cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of the natural algicide, cyanobacterin, on a herbicide-resistant mutant of anacystis nidulans R2

Abstract Cyanobacterin, a secondary metabolite produced by the cyanobacterium, Scytonema hofmanni , inhibits the growth of algae and plants. This compound is a potent inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transport and acts at a site in photosystem II (PS II). To further define the site of action of cyanobacterin, the effects of this natural product were investigated in a herbicide-resistant mutant of the cyanobacterium, Anacystis nidulans R2D2-X1. A. nidulans R2D2-X1 was reported to grow and maintain photosynthetic electron transport in the presence of 20 μM 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) and 6.0 μM atrazine. Resistance was attributed to an altered 32 kDa (quinone-binding, QB) protein [6]. In the presence of Hill electron acceptors, K 3 Fe(CN) 6 and dichlorophenol-indophenol (DCPIP), spheroplasts of A. nidulans R2D2-X1 were inhibited by cyanobacterin at the same concentration as wild type spheroblasts. Under these same conditions, spheroplasts of the mutant maintained their resistance to DCMU. Similar results were obtained with isolated thylakoid membranes. In contrast, silicomolybdate reduction, which is resistant to DCMU inhibition, was very sensitive to cyanobacterin. We conclude that cyanobacterin inhibits electron transport in PS II at a unique site which is different from that of DCMU.
Motion perception in optic neuropathy

We tested motion perception in 15 eyes of 13 patients with optic neuropathy. Eleven of the eyes had optic neuritis. The motion perception paradigm tested subjects' ability to discriminate the direction of a global coherent motion signal amid varying levels of background noise. The results showed defective motion processing in eight of the 15 eyes. This defect was not due to low visibility (poor spatial resolution), since 11 of the 15 eyes had Snellen acuities of 20/20 or better. Neither was impaired motion perception due to decreased luminance sensitivity, since attenuating the display signal by 2.1 log units (0.6 units more than the worst relative afferent pupillary defect in any patient) in five normal eyes had no effect. Motion perception and critical flicker fusion were independent of each other. Given proposals that both depend exclusively on the same M, or transient, channel, we had not predicted this double dissociation between flicker and motion perception.
Prepregnancy depressive mood and preterm birth in black and white women: findings from the CARDIA Study.

Abstract Objectives: We examine associations among race, prepregnancy depressive mood, and preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) in a cohort study of black and white women. Methods: We tested for med...
A GIS‐based traffic analysis zone design: implementation and evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to implement an efficient method for GIS‐based traffic analysis zone (TAZ) design in order to evaluate and validate such a method. The method was developed by the authors. Moran's I spatial autocorrelation coefficient and sample variance are used for evaluating the generated TAZs using the Champaign‐Urbana, IL region as a case study. Sensitivity analysis is also conducted to explore the fluctuations in TAZ generation outcomes. The evaluation, the validation as well as the TAZ design have been implemented with ARC/INFO GIS software on a UNIX workstation platform.
The effects of verbal labeling on short-term and incidental memory: A cross-cultural and developmental study.

Effects of induced verbal labeling on short-term and incidental memory were studied in Yucatan, Mexico. The 208 subjects, evenly divided by sex, were selected from four age groups (7–8, 10–11, 13–15, 20–21 years) from a large public school. Stimuli were cards depicting both animals and objects familiar to all subjects, and were presented over 14 trials. Short-term memory was tested with a probed serial recall task on each trial; incidental memory was tested following the 14 trials. Several results conformed to findings with earlier studies using American subjects: short-term memory improved with age; primacy and recency recall were influenced by both age and labeling; and the typical inverted U-shaped incidental memory function was found. Verbal labeling apparently aided recall by focusing attention on the relevant items, but such overt labeling also impeded the strategy of verbal rehearsal used by older subjects. Cultural factors appeared to play a limited role in the present study; the common element of formal schooling, among both American and Yucatecan subjects, was hypothesized as a possible explanation of such cross-cultural similarities.
Interpolation algorithms for digital mammography systems with multiple detectors.

