cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Qualitative Health Research: Negotiating Life with HIV/AIDS

In this paper, I look at the use of qualitative methods in health geography. I focus on two projects using in-depth interviews with people with HIV/AIDS. Drawing from feminist work on qualitative methodologies and the production of knowledge, two questions are posed. First, what insights do interviews offer about people's daily experiences with HIV/AIDS? Second, given that interviews involve direct contact between interviewer and respondent, what are the implications of using this methodology? Projects reveal that living with HIV/AIDS involves a complex series of negotiations. These include negotiating one's own identity within medical discourse, dealing with health care professionals, and choosing how to use medication. The projects also indicate that qualitative research itself involves a process of negotiation. Researchers' preconceptions, interview settings and formats, and relationships established during research can effect research outcomes andresearch participants. I argue that a willingness to re...
Depolarization of Osteoclast Plasma Membrane Potential by 17β-Estradiol

The effect of estrogen on plasma membrane potential of isolated avian osteoclasts was examined through the use of a fluorescent potential-sensitive dye, bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbiturate) trimethine oxonol, also known as bis-oxonol. A decrease in potential was observed within seconds of addition of 17β-estradiol. Ouabain, a specific Na+K+-ATPase inhibitor, and BaCl2, an inhibitor of the inwardly rectifying K+ channel, blocked the estrogen response. Verapamil and lanthanum chloride (LaCl3), inhibitors of inward Ca2+ channels, and 4′4-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2′2-disulfonic acid (DIDS), an inhibitor of Cl− channels, did not affect the depolarization. Herbimycin A, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, also had no effect on the decreased membrane potential. These data provide evidence which suggests that estrogen regulates osteoclasts through ion channel activities. The change in K+ channel activity was observed within seconds of addition of 17β-estradiol, indicating an action at the level of the plasma membrane.
Early experience alters limbic forebrain Fos responses to a stressful interoceptive stimulus in young adult rats.

Abstract The present study examined whether manipulation of the early life experience of rat pups might alter the later ability of an interoceptive challenge to recruit central neural circuits that receive visceral sensory signals and generate stress responses. For this purpose, litters were exposed to daily maternal separation for either 15 min (MS-15) or 180 min (MS-180) from postnatal days (P)1 to P10. Pups in control litters were raised under standard conditions (i.e., no separations). Similar to previous reports in adult rats, adolescent rats (P35–45) with a developmental history of MS-15 displayed less anxiety-like behavior on the elevated plus maze compared to control and MS-180 rats. As young adults (P50–60), rats were anesthetized and perfused with fixative 90 min after viscerosensory stimulation via lithium chloride (LiCl, 0.15 M, 1% BW, i.p.) or saline control. In all three rearing groups, Fos activation within brainstem and forebrain regions of interest was significantly enhanced after LiCl vs. saline. MS-15 rats tended to display fewer LiCl-activated neurons in most brain regions compared with rats in the other two rearing groups. This trend reached significance within the dorsal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. The ability of MS-15 to alter limbic forebrain activation in rats after an interoceptive challenge may contribute to the effect of early life experience to modulate physiological and behavioral stress responses more generally.
Efficacy of Daclizumab in an African-American and Hispanic renal transplant population.

Current immunosuppressive regimens have decreased acute rejection rates during the 1st year after renal transplantation. However, this decrease has not been as marked in high-risk groups, such as African-American and Hispanic renal transplant recipients. We compared two simultaneous cohorts of altogether 36 African-American and Hispanic renal transplant recipients. Cohort one received a regimen of mycophenolate mofetil, prednisone, and a calcineurin inhibitor. The second cohort received the same protocol with the addition of Daclizumab (1 mg/kg for five doses given every 2 weeks). The median follow-up was 15.2 months (range 11.8–19.9 months). One patient in the Daclizumab-treated group and seven patients in the control group experienced an acute rejection episode. The rejection-free survival was significantly higher in the Daclizumab-treated group (94.4 %) as compared to the control group (66.7 %, Log-rank < 0.05) at 17 months after transplantation. A Cox Proportional Hazard model revealed lack of Daclizumab therapy as the only significant risk factor for acute rejection. (hazard ratio 7.0, 95 % CI = 1.1–48). The addition of the IL-2 receptor blocker Daclizumab to a triple therapy regimen may decrease early acute rejection in the high-risk groups of African-American and Hispanic patients.
Period-doubling induced chaotic motion in the LR model of a horizontal impact oscillator

