extremely filamentous and Par− and had high SOS expression. We conclude that in vivo, priC351(R155A) identified an essential residue and function for PriC, that PriA R697 and Q701 are important only in the absence of PriB, and that this region of the protein may have a complicated relationship with SSB. IMPORTANCEEscherichia coli PriA and PriC recruit the replication machinery to a collapsed replication fork after it is repaired and needs to be restarted. In vitro studies suggest that the C terminus of SSB interacts with certain residues in PriA and PriC to recruit those proteins to the repaired fork, where they help remodel it for restart. Here, we placed those mutations on the chromosome and tested the effect of mutating these residues in vivo. The priC mutation completely abolished function. The priA mutations had no effect by themselves. They did, however, display modest phenotypes in a priB-null strain. These phenotypes were partially suppressed by SSB overproduction. These studies give us further insight into the reactions needed for replication restart.
Beginning Communication Education's eighth decade

We are turning the pages to another editorial term and moving Communication Education into its eighth decade of existence. As we turn the page to the journal's eighth decade, I revisited the first ...
A Multi-Method Investigation of Parental Responses to Youth Emotion: Prospective Effects on Emotion Dysregulation and Reactive Aggression in Daily Life.

Parental responses to negative emotion, one key component of emotion socialization, may function to increase (or decrease) reactive aggression over time via indirect effects on emotion dysregulation. However, despite its transdiagnostic relevance, very little research has examined this developmental risk pathway, and no studies have done so during the volatile and vulnerable transition to adolescence. The current study uses a sample of clinically referred youth (N = 162; mean age = 12.03 years; 47% female) and their parents to examine supportive and non-supportive parental responses to negative emotion using a multi-method (questionnaire, ecological momentary assessment [EMA], observation), multi-informant approach (child-, parent-, clinician-rated). Emotion dysregulation and reactive aggression were assessed via child report during a 4-day EMA protocol completed concurrently and 9 months later. Multivariate structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect paths from parental responses to emotion to daily reports of emotion dysregulation and reactive aggression. Consistent with hypotheses, parental responses to emotion predicted reactive aggression via effects on emotion dysregulation. This indirect effect was present for supportive and non-supportive parental responses to emotion, such that supportive parental responses decreased risk, and non-supportive responses increased risk. Moreover, findings indicated differential prediction by informant, and this was specific to supportive parental responses to emotion, whereby child-reported support was protective, while parent-reported support, unexpectedly, had the opposite effect. The clinical significance of integrating supportive and non-supportive parental responses to negative emotion into etiological and intervention models of reactive aggression is discussed.
Untapped Knowledge about Water Reuse: the Roles of Direct and Indirect Educational Messaging

Public awareness of water quality concerns has increased since the Flint, MI crisis, but knowledge about water resources management remains low. Consequently, acceptance of potable reuse also remains low. A mixed methods approach is utilized in three phases to determine if direct messaging (information about de facto water reuse aimed at increasing knowledge about wastewater reuse) increases acceptance of planned potable reuse, and if indirect messaging (local public notifications about health-based drinking water violations) affects the effectiveness of the direct messaging. In Phase 1, a spatial analysis was conducted to validate the use of local water quality violations as an indirect message. In Phase 2, a within-subjects comparison was employed to test whether consumers change their potable reuse perceptions, intentions, and attitudes after reading a knowledge-based message regarding water reuse. In Phase 3, the effect of indirect messaging, as well as the interaction of direct and indirect messaging were further analyzed. Phase 1 results match previous findings that suggest that drinking water violations tend to occur and reoccur in spatially specific patterns. Phase 2 confirms the utility of direct messaging to improve potable reuse acceptance. Phase 3 shows that indirect messaging interacts with consumers’ education level and actual knowledge to impact potable reuse acceptance.
The 95% Confidence Interval for GNSS-Derived Site Velocities

AbstractLinear trends, or site velocities, derived from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positional time series have been commonly applied to site stability assessments, structural health ...
Statistics in clinical research: Important considerations