Rationale and Objectives . In some full-field digital mammography systems, multiple detectors are abutted together, and the physical gaps between adjacent detectors produce seams between the resultant subimages. In this study, a variety of interpolation algorithms for estimating the missing information in the seams were compared, and their effect on image quality was evaluated. Materials and Methods . Eight representative interpolation algorithms were selected, including nearest neighbor, one-dimensional and two-dimensional weighting, mean value, one-dimensional and two-dimensional polynomial, and one-dimensional and two-dimensional cubic spline interpolation methods. These methods were applied to digital mammograms and phantom images. The effectiveness of each algorithm was evaluated for accuracy and geometric distortion. Results . These interpolation algorithms offered similar accuracy in estimating missing image information. The weighting, polynomial, and cubic spline interpolation algorithms introduced less geometric distortion than the nearest neighbor and mean value interpolation algorithms. All algorithms were more effective in estimating larger, lower-contrast features (such as breast masses) than in estimating smaller, higher-contrast features (such as breast microcalcifications). Small microcalcifications within the seams cannot be recovered with interpolation. The probability of a microcalcification in a seam is small, however, and the failure to image a few microcalcifications of a cluster generally does not substantially alter diagnostic performance. Conclusion . In the development of full-field digital breast imaging systems, appropriate interpolation algorithms can satisfactorily fill in narrow gaps between adjacent detectors. The one-dimensional weighting interpolation method seems an effective and efficient choice.
Using critical race theory to analyze science teachers culturally responsive practices

Culturally responsive science teaching is using knowledge about the culture and life experiences of students to structure learning that is conducive to their needs. Understanding what teachers need to prepare them to be culturally responsive is a matter of continuous debate. As the focus of multicultural education ventures farther away from its roots, advocating the civil rights of historically oppressed groups, concerns about the gravity of racial inequity on schooling continues. How will this shift in focus influence teachers’ capacity to accommodate students’ needs resulting from racial inequities in this society, particularly African American students? What knowledge is essential to their effectiveness? This qualitative study examined the instructional practices of two effective middle school science teachers deemed culturally responsive by their administrator on the basis of classroom observations, students’ responses and standardized assessment results. Both teachers’ classrooms consisted primarily of African American students. Grounded theory was used to analyze the teachers’ beliefs and practices in order to identify existing commonalties. Critical race theory was used to identify whether there was any influence of the students’ racial identities on the teachers’ beliefs and practices. The analysis reveals that the teachers’ beliefs and practices were informed by their critical awareness of social constraints imposed upon their African American students’ identities. These findings communicate the significance of sociocultural awareness to informing the teachers’ instruction, as well as their strategies for managing the varying dynamics occurring in their classrooms. It can be deduced from the findings that an understanding of racial inequities is crucial to the development of sociocultural awareness, and is the foundation for the culturally responsive dispositions and practices of these middle school science teachers.
Use of optimal control theory for computing optimal injection policies for enhanced oil recovery

Abstract The theory of optimal control of distributed parameter systems has been applied to the problem of determining an optimum injection policy for a chemical flooding enhanced oil recovery process. The optimization criterion is to maximize the difference between gross revenue and cost of chemicals injected. Necessary conditions for optimality are obtained through application of the calculus of variations and the distributed weak minimum principle. A gradient method is used for the computation of optimal injection policies. The performance of the algorithm was examined for the surfactant injection in a one-dimensional flooding problem. Two types of interfacial tension behaviour were considered: a type ‘A’ system in which the interfacial tension is a monotically decreasing function with solute concentration and a type ‘B’ system in which a minimum in the interfacial tension occurs at a nominal surfactant concentration. Different initial values were used in order to establish the convergence of the computational algorithm. For a type ‘A’ system, the shape of the optimum injection strategy was not unique; however, there is a unique optimum for the amount of surfactant needed. For a type ‘B’ system, the shape of the optimum injection was unique as well as the amount injected. The results of this work show that given the properties of an oil reservoir and the properties of a surfactant solution, an optimum injection policy which minimizes a specific economic objective functional can be obtained using distributed parameter control theory.
Using geostatistics and spectral analysis to study spatial patterns in the topography of southeastern Washington State, U.S.A.

