cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparative analysis of wireless ATM channel access protocols supporting multimedia traffic

Extension of multimedia services and applications offered by ATM networks to wireless and mobile users has captured a lot of recent research attention. Research prototyping of wireless ATM networks is currently underway at many leading research and academic institutions. Various architectures have been proposed depending on the intended application domain. Successful implementation of wireless connectivity to ATM services is significantly dependent on the medium access control (MAC) protocol, which has to provide support for multimedia traffic and for quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees. The objective of this paper is to investigate the comparative performance of a set of access protocols, proposed earlier in the literature, with more realistic source traffic models. Data traffic is modeled with self-similar (fractal) behavior. Voice traffic is modeled by a slow speech activity detector (SAD). Video traffic is modeled as a H.261 video teleconference, where the number of ATM cells per video frame is described by a gamma distribution and a first-order discrete autoregressive process model. A comparison of the protocols based on simulation data is presented. The goal of the paper is to identify appropriate techniques for effectively and efficiently supporting multimedia traffic and QoS. Simulation results show that boundaries between different types of services are necessary for multimedia traffic. Reservation for certain traffic type especially video can significantly improve its quality. Reducing the number of collisions is an important issue for wireless networks since contentions lead not only to potentially high delay but also result in high power consumption.
Efficient information planning in Gaussian MRFs

We are interested in information planning of structures represented by sparse graphical models where measurements correspond to a limited number of nodes. Choosing a set of measurements, which better describe spatiotemporal phenomena is a fundamental task whose optimal solution becomes intractable as the number of measurements grows. Krause et al. (2005) and Williams et al. (2007) have shown that by exploiting the submodular property of mutual information, a simple polynomial greedy selection algorithm comes with near-optimal guarantees. Most previous works assume oracle value models, where the value of a set of measurements is provided in constant time. However, the complexity of evaluating the reward of different measurement sets might be nontrivial in realistic settings. Here, we show that by taking advantage of sparsity in the measurement process, the complexity of information planning in Gaussian models is dramatically reduced. We additionally demonstrate that working with the information form reduces the computational load to the absolutely necessary computations. Lastly, we present an analysis of the computational complexity of different orders of selecting measurements known as visit walks, and suggest how this could help in forming a measurement schedule. We restrict ourselves to Gaussian Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), but the underlying analysis generalizes to general Markov Random Fields (MRFs).
Simulation of Nitrate Biogeochemistry and Reactive Transport in a California Groundwater Basin

Nitrate is the number one drinking water contaminant in the United States. It is pervasive in surface and groundwater systems, and its principal anthropogenic sources have increased dramatically in the last 50 years. In California alone, one third of the public drinking-water wells has been lost since 1988 and nitrate contamination is the most common reason for abandonment. Effective nitrate management in groundwater is complicated by uncertainties related to multiple point and non-point sources, hydrogeologic complexity, geochemical reactivity, and quantification of denitrification processes. In this paper, we review an integrated experimental and simulation-based framework being developed to study the fate of nitrate in a 25 km-long groundwater subbasin south of San Jose, California, a historically agricultural area now undergoing rapid urbanization with increasing demands for groundwater. The modeling approach is driven by a need to integrate new and archival data that support the hypothesis that nitrate fate and transport at the basin scale is intricately related to hydrostratigraphic complexity, variability of flow paths and groundwater residence times, microbial activity, and multiple geochemical reaction mechanisms. This study synthesizes these disparate and multi-scale data into a three-dimensional and highly resolved reactive transport modeling framework.
A longitudinal examination of the relationships between childhood maltreatment and patterns of adolescent substance use among high-risk adolescents.

Background: Childhood maltreatment has been linked to adolescent substance use in cross-sectional studies but the studies were unable to test the associations between childhood maltreatment and changes in substance use patterns during adolescence. The present study investigated the linkages between exposure to childhood maltreatment and developmental trends of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, opioid, and hallucinogen use among high-risk adolescents. Methods: We used a sample of 937 adolescents (mean age: 15.9 years; range: 13-18), who were selected from five publicly-funded service systems, to examine the extent to which childhood maltreatment may influence changes in patterns of adolescent substance use over time. Results: The present study identified a 3-class model of adolescent substance use. Mover-stayer latent transition analyses (LTA) indicated that progression toward heavy polysubstance use increased with experience of childhood maltreatment. Findings also suggested that older male adolescents (ages 15-18) who are involved with public service systems are at high risk for developing and maintaining multiple-substance use in adolescence. Conclusions: Experience of childhood maltreatment is associated with problematic patterns of adolescent substance use and may shape the longitudinal course of substance use during adolescence. (Am J Addict 2012;21:453–461)
A review of elasmobranch reproductive behavior with a case study on the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum

