cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two-impulse, bi-parabolic, and bi-elliptical transfers between coplanar elliptical orbits

Abstract Necessary conditions for minimum characteristic velocity are applied to the problem of optimal impulsive transfer between arbitrary coplanar elliptical orbits. Additionally some existence and sufficient conditions for optimal transfer are presented. Equations for calculating optimal bi-parabolic transfers and optimal two-impulse transfers between orbits reduce to the problem of solving three nonlinear equations in three unknowns. Minimizing impulses are found to be applied tangentially if and only if the initial elliptical orbits have directionally aligned apses. In these cases minimizing impulses can be found in closed form. Four fundamental theorems are presented to unify these closed-form solutions. All of these closed-form minimizing transfers are either generalized Hohmann or bi-parabolic. Bi-elliptic transfers are never optimal but can approach arbitrarily close to a bi-parabolic transfer. An example is presented for perigees aligned in the same direction and another for aligned perigees in opposition.
A Close Look at Cultural Intelligence

Cultural intelligence, a relatively new branch of scholarship in the field of psychology with applications in government, management, and education is a concept directly linked with the concept of creativity. Both are multidimensional concepts and point us to a strong relation between elaborate processing of information that explains the importance of existing material culture in the generation of new creative ideas, especially as they relate to a variety of creative and design fields, and more specifically to fashion design. This is the first scholarly attempt to link cultural intelligence with the field of fashion.
Abstract 15838: Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Compensatory Response is Impaired in Human Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Atrial and B-type natriuretic peptides (ANP and BNP) are cardiac hormones secreted as compensatory measures to preserve cardiorenal homeostasis. Treating heart failure (HF) with sacubitril/valsarta...
Characteristics and Dynamics of Density Fronts over the Inner to Midshelf under Weak Wind Conditions

Author(s): Wu, Xiaodong; Feddersen, Falk; Giddings, Sarah N | Abstract: AbstractHere, we explore the kinematics and dynamics of coastal density fronts (within 10 km from shore and l30-m depth), identified using an edge detection algorithm, in a realistic high-resolution model of the San Diego Bight with relatively weak winds and small freshwater input. The density fronts have lengths spanning 4–10 km and surface density gradients spanning 2–20 × 10−4 kg m−4. Cross-shore-oriented fronts are more likely with northward subtidal flow and are 1/3 as numerous as alongshore-oriented fronts, which are more likely with onshore surface baroclinic diurnal flow. Using a subset of the cross-shore fronts, decomposed into cross-front mean and perturbation components, an ensemble front is created. The ensemble cross-front mean flow is largely geostrophic in the cross- and alongfront directions. The ensemble cross-shore front extends several kilometers from shore, with a distinct linear front axis and downwelling (upwelling) on the dense (light) side of the front, convergent perturbation cross-front flow within the upper 5 m, strengthening the ensemble front. Vertical mixing of momentum is weak, counter to the turbulent thermal wind mechanism. The ensemble cross-shore front resembles a gravity current and is generated by a convergent strain field acting on the large-scale density field. The ensemble front is bounded by the shoreline and is alongfront geostrophic and cross-front ageostrophic. This contrasts with the cross-front geostrophic and alongfront ageostrophic balances of classic deformation frontogenesis, but is consistent with semigeostrophic coastal circulation.
Oxaloacetate treatment preserves motor function in SOD1G93A mice and normalizes select neuroinflammation-related parameters in the spinal cord

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains a devastating motor neuron disease with limited treatment options. Oxaloacetate treatment has a neuroprotective effect in rodent models of seizure and neurodegeneration. Therefore, we treated the ALS model superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) G93A mice with oxaloacetate and evaluated their neuromuscular function and lifespan. Treatment with oxaloacetate beginning in the presymptomatic stage significantly improved neuromuscular strength measured during the symptomatic stage in the injected mice compared to the non-treated group. Oxaloacetate treatment starting in the symptomatic stage significantly delayed limb paralysis compared with the non-treated group. For lifespan analysis, oxaloacetate treatment did not show a statistically significant positive effect, but the treatment did not shorten the lifespan. Mechanistically, SOD1G93A mice showed increased levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and peroxisome proliferative activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) mRNAs in the spinal cord. However, oxaloacetate treatment reverted these abnormal levels to that of wild-type mice. Similarly, the altered expression level of total NF-κB protein returned to that of wild-type mice with oxaloacetate treatment. These results suggest that the beneficial effects of oxaloacetate treatment in SOD1G93A mice may reflect the effects on neuroinflammation or bioenergetic stress.
Curbing, Not Rewarding, Jerk Behaviors on the Job