Abstract Stability, saddle-node and period-doubling bifurcation conditions for the LR model motion in a horizontal impact oscillator are determined analytically and numerically. The regions for such conditions are developed in parameter space. The stability and bifurcation conditions for all the motions of this impact oscillator depend strongly on the initial impact phase instead of excitation frequency. The chaotic motion of the LR model induced by the period-doubling bifurcation are investigated numerically. The period doubling, periodic motions are illustrated through displacement responses and phase planes. The strange attractors of the chaotic motion induced by period doubling are presented by use of phase planes and the Poincare mapping sections. The analytical and numerical predictions for the stability and bifurcation of the LR motion do not agree well as the non-LR periodic motions coexist with the RL motion, which needs to be further investigated.
A Comparison of Fast and Low Overhead Distributed Priority Locks

Distributed synchronization is necessary to coordinate the diverse activities of a distributed system. Priority synchronization is needed for real-time systems or to improve the performance of critical tasks. Practical synchronization techniques require fast response and low overhead. In this paper, we present three priority synchronization algorithms that sendO(logn) messages per critical section request on average and useO(logn) bits of storage per processor. Previous algorithms required 2(n? 1) messages per critical section entry andO(n) bits of storage per processor. Two of the algorithms are based on Li and Hudak's path compression techniques, and the third algorithm uses Raymond's fixed-tree structure. Since each of the algorithms have the same theoretical complexity, we make a performance comparison to determine which of the algorithms is best under different loads and different request priority distributions. We find that when the request priority distribution is stationary, the path-compression algorithm that uses a singly linked list is best overall, but the fixed-tree algorithm requires fewer messages when the number of processors is small and the load is high (100% or greater). When the request priority distribution is nonstationary, the fixed-tree algorithm requires the fewest messages when the load is 100% or greater.
Logistics Strategy and Inventory Decisions

The log‐normal distribution provides a powerful decision tool for assessing the impact of marketing policies upon inventory allocations.
Hydrochemical Facies and Ground-Water Flow Patterns in Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain: ABSTRACT

Hydrochemical facies is used in this paper to denote the diagnostic chemical aspect of ground-water solutions occurring in hydrologic systems. They reflect the chemical response of the interrelated effects of the lithology and the pattern of ground-water flow. The facies and their distribution are shown on trilinear diagrams, isometric panel diagrams, and maps showing isopleths of chemical constituents within certain formations. The occurrence of the various facies within one formation or group of formations in which the mineralogy is uniform indicates that the flow of characteristics of the aquifer systems controls the distribution of the hydrochemical facies. By use of available head data, flow patterns of the fresh ground water are shown on maps and cross sections. The e patterns are controlled in part by the distribution of higher landmasses and the depth to bedrock or to the salt-water interface. Mapping of the hydrochemical facies shows that at shallow depths (less than about 200 feet) the calcium-magnesium cation facies generally predominates in the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain. The bicarbonate anion facies occurs more widely in the shallow deposits of the Coastal Plain than does the sulphate or chloride End_Page 1244------------------------------ facies. In the deeper deposits the sodium chloride facies predominates. The lower total dissolved solids in the ground water in New Jersey indicates that less upward vertical leakage occurs there than in Maryland and Virginia where the shallow deposits contain more concentrated solutions. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1245------------
Diálogos: Hacia una Comunidad Global by TACELOSKY, KATHLEEN, RUTH A. KAUFFMAN, & DENISE M. OVERFIELD

A review is presented for the book "Dialogos: Hacia una Comunidad Global," by Kathleen Tacelosky, Ruth A. Kauffman, and Denise M. Overfield.
On the Definition of State Variables for an Internal State Variable Constitutive Model Describing Metal Deformation

The quest for an internal state variable constitutive model describing metal deformation is reviewed. First, analogy is drawn between a deformation model and the Ideal Gas Law. The use of strain as a variable in deformation models is discussed, and whether strain serves as an internal state variable is considered. A simple experiment that demonstrated path dependence in copper is described. The importance of defining appropriate internal state variables for a constitutive law relates to the ability to accurately model temperature and strain-rate dependencies in deformation simulations.
Notes on Gromov’s systolic estimate

These notes cover some of the main results of Gromov’s paper Filling Riemannian manifolds. The goal of these notes is to make the results and proofs accessible to more people. The main result is that if (M,g) is a Riemannian manifold of dimension n, then there is a non-contractible curve in (M,g) of length at most C n Vol(M,g)1/n .
Gravitational equation of motion of spherical extended bodies.

