cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors controlling discrimination in imaging polarimetry

The discrimination of scene elements in polarimetric and in non-polarimetric images is governed by both environmental and instrumental factors. These factors consist of systematic elements, which are dealt with by means of appropriate calibration, and random errors. In the case of imaging polarimetry, the Stokes parameter images are calculated from images obtained with orthogonal orientations of the linear polarizer about the optic axis. For the Stokes images to contain significant information, the orthogonal, registered image pair from which the Stokes images S 1 and S 2 are calculated must be significantly different. Misregistration of the orthogonal input images also impacts the correlation of the resulting Stokes image to scene elements. The system MTF, sampling pattern and geometry further impact the discrimination of features in the scene. These factors are discussed. The effects of systematic and random error sources on resolved target discriminability from clutter background is considered in depth. While the issue of spatially unresolved target detection is considered, it does not form a major component of this discussion. The intent of these considerations of the physics and phenomenology of imaging polarimetry is to progress towards the predictive modeling of target discriminability. This will aid in sensor design and mission parameter optimization.
Microwave processing: fundamentals and applications

In microwave processing, energy is supplied by an electromagnetic field directly to the material. This results in rapid heating throughout the material thickness with reduced thermal gradients. Volumetric heating can also reduce processing times and save energy. The microwave field and the dielectric response of a material govern its ability to heat with microwave energy. A knowledge of electromagnetic theory and dielectric response is essential to optimize the processing of materials through microwave heating. The fundamentals of electromagnetic theory, dielectric response, and applications of microwave heating to materials processing, especially fiber composites, are reviewed in this article.
Oscillatory behaviour of charge transfer probabilities in ion-atom collisions

The oscillatory behaviour of charge transfer probability as a function of impact parameter in ion–atom collisions often referred to as Stueckelberg oscillations is discussed in terms of simple first-order time-dependent perturbation theory. The system of He+2 + H is used to make the treatment specific. Symmetry consequences for transfer probabilities due to nonadiabatic coupling terms are analysed that apply to general ion–atom systems.
Plasma MHPG: within- and across-day stability in children and adults with Tourette's syndrome.

Within- and across-day stability of unconjugated plasma 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenethy~ leneglycol (pMHPG, the major metabolite of norepinephrine) levels were assessed in several subgroups of 47 primarily child and adolescent subjects with Tourette's syndrome (TS). Mean morning pMHPG levels remained stable over a 20-min period from 8:30 to 8:50 am at 3.5 ± 0.8 nglml. However, the mean intraindividual fluctuation in pMHPG levels over 20 min was ±12%. Mean pMHPG levels remained stable in the morning from 8:00–8:30 am to noon. However, an 11% decrease (p < 0.07) in mean pMHPG levels was observed in the afternoon between noon and 3:00–4:00 pm. Monitored on consecutive days, mean morning pMHPG levels fell 12% (p < 0.002). The afternoon and across-day falls in pMHPG levels observed in this study of primarily children and adolescents with TS have not been observed in studies of adult control subjects. The results suggest that the design of research protocols involving children and adolescents that use pMHPG should take into consideration the effects of time, both within- and across-day, in pMHPG levels.
Cadmium-induced decrease in RUNX2 mRNA expression and recovery by the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the human osteoblast-like cell line, Saos-2.

Exposure to cadmium poses a threat to human health, including increased susceptibility to developing the bone disease osteoporosis. Despite its recognized importance as an environmental toxin, little is known about how cadmium directly impacts bone-forming osteoblasts. We previously reported that cadmium induces apoptosis in human osteoblast-like Saos-2 cells. In this work, we hypothesize that cadmium exposure induces oxidative stress which leads to decreased RUNX2 mRNA expression and increased apoptotic death, and predict that the antioxidant NAC mitigates the damaging effects of cadmium. Oxidative stress is implicated in osteoporosis; furthermore the osteoblast transcriptional factor RUNX2 is reported to play a protective role against osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Cells treated with 10 μM CdCl2 exhibited signs of oxidative damage including depletion in glutathione, increased reactive oxygen species formation, and enhanced lipid peroxidation. RUNX2 mRNA expression, by RT-PCR, was significantly reduced after exposure to 10 μM CdCl2. Pretreatment with the antioxidant NAC (1 mM) prevented cadmium-induced decrease in RUNX2 mRNA and protected cells from apoptotic death. This study provides insight into the mechanisms underlying cadmium-induced osteotoxicity. In addition, this study distinguishes itself by identifying RUNX2 as a target for heavy metal-induced osteotoxicity.
Utilizing Initial Estimates in Estimating the Coefficients in a Linear Model