Elasmobranch reproductive behavior has been inferred from freshly caught specimens, laboratory examinations of reproductive structures and function, or determined from direct observations of captive or free swimming wild animals. Several general behaviors have been described including seasonal sexual segregation, courtship and copulation. Courtship behavior was inferred for many species from the presence of scars and tooth cuts on the female's body, and noted in more detail from underwater observations. Copulation has been directly observed in captive settings for several species of elasmobranchs in large aquaria, and in the wild for three species of urolophids and for Triaenodon obesus and Ginglymostoma cirratum. A detailed ‘case history’ of nurse shark reproductive behavior is presented that may be used as a template for future work on shark reproductive behavior of other species. Our studies, using diver identifiable tags and in situ behavioral observations, provide unprecedented information on social structure and mating behavior in this species. Since 1993, 115 G. cirratum, 45 adults and 70 juveniles have been tagged in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. Observations show that adult males visit the study site every year with three males dominant. Individual adult females visit the study area to mate in alternate years. Polygyny and polyandry are common. Future research on reproductive behavior of elasmobranchs should address questions on male access to females, sexual selection and dominance hierarchies.
Better real-time response for time-share scheduling

As computing systems of all types grow in power and complexity, it is common to want to simultaneously execute processes with different timeliness constraints. Many systems use CPU schedulers derived from time-share algorithms; because they are based on best-effort policies, these general-purpose systems provide little support for real-time constraints. This paper describes BeRate, a scheduler that integrates best-effort and soft real-time processing using a best-effort programming model in which soft real-time application parameters are inferred from runtime behavior. We show that with no a prior! information about applications, BeRate outperforms Linux when scheduling workloads containing soft real-time applications.
Discovery of low energy pathways to metal-mediated BN bond reduction guided by computation and experiment

This manuscript describes a combination of DFT calculations and experiments to assess the reduction of borazines (B–N heterocycles) by η6-coordination to Cr(CO)3 or [Mn(CO)3]+ fragments. The energy requirements for borazine reduction are established as well as the extent to which coordination of borazine to a transition metal influences hydride affinity, basicity, and subsequent reduction steps at the coordinated borazine molecule. Borazine binding to M(CO)3 fragments decreases the thermodynamic hydricity by >30 kcal mol−1, allowing it to easily accept a hydride. These hydricity criteria were used to guide the selection of appropriate reagents for borazine dearomatization. Reduction was achieved with an H2-derived hydride source, and importantly, a pathway which proceeds through a single electron reduction and H-atom transfer reaction, mediated by anthraquinone was uncovered. The latter transformation was also carried out electrochemically, at relatively positive potentials by comparison to all prior reports, thus establishing an important proof of concept for any future electrochemical BN bond reduction.
Delineating the specific influence of virus isoelectric point and size on virus adsorption and transport through sandy soils.

Many of the factors controlling viral transport and survival within the subsurface are still poorly understood. In order to identify the precise influence of viral isoelectric point on viral adsorption onto aquifer sediment material, we employed five different spherical bacteriophages (MS2, PRD1, Qβ, φX174, and PM2) having differing isoelectric points (pI 3.9, 4.2, 5.3, 6.6, and 7.3 respectively) in laboratory viral transport studies. We employed conventional batch flowthrough columns, as well as a novel continuously recirculating column, in these studies. In a 0.78-m batch flowthrough column, the smaller phages (MS2, φX174, and Qβ), which had similar diameters, exhibited maximum effluent concentration/initial concentration values that correlated exactly with their isoelectric points. In the continuously recirculating column, viral adsorption was negatively correlated with the isoelectric points of the viruses. A model of virus migration in the soil columns was created by using a one-dimensional transport model in which kinetic sorption was used. The data suggest that the isoelectric point of a virus is the predetermining factor controlling viral adsorption within aquifers. The data also suggest that when virus particles are more than 60 nm in diameter, viral dimensions become the overriding factor.
La política de la integración hemisférica

The FTAA negotiation process as currently structured does not adequately align with the larger political process within which it is being conducted. Once trade was exclusively concerned with issues of trade and investment rules, and players in the trade politics game were limited to a small community of trade experts and business interests. Now the political context for trade is characterized by the linkage of new issues to the trade agenda, including most notably social regulatory issues regarding labor and environment; by the engagement of new actors in trade policy making, particularly activist groups in an increasingly transnational civil society, and by the utilization of a new mode of political engagement, which is less a politics of interests than a politics of identity. The disjuncture between the politics and the FTAA process will need to be addressed if the negotiation is to succeed
A Brief Overview of PVS

PVS is now 15 years old, and has been extensively used in research, industry, and teaching. The system is very expressive, with unique features such as predicate subtypes, recursive and corecursive datatypes, inductive and coinductive definitions, judgements, conversions, tables, and theory interpretations. The prover supports a combination of decision procedures, automatic simplification, rewriting, ground evaluation, random test case generation, induction, model checking, predicate abstraction, MONA, BDDs, and user-defined proof strategies. In this paper we give a very brief overview of the features of PVS, some illustrative examples, and a summary of the libraries and PVS applications.
French Views on Wealth and Taxes from the Middle Ages to the Old Regime