The gravitational equation of motion of the nonrotating, spherically symmetric, extended celestial body is calculated explicitly to $\frac{1}{{c}^{2}}$ order within the general class of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Corrections to the motion proportional to spherical extension are generally nonzero in such theories; but when both PPN coefficients $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and $\ensuremath{\beta}$ separately take their general relativistic values, the extension-dependent corrections to the motion vanish. Starting from the rather unique $\frac{1}{{c}^{2}}$ order expression obtained for the extended body equation of motion in this perturbative, but otherwise general, case, an "educated guess" can be made for the fully covariant variational principle with resulting tensor equation of motion of a rigid, spherically symmetric, extended body. Such bodies couple their spherical extension to the Ricci tensor of the metric field rather than the full curvature tensor, and hence such coupling vanishes in general relativity.
AMPA/Kainate Receptors Drive Rapid Output and Precise Synchrony in Olfactory Bulb Granule Cells

Gamma frequency (30-70 Hz) synchronized oscillatory activity in the olfactory bulb is widely believed to be important for odor detection and discrimination. As in other circuits with "gamma activity," the activity in the bulb is driven by GABAergic interneurons, specifically a class of axonless cells called granule cells. However, bulb granule cells appear to lack some key mechanistic features that promote rapid synchrony in other circuits, including direct electrical interconnections and dominant actions for fast neurotransmitter receptors. At least under "static" stimulus conditions, granule cells are driven by kinetically slow NMDA receptors. Here, I used patch-clamp recordings in rat olfactory bulb slices to better understand mechanisms that shape granule cell activity under "dynamic" stimulus conditions that mimic a natural odor stimulus. During a 4 Hz patterned stimulation of olfactory nerve afferents, activation of single granule cells was primarily controlled by two classes of AMPA/kainate receptor-mediated synaptic inputs derived from output mitral cells. The rapid kinetics of these receptors, together with inactivation of A-type potassium channels, ensured that granule cells had short spike-response times. Studies in cell pairs, moreover, indicated that excitatory inputs could synchronize granule cells on a rapid time scale (2-5 ms), in turn resulting in phase-locked GABA release onto mitral cells. The precision of granule cell synchrony was controlled by the same biophysical mechanisms that promoted rapid single-cell spiking. These studies demonstrate the mechanistic underpinnings that transform a circuit with slow, uncoupled activity under static conditions into a fast, dynamic circuit operating with high precision under physiological conditions.
An autoradiographic analysis of the time of appearance of neurons in the developing chick neural retina.

Abstract The pattern of incorporation of [3H]thymidine into the chick neural retina has been used to establish the time and order in which different classes of neuroepithelial cells withdraw from the cell cycle and initiate migration and differentiation. The posterior pole of the retina is the first to form during development. In this region most neuroepithelial cells complete mitotic activity between the third and sixth day of incubation. Presumptive ganglion cells initiate the withdrawal process, and they are soon followed by the neuroepithelial precursors of amacrine, horizontal, and receptor cells. Bipolar cell precursors are the last to begin and the last to complete cell cycle activity. It is worthy of note, however, that, in any given region of the retina, neuroepithelial cells of all types cease mitosis in close, overlapping succession. These results are in reasonable agreement with those previously published on the chick retina by Fujita and Horii (1963) , and other investigators on the mouse (Mus), killifish (Fundulus), and toad (Xenopus). The present data are also consistent with those proposals of Angevine (1970) , Jacobson, 1968a , Jacobson, 1968b , Jacobson, 1970 , and others that relate the cessation of mitotic activity of neuroepithelial cells to the determination of neuronal size, axon length, and the specification of neuronal connections.
The narcissism of minor differences in the psychological gap between opposing nations

(1986). The narcissism of minor differences in the psychological gap between opposing nations. Psychoanalytic Inquiry: Vol. 6, Aggression and Its Alternatives in the Conduct of International Relations, pp. 175-191.
Experimental determination of stress-intensity factors using caustics and photoelasticity

The optical method of caustics has been used with considerable success in recent years for determining stress-intensity factors in both static and dynamic problems. However the midplane analysis explaining the formation of transmission caustics has certain approximations that need to be examined. In this paper it is demonstrated that the midplane analysis is in good agreement with the numerical solution of the exact geometrical optical equations for mapping the light-ray path in a cracked plate. Since both these analyses are obtained by imposing a two-dimensional crack-tip stress field the sensitivity of the method to the deviations from the imposed stress field is examined next. The implications of this examination on the photoelastic technique are then discussed.
Microbial Toxicity in Soil Medium

A laboratory procedure using the respirometer was developed to measure microbial toxicity in soils of organic chemicals. The procedure was tested with Polytox, a commercial microbial test culture, on 35 organic chemicals. The test protocol was reproducible with a mean standard deviation of 0.08 mg chemical/g of soil for eight chemicals. The assays were also carried out at different moisture-holding capacities of soil. Correlation between toxicity tests done in aqueous medium and soil for Polytox test culture was statistically significant and yielded an r2 of 0.816. Details of the laboratory procedure and test results are presented together with comparisons of toxicity of chemicals in the soil medium with that in aqueous medium for the same test organism. A few practical applications are discussed.
Binary frames, graphs and erasures