Topography for four areas in the Palouse region of southeastern Washington State having different patterns and encompassing areas of about 900 ha each were quantitatively compared and described using two-dimensional semi-variograms and periodograms. The four areas studied were from the Garfield, La Crosse, Thornton, and Wilcox quadrangle topographic maps. Semivariance of elevation residuals were modelled using a combination of spherical, periodic, or linear semivariogram models. The range of the spherical component was interpreted as a relatively short-range scale of correlation which was not periodic. For each of the study areas a model was developed to describe the variation in range with orientation. Values for the range from this model reached maximum values of from about 700 m to 800 m at an orientation of from 35° to 55° (approximately northeast) in each study area. This orientation was interpreted as the dominant direction of non-periodic small-scale landscape features. The wavelength and amplitude of the periodic semivariogram component, which were highly correlated, were interpreted in terms of parallel northeast-trending ridges having relatively long scales of periodic correlation varying in size from about 1350 m to 2100 m. This attempt to identify the dominant orientation of periodic landscape features using models for the wavelength and amplitude was, however, not completely definitive. Two-dimensional spectral analysis provided significantly more detail concerning orientation and wavelengths of the periodic topographic patterns than the semivariogram analysis. In the Garfield study area, spectral analysis identified north-trending ridge systems separated by a wavelength of 1494 m and northeast-trending systems with a wavelength of 747 m. In the La Crosse study area, both north and northeast-trending patterns were identified having periodic spacings of 980 and 735 m. North-trending ridges separated by wavelengths of 996 m and northeast-trending ridges separated by wavelengths of 747 or 996 m were the predominant periodic features of topography in the Thornton study area. In the Wilcox study area, northeast-trending ridge systems separated by wavelengths of 373, 498, or 996 m were detected. A comparison of the results from geostatistical and spectral analysis of these complex topographic surfaces shows that each approach had significant strengths and weaknesses. Two-dimensional analysis with semivariograms was the only method which could be used for identifying the correlation scale and orientation of relatively small non-periodic landscape features. Two-dimensional spectral analysis accurately identified the predominant orientation of relatively large periodic features in topography, whereas semivariogram analysis was somewhat inconclusive. Also, semivariograms were generally unable to detect the presence of multiple or harmonic periodicities operating at different wavelengths along a given orientation.
CRITICAL ISSUES IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATION INVESTIGATIONS

During the past ten years, research in the area of investigative interviews of child sexual abuse has focused on the child victim. Current literature in this area can be grouped into eight interrelated categories: (1) the developmental aspects of memory recall, (2) understanding children's language, (3) avoidance of repeated questioning, (4) validation and children's credibility, (5) false allegations, (6) videotaping interviews, (7) using anatomical dolls, and (8) interviewing techniques. A growing concern is the use of developmentally appropriate techniques to avoid false allegations. A dual-focus approach in conducting an investigative interview and 12 guiding principles are recommended for improving social workers' knowledge, skills and attitude.
Binding of IgM by Human T Lymphocytes

Ox erythrocytes, sensitized with IgM-type rabbit antibodies, were found to form rosettes with human blood lymphocytes. Granulocytes, monocytes, and macrophages appeared to lack this property. The rosette formation could be inhibited with human IgM and its Fc fragments. IgM-binding lymphocytes were also present in cell suspensions isolated from human tonsils and thymuses and among blood lymphocytes cultured in vitro. The outcome of combined marker tests and cell separation experiments disclosed that the rosetting lymphocytes belong to the T-lymphocyte population.
Epidemiological aspects of diabetes in the aging male

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a common chronic disease of older men, affecting an estimated 40% of American men over age 601. This paper reviews epidemiological aspects of diabetes mellitus in the aging male, with emphasis on the impact of diabetes in older American men. The first part of the report provides an overview of diabetes in relation to health-care costs, key demographic factors and population dynamics. The second part uses data examples from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study to illustrate several areas of interest to researchers who study diabetes in older men.
Comparative transparency, depth of mixing, and stability of stratification in lakes of Cameroon, West Africa1