Statistical analysis is one of the foundations of evidence-based clinical practice, a key in conducting new clinical research and in evaluating and applying prior research. In this paper, we review the choice of statistical procedures, analyses of the associations among variables and techniques used when the clinical processes being examined are still in process. We discuss methods for building predictive models in clinical situations, and ways to assess the stability of these models and other quantitative conclusions. Techniques for comparing independent events are distinguished from those used with events in a causal chain or otherwise linked. Attention then turns to study design, to the determination of the sample size needed to make a given comparison, and to statistically negative studies.
How The Blind Side Blinds Us: Postracism and the American Dream

This article analyzes how The Blind Side enables acceptance of economic disparities that are organized along racial lines. The film features the value of compassion and reproduces the central component of the American Dream: Opportunity for success is equally available to everyone. But the film maintains a myth of white superiority and obscures systemic barriers that hinder some more than others. The film's postracial message is enhanced by its narrative structure: It is a variant of the “anti-racist-white-hero” genre that features a rhetoric of tokenism.
Discovery of X-rays from the protostellar outflow object HH2.

Herbig–Haro (HH) objects have been known1,2 for 50 years to be luminous condensations of gas in star-forming regions, but their underlying physical nature is still being elucidated. Previously suggested models encompass newborn stars3, stellar winds clashing with nebular material4, dense pockets of interstellar gas excited by shocks from outflows5, and interstellar ‘bullets’ (ref. 6). Recent progress has been made with the jet-induced shock model7, in which material streams out of young stellar objects and collides with the surrounding interstellar medium. A clear prediction of this model is that the most energetic Herbig–Haro objects will emit X-rays, although they have not hitherto been detected8. Here we report the discovery of X-ray emission from one of the brightest and closest Herbig–Haro objects, HH2, at a level consistent with the model predictions. We conclude that this Herbig–Haro object contains shock-heated material located at or near its leading edge with a temperature of about 106 K.
Polymorphisms in TGFβ and TNFα are associated with the myelodysplastic syndrome phenotype

Abstract Context.—Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, excessive apoptosis, and the aberrant expression of a number of cytokines. The genes encoding these cytokines are significantly polymorphic. It is unknown whether these cytokine polymorphisms are associated with, and may therefore be playing a role in the pathogenesis of, MDS. Objective.—To determine if certain polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) cytokines are overrepresented in a cohort of patients with MDSs. Design.—DNA was isolated from the peripheral blood or bone marrow aspirate of 21 patients with MDS. The genotypes for 4 different polymorphisms, 2 in TNFα and 2 in TGFβ1, were determined using single-specific-primer polymerase chain reaction. The allele and genotype frequencies were compared with similar populations in the National Cancer Institute SNP500 database. Results.—In our MDS population, the −308A/A genotype of the TNFα gene and the TGF...
Maternal Employment, Work Schedules, and Children’s Body Mass Index

Previous work has shown that mothers' employment is associated with increases in children's body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight for height. Nonstandard work (working evenings or nights, weekends, or an irregular shift) may also be associated with children's BMI. This article examines the association between maternal work and children's BMI and considers the influence of mothers' nonstandard work schedules. Using data from school-age children (approximately 8 to 12 years) in the NICHD's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 990), this study found that an increase in the total time a mother is employed is associated with an increase in her child's BMI; additionally, the association between maternal employment and children's weight is much stronger at 6th grade relative to younger ages. There was no evidence that maternal or home characteristics or children's time use mediated these associations, nor was there any evidence that nonstandard work was associated with children's BMI. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.
Leadership Development for Latino Community Emancipation: An Integrative Approach in Social Work Education

A primary goal of the social work profession is social justice advocacy for disenfranchised and oppressed communities, such as the Latino community. In the context of this paper, leadership development for community emancipation relate to efforts that foster indigenous community leadership designed to procure political rights or equality for their disenfranchised or devalued populations. The paper reviews the literature on Latino/a leadership perspectives, leadership development trends, and best practices that serve as a compatible integrative Latino/a approach. The approach proposes that the process of Latino/a leadership development should be collective, culturally-attuned, transformative, and community emancipatory. The authors present a model for students, alumni, and faculty that incorporates the approach through the use of three components: (1) Sustained institutional commitment, support and resources; (2) Creation of leadership opportunities, mentoring and modeling; and (3) Leadership efforts that foster community emancipation. The approach has been successfully employed for over 30 years in a Latino Project at a New England school of social work. Discussion of the model’s components, a case scenario, considerations for replication of the approach, and future research will be offered.
RESIN BOND TO DENTAL CERAMICS, PART II: HIGH‐STRENGTH CERAMICS