Are more "jerk" behaviors on the part of employees associated with more promotions for those same employees? Yes, says a study of business school alumni. However, almost all employees exhibit such behaviors at some time, making it more astute for managers to reduce those activities organization-wide instead of trying to identify those who exhibit them. To accomplish that task, possibilities include education, ranging from Webinars to a management book club with a discussion of how to apply what the books recommend, but especially C-level modeling of helpful rather than jerk behaviors, and reconsidering reward structures that lead to internal competition.
Climate Change Effects on Thermal Power Generation and Projected Losses in Generation and Income in the U.S. for the Period 2020–2050

Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil power plants contribute significantly toward climate change. Simultaneously, the increase in ambient air and water temperatures reduces thermal power generation. Coal, nuclear and natural gas plants experience a 0.25%-0.72% reduction in power output for a 1°C increase in the ambient temperature. As ambient temperatures increase, generation losses from coal, nuclear and natural gas together are predicted to increase at an average rate of around 700 GWh/y. At this rate, average annual generation losses could add up to around 29 TWh for coal, nuclear and natural gas combined in 2050. Approximately ten additional 600 MW power plants might be needed to replace this lost electricity by 2050. Concurrently, average losses in generation income could total $1400 million for these thermal plants in 2050. Changes in solar and hydro power are also briefly compared. Finally, the importance of water availability and the effects of extreme climate events on thermal power plants are discussed.
Parents' math anxiety and mathematics performance of pre-kindergarten children.

Abstract Prior research demonstrates that individuals’ math anxiety may be negatively related to their mathematics performance. However, little research has examined how caregivers’ math anxiety is associated with children’s mathematics performance prior to kindergarten. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between parents’ math anxiety and the change in children’s mathematics performance during the preschool year. Participants were 310 preschool-age children (155 female; 4.12–5.78 years of age, M = 5.20 years, SD = 0.29). Structural equation modeling results demonstrated that parents’ math anxiety was significantly negatively related to change in children’s mathematics performance during the pre-kindergarten year when controlling for fall mathematics performance and demographics. Moreover, multigroup path analyses revealed that this association did not differ for male versus female children.
Brain Tissue Transplants and Reproductive Function

In many species, there are marked sex differences in the neural control of a variety of endocrine and behavioral processes. These sex differences in CNS function in the adult are due, in large part, to the hormonally induced sexual differentiation of the brain during development; in fact, the mammalian brain is inherently female or at least bipotential. Specifically, sexual differentiation of the neural mechanisms controlling reproductive function in mammals, with respect to both sexual behavior and gonadotropin secretion, results from exposure of the brain of the male to his testicular hormones during a restricted period of brain development.1, 2 In the rat, this “critical period” for sex steroid action apparently begins several days before birth and extends into the early postnatal period.3, 4 In contrast, it is the absence in the female of testicular secretions during the critical period that permits the development by adulthood of a neural substrate that subserves feminine behavior and the cyclical pattern of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion necessary for ovulation. If, however, the inherently female brain is exposed to exogenous testicular hormones (i. e., testosterone) during the critical period, sexual differentiation (masculinization) of the brain will occur, resulting in the development of masculine sexual behavioral potential and a noncyclic or tonic pattern of LH secretion during adulthood.1, 2 It must be emphasized that considerable evidence suggests that, in the rat, testosterone does not act directly to masculinize the brain, but rather that it is aromatized within steroid-sensitive regions to estrogen intraneuronally, which then acts to masculinize brain function.4
Signalling Between Neuronal and Glial Cells

The maintenance of normal nervous system function appears to involve continuous communication between neurons and their associated cells, the neuroglia. Many possible mechanisms exist for the transfer of information between the two cell types which are separated only by narrow, 200A wide, extracellular clefts. There is increasing evidence that several of these are used. These include: 1) Activity in one cell varies the ionic composition of the extracellular cleft and this change is detected by the other cell. The release of K+ from neurons to depolarize glia is one such example. 2) Neurotransmitter agents, including amino acids and their derivatives, biogenic amines and peptides, used in neuronal signalling also act at membrane or intracellular loci of the nearby glial cells and alter their metabolism. 3) Macromolecules, especially proteins, are exchanged between the cells by phagocytosis or a combination of exocytosis and endocytosis. The accumulation in the extracellular clefts of some substances released from neurons serves as a signal to the glial cells to clear that substance from the extracellular space and maintain the constancy of the extracellular fluid. Although there is evidence for other functional interactions between the cells, for the most part the specific signalling processes are poorly defined and their physiological significance obscure.
Occurrence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Estuarine Waters and Oysters of New Hampshire

Vibrio parahaemolyticus was isolated from water and oysters collected from seven different sampling stations in the Great Bay and Little Bay estuarine areas of New Hampshire. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of 50 isolates conformed in general to those described for this organism in the literature. All isolates produced hemolysis on blood-agar. To date, there have been no reports of V. parahaemolyticus food poisoning outbreaks due to the consumption of fish or shellfish harvested from this estuarine region.
Concentrating Toxoplasma gondii and Cyclospora cayetanensis from surface water and drinking water by continuous separation channel centrifugation.