Abstract A procedure which utilizes an initial estimate to estimate the coefficients in a linear mode is introduced. A linear model containing replications with the same input matrix is considered and a class of two-stage estimators is defined. Optimal estimators in the class are determined, and it is shown that the proposed estimators are better than the corresponding single-sample least squares estimator if the initial estimate is accurate, and are as good (asymptotically) as the corresponding single-sample least squares estimator if the initial estimate is inaccurate.
The educational technology mix: Production functions from “Sesame Street”

This is a re-analysis of data collected in an evaluation of Sesame Street. The data were obtained from 695 kindergarten-aged children randomly selected from five areas of the United States. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of Sesame Street in a multi-variate framework, and to develop production functions showing the contributions which could be derived from the production function paradigm, most especially what might be gained by examining the possible results of mixing television viewing with teacher effort. The major findings are that the more a child watches Sesame Street, the more he learns; the higher a child's social class the more he learns from watching the program; and that Sesame Street does not affect disadvantaged children more than advantaged children, and hence has limited utility as a means of reducing differences in school performance between the rich and poor. Limitations in the data prevented calculation of production functions estimating trade-offs between teacher input and television viewing, but the limited data available suggest that mixes are better than either teacher alone or television alone.
Studies on levamisole, a potentially useful drug in the treatment of Behçet's syndrome.

The anthelmintic drug, levamisole, was shown to amplify the response of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to vegetable mitogens. A similar enhancement of blast formation in the mixed lymphocyte culture was also demonstrated. High concentrations of the drug led to depression of both of these responses. These observations led to studies in a rat breast cancer model in which immunopotentiation was demonstrated in vivo, and this effect was associated with tumor regression. As in the human in vitro studies, high doses of the drug were not associated with augmentation of the immune response and in this circumstance no inhibition of tumor growth was observed. Assuming that potentiation of immune responsiveness is of benefit to patients suffering from Behcet's syndrome, the development of clinical trials employing levamisole appears justified, as long as the drug dosage is carefully monitored.
Effects of Reduced Weight Maintenance and Leptin Repletion on Functional Connectivity of the Hypothalamus in Obese Humans

Treating obesity has proven to be an intractable challenge, in part, due to the difficulty of maintaining reduced weight. In our previous studies of in-patient obese subjects, we have shown that leptin repletion following a 10% or greater weight loss reduces many of the metabolic (decreased energy expenditure, sympathetic nervous system tone, and bioactive thyroid hormones) and behavioral (delayed satiation) changes that favor regain of lost weight. FMRI studies of these same subjects have shown leptin-sensitive increases in activation of the right hypothalamus and reduced activation of the cingulate, medial frontal and parahippocampal gryi, following weight loss, in response to food stimuli. In the present study, we expanded our cohort of in-patient subjects and employed psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to examine changes in the functional connectivity of the right hypothalamus. During reduced-weight maintenance with placebo injections, the functional connectivity of the hypothalamus increased with visual areas and the dorsal anterior cingulate (dorsal ACC) in response to food cues, consistent with higher sensitivity to food. During reduced-weight maintenance with leptin injections, however, the functional connectivity of the right hypothalamus increased with the mid-insula and the central and parietal operculae, suggesting increased coupling with the interoceptive system, and decreased with the orbital frontal cortex, frontal pole and the dorsal ACC, suggesting a down-regulated sensitivity to food. These findings reveal neural mechanisms that may underlie observed changes in sensitivity to food cues in the obese population during reduced-weight maintenance and leptin repletion.
Modes of p53 regulation.

The traditional view of p53 activation includes three steps—p53 stabilization, DNA binding, and transcriptional activation. However, recent studies indicate that each step of p53 activation is more complex than originally anticipated. Moreover, both genetic studies in mice and in vitro studies with purified components suggest that the classical model may not be sufficient to explain all aspects of p53 activation in vivo. To reconcile these differences, we propose that antirepression, the release of p53 from repression by factors such as Mdm2 and MdmX, is a key step in the physiological activation of p53.
Acoustic tomography with an underwater sensor network

Underwater acoustic tomography is a known technique that is traditionally used at large scales to gather temperature and current data about the oceans. Performing acoustic tomography underwater is desirable because it permits information to be derived about the properties of the water between senders and receivers, thus increasing the spatial resolution of the data as compared to only sensing locally at each node. The principals of the technique also apply at much smaller scales (e.g lakes, marinas, bays); however, due to several challenges that must be overcome, acoustic tomography systems have not been developed for small bodies of water. Using an underwater sensor network we have developed a system that can perform underwater acoustic tomography at scales down to 50 meters. Like all sensor networks, underwater sensor networks leverage a network of distributed sensor nodes to perform sensing. In this work we show how to take advantage of such a network to perform acoustic tomography. We discuss the challenges to building such a system and describe the system design and signal processing techniques we have developed to overcome these challenges. Additionally, we present experimental results from a deployment in a marina. The experiments show that our system is capable of measuring water temperature between the nodes using acoustic signals and can deliver 2D temperature maps of the marina.
Influence of cigarette, pipe, and cigar smoking, removable partial dentures, and age on oral leukoplakia