Morphometry, oxygen concentration, temperature, and transparency were studied in 39 natural lakes in Cameroon, West Africa. Thermal profiles from 3 1 of the lakes and data from published studies were used to calculate stability of thermal stratification and evaluate morphological correlates of mixing depth. Twenty-six lakes showed some degree of stratification and 17 had distinct thermoclines and well-developed, anoxic hypolimnia. Total stability of the water column ranged from 0 to 5,784 J m-2. The high values were similar to or greater than those of other tropical and temperate lakes. Lake depth seems to exert a stronger influence on stability than does lake area, but depth or stability measures alone provide little information about heat distribution or mixing regime. A strong positive relationship between water transparency and thermocline depth in both tropical and temperate lakes suggests that reductions in buoyant resistance to vertical mixing, caused by deeper penetration of solar radiation, are important in establishing mixing depths in various lakes. Comparisons of persistent thermocline depth in tropical vs. temperate lakes, regardless of size, indicate that mixing depths in tropical lakes are often greater than those in their temperate counterparts. This difference is caused in part by the narrow ranges of temperature and smaller absolute density gradients in these tropical lakes, against which the mixed layer is deepened.
Cloning and Sequencing of a Genomic Island Found in the Brazilian Purpuric Fever Clone of Haemophilus influenzae Biogroup Aegyptius

A genomic island was identified in the Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius Brazilian purpuric fever (BPF) strain F3031. This island, which was also found in other BPF isolates, could not be detected in non-BPF biogroup aegyptius strains or in nontypeable or typeable H. influenzae strains, with the exception of a region present in the type b Eagan strain. This 34,378-bp island is inserted, in reference to H. influenzae Rd KW20, within a choline transport gene and contains a mosaic structure of Mu-like prophage genes, several hypothetical genes, and genes potentially encoding an Erwinia carotovora carotovoricin Er-like bacteriocin. The product of the tail fiber ORF in the bacteriocin-like region shows a hybrid structure where the C terminus is similar to an H. influenzae phage HP1 tail protein implicating this open reading frame in altering host specificity for a putative bacteriocin. Significant synteny is seen in the entire genomic island with genomic regions from Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi CT18, Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. laumondii TT01, Chromobacterium violaceum, and to a lesser extent Haemophilus ducreyi 35000HP. In a previous work, we isolated several BPF-specific DNA fragments through a genome subtraction procedure, and we have found that a majority of these fragments map to this locus. In addition, several subtracted fragments generated from an independent laboratory by using different but related strains also map to this island. These findings underscore the importance of this BPF-specific chromosomal region in explaining some of the genomic differences between highly invasive BPF strains and non-BPF isolates of biogroup aegyptius.
Smooth trimmed NURBS surface connection with tension control

An automatic smooth surface connection method that has the capability of tension control is presented. Given two trimmed NURBS surfaces, the new method constructs a smooth connection surface to connect the trimming regions of the trimmed surfaces at the trimming curves. The connection satisfies pseudo-G/sup 1/ or pseudo-C/sup 1/ smoothness requirement. The construction process consists of four major steps: connection curves construction and alignment, initial blends construction, setting up continuity constraints, and internal and external boundary smoothing. The advantages of the new method include: (1) providing the users with more flexibility in adjusting the shape of the connection surface; (2) the representation of the connection surface is compatible with most of the current data-exchange standards; (3) including the classical blending as a special case but with more flexibility on the setting of the rail curves; and (4) smoother shape of the resulting connection surface through an energy optimization process. Test cases that cover typical CAD applications are included.
The Evolving Politics of the Christian Right

A recent essay by Ralph Reed (1996), Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, proves that religious conservatives are still divided over the propriety of political activism, nearly two decades after the rise of the Christian Right. Reed's principal message is that the Christian Right must be willing to compromise to retain its political relevance, but his admonition at the end is that "at heart, what America needs is not political revolution but spiritual renewal." Which matters more, collective political goals or individual spiritual commitment? Which better serves religious conservatives, practicing or eschewing politics? Those questions have bedeviled religious conservatives throughout the 20th century, (Jelen 1991; Wilcox 1992) with the theological fault line running so deep that Christian-Right leaders still straddle the fissure. Reed's essay also illuminates some of the political tensions within the Christian Right. He argues for a pragmatic approach to politics, criticizing "purists" for their exclusionary language, inflammatory rhetoric on the social issues, and immutable goals in the face of certain defeat. He suggests "the religious right must give ground or risk irrelevance," calling for language in the 1996 Republican Party platform that stresses the moral dimension of abortion, but drops the long-standing plank calling for a constitutional amendment banning the procedure. Reed's commentary drew a sharp rebuttal from other leading religious conservatives (Washington Times 1996). Tension between pragmatists and purists-along with a morass of organizational missions and personal rivalries-is endemic to social movements generally (Zald and Garner 1987). However, the tensions may be particularly acute in religiously-grounded movements (Zald and McCarthy 1987), leading to a vast literature that has (erroneously) predicted the fall of the Christian Right (e.g., Bruce 1988, 1995; D'Antonio 1992).
Effect of housing relocation and neighborhood environment on adolescent mental and behavioral health