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of continuous separation channel centrifugation for concentrating Toxoplasma gondii and Cyclospora cayetanensis from drinking water and environmental waters. Methods and Results: Ready-to-seed vials with known quantities of T. gondii and C. cayetanensis oocysts were prepared by flow cytometry. Oocysts were seeded at densities ranging from 1 to 1000 oocysts l−1 into 10 to 100 l test volumes of finished drinking water, water with manipulated turbidity, and the source waters from nine drinking water utilities. Oocysts were recovered using continuous separation channel centrifugation and counted on membrane filters using epifluorescent microscopy. Recovery efficiencies of both parasites were ≥84% in 10 l volumes of drinking water. In source waters, recoveries ranged from 64% to 100%, with the lowest recoveries in the most turbid waters. Method precision was between 10% and 20% coefficient of variation. Conclusion: Toxoplasma gondii and C. cayetanensis are effectively concentrated from various water matrices by continuous separation channel centrifugation. Significance and Impact of the Study: Waterborne transmission of T. gondii and C. cayetanensis presents another challenge in producing clean drinking water and protecting public health. Detection of these parasites relies on effectively concentrating oocysts from ambient water, otherwise false negatives may result. Validation data specific to T. gondii and C. cayetanensis concentration methods are limited. Continuous separation channel centrifugation recovers oocysts with high efficiency and precision, the method attributes required to accurately assess the risk of waterborne transmission.
Placebo-Controlled Trial of Intravaginal Clindamycin 2% Cream for the Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis

OBJECTIVE:To compare the safety and efficacy of intravaginal clindamycin 2% cream with placebo in nonpregnant women with bacterial vaginosis.DESIGN:A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.SETTING:Ambulatory patients in the general community.PATIENTS:Two hundred fifteen nonpregnant outpatients with a diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis were entered into this study. Of the 134 evaluable patients, 65 received clindamycin and 69 placebo. Demographic parameters were comparable between the two treatment groups.INTERVENTION:Study subjects were equally randomized to receive either 5 g of clindamycin 2% vaginal cream or placebo cream for seven nights.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Clinical and microbiologic follow-up evaluations were scheduled for 5–10 days and 25–39 days posttreatment. Patients were interviewed about signs and symptoms, adverse events, and compliance. Diagnostic examinations were performed.RESULTS:Clinical success rates (cure and improvement) occurred in 50 of 65 patients who received c...
A Circumstellar H2O Maser Associated with the Circumnuclear Molecular Disk at the Galactic Center

In the course of conducting a survey of 22 GHz H2O masers in the inner Galaxy, we discovered a maser in Sgr A West. It is located ~30'' N and 35'' E of Sgr A*, near the edge of the eastern arm of the radio minispiral, which presumably coincides with the inside edge of the circumnuclear disk. Furthermore, the radial velocity of the maser is remarkably similar to that expected for gas in the circumnuclear disk at this location. The maser coincides with a luminous, reddened star having a bolometric magnitude and IR spectrum characteristic of an M supergiant. Its extinction is consistent with a location in the inner Galaxy, near or within the circumnuclear disk. If this star formed within the circumnuclear disk, it is the first known case of a recently formed star (107-108 yr ago) in the central 2 pc which can be associated with the gaseous structure in which it was born. Its formation in such a highly sheared and turbulent environment presents a challenge to our understanding of effective star formation mechanisms.
Implications of the Learning Disabilities Definition for the Regular Education Initiative

This paper reviews the implications of definitions of learning disabilities for the Regular Education Initiative. The review finds that each definition includes reference to minimal brain dysfunction and assumes that children so labeled would show heterogeneous problems. While it is clear that professionals in the field intend for this category to describe children whose learning and behavioral problems are the result of central nervous system involvement, it is also clear that we lack the technology to verify the nature of such involvement. At the same time, however, an empirical data base is being established showing that learning disabled persons differ from normally achieving individuals on brain-related information processes delineated in the definition (e.g., working memory, learning complex rule systems, metacognition). We propose that this heterogeneity (i.e., “developmental imbalances, intraindividual gaps”) makes it unlikely that classroom modifications alone, regardless of a teacher's pedagogic...
A tailored anger management program for reducing citizen complaints against traffic agents