Oral leukoplakia, a potentially malignant lesion, has been associated with tobacco smoking, but few studies have investigated the influence of different products on lesion prevalence. In the current study 925 healthy male subjects from the Veterans Administration Dental Longitudinal Study were examined for lesion site and prevalence. The participants were grouped according to smoking status: nonsmokers, smokers of cigarettes, cigars, a pipe, cigars plus a pipe, or cigarettes plus another tobacco product. In addition, the amount of product smoked, presence of a removable partial denture, and age were examined to determine their relation to leukoplakia prevalence. The data indicated that cigar smokers had significantly fewer lesions than the other smoker groups and that persons smoking a pipe or a pipe plus cigars had the highest prevalence. Heavy cigarette smokers had significantly more palatal lesions than light to moderate cigarette smokers. While removable partial dentures did not appear to affect lesion prevalence significantly, older smokers, persons of 50 years and above, had a significantly higher prevalence than persons less than 50 years of age.
Pediatric tympanoplasty and the role of preoperative eustachian tube evaluation.

The optimal timing for repair of a clean and dry tympanic membrane perforation in the pediatric patient remains an issue of concern and controversy. Although a particular “ideal age” for tympanoplasty has not been uniformly identified, it seems clear that one can expect a greater degree of success with advancing age of the patient. Although the definition of success varies, a healed tympanic membraneanda6-monthpostoperative interval free of effusion are frequently cited in defining tympanoplasty success. Causes of failure in the pediatric population are often attributed to immature eustachian tube function or eustachian tube dysfunction. It is therefore logical that many surgeons have used tests of eustachian tube functionpreoperatively topredict success in tympanoplasty. They have also used these techniques as research tools to ascertain whether a favorable test of eustachian tube function should be used as a preoperative screening tool. Although tasting otologic drops instilled through a perforation into the middle ear has not specifically been studied, an affirmative test would suggest a lack of eustachian tube obstruction and possibly a lack of dysfunction. Therefore a reviewof studiesdesigned toaddress the relationship, if any, of preoperative eustachian tube function and subsequent success in tympanoplasty will be examined in an attempt to support or refute the hypothesis.
Identifying infants at risk: North Carolina's High-Priority Infant Program.

Recent federal legislation (e.g., PL 99-457, Part H, and amendments to the MCH block grant and Medicaid legislation) has focused attention on infants at risk for health and developmental problems. The ability to plan services for these infants would be strengthened by data that could be used for program accountability and evaluation. Using nurses based in local health departments, North Carolina's High-Priority Infant program currently identifies and follows infants with biologic (e.g., very low birth weight), environmental (e.g., psychosocial problems), and established (e.g., Down syndrome) risk conditions. Data from this program were collected to analyze specific features of its implementation, a necessary precursor to evaluating outcome.
The enumeration of restricted random walks by Sheffer polynomials with applications to statistics

Abstract Sheffer polynomials are solutions of certain systems of operator equations. Difference equations, which frequently occur in path enumeration, belong in that class. To find representations of the solutions, the restriction on the paths has to be in the form of boundaries. Such problems have applications in two-sample tests. We also consider paths with more than two step vectors. The gambler's ruin problem illustrates the method. If paths with a given area underneath are counted, q-binomial coefficients come into play. Eulerian Sheffer sequence solve some of such problems.
A ray-Kirchhoff method for body-wave calculations in inhomogeneous media: theory

SUMMARY A ray-Kirchhoff method is developed for body-wave calculations which extends previous ray methods to rapidly varying media. It is based on a newly derived integral solution to wave equations which indicates that the wave field at a receiver point is given by a superposition of ray solutions determined by the transport and extended eikonal equations. The latter is in turn solved by an asymptotic series. In a slowly varying medium, only the leading term of this series needs to be considered, and the extended eikonal equation reduces to the well-known eikonal equation. Wave fields in this case can be calculated using asymptotic ray theory. For a rapidly varying medium where velocity gradients are no longer small, the higher-order terms of the series must not be disregarded. These frequency-dependent higher-order terms represent the scattering effect of velocity gradients and provide a basis for avoiding caustics. The new method also includes a procedure for estimating the errors introduced by truncating higher-order terms from the asymptotic series. In particular, validity conditions for the ray-Kirchhoff method in elastic media are formulated which indicate that the new method is less restrictive than some previous ray methods such as the Gaussian-beam technique. For implementation, a perturbation scheme is developed for solving the ray and transport equations. In addition to computing the higher-order terms of the asymptotic series, this scheme avoids most of the ray tracing required for computing wave fields in median with weak lateral variations. Using this scheme, the ray-Kirchhoff method is extended to anelastic media. Approaches for removing singularities on an integral surface used in the ray-Kirchhoff method are proposed which not only prevent the infinite amplitude at a caustic, but also predict the phase shift caused by this singularity.
Intelligent system monitoring on large clusters