The belief that the state should, can, and must contrive to make its subjects wealthier, and that in part this can be done through its taxing powers, certainly is one of the most powerful concepts in modern times. Intuitively it seems that this belief must arise from important and strongly rooted developments starting far back in the history of Western thought and institutions. Economic historians concerned with the history of economic growth ought to be able to demonstrate which developments produced this belief, and when. But work on this highly interesting problem of origins has yet to be begun. The dimensions of the problem, at least, can be presented by sketching in the main developments for one country, France, over the whole period from a time when the concept of a beneficent national fisc obviously was still unborn to that point when it was alive and thriving. Viewed as an essay on the history of economic thought, this paper is a suggestion that some of the concepts concerning French mercantilism found in modern writings need to be improved. The questions to be raised are: At what point did influential persons in France begin to argue that by changing its tax policies the state could promote what we call economic growth? And when can we say that an important part of royal fiscal policy was aimed at promoting the wealth of the king's subjects?
Properties of Sprays

The spray properties of most practical importance, namely mean drop size, drop size distribution, radial and circumferential liquid distribution, cone angle and penetration, are discussed in the context of plain orifice, pressure-swirl, plain-jet airblast and prefilming airblast atomization. Equations are presented for estimating mean drop size and spray cone angle in terms of the relevant liquid properties, gas properties, atomizer dimensions, and atomizer operating conditions. The relative merits of these equations are discussed and compared. Some aspects of atomization in need of further research are indicated.
Inhibitory effect of reserpine on dopamine transporter function.

Abstract Previous studies indicate that reserpine may disrupt dopamine transporter activity. Results presented herein reveal that it also inhibits potently synaptosomal [ 3 H]dopamine uptake. In addition, reserpine administration to rats decreased the V max of synaptosomal dopamine transport, as assessed ex vivo 12 h after treatment. This decrease appeared, at least in part, dissociated from concurrent inhibition of the vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT-2). In separate experiments, synaptosomal dopamine uptake did not differ between wild-type and heterozygous VMAT-2 knockout mice, and reserpine treatment did not inhibit [ 3 H]dopamine uptake into cells heterogously expressing the human dopamine transporter. Taken together, these data suggest that reserpine may transiently alter dopamine transporter function in a noncompetitive, indirect manner.
Test Generation Techniques

Existing test generation procedures are rooted in the SSI/MSI era. New techniques will cope with today's vastly more complicated LSI/VLSI systems.
Endoscopic Nd: YAG laser coagulation of bleeding from radiation proctopathy

Hematochezia from mucosal vascular lesions usually confined to the rectum represents an uncommon but problematic late complication of pelvic radiotherapy. We studied 47 patients with medically refractory hematochezia resulting from radiation-induced rectosigmoid mucosal vascular lesions. All lesions were endoscopicatly coagulated with Nd:YAG laser. Median duration of hematochezia before laser therapy was 11 months, despite previous medical treatment (98%) or bypass colostomy (6%). Within 3 to 6 months after laser treatment, the number of patients with daily hematochezia fell from 40 (85%) to 5 (11%; p 0.001), and the median hemoglobin level increased from 9.7 gm/dl to 11.7 gm/dl ( p
Spatial and intracellular relationships between the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter in the prefrontal cortex of rat and mouse

The alpha 7 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7nAChR) is expressed in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region where these receptors are implicated in cognitive function and in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Activation of this receptor is dependent on release of acetylcholine (ACh) from axon terminals that contain the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT). Since rat and mouse models are widely used for studies of specific abnormalities in schizophrenia, we sought to determine the subcellular location of the alpha7nAChR with respect to VAChT storage vesicles in axon terminals in the PFC in both species. For this, we used dual electron microscopic immunogold and immunoperoxidase labeling of antisera raised against the alpha7nAChR and VAChT. In both species, the alpha7nAChR-immunoreactivity ((-)ir) was principally identified within dendrites and dendritic spines, receptive to axon terminals forming asymmetric excitatory-type synapses, but lacking detectable alpha7nAChR or VAChT-ir. Quantitative analysis of the rat PFC revealed that of alpha7nAChR-labeled neuronal profiles, 65% (299/463) were postsynaptic structures (dendrites and dendritic spine) and only 22% (104/463) were axon terminals or small unmyelinated axons. In contrast, VAChT was principally localized to varicose vesicle-filled axonal profiles, without recognized synaptic specializations (n=240). Of the alpha7nAChR-labeled axons, 47% (37/79) also contained VAChT, suggesting that ACh release is autoregulated through the presynaptic alpha7nAChR. The VAChT-labeled terminals rarely formed synapses, but frequently apposed alpha7nAChR-containing neuronal profiles. These results suggest that in rodent PFC, the alpha7nAChR plays a major role in modulation of the postsynaptic excitation in spiny dendrites in contact with VAChT containing axons.
Saturn's ring current and inner magnetosphere