Anger management programs have been used to address a range of clinical problems, but empirical tests of their effectiveness in the workplace have been limited. This study presents the results of a cognitive-behavioral anger management program employed with New York City traffic enforcement agents. Traffic agents issue summonses for vehicular and parking violations and have frequent conflicts with members of the public who are angry about receiving these summonses. Conflicts with the public are a significant source of job stress for agents and may increase their risk for physical injury. When members of the public are dissatisfied with the agents' actions, they can file a complaint with the agents' employer, the New York City Police Department. Complaints can reference the agent's interpersonal behavior or an administrative problem. The multi-component group intervention was provided to 114 agents, with a group of 184 agents served as the untreated comparison group. There was a significant Group (Treatment versus Control) by Time (Pre-test versus Post-test) interaction for the total rates of civilian complaints against agents (p<.03) and, more specifically, for the rates of civilian complaints related to the agents' interpersonal behavior (p<.01). Rates of civilian complaints against agents who participated in the treatment program decreased significantly over the testing period, whereas rates of complaints for agents in the control group did not change. The results suggest that this manualized program can produce changes in behavior relevant for the individual as well as the agency.
Apoptosis: definition, mechanisms, and relevance to disease

Kerr et al (1) in 1972 coined the term “apoptosis,” an ancient Greek word used to describe the “falling off” of leaves from trees or petals from flowers, referring to the particular morphology of physiological cell death. The term apoptosis is often used synonymously with programmed cell death, the latter being a more functional definition, implying that death results from the regulated activation of a preexisting death program that is encoded in the genome. The condemned cell itself, often with the help of neighboring cells and/or humoral factors, directs the death program. Apoptosis refers to the morphologic features of programmed cell death, which is characterized by cell shrinkage, nuclear condensation, membrane blebbing, fragmentation into membrane bound apoptotic bodies, and membrane changes that eventually lead to phagocytosis of the affected cell (Figure 1). During development, cell death helps sculpt parts of the body, examples being the formation of cavities and separation of digits (Figure 2A and B). It also eliminates vestigial structures that once served a function during embryogenesis (Figure 2C). Programmed cell death plays a complementary but opposite role to cell division as a homeostatic mechanism in the regulation of animal cell populations (Figure 2A). Cell death programs are required for animal development, but they also proceed into adult life. In mature animals, cell death balances cell division, maintaining the constancy of tissue mass. Removal of cells injured by genetic defects, aging, disease, or exposure to noxious agents is made possible by apoptosis (Figure 2D). Moreover, the normal immune response requires regulated elimination of specific cell populations by this mode of cell death. Apoptosis has important biological roles in the development and homeostasis of cell populations, and in the pathogenesis and expression of disease processes. Excessive or insufficient apoptosis contributes to the pathogenesis of a wide variety of diseases related to ischemia, neurodegeneration, autoimmunity, and viral infections, and is involved in the growth and regression of tumors. Although apoptosis was described as a distinct entity nearly 3 decades ago, significant advances in our understanding of fundamental mechanisms that regulate this mode of cell death were made only recently. In large part, the recent advances in our knowledge of cell death stemmed from the identification of “death genes” a decade ago (2).
The dynamic responses of cylindrical shells including geometric and material nonlinearities

Abstract The methods of finite-element analysis are applied to the problem of large deflection elastic-plastic dynamic responses of cylindrical shells to transient loading. Assumeddisplacement quadrilateral finite-elements of a cylindrical panel are used to idealize the cylindrical shell structure. The formulation is based upon the Principle of Virtual Work and D'Alembert's Principle. A direct numerical integration procedure is employed to solve the resulting equations of motion timewise. The present predicted dynamic responses of an explosively-loaded clamped cylindrical panel are compared with other independent predictions and with experimentally measured responses; very good agreement is observed.
Entry, exit, and shakeouts in the United States in new manufactured products

Abstract During their early evolution, new manufacturing industries commonly experience a ‘shakeout’ period during which the number of producers declines by 50% or more. In order to gain additional insight into shakeouts, we develop new information on the patterns of entry and exit for 16 major new manufactured products from their commercial inception through 1980. We use a model in which entry and exit coordination problems can generate shakeouts to structure the analysis of the data. We find that shakeouts are distinguished by entry falling off sharply but rates of exit remaining steady or rising over time.
Research: Object-oriented development of architecture transparent software for distributed parallel systems

Compared with programming sequential computers, programming distributed parallel computing systems has additional complexity due to the considerations of parallelism, synchronization, the network configuration of the distributed computing system, and the topology of the parallel processors. Current programming practices, however, are not sufficient to make effective use of such computing systems. In this paper, an approach to software development for distributed parallel processing systems which is architecture transparent is presented. This approach is based on the object-oriented concept, and facilitates the design and coding of software by separating the architecture-dependent issues from the semantics of the software. This makes the software system independent of the target machine or the network configuration, and easily portable to other machines. In our approach, the parallelism is implicit in the program, and the programmer does not need to be concerned with issues such as synchronization, network configuration or the topology of the parallel processors. Our approach can reduce the communication and synchronization errors caused by the programmer by automatically embedding the proper codes during the translation and allocation phases of the software development cycle.
Effect of titanium doping on the structure and reducibility of nanoparticle molybdenum dioxide

Molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) has potential not only in heterogeneous catalysis, but also as an electrode material in lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. However, the reduction tendency to molybdenum metal is a limiting factor in the use of this oxide. In the present work, MoO2 was doped with Titanium (Ti4+) to increase the stability to reduction in a hydrogen-rich environment. Rather than using a conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction, a novel solution-based synthesis method followed by hydrothermal reduction was used. Nano-sized Ti-doped MoO2 particles with Ti/Mo atomic ratios of 0, 0.03, and 0.05 were prepared and characterized. X-ray and time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction (XRD and NPD) confirmed the presence of only the MoO2 phase. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the nanoparticles had an acicular morphology with particle sizes in the long dimension between 30 and 50 nm. Elemental mapping obtained by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy showed homogenous distribution of the dopant. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the solubility limit of the synthesized Ti-doped MoO2 was reached at a Ti/Mo ratio of 0.05. This observation indicates that the bulk thermodynamic solubility limit can be exceeded at the nanoscale. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy performed on 0.03 Ti-doped MoO2 samples showed that the Ti dopant is present as Ti4+ and the depth profile analysis indicated the presence of this species even in the bulk of the sample. This agrees with the data obtained from Rietveld refinement of the XRD and NPD results, which showed changes in the lattice parameters and Mo–Mo interatomic distance upon doping, suggesting a substitution of Mo4+ by Ti4+. The effect of Ti doping on the reducibility of MoO2 was demonstrated by in situ XRD in a hydrogen-rich environment.
Hand preference across time is related to intelligence in young girls, not boys

Consistency of hand preference was examined in a longitudinal study of children between 18 and 42 months of age. Results showed a sex-specific relationship between hand consistency and intellectual development. Across a variety of intellectual abilities at all ages, females with consistency of handedness were precocious compared to females without such consistency. This relationship did not hold for males.
Using Science Teaching Case Narratives to Evaluate the Level of Acceptance of Scientific Inquiry Teaching in Preservice Elementary Teachers

The National Science Education Standards have outlined flexible processes children perform when engaging in scientific inquiry. Cases narratives are a common component of many university science education courses but rarely are they used as a tool to evaluate the preservice teachers within these courses. This article describes the construction of a positive and negative science teaching case narrative. These case narratives can be used to evaluate the level of acceptance of scientific inquiry teaching in preservice elementary teachers.
Risky Business: The Uncertain Boundaries of Manhood in the Midwestern Saloon

The midwestern saloon in the late Nineteenth Century worked both to confirm and challenge the manhood of its customers. While it offered them a homosocial space to indulge in activities coded "male," men who frequented it risked both becoming intoxicated and losing authority at home. Saloongoers considered "minding one's own business" to be one of the central tenets of manhood, and talked about it endlessly. In their understanding, both intoxication and lost authority at home directly challenged their mastery of their own "business," and consequently undermined their male status. Their concern about their challenged manhood may explain their failure to make sufficiently energetic defenses of their saloongoing when confronted in courtrooms or by prohibitionists. Rather, they frequently attempted to distance themselves from or deny participation in saloon culture.
Thermally induced linkage isomerization in KCd[Fe(CN)6]

Abstract Heating KCd[Fe(CN)6]-5H2O, either isothermally or in a differential scanning calorimeter, results in dehydration and linkage isomerization of the cyanides. In accord with hard—soft acid—base predictions, the product contains cyanide C-bonded to Cd2+. The integrated intensity of the peaks corresponding to the CN stretching vibrations indicates that two of the cyanides change bonding mode more readily than the others. Cyanide isomerization does not occur when KCd[Fe(CN)6]-5H2O is dehydrated at room temperature under vacuum conditions.
Inundation influences on bioavailability of phosphorus in managed wetland sediments in agricultural landscapes.