Modern data centers have a large number of components that must be monitored, including servers, switches/routers, and environmental control systems. This paper describes InteMon, a prototype monitoring and mining system for data centers. It uses the SNMP protocol to monitor a new data center at Carnegie Mellon. It stores the monitoring data in a MySQL database, allowing visualization of the time-series data using a JSP web-based frontend interface for system administrators. What sets InteMon apart from other cluster monitoring systems is its ability to automatically analyze correlations in the monitoring data in real time and alert administrators of potential anomalies. It uses efficient, state of the art stream mining methods to report broken correlations among input streams. It also uses these methods to intelligently compress historical data and avoid the need for administrators to configure threshold-based monitoring bands.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme measured in mouse tissue by inhibition of histidyl-leucine peptidase.

Abstract A peptidase in mouse tissues was found to hydrolyze histidyl-leucine produced by angiotensin-converting enzyme and to decrease the fluorometric assay value of the converting enzyme. The addition of n -butanol to the reaction mixture was found to inhibit histidyl-leucine peptidase and helped in the assay of angiotensin-converting enzyme. The optimal concentration of n -butanol to prevent hydrolysis of histidyl-leucine by the peptidase during the angiotensin-converting enzyme assay was 2.5%. The K m value of angiotensin-converting enzyme in tissue extracts thus measured was 2.6 m m . Among the murine tissues studied, lung and testis contained the highest activity and epidermis showed the lowest; the technique described was sensitive enough to detect low levels of activity ranging from 0.01 to 2.4 nmole of histidyl-leucine formed per minute and to determine subcellular distribution. This method may be useful for angiotensin-converting enzyme assay even in conditions associated with decreased angiotensin-converting enzyme or increased histidyl-leucine peptidase.
Measles, canine distemper and respiratory syncytial virions and nucleocapsids. A comparative study of their structure, polypeptide and nucleic acid composition.

Measles, canine distemper (CDV) and respiratory syncytial (RS) virus nucleocapsids were isolated and purified from infected cell cytoplasm, and virions were processed from the extracellular fluid of infected cell monolayers. Ultrastructurally the nucleocapsids possessed diameters of 17–18 nm with no differences noted between the RS nucleocapsids and other nucleocapsids examined. The nucleocapsids exhibited sedimentation values of from 200–300S and possessed buoyant density values of 1.29–1.30 gm/cc in CsCl. Direct chemical measurements and/or 280/260 nm absorption ratios, showed measles, CDV and RS nucleocapsids to contain 5% RNA. RNA, phenol extracted from [32P]-labelled measles, CDV and RS nucleocapsids was found to be RNase A sensitive, while being DNase resistant. Base composition studies of the [32P]-labelled RNA from these three viral nucleocapsids yielded values of 20–22 mole % for cytosine 21–23 mole % for guanine, 26–28mole % for adenine and 29–31 mole % for uridine. Uridine was always found to be the nucleotide in greatest abundance. Analysis by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of measles and CDV nucleocapsid obtained from infected cells dispersed without enzymes revealed them to contain a single polypeptide with molecular weights of 61000 and 54000 daltons, respectively. The polypeptide patterns of [3H]-fucose and [14C]-amino acid labelled measles and CDV virions were examined by SDS-PAGE and each was revealed to possess at least six polypeptides. At least one of the measles and two of the CDV polypeptides contained carbohydrate. These results demonstrate that measles, CDV and RS viruses have a number of properties in common with the better characterized members of the paramyxovirus group (NDV, Sendai and SV5).
Major depression with anger attacks: The case of mary

Mary, a 44-year-old, never-married African American woman, presented for treatment of panic disorder but was diagnosed instead as having major depression with recurrent anger attacks. Angry outbursts had caused numerous problems in her career and in her interpersonal relationships. In the first paper in this CBT case conference, the therapist presents initial information about the case, derived from a diagnostic interview and the first two treatment sessions. The next four papers each provide details of the case conceptualization and associated assessment and treatment strategies advocated by an expert clinician. Finally, the therapist comments on similarities and differences among the experts' recommendations and summarizes what actually transpired in the remainder of the therapy.
Interaction Between the Parenting Alliance and Parent–Child Activities in a Clinic-Referred Sample of 2 to 18-year-olds

Several decades of research have demonstrated a link between marital, parenting, and child domains. The present study examined the nature of these links by testing the moderating effect of the parent–child relationship on the association between the parenting alliance and internalizing and externalizing problems in 324 dual-parent families of 2-to-18-year-old clinic-referred youth. Findings indicated that positive parent–child activities directly related to children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, and modified the nature of the association between the parenting alliance and internalizing problems in families of 6-to-10-year-olds. Interestingly, in families where parents engaged in fewer positive activities with their children, a strong parenting alliance actually related to greater child internalizing problems. Findings support the importance of understanding the interaction between the marital and child domains in order to effectively intervene with families of children experiencing behavior problems.
Irreconcilable differences in Vygotsky's and Bakhtin's approaches to the social and the individual: An educational perspective