This paper examines binary codes from a frame-theoretic viewpoint. Binary Parseval frames have convenient encoding and decoding maps. We characterize binary Parseval frames that are robust to one or two erasures. These characterizations are given in terms of the associated Gram matrix and with graph-theoretic conditions. We illustrate these results with frames in lowest dimensions that are robust to one or two erasures. In addition, we present necessary conditions for correcting a larger number of erasures. As in a previous paper, we emphasize in which ways the binary theory differs from the theory of frames for real and complex Hilbert spaces.
Utility of New Electrocardiographic Models for Left Ventricular Mass in Older Adults

Several multivariate statistical models have recently been introduced for estimation of left ventricular mass from standard 12-lead electrocardiographic measurements. The validity of these algorithms has not been adequately evaluated. The objective of this investigation was to compare the associations between echocardiographic and electrocardiographic left ventricular mass values with clinical and subclinical indexes of coronary heart disease. The evaluation was performed with participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study, a population-based sample of 5201 men and women aged 65 years and older. Echocardiographic M-mode measurements of left ventricular mass were performed from videotape recordings with the use of a strictly standardized protocol. Electrocardiographic algorithms of the Novacode program and new algorithms derived from the Cardiovascular Health Study population were used for left ventricular mass prediction. Echocardiographic and electrocardiographic determinations of left ventricular mass were technically successful in 3410 (65.6%) and 5013 (96.4%) participants, respectively. The Novacode model overestimated echocardiographic left ventricular mass. Compared with the Novacode model, the new Cardiovascular Health Study electrocardiographic model, which includes adjustment for body weight, eliminated left ventricular mass prediction bias and improved the correlation between echocardiographic and electrocardiographic left ventricular mass from .33 to .54 in women and from .46 to .51 in men. Echocardiographic and electrocardiographic models both demonstrated similar and about equally strong associations with overt and subclinical disease and with risk factors for left ventricular hypertrophy. These observations demonstrate the potential utility of electrocardiographic models for left ventricular mass estimation.
Array processing of teleseismic body waves with the USArray

We introduce a novel method of array processing for measuring arrival times and relative amplitudes of teleseismic body waves recorded on large aperture seismic arrays. The algorithm uses a robust stacking algorithm with three features: (1) an initial 'reference' signal is required for initial alignment by cross-correlation; (2) a robust stacking method is used that penalizes signals that are not well matched to the stack; and (3) an iterative procedure alternates between cross-correlation with the current stack and the robust stacking algorithm. This procedure always converges in a few iterations making it well suited for interactive processing. We describe concepts behind a graphical interface developed to utilize this algorithm for processing body waves. We found it was important to compute several data quality metrics and allow the analyst to sort on these metrics. This is combined with a 'pick cutoff' function that simplifies data editing. Application of the algorithm to data from the USArray show four features of this method. (1) The program can produce superior results to that produced by a skilled analyst in approximately 1/5 of the time required for conventional interactive picking. (2) We show an illustrative example comparing residuals from S and SS for an event from northern Chile. The SS data show a remarkable +/-10s residual pattern across the USArray that we argue is caused by propagation approximately parallel to the subduction zones in Central and South America. (3) Quality metrics were found to be useful in identifying data problems. (4) We analyzed 50 events from the Tonga-Fiji region to compare residuals produced by this new algorithm with those measured by interactive picking. Both sets of residuals are approximately normally distributed, but corrupted by about 5% outliers. The scatter of the data estimated by waveform correlation was found to be approximately 1/2 that of the hand picked data. The outlier populations of both data sets are likely produced by cycle skips, but the distribution of hand picked data show a more diffuse departure from a Gaussian error model.
Appropriateness of Care: A Comparison of Global and Outcome Methods to Set Standards

The RAND-UCLA Health Services Utilization Study Previously analyzed the appropriateness of use of carotid endarterectomy based on a literature review and global expert judgments. In this study, for 45 of the same clinical indications used in the RAND-UCLA Study, the authors compare the appropriatene
Vibrational Edge Modes for Small-Angle Wedges

Moss, Maradudin, and Cunningham recently calculated the velocities of long-wavelength acoustic phonons localized at the apex of a variable-angle semi-infinite elastic wedge. We present here a method by which more precise results may be obtained for small wedge angles.
Determining the composition of the Earth

A long-standing question in the planetary sciences asks what the Earth is made of. For historical reasons, volatile-depleted primitive materials similar to current chondritic meteorites were long considered to provide the 'building blocks' of the terrestrial planets. But material from the Earth, Mars, comets and various meteorites have Mg/Si and Al/Si ratios, oxygen-isotope ratios, osmium-isotope ratios and D/H, Ar/H2O and Kr/Xe ratios such that no primitive material similar to the Earth's mantle is currently represented in our meteorite collections. The 'building blocks' of the Earth must instead be composed of unsampled 'Earth chondrite' or 'Earth achondrite'.
α-methyl-6-aminodopamine: Depletion of catecholamines in mouse brain and peripheral tissues