The Voyager 1 magnetic field observations at Saturn are shown in a graph. The departure of the oberved magnetic field from the field of a dipole is considered. The observed field magnitude is appreciable less than that of the model dipole at small radial distances and greater than the model dipole in the more distant magnetosphere. These characteristics can be understood by introducing a model current system similar to a system originally applied to observations of the Jovian magnetic disk. Saturn's ring current has important implications for charged-particle motion in Saturn's magnetosphere, particularly the absorption of trapped radiation by its many satellites and rings. The absorption signature observed by the Voyager 1 cosmic ray experiment near the orbital position of Rhea illustrates well the effects of Saturn's ring current on charged particle trajectories.
Anesthesia alters NO-mediated functional hyperemia

Many properties of nitric oxide, NO, (localization, diffusiveness, half-life, vasodilatory affects) have supported its potential role in mediating the link between local cerebral activity and blood flow. However, evidence that both supports and refutes a role for NO in functional hyperemia have been presented. The present study employed multiple nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, two anesthetic regimes and laser-Doppler flowmetry to test the hypothesis that NO is critically involved in mediating the functional hyperemic response within rodent whisker-barrel cortex (WBC). In urethane anesthetized animals, functional hyperemic responses were obtained both before and after 1 mg/kg atropine infusion, 30 mg/kg i.v. L-NAME (N-Nitro-L-arginine methylester) infusion, 30 mg/kg L-NA (N-Nitro-L-arginine) infusion or 25 mg/kg 7-NI (7-nitroindazole). L-NAME was also tested in a group of animals pretreated with halothane before urethane anesthesia. Neither the magnitude of the blood flow response nor its time course was altered by NO blockade or atropine administration when compared to pre-infusion controls in urethane anesthetized rats. In contrast, animals that were pretreated with halothane exhibited a 33% inhibition of functional hyperemia after L-NAME administration. Taken together, these data do not support a primary role for NO in rat WBC functional hyperemia and suggest that previous reports of inhibition may have been secondary to the anesthesia employed.
Pavement Preventive Maintenance: Key to Quality Highways:

Highway funding is inadequate to maintain current road conditions under traditional maintenance and rehabilitation policies. Through a preventive maintenance program, pavements can be maintained in a cost-effective manner leading to a better pavement quality at lower total costs. Preventive maintenance is a program strategy that arrests light deterioration, retards progressive failures, and reduces the need for routine maintenance activities. The objective of this strategy is to extend the pavement's functional life by applying treatments before the pavement deteriorates to a condition requiring a corrective treatment, such as a structural overlay. An effective strategy would feature a combination of treatments, such as periodic crack treatment followed by chip sealing. Several highway agencies have used preventive maintenance strategies successfully for both low-volume and high-volume roads. Flexible-pavement preventive maintenance treatments include fog seal, chip seal, slurry seal, microsurfacing, crac...
Counting and Sizing of Epidermal Cells in Normal Human Skin

During keratinocyte maturation, individual cells undergo an orderly succession of biochemical and structural changes. In certain skin disorders alterations in keratinocyte numbers, volumes, and epidermal skin thickness occur. To assess such alterations and to provide base line values for normal human epidermis, a computer assisted histologic technique was developed. Skin biopsies were taken from normal skin on the forearm, back and thigh of 6 adult men. Whole specimens of epidermis were separated from the dermis with collagenase, fixed, stained, and mounted for microscopic examination. From the three dimensional coordinates of epidermal nuclei, epidermal cell volumes, surface density of epidermal cells, and epidermal thickness were determined. Measurement of cell volumes in this way compared favorably with electronic cell sizing of disaggregated epidermal cells in matched samples. The mean densities of nucleated cells per 10 4 μ 2 surface area were 452, 483, and 487 for the forearm, back and thigh respectively. This technique will be used to make similar assessments in disorders of abnormal keratinocyte maturation.
Global wires: harmful?

In this paper a shift is proposed in the design of vlsi circuits. In conventional design higher levels of synthesis have to deliver a gate and net list, from which layout synthesis has to built a mask specification for manufacturing. Analysis, mainly timing analysis, is built in a feedback loop to catch violations of timing requirements before sign-off. These violations are used to hand an updated specification to synthesis. Such iteration is not desirable, and for really high performance not feasible. To come to a design flow, higher level synthesis should distribute delay over the functional elements and interconnect, and layout synthesis should use its degrees of freedom to realize those delays.
Relationship of early postoperative dysrhythmias and long-term outcome after resection of non-small cell lung cancer.