In Western psychology and education, up until very recently, Bakhtin has often been introduced as a scholar whose approach was compatible with and an extension of Vygotsky's cultural-historical approach. I argue that this continuity is problematic. Vygotsky's approach to the social was heavily influenced by Hegel's universalist, mono-logic, mono-logical, developmental (diachronic), activity-based philosophy. Bakhtin developed a pluralistic, essentially synchronic, dialogic, discourse- and genre-based approach to the social, involving the hybridity of co-existing competing and conflicting varieties of logic. Extrapolating Bakhtin's approach in education and psychology, I argue that from Bakhtin's dialogic framework, when a child (or any other person) is a subject of development -- as in developmental psychology, or a subject of learning -- as in education, development, its goals, and developmental values defining the teleology of the development, become (again) unknown for the participant (e.g., a developmental psychologist or parent).
Ethnic Differences in Household Expenditure Patterns

Using 13 years of Consumer Expenditure Survey data with price information from the Consumer Price Index and the American Chamber of Commerce Cost of Living Index five household expenditure patterns are identified: shelter-dominated, food-and-utilities-dominated, health-care-dominated, transportation-dominated, and service-dominated. Compared to non-Hispanic White households, Asian American households are more likely to have shelter-dominated, but less likely to have service-dominated expenditure patterns; non-Hispanic Black households are more likely to havefood-and-utilities-dominated, but less likely to have shelter-dominated and health-care-dominated expenditure patterns; and Hispanic households are more likely to have shelter-dominated and food-and-utilities-dominated, but less likely to have health-care-dominated and service-dominated expenditure patterns, other things equal. These results are discussed in the context of a conceptualframework of how ethnicity affects households' economic behavior.
Impact of natural organic matter on the physicochemical properties of aqueous C60 nanoparticles.

Existing toxicity data indicate that industrial-scale production of C60 fullerene poses a potential threat to the environment. Evaluating the environmental impact of C60 requires careful characterization of its physicochemical properties in the natural aqueous environment. Our study aims to determine the effects of aquatic natural organic matter (NOM) on the physicochemical properties of aqueous C60 nanoparticles, nC60. Stable nC60 suspensions were formed using three different solvent exchange protocols. They were thoroughly characterized for particle size, morphology, and electrophoretic mobility in the absence or presence of two model NOM components, Suwannee River humic acid and fulvic acid. NOM caused disaggregation of nC60 crystals and aggregates under typical solution conditions of natural water, leading to significant changes in particle size and morphology. Such effect increased with increasing NOM concentration. The changes in nC60 size and morphology strongly depended on the nC60 formation pathw...
Scaling data-plane logging in large scale networks

Understanding and troubleshooting wide area networks (such as military backbone networks and ISP networks) are challenging tasks due to their large, distributed, and highly dynamic nature. Building a system that can record and replay fine-grained behaviors of such networks would simplify this problem by allowing operators to recreate the sequence and precise ordering of events (e.g., packet-level forwarding decisions, route changes, failures) taking place in their networks. However, doing this at large scales seems intractable due to the vast amount of information that would need to be logged. In this paper, we propose a scalable and reliable framework to monitor fine-grained data-plane behavior within a large network. We give a feasible architecture for a distributed logging facility, a tree-based data structure for log compression and show how this logged information helps network operators to detect and debug anomalous behavior of the network. Experimental results obtained through trace-driven simulations and Click software router experiments show that our design is lightweight in terms of processing time, memory requirement and control overhead, yet still achieves over 99% precision in capturing network events.
B-CLL kicks it up a Notch.

Mutations in Notch are known to play a critical role in the development of T-ALL.[1][1] In this issue of Blood , Rosati and colleagues provide compelling evidence that Notch signaling also plays an important role in cell survival in B-CLL. The Notch signaling pathway, first described in Drosophila
GM1 ganglioside administration partially counteracts the morphological changes associated with haloperidol treatment within the dorsal striatum of the rat.