Abstract A new synthetic agent R, S-2-amino-1(2-amino-4, 5-dihydroxyphenyl) propane dihydrobromide, also referred to as α-methyl-6-aminodopamine (α-Me-6-ADA), has been found to produce acute (one day) and longer-term (seven day) depletion of norepinephrine (NE) levels in mouse brain and peripheral tissues. A 100 mg/kg dose of α-Me-6-ADA (i.v., free base) produced greater than 85% depletion of NE in the heart and spleen at one day and one week after treatment. Intracranially, α-Me-6-ADA (100 μg i.vtr.) depleted NE in the telencephalon and brain stem by 79% and 21% respectively at seven days. In addition DA was depleted by 45% in the ipsilateral striatum. The α-Me-6-ADA appears to have a relative selectivity for noradrenergic nerves, as an intracranial dose of 10 μg, which decreased NE in mouse whole brain by 52% at one day, failed to alter the DA content. These data suggest that α-Me-6-ADA may be a neurotoxin.
Isolation and characterization of an acyl carrier protein from pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase by controlled proteolysis with elastase.

Abstract Controlled proteolytic cleavage of 4′-phospho[ 14 C]pantetheine-labeled pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase generates two 4′-phospho[ 14 C]pantetheine-labeled peptides, E c 1 and E c 2. These are separated from each other and the core enzyme by gel permeation chromatography on a Sephadex G-75 column. The two radioactively labeled peptides constitute 50% of the radioactivity initially present in the 4′-phospho[ 14 C]pantetheine-labeled fatty acid synthetase. The remaining label in the core enzyme is released quantitatively by proteolytic cleavage with trypsin. The molecular weights of E c 1 and E c 2 peptides, as determined by size exclusion chromatography and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, are 12000 and 6000, respectively. Both the higher and lower molecular weight peptides are homogeneous with respect to size and charge, as shown by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence and absence of SDS. The higher molecular weight peptide, E c 1, is characterized as an acyl carrier protein by the transacylation reaction between the unlabeled E c 1 peptide and radioactively labeled acetyl- and malonyl-CoA. Since E c 2 peptide also contains the prosthetic group present in the E c 1 peptide, the E c 2 peptide appears to result from the proteolytic cleavage of the higher molecular weight peptide, E c 1. Amino acid composition of the acyi carrier protein shows the presence of 1 mol of 4′-phosphopantetheine per mol of protein. 2 mol of acyl carrier protein are present per mol of the fatty acid synthetase. The amino acid analysis is in good agreement with the molecular weight of the E c 1 peptide, as determined by gel filtration and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. N -Terminal amino acid analysis of this peptide shows the presence of an arginine residue.
Gestational and smoking effects on peptidase activity in the placenta

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) regulate fetally and maternally generated peptides in the placenta. In this study, ACE-like activity was found to be decreased and LAP-like activity increased with increasing days of gestation in rat placental tissues forming the fetal:maternal interface. Membrane-associated ACE-like and LAP-like activities in the placenta of smokers were also found to be significantly higher than their respective activities in placenta of nonsmokers. Our collective findings suggest that gestational and environmentally-induced changes in placental peptidase activities may account for variable peptide hormone and/or therapeutic peptide metabolism in the placenta.
Retention of ionizable compounds in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Effect of the ionic strength of the mobile phase and the nature of the salts used on the overloading behavior.

The retention mechanism of the protonated cation in propranolol chloride on C18-Xterra was investigated using mobile phases of various compositions. Accurate adsorption data were measured by frontal analysis, with a mixture of methanol and water (25% methanol), with no salt, as the mobile phase. The experimental isotherm has at least two inflection points, at concentrations of about 0.2 and 6.0 g/L, respectively. This precludes the modeling of these data with a simple convex-upward isotherm (e.g., Langmuir). The adsorption energy distribution or relationship between the number of sites on the adsorbent surface and the energy of adsorption on these sites was calculated by assuming Moreau isotherm behavior (S-shaped isotherm). This model has never been applied to describe the surface heterogeneity of any RPLC adsorbent. The calculation converged toward a bimodal energy distribution. Accordingly, the bi-Moreau model is the simplest theoretical model accounting for the adsorption data of propranolol from a mo...
Personality and value differences related to use of LSD-25.