BACKGROUND: This study examined whether relocating from a high-poverty neighborhood to a lower poverty neighborhood as part of a federal housing relocation program (HOPE VI; Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) had effects on adolescent mental and behavioral health compared to adolescents consistently living in lower poverty neighborhoods. METHODS: Sociodemographic, risk behavior, and neighborhood data were collected from 592 low-income, primarily African-American adolescents and their primary caregivers. Structured psychiatric interviews were conducted with adolescents. Prerelocation neighborhood, demographic, and risk behavior data were also included. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to test associations between neighborhood variables and risk outcomes. HLM was used to test whether the effect of neighborhood relocation and neighborhood characteristics might explain differences in sexual risk taking, substance use, and mental health outcomes. RESULTS: Adolescents who relocated of HOPE VI neighborhoods (n = 158) fared worse than control group participants (n = 429) on most self-reported mental health outcomes. The addition of subjective neighborhood measures generally did not substantively change these results. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that moving from a high-poverty neighborhood to a somewhat lower poverty neighborhood is not associated with better mental health and risk behavior outcomes in adolescents. The continued effects of having grown up in a high-poverty neighborhood, the small improvements in their new neighborhoods, the comparatively short length of time they lived in their new neighborhood, and/or the stress of moving appears to worsen most of the mental health outcomes of HOPE VI compared to control group participants who consistently lived in the lower poverty neighborhoods. Language: en
Underresourced hospital infection control and prevention programs: penny wise, pound foolish?

Objectives. To estimate the cost of healthcare‐associated infections (HAIs) in a network of 28 community hospitals and to compare this sum to the amount budgeted for infection control programs at each institution and for the entire network. Design. We reviewed literature published since 1985 to estimate costs for specific HAIs. Using these estimates, we determined the costs attributable to specific HAIs in a network of 28 hospitals during a 1‐year period (January 1 through December 31, 2004). Cost‐saving models based on reductions in HAIs were calculated. Setting. Twenty‐eight community hospitals in the southeastern region of the United States. Results. The weight‐adjusted mean cost estimates for HAIs were $25,072 per episode of ventilator‐associated pneumonia, $23,242 per nosocomial blood stream infection, $10,443 per surgical site infection, and $758 per catheter‐associated urinary tract infection. The median annual cost of HAIs per hospital was $594,683 (interquartile range [IQR], $299,057‐$1,287,499)....
Diltiazem as monotherapy for systemic hypertension: A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group study of diltiazem in essential hypertension was carried out in 77 patients (40 difazem, 37 placebo) with stable supine diastolic blood pressure (BP) between 95 and 110 mm Hg. Patients were withdrawn from previous antihypertensive therapy for at least 4 weeks, titrated to the optimal dose, and followed for a total of 12 weeks during therapy. A diltiazem dose of 360 mg/day was required in 85% of the patients. Average BP In all positions was significantly (p
On Synchronization of Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory Methods

Weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) methods have been developed to simultaneously provide robust shock-capturing in compressible fluid flow and avoid excessive damping of fine-scale flow features such as turbulence. Under certain conditions in compressible turbulence, however, numerical dissipation remains unacceptably high even after optimization of the linear component that dominates in smooth regions. We demonstrate that a significant nonlinear source of dissipation error is due to a WENO implementation defect that we call the “synchronization deficiency,” and we develop and evaluate a preliminary technique to mitigate its eects. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) include one-dimensional test cases and three-dimensional compressible isotropic turbulence. Although we find the current formulation of our mitigation technique to be quite successful for the one-dimensional problems, its ecacy is more modest in the turbulence simulations, and its cost-to-benefit ratio is uncomfortably high. We believe, however, that with further work it will be possible to alleviate these drawbacks.
A mesoscale model for the Martian atmosphere

The Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmosphere Research Mesoscale Model Version 5 (MM5) has been converted for use on Mars. Modifications are based on schemes implemented in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Mars General Circulation Model (GCM). Validation of the Mars MM5 is conducted by comparison to the Mars GCM, examining the large-scale dynamics in the two models. Agreement between the two models on similar scales (a few hundred kilometers) is good. Validation is also performed against both Viking Landers and Mars Pathfinder meteorological observations with the model run at higher vertical (lowest level at 1.6 m) and horizontal resolution (a few kilometers). We find reasonable agreement with near-surface air temperature, pressure, and wind direction observations, with caveats. The results demonstrate that the model accurately simulates surface heat balance and the propagation of global thermal tides. However, wind speeds are underpredicted. The model generates the correct phasing of wind speeds with local time at the Viking Lander 2 site during winter but does not generate the correct phasing at the other sites or seasons. We examined the importance of slopes and global tides in generating the diurnal cycle of winds at the lander sites. We find that tides are at least as important as slopes, in contrast to previous studies. This study suggests that when used in combination with a GCM, the Mars MM5 promises to be a powerful tool for the investigation of processes central to the Martian climate on scales from hundreds of kilometers to tens of meters.
Two suns in the heavens: the Sino-Soviet struggle for supremacy, 1962–1967

Sergey Radchenko, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2009, xvii+315 pp Sergey Radchenko's five-chapter monograph focuses on the five most tempestuous years of the Sino-Soviet dispute, utilisi...
The CERES Principles: Model for Public Environmental Accountability

Summary In September, 1989, the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) announced the Valdez Principles (later changed to the CERES Principles), a code of environmental conduct for corporations. The Principles address all major environmental areas, call on corporations of all types and sizes to endorse and submit an annual report on progress, and have been endorsed by major corporate interests in the United States (US). Endorsing the principles means making a commitment to continual environmental performance improvement within the framework of the principles and entering into a partnership with CERES. CERES is a broadly based coalition of environmental groups, labour, public interest groups, public pension funds, social investors, and religious groups based in the United States. The CERES Principles are the only environmental code developed by a group outside of industry that has corporate endorsers. The ongoing relationship of accountability to a group outside of industry provides CERES companies with a unique model of public environmental accountability.
β-N-methylamino-l-alanine induces oxidative stress and glutamate release through action on system Xc−

Abstract β-N-methylamino- l -alanine (BMAA) is a non-protein amino acid implicated in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinson–dementia complex (ALS/PDC) on Guam. BMAA has recently been discovered in the brains of Alzheimer's patients in Canada and is produced by various species of cyanobacteria around the world. These findings suggest the possibility that BMAA may be of concern not only for specific groups of Pacific Islanders, but for a much larger population. Previous studies have indicated that BMAA can act as an excitotoxin by acting on the NMDA receptor. We have shown that the mechanism of neurotoxicity is actually three-fold; it involves not only direct action on the NMDA receptor, but also activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) and induction of oxidative stress. We now explore the mechanism by which BMAA activates the mGluR5 receptor and induces oxidative stress. We found that BMAA inhibits the cystine/glutamate antiporter (system Xc−) mediated cystine uptake, which in turn leads to glutathione depletion and increased oxidative stress. BMAA also appears to drive glutamate release via system Xc− and this glutamate induces toxicity through activation of the mGluR5 receptor. Therefore, the oxidative stress and mGluR5 activation induced by BMAA are both mediated through action at system Xc−. The multiple mechanisms of BMAA toxicity, particularly the depletion of glutathione and enhanced oxidative stress, may account for its ability to induce complex neurodegenerative diseases.
An urn model for recall order

An urn model based on an associationistic scheme of response ordering in recall is described. The model produces sequences of binary events where each event is identified by membership in one of two verbal classes. Data show that this series of binary events tends to reflect recall sequences of items from two categories.
Adverse Late Effects of Radiation Treatment in the Pancreas