Haloperidol, a typical antipsychotic drug, causes an increase in the mean percentage of synapses within the striatum containing a discontinuous, or perforated, postsynaptic density (PSD) following 1 month of treatment (Meshul et al. 1994). This effect is not observed with the atypical antipsychotic drug, clozapine, following subchronic administration (Meshul et al. 1992a). This morphological change is also associated with an increase in the density of dopamine D2 receptors. The synapses containing the perforated PSD are asymmetrical and the nerve terminals contain the neurotransmitter, glutamate, as demonstrated by immunocytochemistry. We have also shown that subchronic treatment with haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg per day, 30 days) results in a decrease in the density of glutamate immunoreactivity within asymmetric nerve terminals associated with perforated and non-perforated PSDs (Meshul and Tan 1994). This could be due to an increase in glutamate release, perhaps due to activation of corticostriatal synapses. Agnati et al. (1983a) reported that administration of GM1 ganglioside blocks the increase in dopamine D2 receptors following haloperidol treatment. GM1 has also been shown to attenuate the release of glutamate (Nicoletti et al. 1989). In order to determine if similar treatment with ganglioside could block the haloperidol-induced ultrastructural changes noted above, rats were coadministered GM1 (10 mg/kg per day) and haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg per day) for 30 days. We report that GM1 blocked the haloperidol-induced increase in striatal asymmetric synapses containing a perforated PSD, but had no effect on the increase in dopamine D2 receptors or the decrease in nerve terminal glutamate immunoreactivity. GM1, either alone or co-administered with haloperidol, also caused a small, but significant, increase in the density of all asymmetric synapses within the striatum. It is possible that the effect of GM1 in attenuating the haloperidol-induced change in glutamate synapses with perforated PSDs is primarily postsynaptic, since GM1 did not block the change in density of glutamate immunoreactivity within asymmetric nerve terminals.
A role for G protein-coupled lysophospholipid receptors in sphingolipid-induced Ca2+ signaling in MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells.

Sphingolipids have been proposed to modulate cell function by acting as intracellular second messengers and through binding to plasma membrane receptors. Exposure of MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells to sphingosine (SPH), sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP), or sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC) led to the release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and acute elevations in cytosolic-free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). Desensitization studies suggest that SPP and SPC bind plasma membrane endothelial differentiation gene (Edg) receptors for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Consistent with the coupling of Edg receptors to G proteins, SPP- and SPC-induced Ca2+ signaling was inhibited by pretreatment of the cells with pertussis toxin (PTx). Of the Edg receptors known to bind SPH derivatives in other cell types, MC3T3-E1 cells were found to express transcripts encoding Edg-1 and Edg-5 but not Edg-3, Edg-6, or Edg-8. In contrast to SPP and SPC, the ability of SPH to elicit [Ca2+]i elevations was affected neither by prior exposure of cells to LPA nor by PTx treatment. However, LPA-induced Ca2+ signaling was blocked in MC3T3-E1 cells previously exposed to SPH. Elevations in [Ca2+]i were not evoked by SPP or SPC in cells treated with 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborate (2-APB), an inhibitor of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-gated Ca2+ channels in the ER. No effect of 2-APB was observed on SPH- or LPA-induced [Ca2+]i elevations. The data support a model in which SPP and SPC bind Edg-1 and/or Edg-5 receptors in osteoblasts leading to the release of Ca2+ from the ER through IP3-gated channels.
A Note on the Papadimitriou-Silverberg Algorithm for Planning Optimal Piecewise-Linear Motion of a Ladder

Abstract We present an improvement of a recent algorithm by Papadimitriou and Silverberg for optimal motion planning for a ladder (1987). The improved algorithm runs in time O(n3α(n) log2n), where n is the number of obstacle edges and where α(n) is the extremely slowly growing inverse Ackermann function. This is an improvement by nearly θ(n) of the original algorithm of Papadimitriou and Silverberg.
Integral representation of the Fermi distribution and its applications in electronic-structure calculations.

We show that the Fermi distribution can be represented by an infinite sum of contour integrals in the complex energy plane. The expansion converges very rapidly and a few terms are sufficient to obtain high accuracy.
BCR/ABL promotes accumulation of chromosomal aberrations induced by oxidative and genotoxic stress.

BCR/ABL promotes accumulation of chromosomal aberrations induced by oxidative and genotoxic stress
Thinking with a Futures Perpective

Society's need to anticipate and plan for the future has never been more keenly felt than it is today. Thinking with a futures perspective is not a new activity, although crystal balls, ouija board...
Education and Regional Economic Development in China: The Case of Shanghai

In thirty years, Shanghai's economy has shifted dramatically from agriculture to industry and, more recently, services. With less than 10 percent of the workforce in agriculture in 1990, a limit is rapidly approaching for a continuation to this historical pattern. Government policy has been supportive of rapid modernization and economic growth, but despite a high level of educational investment in the past, we find evidence of underinvestment at present. We show how underinvestment in education, the shift to a market economy, and the constraint of housing that is not yet privatized are strongly interrelated.
Concurrent enhancement of Kerr rotation and antiferromagnetic coupling in epitaxial Fe/Cu/Fe structures.