Study objectives To determine whether supraventricular tachydysrhythmias (SVTs) occurring early after thoracic surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are associated with poor long-term survival. Design Prospective, cohort. Setting Referral cancer center. Patients Seventy-eight patients undergoing resection of NSCLC. Interventions Examination of univariate and multivariate effects of factors that might influence long-term survival: advanced age, sex, perioperative chemotherapy, extent of pulmonary resection, tumor stage, and SVT occurrence. Results In this group of patients, 10 of 78 (13%) developed early postoperative SVT. Log-rank analysis showed SVT occurrence (p=0.01), age of 70 years or older (p=0.04), and perioperative chemotherapy (p=0.005) to predict poor long-term survival. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified SVT occurrence (p=0.007; relative risk [RR], 2.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3 to 6.1) and perioperative chemotherapy (p=0.004; RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.4 to 5.1) to be independently associated with decreased survival. No other clinical or laboratory characteristic tested differentiated those patients who did or did not develop postoperative SVT. Conclusions Early SVT occurrence after resection of NSCLC is associated with poor long-term survival. Although the etiology for this is unclear, this intriguing observation, not previously reported (to our knowledge), may be used in larger trials examining the effects of these and other factors on survival from lung cancer surgery.
Growth of dendrites in the optic tectum of the chick embryo following destruction of the eye primordium.

Abstract The consequences of depriving the optic tectum of axons from the contralateral eye have been studied in Golgi-impregnated brains from a staged series of chick embryos. Following enucleation at 2–5 days of age, measurements of dendritic length and the numbers of branches at all orders for three cell types were performed with an automated three-dimensional tracking system at various survival times. Dendritic lengths and the number of middle order branches of neurons from control animals, aged 12–14 days (stages 38–40), are greater than those from non-innervated embryos of the same ages. However, by Day 18 (stage 44), no significant differences in length or branching are seen between neurons from control and experimental embryos. Observations of these neurons revealed qualitative differences between experimental and control embryos. Growth cones, varicosities and filopodia, indicators of dendritic differentiation, are more commonly associated with neurons from control Day 12 and 14 embryos, than operated embryos of the same stages. However, at Days 16 and 18 these growth characteristics are more usually seen on neurons from deafferented embryos than from controls. The deleterious effects observed in experimental animals between Days 12 and 14 are presumably caused by the absence of optic fibers. The eventual growth during late embryogenesis, of the cells deprived of optic input, may reflect a trophic influence not acting in the earlier period.
Climatic influences on fire regimes along a rain forest‐to‐xeric woodland gradient in northern Patagonia, Argentina

Influences of annual climatic variation on fire occurrence were examined along a rainfall gradient from temperate rainforest to xeric woodlands in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Fire chronologies were derived from fire scars on trees and related to tree-ring proxy records of climate over the period 1820-1974. Similarly, fire records of four Patagonian national parks for the period 1940-1988 were compared to instrumental weather data. Finally, the influences of broad-scale synoptic weather patterns on fire occurrence in northern Patagonia were explored. Fire in Nothofagus rainforests is highly dependent on drought during the spring and summer of the same year in which fires occur and is less strongly favoured by drought during the spring of the previous year. The occurrence of fire in dry vegetation types near the steppe ecotone is less dependent on drought because even during years of normal weather fuels are thoroughly desiccated during the dry summer. In xeric Austrocedrus woodlands, fire occurrence and spread are promoted by droughts during the fire season and also appear to be favoured by above-average moisture conditions during the preceding 1 to 2 growing seasons which enhances fuel production. Thus, in the xeric woodlands fire is not simply dependent on drought but is favoured by greater climatic variability over time scales of several years. Fire activity in northern Patagonia is greatly influenced by the intensity and latitudinal position of the subtropical high pressure cell of the southeast Pacific. Greater fire activity is associated with a more intense and more southerly located high pressure cell which blocks the influx of Pacific moisture into the continent. Although long-term changes in fire occurrence along the rainforest-to-xeric woodland gradient have been greatly influenced by human activities, annual variation in fire frequency and extent is also strongly influenced by annual climatic variation.
Corrective feedback preferences and learner repair among advanced ESL students

Abstract The present study investigates the patterns of corrective feedback and learner repair present in advanced-level adult ESL classrooms, and examines both teacher and student preferences regarding that feedback. The data were collected through actual classroom observations, questionnaires, and in-depth follow-up interviews. The findings of this study were as follows: first of all, based on classroom observations, the most frequent type of corrective feedback was recasts, which generated 92.09% learner repair. Secondly, the student respondents most preferred to receive explicit and immediate corrections in the middle of their conversations and during teacher-student interactions. However, the teachers strongly disagreed that they should correct all of the students' errors and mistakes, although they recognized the benefits of teachers' corrective feedback and the efficacy of immediate correction of the students' errors to enhance their oral proficiency. Finally, in-depth follow-up interviews with students analyzed the discrepancies between their preferences and the actual classroom feedback given.
Speeded recognition of ungrammaticality