The popularity of high-strength ceramic systems is increasing, and the range of their clinical indications is expanding constantly. Glass-infiltrated aluminum oxide ceramic (eg, InCeram® Alumina, Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Sackingen, Germany), densely sintered aluminum oxide ceramic (eg, Procera® AllCeram, Nobel Biocare AB, Gothenburg, Sweden), and zirconium oxide ceramic (eg, Procera AllZirkon®, Lava® 3M ESPE, St. Paul, MN, USA, Cercon®, Dentsply Ceramco, Burlington, NJ, USA) are popular oxide-based high-strength ceramic materials that offer favorable esthetic characteristics, mechanical properties, and biocompatibility. Proper selection and application of luting agents for final cementation of all-ceramic restorations are keys for their clinical success. The few clinical trials on full-coverage, high-strength ceramic restorations report acceptable success rates with conventional luting agents. However, an article discussed in Part I of this Critical Appraisal reviewed available in vitro and in vivo studies on this topic and recommended adhesive cementation of ceramic and even high-strength ceramic restorations. These findings contradict many manufacturers’claims and clinicians’preferences because resin bonding is a technique-sensitive and time-consuming procedure. However, resin bonding has a number of advantages (eg, increased retention, improved marginal adaptation, and higher fracture resistance of the restored tooth and the restoration itself) and is required for some minimally invasive treatment options, such as resin-bonded fixed partial dentures and laminate veneers. The resin bond to silica-based ceramics is well documented (as discussed in Part I of this Critical Appraisal) and yields predictable and long-term durable results through adequate surface preparation. Part II focuses on in vitro studies of the bonding interface of some popular high-strength ceramic materials. Comparative clinical trials are lacking, and the few available in vitro studies indicate that the composition and physical properties of oxide-based high-strength ceramics require surface preparation and bonding techniques that differ substantially from those used for silica-based ceramics.
Yellowstone lake nanoarchaeota.

Considerable Nanoarchaeota novelty and diversity were encountered in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, where sampling targeted lake floor hydrothermal vent fluids, streamers and sediments associated with these vents, and in planktonic photic zones in three different regions of the lake. Significant homonucleotide repeats (HR) were observed in pyrosequence reads and in near full-length Sanger sequences, averaging 112 HR per 1,349 bp clone and could confound diversity estimates derived from pyrosequencing, resulting in false nucleotide insertions or deletions (indels). However, Sanger sequencing of two different sets of PCR clones (110 bp, 1349 bp) demonstrated that at least some of these indels are real. The majority of the Nanoarchaeota PCR amplicons were vent associated; however, curiously, one relatively small Nanoarchaeota OTU (70 pyrosequencing reads) was only found in photic zone water samples obtained from a region of the lake furthest removed from the hydrothermal regions of the lake. Extensive pyrosequencing failed to demonstrate the presence of an Ignicoccus lineage in this lake, suggesting the Nanoarchaeota in this environment are associated with novel Archaea hosts. Defined phylogroups based on near full-length PCR clones document the significant Nanoarchaeota 16S rRNA gene diversity in this lake and firmly establish a terrestrial clade distinct from the marine Nanoarcheota as well as from other geographical locations.
1 The immune system in health and disease

For an immune response against an eliciting antigen, innate and adaptive immune mechanisms interact to provide a specific and appropriate response characterized by self-non-self discrimination and memory. This non-random process involves antigen presentation followed by T cell recognition and activation with the elaboration of T cell-derived lymphokines. The nature and amount of lymphokine production from antigen-activated T cells then determines the predominant immune response (e.g. cytotoxicity versus antibody). Exogenous regulatory factors, including steroid hormones, prostaglandins, and cytokines, modulate immune responsiveness. How these regulatory factors influence the immune response during specific host-parasite interactions determines the predominant immune response to specific antigen. As the regulation of the immune response is unravelled, new and powerful immunomodulatory therapies will be developed and utilized to improve the immune response and host survival.
Interaction of dynorphin with neurotensin on the guinea pig ileum myenteric plexus.