We report the observation of major enhancements in the magneto-optical polar Kerr rotation in the Fe/Cu/Fe system. These enhancements are as much as a factor of 2 greater than those anticipated due to recently reported plasma-resonance effects. A close connection between these enhancements and antiferromagnetic coupling between the two Fe films is established by the observation of concurrent oscillations in the magnitude of these two effects as a function of Cu thickness.
High-speed CMOS ring oscillators with low supply sensitivity

A novel circuit topology for CMOS CML ring oscillators that reduces the supply sensitivity is presented. It is shown that this technique causes only a slight reduction in the maximum frequency of the oscillator and maintains the same random jitter generation while greatly reducing the sinusoidal jitter caused by power supply variation. Measurement results from a prototype chip fabricated in 0.18µm CMOS process verify the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Matroid Duality from Topological Duality in Surfaces of Nonnegative Euler Characteristic

Let G be a connected graph that is 2-cell embedded in a surface S, and let G* be its topological dual graph. We will define and discuss several matroids whose element set is E(G), for S homeomorphic to the plane, projective plane, or torus. We will also state and prove old and new results of the type that the dual matroid of G is the matroid of the topological dual G*.
Contraceptive use and consistency in U.S. teenagers' most recent sexual relationships.

CONTEXT: Most U.S. teenage pregnancies are unintended, partly because of inconsistent or no use of contraceptives. Understanding the factors associated with contraceptive use in teenagers’ most recent relationships can help identify strategies to prevent unintended pregnancy. METHODS: Data on 1,468 participants in Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who had had two or more sexual relationships were analyzed to assess factors associated with contraceptive use patterns in teenagers’ most recent sexual relationship. Odds ratios were generated through logistic regression.
Occupational therapy and genetic information: considerations and cautions.

The structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the material of which genes are composed, was discovered in the 1950s. The components and functions of DNA continue to be explored through the Human Genome Project, a collaboration of scientists worldwide with the shared goal of mapping the entire human blueprint. By early 2000, the mapping of some 3 billion bits of sequenced information that influence human function was nearly completed. Unraveling genome information across the population and among individuals generates vast amounts of new knowledge about the heritability of traits and conditions and/or vulnerability to physical and behavioral circumstances that affect ability to function and participate. New genetics is certainly about reproduction, birth, and development, but is also about one’s lifetime and lifestyle. Genetic testing and diagnostic technologies are likely to influence and perhaps alter personal and cultural health beliefs and options. More than Mendellian genetics is now becoming understood, and technology is enabling careful viewing of genes with greater precision and purpose. New genetics and genomic medicine (Guttmacher & Collins, 2002) make each of us more aware of genetic possibilities and personal health risks due not only to family history but also to interactions between lifestyle choices and genetic make-up. With this new knowledge come justified concerns about ethical and legal issues and implications for health care practices and policies. Researchers with the Human Genome Project recognized concerns for practitioner education and ethical issues and remain dedicated to addressing implications of new genetics and related technology. The purpose of this paper is to bring attention to the changing and growing genetic and genomic knowledge base and to address implications of this new knowledge for occupational therapy education, practice, and research. The Preamble to the 2000 American Occupational Therapy
On the Possibility of Kantian Retributivism

One of the most potent motivations for retributivist approaches to punishment has been their apparent connection to an ethical background shaped by the Kantian notion of morally autonomous and rational human agency. The present article challenges the plausibility of this connection. I argue that retributivism subverts, rather than embodies, the normative consequences of moral autonomy, justifying a social practice that conflicts with the considered judgments that the proper recognition of moral autonomy would authorize. The core of my case is the analysis of whether a punishment should be understood as a restriction of a criminal's freedom properly understood. I argue that the affirmative view faces serious difficulties that have not been, and are not likely to be, resolved by retributivist justifications that draw their support from Kantian moral theory.
Climatic forcing on zooplankton richness in lakes of the northeastern United States

The June 199 1 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo had a marked cooling on global climate that was evident in the regional air temperatures of the northeastern U.S. This climatic perturbation coincided with the 199 l-l 994 pilot surveys initiated by the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program-Surface Waters (EMAPSW). Regional air and summer profile water temperatures for 1992 were significantly lower (- l-2°C) than in the same July-August sampling period in 199 1, 1993, or 1994. Richness of major zooplankton groups such as rotifers and small cladocerans also varied markedly with the 1992 cooling. The median of 323 randomly selected survey lakes had 2-10 additional species of zooplankton per lake in 1992 than in the warmer years of 199 1, 1993, or 1994. This response represented an increase of 7-34% in local richness across lakes. Regional richness was also 17-32% higher in the cooler year. ANOVA showed that total zooplankton richness had a highly significant year effect, suggesting a response to annual climatic differences. The difference in total richness in 1992 was attributed primarily to richness of rotifers and small cladocerans. On the other hand, the richness of large cladocerans and copepods did not show significant year effects, suggesting that their responses may occur at time scales that are longer than the temporal scale of this 4-yr survey. These results indicate that local zooplankton richness can be effectively extrapolated to regional scales for the monitoring of lakes to climate change.
Who needs (lower Paleozoic) biostratigraphy