By postulating a hierarchy of grammatical categories, Chomsky has suggested a system whereby levels of grammaticality can be assigned to ungrammatical sentences. Two experiments assessed the psychological validity of this theoretical hierarchy. In Exp. 1, S was presented with a sentence frame containing a blank; a single word was then presented, and S had to decide whether or not the word appropriately completed the sentence. Unacceptable sentences were wrong for varying reasons, as predicated by the aforementioned hierarchy. In Exp. 2, Ss rated the same sentences in terms of grammaticality. The data provided strong support for a performance model of sentence recognition whereby S looks first for subject-verb-object relationships, and subsequently for modifiers of subject and object. There was little support for Chomsky's system.
Diffraction scattering in Yang-Mills theories

Abstract The infrared problem in Yang-Mills theories is studied in order to elucidate aspects of high energy behavior. The integro-differential equation of Cornwall and Tiktopoulos is used to investigate quark-quark scattering in the limit λ → 0 (λ being the gluon regulator mass), s → ∞ with t fixed. The solution displays the infrared factors explicitly. When this formula is expanded in power series and the leading log is extracted one recovers the perturbation theory calculations to sixth order.
Usefulness of an Echocardiographic Composite Cardiac Calcium Score to Predict Death in Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease (from the Heart and Soul Study).

Mitral annular calcium and aortic valve sclerosis on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) are independently associated with cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the prognostic value of calcific deposits at multiple sites is unknown. We performed TTEs in a prospective cohort of 595 outpatients with stable CAD and graded the severity of calcific deposition at 6 sites: mitral annulus, aortic valve, aortic ring, sinotubular junction, papillary muscle tip, and left main coronary artery. For each site with moderate calcific deposition or greater, 1 point was given to generate a composite cardiac calcium score (maximum of 6). The primary end point was the occurrence of CV events—a composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and heart failure. The association of the composite calcium score with CV events was evaluated using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Over a median follow-up of 4.2 years, 205 CV events occurred. Participants with a composite calcium score ≥2 had a higher risk of CV events (11.1 events/100 person-years) than those with a score of 0 (5.5 events/100 person-years, unadjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.01, p
Spatial and temporal variability of cloud-to-ground lightning over the continental U.S. during the period 1995-2010

Abstract We use 16 years (1995–2010) of data from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) to examine the spatial and temporal variability of major cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning days (defined as the 80 days with the largest lightning activity) over the continental United States. Extreme lightning activity is concentrated over the central U.S. and west of the Appalachian Mountains. The largest frequency of major lightning days is concentrated during the summertime, with a tendency for these major days to have occurred in recent years. We also examine the presence of monotonic patterns over time in CG lightning flashes over the continental United States. Analyses are performed at the monthly scale (from April to September) and for total, negative-only, and positive-only flashes. The non-parametric Mann–Kendall test is used to examine the presence of monotonic patterns. The upgrades in NLDN during the study period complicate the separation between cloud-to-cloud flashes (CC) and the targeted CG lightning flashes. The results of the trend analyses are sensitive to the threshold used to discriminate between CC and CG flashes, in particular for positive-only flashes. The central U.S. is an area that exhibits statistically significant increasing trends independently of the selected threshold, while there is a general tendency towards decreasing trends over the Rocky Mountains. These results raise the question of whether the observed changes in lightning activity during the recent years are related to natural or human-induced changes in the climate system, and/or to inhomogeneities in the observational network.
670 FLUORINATED TOPICAL AND INTRALESIONAL CORTICOSTEROIDS HAVE SERIOUS SYSTEMIC CONSEQUENCES IN CHILDREN

670 FLUORINATED TOPICAL AND INTRALESIONAL CORTICOSTEROIDS HAVE SERIOUS SYSTEMIC CONSEQUENCES IN CHILDREN
Mass spectrometric characterization of pGlu-peptides related to the thyrotropin releasing hormone†

Twelve synthetic di- and tripeptides which are related to the thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) have been subjected to electron-impact without conversion to more volatile derivatives as background for structural elucidation of unknown peptides isolated on a microgram basis.
A Comprehensive Weight-Loss Program for African-American Women

Abstract In response to increased prevalence of obesity in African-American women, a comprehensive weight-loss program developed for a predominant White, middle-class population was evaluated for a rural African-American population. The program consisted of 15 weekly classes based on nutrition education, behavior modification and regular exercise. A group of 15 women aged between 28 and 67 with a body mass index >30 were recruited to participate in the first experiment, which consisted of all components of the original weight-loss program. The wellness assessments including anthropometric measurements, biochemical parameters, diet habit survey, and health-promoting lifestyle profile were administered before, after and one-year following the 15-week program. Based on personal interviews and comments obtained in the first experiment, the program was revised and reevaluated in a second group of 12 women recruited by the same criteria as in the first group. The revised program kept the basic structure of the original program intact and changed food intake recording from daily to seven days per month. Results of this study showed no significant differences between the two experiments in terms of wellness assessments. Both groups lost 5.9±1.4kg (mean ± SEM) and 5.5±1.8kg, respectively. Lifestyle profile and diet habit survey indicated subjects in both groups made improvements in diet and lifestyle choices. No changes in blood pressure measurements, insulin sensitivity index, and blood lipid profile were observed.
Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Remote Aortic Occlusion for the General Surgeon

Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair has completely transformed the treatment of elective aneurysmal disease, but endovascular surgeons have been slow to adopt these techniques for ruptured aneurysms. There are endovascular skills and management techniques that are valuable to both vascular and general surgeons in the emergent setting. An endovascular approach to this disease process does not preclude open repair, and remote aortic occlusion can serve as an integral adjunct for general surgeons approaching a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Inhibition of protein kinase C, but not of protein kinase A, blocks the development of acute antinociceptive tolerance to an intrathecally administered μ-opioid receptor agonist in the mouse

Abstract A specific protein kinase C inhibitor, calphostin C, which injected alone had no effect on the antinociception induced by intrathecal (i.t.) administration of a selective μ-opioid receptor agonist, [ d -Ala 2 ,NMePhe 4 ,Gly(ol) 5 ]enkephalin (DAMGO), dose-dependently attenuated the development of acute tolerance to the i.t. DAMGO-induced antinociception in male ICR mice. On the other hand, a selective protein kinase A inhibitor, KT5720, did not have any effect on the development of acute tolerance to DAMGO antinociception. These findings suggest that protein kinase C, but not protein kinase A, plays an important role in the development of acute tolerance to the μ-opioid receptor agonist-induced antinociception.
Steric Control of Electron Transfer. Changeover from Outer-Sphere to Inner-Sphere Mechanisms in Arene/Quinone Redox Pairs

The various aromatic hydrocarbons (Chart 2) constitute a sharply graded series of sterically encumbered (unhindered, partially hindered, and heavily hindered) donors in electron transfer (ET) to quinones (Chart 1). As such, steric effects provide the quantitative basis to modulate (and differentiate) outer-sphere and inner-sphere pathways provided by matched pairs of hindered and unhindered donors with otherwise identical electron-transfer properties. Thus the hindered donors are characterized by (a) bimolecular rate constants (k2) that are temperature dependent and well correlated by Marcus theory, (b) no evidence for the formation of (discrete) encounter complexes, (c) high dependency on solvent polarity, and (d) enhanced sensitivity to kinetic salt effectsall diagnostic of outer-sphere electron-transfer mechanisms. Contrastingly, the analogous unhindered donors are characterized by (a) temperature-independent rate constants (k2) that are 102 times faster and rather poorly correlated by Marcus theory, (...
Geographic patterns of monoterpenoid composition in Satureja douglasii

Abstract Monoterpenoid composition of mature leaves from populations distributed throughout the range of Satureja douglasii was determined by GLC. Five compositional types (I–V) were characterised, based on the high relative proportions of either carvone, pulegone, isomenthone, menthone or bicyclic compounds (camphenecamphor). These compositional types occured in restricted but overlapping portions of the species range. All samples contained camphene and camphor, amounts of which varied clinally along latitudinal gradient. Transplants were grown under greenhouse conditions. Although some populations exhibited significant environmental modification in amounts of principal constituents, the patterns of geographic variation were retained. Compositional types I–IV are based on compounds having ϱ-menthane structures and relationships among them are consistent with single gene actions within a common biosynthetic pathway. Using the dominant components of the collection site vegetation as an indication of habitat conditions, correlation of the genetically-determined compositional variation with environmental conditions was attempted. The distribution of the compositional types was partially isolated in this manner. Environmental factors which might be controlling the genetically-determined variation are discussed.
Lithium erythrocyte: plasma ratio in primary affective disorder.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to discuss the metabolism of the lithium ion, particularly the erythrocyte-plasma lithium ratio, in relation to clinical studies of affective disorder. The chronic administration of lithium salts has been shown to be effective in the long-term management of patients with recurrent affective illness. However, the mechanism of action of lithium ion relating to its therapeutic efficacy is unknown. Recent studies of lithium ion metabolism have focused on the ratio of lithium ion in erythrocytes to plasma. 1–5 The erythrocyte red blood cell (RBC) is used as a model for intracellular lithium metabolism, and the ratio of lithium ion concentration in RBCs to plasma has been shown to be under genetic control. 4,6 Furthermore, it has been reported that patients who demonstrate an antidepressant response to lithium administration have higher RBC-plasma lithium ratios, although not all studies agree. 1,3,5 Also, studies have suggested that women with affective disorder may have higher RBC-plasma lithium ratios than women controls or males with manic depressive illness. 2
Spin-controlled resonances in the magnetotransport in quantum dots