Abstract The possible role of dynorphin in the control of gut function was explored using longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus preparations of the guinea pig ileum. Dynorphin-(1–130 as well as other endorphins, μ or k opioid alkaloids antagonized in a dose-dependent fashion the isometric contractions caused by neurotensin. Ethylketocyclazocine and dynorphin-(1–13) were found to be potent inhibitors of the neurotensin-induced excitatory response, having IC50s of about 1 and 5 nM respectively; ketocyclazocine, normorphine and leucine enkephalin also inhibited the contractile effect of neurotensin but at concentrations 2, 30 and 400 times that of dynorphin (1–13).
Metabolic and permeation barriers to the ocular absorption of topically applied enkephalins in albino rabbits.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that there existed substantial metabolic and permeation barriers to the ocular absorption of topically applied peptides in the albino...
Facile preparation of a new gadofullerene-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent with high 1H relaxivity.

A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent based on the trimetallic nitride templated (TNT) metallofullerene Gd3N@C80 was synthesized by a facile method in high yield. The observed longitudinal and transverse relaxivities r1 and r2 for water hydrogens in the presence of the water-soluble gadofullerene 2 Gd3N@C80(OH)∼26(CH2CH2COOM)∼16 (M = Na or H) are 207 and 282 mM−1 s−1 (per C80 cage) at 2.4 T, respectively; these values are 50 times larger than those of Gd3+ poly(aminocarboxylate) complexes, such as commercial Omniscan and Magnevist. This high 1H relaxivity for this new hydroxylated and carboxylated gadofullerene derivative provides high signal enhancement at significantly lower Gd concentration as demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo MRI studies. Dynamic light scattering data reveal a unimodal size distribution with an average hydrodynamic radius of ca. 78 nm in pure water (pH = 7), which is significantly different from other hydroxylated or carboxylated fullerene and metallofullerene deriv...
A forward dynamic model of gait with application to stress analysis of bone

A model of human gait is developed for the purpose of relating neural controls to the state of stress in a skeletal member. This is achieved by implementing a forward dynamic model of gait in which the human body is modeled as an ensemble of articulating rigid-body segments controlled by a minimal muscle set. Neurological signals act as the input into musculotendon dynamics. Prom the muscular forces, the joint moments and resulting motion of the segmental model are derived. At fixed moments in the gait cycle, the joint torques and joint reaction forces are incorporated into an equilibrium analysis of the segmental elements, modeled as elastic bodies undergoing biaxial bending.
Microdetermination of oxyethylene group in glycols and ethylene oxide adducts

Summary A simple procedure for microdetermination of ethylene oxide content in glycols and ethylene oxide adducts has been devised. This procedure consists of treatment of the sample and its intermediate product with hydriodic acid in two stages. Under a combination of experimental conditions, ethyl iodide can be quantitatively produced for estimating of ethylene oxide content in the sample stoichiometrically. This method is especially designed for analysis of ethylene oxide adduct of polyhydroxy derivatives.
American depository receipts and calendar anomalies

This is the first study to examine the presence of calendar anomalies in American Depository Receipts (ADR) returns. Existing literature has documented several calendar anomalies in US and foreign markets. ADRs, however, represent a unique class of securities because they represent the ownership of stock of a foreign firm, but they are traded on US markets. We use the Standard & Poor's (S&P) ADR index returns for the period 1998–2004 to look for the presence of four important anomalies: the January effect, the day-of-the-week effect, the Turn-Of-The-Month (TOTM) effect and the holiday effect. For comparison, we do the same analysis on S&P 500 index returns. While we do not find evidence of any anomalies for S&P 500 index returns, we do find evidence to support the TOTM anomaly in the S&P ADR index returns. These results suggest that the market for ADRs may not be as efficient as the broader US stock market.
Macromerine, normacromerine and bisnormacromerine: non-psychoactive methylated derivatives of norepinephrine.