In the 1970s, comic genius George Carlin pushed the limits of censorship with a popular routine regarding the seven words you cannot say on television. Similarly, one can argue that geologists currently seeking grants from major funding sources, at least in the USA, are well advised to avoid using certain words or phrases in their proposals: regional , taxonomy , geologic mapping , and, perhaps the worst of the lot, biostratigraphy . This is quite unfortunate because, in reality, we have barely begun to tap the correlation potential of species range data within Cambrian and Ordovician strata, especially those provided by the rapid evolution of trilobites, conodonts, and graptolites through the early Paleozoic. Other groups have considerable biostratigraphic value in certain intervals and paleogeographic settings, but none rivals the aforementioned big three in their broad temporal and spatial range of utility. Over 95% of the lower Paleozoic system, series, and stage boundaries in current geologic time scales are zonal boundaries based on key trilobite, conodont, or graptolite species (Gradstein et al., 2004; Webby et al., 2004; Babcock and Peng, 2007). Consequently, the examples I provide to argue that the need for focused biostratigraphic research has never been greater, all involve use of the big three (especially trilobites, my specialty) in the Cambrian–Ordovician of Laurentian North America. A biostratigrapher specializing in a different taxonomic group, paleogeographic setting, or time interval, however, could probably make at least as strong a case for the untapped potential within his or her group. If biostratigraphy is so important, then why has it fallen into such disfavor, as reflected in limited prospects for funding of purely biostratigraphic research and diminishing representation of this discipline in the geoscience faculty of academic institutions and government agencies? Flessa and Smith (1997) and Plotnick (2008) presented disconcerting data …
Characterization of the Interaction between the Interferon-Induced Protein P56 and the Int6 Protein Encoded by a Locus of Insertion of the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus

For determining cellular functions of the interferon-inducible human cytoplasmic protein P56, we undertook a Saccharomyces cerevisiae two-hybrid screen that identified Int6 as a P56-interacting protein. That the interaction also occurs in human cells was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation and the observed cytoplasmic displacement of nuclear Int6 upon coexpression of P56. Because Int6 has been claimed to be both a cytoplasmic and a nuclear protein, we investigated the structural basis of this discrepancy. By mutational analyses, we showed that the Int6 protein contains a bipartite nuclear localization signal and a nuclear export signal at the far end of the amino terminus. The 20 amino-terminal residues of Int6, when they were attached to a different nuclear protein, were sufficient to translocate that protein to the cytoplasm. Within this region, replacement of any of the three leucine residues with alanine destroyed the function of the export signal. The specific domain of P56 that is required for its interaction with Int6 was mapped using the yeast two-hybrid assay and a mammalian coimmunoprecipitation assay. Both assays demonstrated that the C-terminal region of P56 containing three specific tetratricopeptide motifs is required for this interaction. In contrast, removal of an internal domain of P56 enhanced the interaction, as quantified by the two-hybrid assay.
SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIATION IN AQUATIC MACROINVERTEBRATES IN THE OKEFENOKEE SWAMP, GEORGIA, USA

Aquatic macroinvertebrates of the Okefenokee Swamp have been largely overlooked despite their ecological importance and value as water quality indicators. In a two-year study we analyzed taxon richness and abundances of individual macroinvertebrate taxa in the Okefenokee Swamp to assess temporal variation among seasons and spatial variation among five plant community habitats (marsh prairies, cypress forest, scrub-shrub thickets, deepwater lakes, and boat trails) and across six areas of the Okefenokee. Chironomid and ceratopogonid midges and water mites numerically dominated the macroinvertebrate community, and chironomids, dytiscid beetles, and libellulid dragonflies had the greatest generic richness. Multivariate analysis of macroinvertebrate community structure did not show clear patterns among seasons, habitats, or areas. Furthermore, few individual taxa had either spatial or temporal variation in abundance. Wetland macroinvertebrate communities were relatively homogenous across the Okefenokee Swamp possibly because conditions important to these organisms did not vary dramatically among habitats or seasons. Alternatively, most resident taxa might be ecological generalists able to exploit a broad range of conditions.
Back to the Future: Contrasting Scientific Styles in Understanding Reading:

In this rejoinder to Willis, Smagorinsky, and Douglas (this issue of Educational Researcher), the authors discuss how many of the points raised by Willis and Smagorinsky regarding their original article, which appeared in the March 2009 issue of Educational Researcher, are concerned less with the methods themselves than with different styles of science. The authors of this rejoinder examine their differing styles of science, using Stanovich’s 2003 framework, and call for consilience and the understanding that multiple perspectives and methods are needed to solve the important and perplexing problems that students and teachers will face in the 21st century.