Agricultural runoff carries high nutrient loads to receiving waters, contributing to eutrophication. Managed wetlands can be used in integrated management efforts to intercept nutrients before they enter downstream aquatic systems, but detailed information regarding sorption and desorption of P by wetland sediments during typical inundation cycles is lacking. This study seeks to quantify and elucidate how inundation of wetland sediments affects bioavailability of P and contributions of P to downstream systems. A managed wetland cell in Tunica County, Mississippi was subjected to a simulated agricultural runoff event and was monitored for bioavailable phosphorus (water-extractable P [P], Fe-P, and Al-P) of wetland sediments and water level during the runoff event and for 130 d afterward. Inundation varied longitudinally within the wetland, with data supporting significant temporal relationships between inundation and P desorption. Concentrations of P were significantly higher at the site that exhibited variable hydroperiods (100 m) as compared with sites under consistent inundation. This suggests that sites that are inundated for longer periods of time desorb less P immediately to the environment than sites that have periodic or ephemeral inundation. Concentrations of iron oxalate and NaOH-P were significantly higher at the least inundated site as compared with all other sites (F = 5.43; = 0.001) irrespective of time. These results support the hypothesis that increased hydraulic residence time decreases the bioavailability of P in wetland sediments receiving agricultural runoff. This finding suggests that the restoration of wetlands in the mid-southern United States may be hydrologically managed to improve P retention.
Commentary - will medical solutions to sexual problems make sexological care and science obsolete?

As a sexual medicine physician, I have worked in partnership with psychologists, sex therapists, psychiatrists, gynecologists, neurologists, endocrinologists, radiologists, physical therapists, eng...
Evaluating combinations of ranked lists and visualizations of inter-document similarity

We are interested in how ideas from document clustering can be used to improve the retrieval accuracy of ranked lists in interactive systems. In particular, we are interested in ways to evaluate the effectiveness of such systems to decide how they might best be constructed. In this study, we construct and evaluate systems that present the user with ranked lists and a visualization of inter-document similarities. We first carry out a user study to evaluate the clustering/ranked list combination on instance-oriented retrieval, the task of the TREC-6 Interactive Track. We find that although users generally prefer the combination, they are not able to use it to improve effectiveness. In the second half of this study, we develop and evaluate an approach that more directly combines the ranked list with information from inter-document similarities. Using the TREC collections and relevance judgments, we show that it is possible to realize substantial improvements in effectiveness by doing so, and that although users can use the combined information effectively, the system can provide hints that substantially improve on the user's solo effort. The resulting approach shares much in common with an interactive application of incremental relevance feedback. Throughout this study, we illustrate our work using two prototype systems constructed for these evaluations. The first, AspInQuery, is a classic information retrieval system augmented with a specialized tool for recording information about instances of relevance. The other system, Lighthouse, is a Web-based application that combines a ranked list with a portrayal of inter-document similarity. Lighthouse can work with collections such as TREC, as well as the results of Web search engines.
Tuning ranges of 355 nm pumped dyes from 410 to 715 nm

Abstract Wavelength tuning ranges and optimal concentrations are reported for 16 commercially available laser dyes pumped with the third harmonic of a Nd-YAG laser at 355 nm. The laser dye outputs cover the visible range from 410 to 715 nm.
Segmenting logistical service offerings using the extended buygrid model

Presents the buygrid model, taken from industrial marketing, and extends it to include logistical service operations. Applies the model to selected logistical research literature. The effect of this perspective is to recognize multiple sets or segments of service offerings and performance levels. This approach allows for, and provides explanation for, categories of customer service packages in order to meet the diverse needs of firms’ customers. The extended model provides for three categories of customer service needs. Each category may expect different levels of performance and may require different service attributes from the firm. Concludes that there does appear to be a consistent and appealing relationship between the buygrid model and the elements of customer service associated with logistics.
Neuronal Integration in the Somatosensory Whisker/Barrel Cortex

Seminal studies of the physiological organization of the somatosensory cortex of cats and monkeys suggested that it was comprised of replicated, local neuronal circuits which process afferent information from the thalamus (Mountcastle, 1957; Mountcastle and Powell, 1959). Subsequently, investigations of different cortical areas in a variety of species supported these conclusions by confirming that neurons that are located in vertical register with each other typically have similar receptive field properties and that certain of these properties change, sometimes rather abruptly, with horizontal position in the cortical tissue. The visualization of strikingly regular anatomic patterns in some cortical areas has reinforced the concept of iterated modularity as a fundamental principle of cortical organization. Though the defining characteristics of modules in different cortical regions are not consistent (Purves et al., 1992), a recent comprehensive review by White and Keller (see White, 1989) has identified rules of synaptic connectivity which form the basis of local cortical circuits, and these are likely to be applicable regardless of the gross morphological features of a particular cortical region. Increasingly there is a recognition that, even in primary sensory areas, local circuits are capable of changing in response to short- as well as long-term demands of the sensory environment. Indeed, several influential theories of cortical function ascribe a critical role to dynamic behaviors of neuronal assemblies, whether they be of a local or a distributed nature (Hebb, 1949; Mountcastle, 1979; Edelman, 1987).
Multi-dimensional state-space model for memory management

The development is considered of a discrete state variable model for memory management problems with more than one spatial dimension. The concept of state controllability and observability has been utilized to resolve the state conflicts. To test the model, the characterizing matrices for the reduced model have been developed.
Endosomal Trafficking of AMPA Receptors in Frontal Cortex of Elderly Patients with Schizophrenia