Judgments regarding various personality traits were made on 49 subjects and related to frequency of LSD use. Frequency of use was negatively related to understanding of self and others, to degree of consistency between professed values and behavior, and to a sense of ability to control one's life. No differences were found between various frequency of use groups in terms of general academic and career competence. On the other hand, frequency of use was related to alienation from many traditional values of society and to an involvement in alternative life styles. Reasons for such differences are discussed.
Automated UAV-based video exploitation using service oriented architecture framework

Airborne surveillance and reconnaissance are essential for successful military missions. Such capabilities are critical for troop protection, situational awareness, mission planning, damage assessment, and others. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) gather huge amounts of video data but it is extremely labour-intensive for operators to analyze hours and hours of received data. At MDA, we have developed a suite of tools that can process the UAV video data automatically, including mosaicking, change detection and 3D reconstruction, which have been integrated within a standard GIS framework. In addition, the mosaicking and 3D reconstruction tools have also been integrated in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework. The Visualization and Exploitation Workstation (VIEW) integrates 2D and 3D visualization, processing, and analysis capabilities developed for UAV video exploitation. Visualization capabilities are supported through a thick-client Graphical User Interface (GUI), which allows visualization of 2D imagery, video, and 3D models. The GUI interacts with the VIEW server, which provides video mosaicking and 3D reconstruction exploitation services through the SOA framework. The SOA framework allows multiple users to perform video exploitation by running a GUI client on the operator's computer and invoking the video exploitation functionalities residing on the server. This allows the exploitation services to be upgraded easily and allows the intensive video processing to run on powerful workstations. MDA provides UAV services to the Canadian and Australian forces in Afghanistan with the Heron, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV system. On-going flight operations service provides important intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information to commanders and front-line soldiers.
Studies of cyclodextrin complexes by positron annihilation

The positron annihilation technique has been applied to study cyclodextrin complexes formation. Lifetime spectra have been measured in aqueous solutions of nitrophenol isomers, cyclodextrins, and cyclodextrins mixed with nitrophenol isomers. The spectra were resolved into three lifetime components. The intensity, I 3 , of the longest-lived component was found to be decreased linearly with respect to the concentration of nitrophenol isomers in an aqueous solution. In the aqueous solution of cyclodextrins, concentration had little effect on I 3 . However, I 3 increased with respect to the concentration of cyclodextrins in aqueous solutions mixed with a fixed amount of nitrophenol isomers
Ask and It Will Be Given to You

Consider the following situation. It is the first day of school, and the new third-grade students file into the classroom to be shown to their seats for the coming year. As they enter, the third-grade teacher notices one small boy who is particularly unkempt. He looks to be in desperate need of bathing, and his clothes are dirty, torn and tight-fitting. During recess, the teacher pulls aside the boy's previous teacher and asks about his wretched condition. The other teacher informs her that he always looks that way, even though the boy's family is quite wealthy. The reason he appears as he does, she continues, is that the family observes an odd practice according to which the children do not receive many important things – food, clothing, bathing, even shelter – unless they specifically request them. Since the boy, like many third-graders, has little interest in bathing and clean clothes, he just never asks for them.
Valinomycin-doped photoresist layers for potassium ion sensing

Abstract In this paper we describe a new ion-conducting polymer system that is suitable for deposition onto ion-controlled diodes (ICDs). Photoresist layers doped with organic ion-carrier species were fabricated using standard photolithographic techniques. Results are shown for both metal-coated and ICD-coated electrodes. Potassium-selective devices were fabricated showing excellent sensitivity and adequate stability.
The Aicardi syndrome: report of 4 cases and review of the literature.

The findings in 4 cases of Aicardi syndrome (female infants with mental retardation, seizures, characteristic eye lesions, agenesis of the corpus callosum, vertebral anomalies, and abnormal but nondiagnostic electroencephalographic patterns) are compared to 39 previously reported cases. Available information suggests tha the syndrome results from an unknown intrauterine insult occurring no later than the first trimester. No familial cases have been reported, and the cause remains unknown.
Customer Mind-Set of Employees throughout the Organization

Previous research has provided strong evidence for the benefits of embracing a market orientation, an organizational focus highlighting the needs of customers, and the creation of customer value. This study extends this focus on the customer to the individual worker level. A construct, customer mind-set (CMS), is developed that reflects the extent to which an individual employee believes that understanding and satisfying customers, whether internal or external to the organization, is central to the proper execution of his or her job. In this exploratory study, the authors develop a parsimonious scale for measuring CMS. Relationships between CMS and significant organizational variables are examined to establish CMS's validity and provide some tentative insights into its value to researchers and practitioners. The authors believe the CMS construct will allow for operational-level analysis of the extent to which a customer orientation is embraced throughout an organization, permitting managers to implement targeted improvement strategies.
Evaluating the SOS suicide prevention program: a replication and extension.