Macromerine, normacromerine and bisnormacromerine, O and/or N methylated derivatives of norepinephrine, produce no effect on the conditioned avoidance response (CAR) in rats after IP injection of up to 100 mg/kg of the corresponding hydrochloride. The fate of these compounds was studied by a newly developed assay method utilizing an extraction procedure and the native fluorescence of the compounds. The compounds are rapidly absorbed from the peritoneal cavity, show a half-life of 30 to 60 min in plasma and liver, but remain rather unchanged in the brain during the first hour. Brain levels were found to be between 5 and 30 Μg/g. Since these brain levels are higher than those found for hallucinogenic compounds which do interfere with the CAR we conclude that these compounds are not or less psychoactive than known hallucinogenic substances.
DEVELOPMENT AND GOVERNMENTALITY

The subjectivity of individuals, the so-called speakers and hearers of political discourse, who actually, or even ideally, populate a state, needs to be understood in terms of enunciative modalities - the statuses, sites, and positions - of their existence as political subjects. Enunciative modalities refer to the ways a discursive practice is attached to bodies in space (Clifford, 2001:56).Governmental thought territorializes itself in different ways… We can analyze the ways in which the idea of a territorially bounded, politically governed nation state under sovereign authority took shape… One can trace anomalous governmental histories of smaller-scale territories… and one can also think of these [as] spaces of enclosure that governmental thought has imagined and penetrated… how [does it] happen that social thought territorializes itself on the problem of [for example] the slum in the nineteenth century (Rose, 1999:34–36)?
Some Tropospheric Scatter Propagation Measurements near the Radio Horizon

Measurements of small variations in 100 mc field intensity within and just beyond the radio horizon are reported. The measured fields are assumed to be the resultant of two field components, one having a constant amplitude and the other being a rapidly-fading scattered component. The fading range of the resultant field intensity over a 10-minute period is used to determine K. Here, K is the ratio in decibels of the root-mean-square amplitude of the scattered component to the amplitude of the constant vector. Curves showing the measured median values of basic transmission loss, fading rate, and K plotted vs hour of the day are included for three of the Cheyenne Mountain transmission paths. Diurnal variation of these quantities is also discussed. The average basic transmission loss of the scattered component, Lba8, can be found if K and the resultant basic transmission loss, Lbm are known. Median values of Lba8 and Lbm are plotted vs the angular path distance, ?. Measurement of the correlation of the resultant field strengths received on two horizontally-spaced antennas within the radio horizon is reported. When the spacing was varied from ? to 20 wavelengths and the correlation compared to other characteristics of the field, the correlation was found to be as much a function of Lba8 and fading rate as it was of antenna spacing.
Internal gravity waves in the solar atmosphere. I - Adiabatic waves in the chromosphere

The properties of adiabatic and linear internal gravity waves propagating in a solar wind model are discussed, using nonlinearity criteria unique to gravity waves to estimate wave-breaking heights. The results are used to deduce information on the possible role of gravity waves in the chromospheric energy balance. Maximum vertical velocity amplitudes for gravity waves are estimated to be on the order of 2 km/sec or less, and maximum horizontal velocity amplitudes are less than 6 km/sec, with temperature perturbations as large as 1000-2000 K. It is also estimated that gravity waves with an incident energy flux of one million ergs/sq cm-sec can propagate upward to a maximum height of 900-1000 km above the visible surface before nonlinearities lead to wave breaking, while those with an energy flux of 100,000 ergs/sq cm-sec can reach maximum heights of 1400-1600 km.
The utility of administrative data for measuring adherence to cancer surveillance care guidelines.

Background:Adherence to professional society guidelines for follow-up or surveillance care in cancer survivors usually is measured with medical record review. Administrative data represent an alternative approach that may encompass larger numbers of patients with relatively low incremental costs.Obj
Criteria for stuttering.

Judges are able to differentiate stuttered from nonstuttered speech samples using written transcriptions. These decisions clearly are associated with the presence of certain types of disfluency whi...
Effects of glucose and magnesium ion on the quenching of yeast hexokinase fluorescence by acrylamide.