Several lines of evidence indicate altered trafficking of α-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate (AMPA) receptors in schizophrenia. Previous reports have implicated alterations in the endosomal trafficking of AMPA receptors in this illness. We hypothesized that late endosome content of AMPA receptor subunits is altered in schizophrenia. Accordingly, we developed a technique to isolate and measure contents of late endosomes from postmortem human tissue. We found no changes in the expression of the AMPA subunits, GluR1-4, in late endosomes from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. We also hypothesized that proteins involved in the sorting and trafficking of AMPA receptors between endosomal compartments would be altered in schizophrenia. We found no changes in expression of multiple proteins associated with these processes (dynamin3, Arc/ARG3.1, NEEP21, GRASP1, liprin α, and syntaxin13). Together, these data suggest that endosomal trafficking of AMPA receptors in the prefrontal cortex may be largely intact in schizophrenia.
Immunologic response to infection and its role in septic shock.

We are surrounded by bacteria. They are on our skin, in our hair, in our mouth, and our colon has more bacteria then the number of people on earth. Our immune system is constantly patrolling for potential invaders. For the most part, the bacteria that surround us are not virulent and do not penetrate our skin or mucosal surfaces. If even 1% of the bacteria were pathogenic, we, however, would be in serious trouble. Our immune system is so "cautious" about possible invasion that at the first indication of bacterial penetration into our body, the immune system sets off a cascade of events which, if uncontrolled, is analogous to using a nuclear bomb to get rid of cockroaches in a house (even if only dead cockroaches were found). This article explores the events that take place when bacteria penetrate our defense system and trigger a cascade of reactions, resulting in multisystem organ failure and potentially death. Because there are multiple pathways and mediators, all of which can cause organ injury, the solution is probably not to block a single mediator. The answer may be in preventing invasion, recognizing when the immune system has become primed to set off the cascade of reactions, and defusing the reactions before activation. The defense usually wins, sometimes fails, and occasionally self-destructs; such is the role of the immune system in defense against infection.
Reaction of vitamin k and dithiothreitol on reversed-phase C18 high-performance liquid chromatographic columns

Abstract A non-enzymatically catalyzed side reaction between dithiothreitol and vitamin K occurs on reversed-phase C18 high-performance liquid chromatographic columns. Excess dithiothreitol may be effectively removed from enzymatic reaction mixtures with N-ethylmaleimide. A low polarity gradient elution system is reported which gives quantitative recoveries (greater than 95%) of the vitamins in a concentration range useful for analysis of enzymatically catalysed reactions.
Importance of normothermia control in investigating delayed neuronal injury in a mouse global ischemia model

This study aims to establish a mouse global cerebral ischemia model in which the physiological parameter measurements and neuronal injury evaluations are conducted in the same group of animals and to identify the effect of post-ischemic core temperature (CT) on the outcome of neuronal injury. Global ischemia was induced by 12-min bilateral common carotid artery occlusion followed by 7 days of reperfusion in C57BL/6 mice. Immediately after occlusion, mice were randomly assigned to be kept in environments of different temperatures [25 degrees C (room temperature, group 1), 33-34 degrees C for 2h (group 2), and 33-34 degrees C for 24h (group 3)] before being returned to their home cages. We found that in group 1, CT declined to approximately 32 degrees C after ischemia and then recovered at 24h post-ischemia; in group 2, CT remained at the pre-ischemia level during the first 2h, declined after the mice were returned to room temperature, and recovered at 24h post-ischemia; and in group 3, CT remained constant at the pre-ischemia level throughout the reperfusion period. The number of surviving neurons in a sector of the hippocampal CA1 region was significantly lower in all ischemic groups than in the sham controls, but the number was significantly higher in group 1 than that in groups 2 or 3 (P<0.05). We observed that CT declines initially but recovers spontaneously at 24h post-ischemia. Early post-ischemic hypothermia impacts the delayed neuronal injury, suggesting that tight temperature control immediately following ischemia is important to obtain the most reproducible neuronal damage in mouse models of cerebral global ischemia.
SLEEP/WAKE DEPENDENT CHANGES IN CORTICAL GLUCOSE CONCENTRATIONS