We discuss magnetoconductance oscillations arising from transmission and reflection of current via edge states which are confined within lateral quantum dots by entrance and exit port barriers. An interplay of several resonant processes involving spin-resolved edge states determines the evolution of the oscillations as a function of the conductance of the barriers.
Bivariate Issues in Leader Election Algorithms with Marshall-Olkin Limit Distribution

Most prior work in leader election algorithms deals with univariate statistics. We consider multivariate issues in a broad class of fair leader election algorithms. We investigate the joint distribution of the duration of two competing candidates. Under rather mild conditions on the splitting protocol, we prove the convergence of the joint distribution of the duration of any two contestants to a limit via convergence of distance (to 0) in a metric space on distributions. We then show that the limiting distribution is a Marshall-Olkin bivariate geometric distribution. Under the classic binomial splitting we are able to say a few more precise words about the exact joint distribution and exact covariance, and to explore (via Rice’s integral method) the oscillatory behavior of the diminishing covariance. We discuss several practical examples and present empirical observations on the rate of convergence of the covariance.
SYNTHESIS OF THE MONOSUBSTITUTED ARYLCYANOXIME AND ITS Na, Tl(I) AND Ag(I) COMPOUNDS

Nitrosation of 2-chlorophenyl acetonitrile with t-butylnitrite under basic conditions (Meyer reaction) resulted in a high-yield preparation of the first substituted arylcyanoxime, 2-chlorophenyl(oximino)acetonitrile, H(2Cl–PhCO) (HL). The obtained cyanoxime is readily deprotonated in solution by metal hydroxides or carbonates with the formation of yellow sodium, tetrabutylammonium, thallium(I) and silver(I) derivatives. The crystal structure of the Tl(I) complex was determined. Thallium(I) salt (TlL) crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21 n with a = 3.8382(7), b = 11.0065(18), c = 20.901(4) A, and β = 92.447(3)°, V = 882.2(3) A3, Z = 4; T = 193 K (Mo Kα radiation). The structure was solved by direct methods to a final R of 0.0689 (wR2 = 0.1650) for I > 2σ(I). The crystal structure of the complex is a one-dimensional coordination polymer that consists of centrosymmetric [TlL]2 dimers in which Tl2O2 rhombohedra are connected to each other at 90.72°. The crystal structure of TlL is an interesting exa...
Simultaneous determination of fluorine and chlorine in silicate rocks by a rapid spectrophotometric method

Abstract A rapid accuiate method is described for simultaneous determination of fluorine and chlorine in silicate rocks by taking, separate aliquots of the single sample dissolution. Fluorine, without separation, was determined by means of the zirconium-criochrome cyanine R complex, whereas chlorine was determined by means of the stable iron (III) thiocyanate complex. The mctliod was tested with standard rocks. Results with geochemical standards were comparable with analyses reported by others. Application to several acidic, mafic, and ultramafic rock samples, gave results with a relative standard deviation of less than 5 %.
A rapid procedure for the isolation of yeast mitochondrial DNA suitable for restriction fragment analysis.

Abstract A method for the rapid isolation of mitochondrial DNA from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is described. Cells are first disrupted by vortexing with glass beads and the mitochondiral DNA is then extracted directly from the cell lysate by poly- l -lysine-kieselguhr-exchange chromatography. The method is unique from most other published procedures in that there is no requirement for the isolation of either a crude or purified mitochondrial preparation. Mitochondrial DNA isolated by this procedure is shown to yield restriction endonuclease fragment patterns identical to those obtained from DNA isolated by other previously reported procedures.
Content Analysis of Subject-Based Discussion Boards in Agriculture: A Case Study of the Grazinglands and Ranch Management Discussion Board of Texas A&M University

ABSTRACT This paper presents results from the content analysis of postings to the Grazinglands and Ranch Management Discussion Board of Texas A&M University. Four key variables–frequency of postings, location of respondents, type of posting, and the subject content of postings–were examined. The findings indicate that there has been a substantial increase in the number of postings in the thirty-four months included in the study. Forty-two percent of the postings pertained to seeking information on a specific problem, whereas 55% were the replies either giving a solution or concurring with the opinion in a previous posting. Only 3% of the postings were of a general informational nature. The inquiries from ranchers and farmers cover a broad range of topics. Problems related to hybrid varieties of grasses comprised one-third of the postings.
Cycloreversion of quadricyclane to norbornadiene catalyzed by Tin (II) complexes

Abstract The conversion of quadricyclane ( 1 ) to norbornadiene ( 2 ) is catalyzed by stannous chloride and stannous chloride-phosphine complexes. A newly synthesized polymer-bound phosphine-stannous chloride complex also proved effective in the catalytic conversion of 1 to 2 .