Abstract To probe the effects of the substrate, glucose, and the cofactor, Mg2+, on the structure of hexokinase (ATP: d -hexose 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1), titrations of the tryptophan fluorescence of yeast hexokinase isozyme P-II(B) were performed. Acrylamide was used as a quenching titrant in the absence and in the presence of glucose and Mg2+ singly and together at pH 5.5 and 8.3 at 20°C. The four tryptophan residues of the monomeric subunit of yeast hexokinase may be classified as two surface residues, one being highly accessible to dissolved I− and one with restricted accessibility to I−, one glucose-quenchable residue in the cleft, and one buried (Kramp, D.C. and Feldman, I. (1978) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 537, 406–416). The acrylamide data were analyzed by least-squares computer analysis for quenching constants and fractional fluorescence values of the tryptophan residues. The quenching constants measure the accessibilities of the residues to the quencher, while the fractional fluorescences are related to the microenvironments of the fluorophores. At each pH value, glucose altered the quenching constants, but not the fractional fluorescence, of the tryptophan residues. Mg2+ greatly accentuated this glucose effect, especially for the surface residue near the cleft opening. Comparison of acrylamide- and I−-quenching data shows that this particular residue has a positively charged microenvironment. A pH change from 5.5 to 8.3 increased the acrylamide-accessibility of the cleft tryptophan but did not seem to influence accessibility of the surface residues or the buried residue significantly, thus strengthening our previous conclusion that the cleft opening is small enough at pH 5.5 to partially restrict entrance of organic molecules and negative ions. However, with saturating glucose present there was a pH effect on the surface residue accessibility. Titrations in 55 vol.% glycerol suggest the presence of transient channels (not just holes) in the hexokinase structure, which allows penetration of the protein by the solution. Consequently, the buried tryptophan residue is quenched more strongly by dissolved acrylamide than is attributable to diffusion of quencher through the protein matrix.
Improved detection of viral RNA isolated from liquid-based cytology samples.

Background: Molecular diagnosis requires the ability to obtain high-quality nucleic acids that are representative of the disease state. We evaluated the recovery and detection of limiting amounts of viral oncogenic RNA from cells fixed in liquid-based cytology media. Methods and Results: Serial dilutions of a human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive cell line fixed in a liquid media was used as a model system. Total nucleic acid (TNA) extraction produced RNA with clearly visible ribosomal bands even after one year of storage. These TNA extracts, treated with DNase-I, were used in an RT-PCR assay for HPV-16 E6-E7 oncogenic transcripts. With chemiluminscent Southern blot detection, samples with one HPV-positive cell in 30,000 were consistently detected. Conclusion: PreservCyt-fixed cells can yield RNA suitable for molecular assays even after one year of storage.
Confirming Specificity of RNAi in Mammalian Cells

RNA interference (RNAi) is a process of sequence-specific gene silencing. Recent advances in the understanding of RNAi have provided practical tools to silence gene expression in mammalian cells, opening new possibilities for studying the functions of genes and proteins. It is important to ensure that an observed effect of RNAi is due to silencing of the intended target. Indeed, it is possible that an siRNA may silence more than one messenger RNA that is homologous in the region complementary to the siRNA. Considering that we know little about how RNAi works in mammalian cells, other artifacts may be yet to be recognized. Thus, we suggest approaches to rescue the effect of RNAi by ectopically expressing the protein of interest. These approaches involve introducing silent mutations into the complementary DNA of the protein and targeting RNAi to the untranslated regions of the gene.
Characterization of water insoluble solids isolated from various biomass fast pyrolysis oils

Abstract A solid water insoluble material (WIS), commonly called pyrolytic lignin, can be isolated from biomass fast pyrolysis oils. Such material was isolated from the bio-oils produced from barley straw, barley hulls, switchgrass, soy straw and oak and then fully characterized. Analytical techniques employed in the characterization included elemental analysis, pyrolysis-GC/MS, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). The characterization showed that the materials were mostly but not entirely derived from the lignin fraction of the biomass; they were largely made up of aromatic rings, substituted with varying amounts of methoxy groups and linked by varying types of aliphatic linkers. The NMR identified different types of aliphatic linkers in the isolates, some previously reported and some newly proposed. GPC analysis showed that the dimers and trimers were the most common oligomeric size though units comprising a wide variety of molecular weights, some >1500 Da, were detected.
Interaction of the recombination pathways of bacteriophage λ and host Escherichia coli: Effects on λ recombination☆

The host RecBC recombination pathway is inefficient for point mutants of phage λ defective in the viral general recombination pathway. This low level of λ recombination can be increased substantially by the presence of an additional point mutation in the gam gene of λ or by the presence of a pathway of bacterial recombination alternative to the RecBC pathway. We suggest that the gam gene of λ codes for a protein (γ-protein) which provides for a specific inhibition of the RecBC recombination pathway.
The system zinc-technetium-99