Suicide is a leading cause of death for children and youth in the United States. Although school based programs have been the principal vehicle for youth suicide prevention efforts for over two decades, few have been systematically evaluated. This study examined the effectiveness of the Signs of Suicide (SOS) prevention program in reducing suicidal behavior. 4133 students in 9 high schools in Columbus, Georgia, western Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups during the 2001–02 and 2002–03 school years. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by students in both groups approximately 3 months after program implementation. Significantly lower rates of suicide attempts and greater knowledge and more adaptive attitudes about depression and suicide were observed among students in the intervention group. Students' race/ethnicity, grade, and gender did not alter the impact of the intervention on any of the outcomes assessed in this analysis. This study has confirmed preliminary analysis of Year 1 data with a larger and more racially and socio-economically diverse sample. SOS continues to be the only universal school-based suicide prevention program to demonstrate significant effects of self-reported suicide attempts in a study utilizing a randomized experimental design. Moreover, the beneficial effects of SOS were observed among high school-aged youth from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, highlighting the program's utility as a universal prevention program. clinicaltrials.gov NCT000387855.
Electroacupuncture analgesia in rats: naltrexone antagonism is dependent on previous exposure.

Inhibition of pain by low frequency electroacupuncture (EA) has been thoughh to be mediated by endogenous opioids. We reported in a previous paper, however, that naloxone (NAL) and naltrexone (NTX) either potentiated or had no effect on analgesia in EA-naive rats, independent of origin (American or Chinese), sex, weight, geographic location (the U.S.A. or China), or numerous variations of experimental methodology. In the present study, we hypothesized that the number of exposures to EA treatment may be responsible for the discrepant effect of opiate antagonists. We found, as previously demonstrated, analgesia in EA-naive rats was potentiated by NTX. After two pre-exposures to EA, however, NTX antagonized analgesia. These results indicate that, in rats: (1) pre-exposure is a key variable for opiate antagonists to produce antagonism or potentiation of analgesia; (2) environmental cues paired with the initial analgesic manipulation may be responsible for converting analgesia from non-opioid to opioid, as already demonstrated with classically conditioned and learned helplessness induced analgesia; and (3) EA analgesia in rats in a multidimensional manipulation which can be influenced by subtle environmental changes.
The Rank-Size rule in the absence of growth

Abstract This paper makes a discovery in comparing Steindl's model of a growing system of cities to Champernowne's model of a stationary one: While the so-called Pareto coefficient (a measure of size concentration) of the city size distribution for a growing system is determined by the ratio of the average rate of growth in the sizes of cities to the rate of growth in the number of cities, and is thus independent of the variance in growth rates across cities, and also, to a large degree, independent of their behavior over time, the coefficient is directly proportional to this variance in the case of stationarity. This has interesting policy implications: As long as the urban system is growing as a whole, efforts to reduce rates of growth in high-growth areas and to raise them in low-growth areas, i.e., to reduce the dispersion in growth rates across cities, will have no effect on the shape of the size distribution of cities. However, if the system were to cease to grow, these same efforts would have a potentially great effect on this distribution. This suggests that the customary pessimism expressed by students of urban phenomena in the efficacy of legislation to alter the form of the size distribution of cities, a pessimism induced by their observation of the persistence of the current distribution over time in many countries, is primarily due to the circumstances in which these systems are observed, i.e., in periods of growth and expansion.
Amino-acid Composition of Collagen isolated from the Oral Cavity of the Sperm Whale

THE composition of collagen is known to vary between species and between different tissue sources of the same animal1. The amino-acid hydroxyproline is a characteristic amino-acid of collagen since it is found, to a limited extent, in only one other protein, elastin. The hydroxyproline content of collagen and gelatine isolated from fish is reported to vary from 9.2 to 10.3 per cent, whereas collagen and gelatine from mammalian sources vary from 13.0 to 14.4 per cent (by weight)2. While studying collagen from various mammalian sources, we determined the amino-acid content of collagen from the oral cavity of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon) for comparison with known mammalian and whale-skin values.
Predominance of Isolated Systolic Hypertension Among Middle-Aged and Elderly US Hypertensives: Analysis Based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III

The purpose of the present study was to examine patterns of systolic and diastolic hypertension by age in the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III...
Piezoelectric inkjet printing of medical adhesives and sealants

Piezoelectric inkjet printing is a noncontact process that enables microscale processing of biological materials. In this research summary, the use of piezoelectric inkjet printing for patterning medical adhesives and sealants, including a two-component polyethylene glycol hydrogel-based medical sealant, an N-butyl cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive, and a mussel adhesive protein biological adhesive, is described The effect of Fe(III) on mussel adhesive protein structure was evaluated by means of atomic force microscopy. The ability to process microscale patterns of medical sealants and adhesives will provide an improvement in tissue joining, including enhanced tissue integrity, reduced bond lines, and decreased adhesive toxicity. Piezoelectric inkjet deposition of medical adhesives and sealants may be used in wound closure, fracture fixation, and microscale vascular surgery.
An experimental evaluation of a school‐based program for children at risk: Wisconsin early intervention