Most of the energy in the brain comes from glucose and supports glutamatergic activity. The firing rate of cortical glutamatergic neurons, as well as cortical extracellular glutamate levels, increase with time spent awake and decline throughout non rapid eye movement sleep, raising the question whether glucose levels reflect behavioral state and sleep/wake history. Here chronic (2-3 days) electroencephalographic recordings in the rat cerebral cortex were coupled with fixed-potential amperometry to monitor the extracellular concentration of glucose ([gluc]) on a second-by-second basis across the spontaneous sleep-wake cycle and in response to 3 h of sleep deprivation. [Gluc] progressively increased during non rapid eye movement sleep and declined during rapid eye movement sleep, while during wake an early decline in [gluc] was followed by an increase 8-15 min after awakening. There was a significant time of day effect during the dark phase, when rats are mostly awake, with [gluc] being significantly lower during the last 3-4 h of the night relative to the first 3-4 h. Moreover, the duration of the early phase of [gluc] decline during wake was longer after prolonged wake than after consolidated sleep. Thus, the sleep/wake history may affect the levels of glucose available to the brain upon awakening.
Computational aerodynamics using mini computers

Abstract The importance of minicomputers as a research tool in gasdynamics is explained, and a few examples are given to show their efficiency.
Preferences for Verb Interpretation in Children With Specific Language Impairment

This study examined initial preferences for verb interpretation by children with specific language impairment (SLI), MLU-matched children, and age-matched children. Each child watched motion and change-of-state activity scenes on videotape and was then asked to point to the scene that depicted a novel verb, thereby indicating a preferred interpretation. The children were also asked to label the same activity scenes on a second tape. The findings indicated that the 5-year-old age-matched children exhibited a significant verb interpretation preference for the change-of-state scenes, whereas the children with specific language impairment and their 3-year-old MLU-matched peers did not have an interpretation preference for either the motion or change-of-state scenes. The children’s labeling of the activity scenes yielded findings that further supported group differences on the two semantic verb categories. The findings suggest that children’s initial verb interpretation biases vary relative to age and language...
Inferences for hierarchical models with partial prior information

Suppose items can be purchased from one of k-suppliers and it is required to purchase from the one with the smaller failure rate or equivalently from the one with the larger mean-time-to-failure. It is assumed that data d, in the form of the times-to-failure for n1,…,nk items from suppliers 1,…,k, respectively is available. There are two suggested selection criteria studied in this paper and when comparing only two suppliers they reduce to P(θ1 cY2|d), where b and c are prespecified practical constants; θ1 and θ2 are the respective mean failure rates; Y1 and Y2 are the predicted times to failure for individual items purchased from each supplier. In addition partial prior information about the k-suppliers collectively is assumed to have been elicited. This situation is modelled using the hierarchical Bayesian approach, which easily facilitates interpreting the elicited partial prior information as constraints on the hyperpriors, i.e. hyperpriors that are known only to be contained in families with specified properties. In this paper these properties are assumed to be in the form of specifying certain quantiles arising from the elicited information. Minimum and maximum values of the above selection criteria are obtained and are used to indicate whether or not the elicited prior information is useful. Specific examples are given for comparing two suppliers but generalisation to k-suppliers follows easily.
Predicting Speech Intelligibility with a Multiple Speech Subsystems Approach in Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Purpose Speech acoustic characteristics of children with cerebral palsy (CP) were examined with a multiple speech subsystems approach; speech intelligibility was evaluated using a prediction model in which acoustic measures were selected to represent three speech subsystems. Method Nine acoustic variables reflecting different subsystems, and speech intelligibility, were measured in 22 children with CP. These children included 13 with a clinical diagnosis of dysarthria (speech motor impairment [SMI] group) and 9 judged to be free of dysarthria (no SMI [NSMI] group). Data from children with CP were compared to data from age-matched typically developing children. Results Multiple acoustic variables reflecting the articulatory subsystem were different in the SMI group, compared to the NSMI and typically developing groups. A significant speech intelligibility prediction model was obtained with all variables entered into the model (adjusted R2 = .801). The articulatory subsystem showed the most substantial inde...
Enzymatic synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of 1,3-divernoloyl glycerol fromVernonia galamensis seed oil

cis-12,13-Epoxy-cis-octadecenoic (vernolic) acid occurs in triglycerides of the seed oil ofVernonia galamensis. The seeds also contain a lipase capable of hydrolyzing the triglycerides. Previous investigators incubated the seed ofVernonia anthelmintica and isolated 5.6% yield of 1,3-divernoloyl glycerol. We used crude lipase extract fromV. galamensis seed to synthesize 1,3-divernoloyl glycerol from vernonia oil in pentane at 40% yield. A 94% conversion of the 1,3-divernoloyl glycerol to pure vernolic acid (5.34% oxirane = 98.9% purity) was achieved by a low-energy saponification process. The carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of the 1,3-divernoloyl glyceride indicates a potential for using carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy in the identification of isomeric diglycerides. Thus the paper describes the synthesis, spectroscopic and chemical characterization of 1,3-divernoloyl glycerol, in addition to providing quantitative carbon-13 NMR studies ofV. galamensis oil.