Abstract The Zn-Tc 99 phase diagram was studied by thermal, metallographic, X-ray, sampling, and effusion techniques. The solubility of technetium in liquid zinc is expressed by the empirical equations: (470°–544° C ) log ( at .% Tc ) = 6.431−7159 T −1 ; (544°–758° C ) log ( at .% Tc ) = 9.413−1569 T −1 + 4.979.10 6 T −2 . Two intermediate phases were found in the system: TcZn 6 and another phase with a Zn-Tc atom ratio between 15 and 18. These phases decompose peritectically at 544° and 950°C, respectively. Mutual solubilities in technetium and zinc appear to be negligible. Technetium metal appears to be unattacked by molten cadmium at 500°C.
Spatially-resolved high-resolution spectroscopy of Venus 2. Variations of HDO, OCS, and SO2 at the cloud tops

Abstract While CO, HCl, and HF, that were considered in the first part of this work, have distinct absorption lines in high-resolution spectra and were detected four decades ago, the lines of HDO, OCS, and SO 2 are either very weak or blended by the telluric lines and have not been observed previously by ground-based infrared spectroscopy at the Venus cloud tops. The H 2 O abundance above the Venus clouds is typically below the detection limit of ground-based IR spectroscopy. However, the large D / H ratio on Venus facilitates observations of HDO. Converted to H 2 O with D / H ≈ 200, our observations at 2722 cm −1 in the Venus afternoon show a H 2 O mixing ratio of ∼1.2 ppm at latitudes between ±40° increasing to ±60° by a factor of 2. The observations in the early morning reveal the H 2 O mixing ratio that is almost constant at 2.9 ppm within latitudes of ±75°. The measured H 2 O mixing ratios refer to 74 km. The observed increase in H 2 O is explained by the lack of photochemical production of sulfuric acid in the night time. The recent observations at the P-branch of OCS at 4094 cm −1 confirm our detection of OCS. Four distributions of OCS along the disk of Venus at various latitudes and local times have been retrieved. Both regular and irregular components are present in the variations of OCS. The observed OCS mixing ratio at 65 km varies from ∼0.3 to 9 ppb with the mean value of ∼3 ppb. The OCS scale height is retrieved from the observed limb darkening and varies from 1 to 4 km with a mean value of half the atmospheric scale height. SO 2 at the cloud tops has been detected for the first time by means of ground-based infrared spectroscopy. The SO 2 lines look irregular in the observed spectra at 2476 cm −1 . The SO 2 abundances are retrieved by fitting by synthetic spectra, and two methods have been applied to determine uncertainties and detection limits in this fitting. The retrieved mean SO 2 mixing ratio of 350 ± 50 ppb at 72 km favors a significant increase in SO 2 above the clouds since the period of 1980–1995 that was observed by the SOIR occultations at Venus Express. Scale heights of OCS and SO 2 may be similar, and the SO 2 /OCS ratio is ∼500 and may be rather stable at 65–70 km under varying conditions on Venus.
1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptors in human thymic and tonsillar lymphocytes

In vitro activated human peripheral blood lymphocytes possess the receptor protein for 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3). In the present study we have examined whether activated lymphocytes that occur in vivo in human thymuses and tonsils also possess receptors for 1,25(OH)2D3. Freshly isolated lymphocyte preparations, from five separate surgical specimens of thymus and tonsil, were depleted of monocytes and examined, before and after fractionation on a density gradient of Percoll, for [3H] 1,25(OH)2D3 binding by means of sucrose density gradient sedimentation, by saturation analysis of the binding, and by DNA-cellulose chromatography. The state of activation of the lymphocyte preparations was determined using [3H] thymidine incorporation, DNA and RNA quantitation (using acridine orange), and by determining the presence or absence of markers of activation (interleukin-2 receptor, transferrin receptor, and HLA-DR molecules). In both the thymic and the tonsillar lymphocyte preparations we detected a 1,25(OH)2D3-binding molecule possessing sedimentation coefficient of 3.3 S and dissociation constant of 10(-10) M as well as DNA binding capability. In thymic lymphocytes, the 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor concentration correlated positively with the number of lymphocytes expressing the transferrin receptor (r = 0.84; p less than 0.05). In addition, in both thymic and tonsillar lymphocytes the concentration of 1,25(OH)2D3 receptors correlated positively with the number of cells in the G1a phase of the cell cycle (r = 0.79, p less than 0.01, and r = 0.88, p less than 0.001 for thymic and tonsillar lymphocytes, respectively). In contrast, the 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor concentration in these preparations did not correlate with the rate of cell proliferation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Phobos, Deimos, and the Moon: size and distribution of crater ejecta blocks