This article describes the nature and effectiveness of Wisconsin Early Intervention (WEI), a social development program for rural elementary school children. Incorporating a social learning formulation of child and family dysfunction, program services included social skill groups and parent/teacher consultation for referred kindergarten through 4th-grade students at two schools. Services were evaluated experimentally with random assignment of 78 children from School A to Full Service (parent/teacher consultation, social skills groups) or Partial Service (parent/teacher consultation) and 49 children from School B to Partial Service or No Service conditions. Full services resulted in decreased depression relative to partial services, based on standardized interview data. However, multidimensional ratings obtained from parents, teachers, and WEI staff consistently indicated that children's competencies and behavior, regardless of service group, improved during the course of the program. Explanations for these results and the importance of experimentally evaluating community-level interventions are discussed.
Heuristic evaluation functions in artificial intelligence search algorithms

We consider a special case of heuristics, namely numeric heuristic evaluation functions, and their use in artificial intelligence search algorithms. The problems they are applied to fall into three general classes: single-agent path-finding problems, two-player games, and constraint-satisfaction problems. In a single-agent path-finding problem, such as the Fifteen Puzzle or the travelling salesman problem, a single agent searches for a shortest path from an initial state to a goal state. Two-player games, such as chess and checkers, involve an adversarial relationship between two players, each trying to win the game. In a constraint-satisfaction, problem, such as the 8-Queens problem, the task is to find a state that satisfies a set of constraints. All of these problems are computationally intensive, and heuristic evaluation functions are used to reduce the amount of computation required to solve them. In each case we explain the nature of the evaluation functions used, how they are used in search algorithms, and how they can be automatically learned or acquired.
Neutron irradiation and compatibility testing of Li2O

A study was made of the neutron irradiation behavior of 6Li-enriched Li2O in EBR-II. In addition, a stress corrosion study was performed ex-reactor to test the compatibility of Li2O with a variety of stainless steels. The irradiation tests showed that tritium and helium retention in the Li2O (∼ 89% dense) lessened with neutron exposure, and the retentions appear to approach a steady-state after ∼ 1% 6Li burnup. The stress corrosion studies, using 316 stainless steel (Ti-modified) and a 35% Ni alloy, showed that stress does not enhance the corrosion, and that dry Li2O is not significantly corrosive, the LiOH content producing the corrosive effects. Corrosion, in general, was not severe because a passivation in sealed capsules seemed to occur after a time which greatly reduced corrosion rates.
Classification of second order linear differential equations with respect to oscillation

where r E P[a, 03), r > 0, and q E C[a, co), are classified by the behavior of their real solutions, as oscillatory or nonoscillatory. In the first instance, one, and thereby every, solution vanishes at an infinite number of isolated points in [a, co); in the second instance each solution has only a finite number of zeros in [a, co). By solution is always meant a function which is not identically zero. A special instance of nonoscillation is the disconjugate case in which every solution has at most one zero in [a, 00). Although there are many results concerning the classification of equations of the form (1.1) with respect to these properties, no completely satisfactory answer has yet been obtained. The purpose of this paper or survey is to identify the known results, to relate the new results and old results to one another, and to unify some aspects of the known theory. For the sake of completeness, we will mention most of the results included in the excellent survey of Rb 19.591. There is a further justification of this duplication in that we will develop the known theory in a different manner than did Rib. The qualitative study of second order linear equations originated in the classic paper of Sturm [81; 18361. However, the general importance and usefulness of Sturm’s work was not properly recognized until the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. At that time the work of B&her [4-71 had a considerable influence in getting recognition of Sturm’s work. For the problem of classifing the solutions of (1. l), Sturm’s main result is his famous comparison theorem:
Enantioselectivity and Enzyme-Substrate Docking Studies of a Ketoreductase from Sporobolomyces salmonicolor (SSCR) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (YOL151w)

Models for two ketoreductases were created and used to predict the stereoselectivity of the enzymes. One was based on the crystal structure of Sporobolomyces salmonicolor. This model was used to predict the stereoselectivity for 46 ketone reductions using this enzyme; only 6 were incorrectly predicted. The stereochemistries of the products were compared to the experimental values found in the literature. The Prelog rules were also used to predict the stereoselectivity for this enzyme; however the Prelog rules seem to be highly substrate dependent. As a result, predicting stereoselectivity of KREDs is more complicated than is allowed for with just substrate size and geometry. This enzyme showed Prelog docking geometry for 13 substrates if the enzyme is assumed to prefer an anti-Prelog docking geometry. For SSCR the molecular modeling proved to be a better method for predicting stereoselectivity of the enzymes. The second model was a homology model for YOL151w based on the enzyme crystal structure of Sporobolomyces salmonicolor carbonyl reductase, SSCR. In this homology model, 14 compounds were docked and the predicted stereochemistry was compared to the literature values. Of these, 5 were incorrectly predicted.