Ejecta block characteristics observed on Phobos, Deimos, and the moon are examined. The analyzed source craters on Deimos are 0.8-2.3 km in diameter, those on Phobos are 1.5-10 km, and the lunar craters are between 0.2-3.5 km in diameter. The size and radial distribution of the ejecta blocks for the three bodies are compared. It is observed that the size distribution of the ejecta blocks surrounding craters on the three objects are basically similar, and the radial distribution of the blocks for Phobos and the moon are the same (within 2 radii of the crater center); however, the ejecta on Deimos are more dispersed (greater than or equal to 2 radii from the crater center).
Our Informationally Disabled Courts

In order to carry out their functions of deciding particular cases and developing legal rules and principles, courts need information: not just information about the law, but also factual information about the particular matter in controversy and about the world in general. The way in which courts are structured, however, makes it more difficult for them to obtain the information they need than it is for most other public decision-making institutions. As the world becomes more complex, and as sophisticated scientific, technical, and financial information becomes more central to litigation and to the judicial function, the systemic disabilities of the courts in obtaining the information they need become more apparent and increasingly more problematic.
Restoration of California Native Grasses and Clovers: The Roles of Clipping, Broadleaf Herbicide, and Native Grass Density

One of the major challenges confronting grassland restoration of highly invaded communities is increasing the diversity of native species. There is surprisingly little research investigating how reconstructed native grasslands respond to common management techniques and how these techniques influence the relative establishment of both native grasses and forbs. Despite the diversity and wide distribution of native clovers in California, few practitioners incorporate them into grassland restoration plans. Conversely, non-native clovers have been seeded extensively onto California rangelands. This study addresses the following questions: (1) Using readily available management tools, is there a strategy that can benefit the growth of both planted native bunchgrasses and seeded clovers? (2) Do native bunchgrasses compete with establishing clovers and non-native grasses? (3) Do native and non-native clovers differ in their response to management treatments or in their productivity? Plots were established to test three factors in different combinations over 3 years: (1) early spring clipping, (2) initial broadleaf herbicide, and (3) native bunchgrass planting density. Native and non-native clovers were seeded in years 2 and 3. Early spring clipping did not have a significant effect on native bunchgrass cover, yet it did result in greater growth of native and non-native clovers. The direction of the response to broadleaf herbicide changed between years for native bunchgrasses and was consistently negative for native clovers. Plots with higher native grass densities did not adversely affect the seeded clovers, yet non-native grass cover was reduced. Native and non-native clovers exhibited similar responses to clipping and established at similar densities.
CORN, WHEAT, AND POTATO CROP RESIDUE DECOMPOSITION AND NITROGEN MINERALIZATION IN SANDY SOILS UNDER AN IRRIGATED POTATO ROTATION

Transformation of organic nitrogen (N) from both soil organic matter and from crop residues into inorganic forms is an important process which determines the pool of available N for the subsequent crop. This study was conducted in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) on an irrigated Quincy fine sand where potato (Solanum tuberosum) was grown in three or four year rotations with either corn (Zea mays L.) or wheat (Triticum sativa L.). The decomposition of crop residue and the mineralization of nitrogen (N) provides a source of plant available N to the next crop. An in-situ column incubation technique was used to determine the N mineralized during January through September 2000 from corn, wheat, and potato crop residues. The soil was sieved to determine the amount of crop residues present in the soil which contributes to N mineralization. The dry weight of the crop residue in January soil samples, taken at the top 30 cm depth, ranged from 8.4 for potato to 26.5 Mg ha−1 for corn, but decreased to 4.6 for potato and 1...