Histology: Each acinus is made up of an irregular cluster of pyramidal secretory cells with apices projecting toward the lumen of a small central duct. Endocrine secretions enter the blood by way of a fine reticular network of fenestrated capillary beds surrounding the islets of Langerhans, which consist of groups of endocrine cells of various sizes. Symptoms: Pancreatic exocrine dysfunction and malabsorption are the most commonly reported complications following pancreatic radiation. Patients may more rarely develop an abnormal glucose tolerance test. Patients may or may not also demonstrate accompanying abnormal random or fasting plasma glucose levels. Radiology: Imaging of the pancreas following radiation is often normal but sometimes radiographic changes consistent with chronic pancreatitis can be observed. Multiple Fractions: At 45 Gy, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency with or without malabsorption has been reported. Hypofractionation. The estimate risk of diabetes is 16% in childhood cancer survivors who have received at least 10 Gy to the tail of the pancreas, with a dose response up to 20 to 29 Gy, and a plateau at higher radiation doses. Stereotactic body radiosurgery has recently been utilized to deliver a range of hypofractionated radiation treatments to patients with pancreatic tumors. Up to 25 Gy delivered in a single fraction has been used for treatment, including some patients who received prior chemotherapy and fractionated external beam radiation. No pancreatic complications were reported in these studies though the number of evaluable patients is small. Recommended dose-volume: As radiation-induced damage to pancreatic function is rarely life threatening and is usually well treated with medical management, dose-volume constraints have not been formally evaluated as with other critical normal tissues. Management: Because pancreatic exocrine deficiency can be managed with replacement therapy, pancreatic injury has not routinely been considered a serious complication compared to other normal tissue damage that may occur from abdominal radiation, such as radiation enteritis. Nonetheless, the risks associated with diabetes and the association with pancreatic tail irradiation in childhood cancer survivors may significantly contribute to public health issues. Hence, the pancreas should be identified as a critical organ for radiation planning purposes, especially in children receiving abdominal irradiation. Long-term follow-up of patients receiving abdominal irradiation should include diabetic screening.
A Critical Appraisal of Peter Gowans Contemporary Intra-Core Relations and World-Systems Theory: A Capitalist World-Empire or U.S.-East Asian Geo-Economic Integration?

This paper evaluates Peter Gowans musings on the topic of a U.S.-centered capitalist world-empire. Gowans heterodox concept of a capitalist world-empire is intellectually defensible. And his claim that U.S. hegemony is historically unique, because unlike previous dominant powers the U.S. has been able to distinctly mold the accumulation regimes and security environments of its would-be rivals in the core, is more than convincing. However, Gowan tends to overstate the degree to which the U.S. in the 1990s enjoyed a productive sector revival, rather than a mere super-inflation of dollar-denominated assets. This tendency prevents him from anticipating just how summarily the U.S. would ditch consensual approaches to managing the capitalistworld-economy once the Wall Street bubble collapsed, and hence from appreciating just how fed up Western European and East Asian elites would become with the predatory character of U.S. hegemony in decay. In conclusion the paper argues that while the U.S. may have neither the resources nor the credibility to politically control the global division of labor, something akin to a U.S.-East Asian geo-economic bloc may be in the process of forming. This is so because the Chinese and Japanese economic growth models remain wedded to the underwriting of the U.S. seigniorage privileges', and because past and present frictions between China and Japan stand in the way of tighter Sino-Japanese political coordination.
Foreword to the Symposium: Baby Doe at Twenty-Five

The so-called Baby Doe Rules, which are federal laws defining "medical neglect" of newborns for states receiving federal funds for child abuse programs, remain controversial twenty five years after they were enacted. To explore their contemporary significance, Georgia State University's College of Law, in partnership with Emory University's Center for Ethics, hosted a law review symposium in February 2009 on "The 25th Anniversary of the Baby Doe Rules: Perspectives from the Fields of Law, Health Care, Ethics, and Disability Policy." Nationally prominent professionals with expertise in neonatal medicine and decision-making in these diverse, interdisciplinary fields spent the day engaged in challenging debate and thoughtful reflection on these federal rules. This Foreword provides a roadmap to the speakers' essays and an introduction to the complex issues in medicine, bioethics, law, and disability policy that the Baby Doe Rules continue to raise. After twenty-five years, the Baby Doe Rules have not resolved how decisions about appropriate treatment for seriously ill and extremely premature infants should be made, nor have they forged a societal consensus over the standards for decision-making. While the Rules may not be openly used to guide decision-making in much of clinical practice today, they continue to reflect the underlying ethical and societal tensions that prompted their enactment in the first place and that still need to be resolved.
A Dynamic program for designing factorial experiments with budget constraints

Abstract This paper develops a dynamic programming formulation of the factorial experimental design problem with budgetary constraints. The approach is valid for any number of factors if all possible interaction terms are assumed in the model. A specific structure involving no interaction terms (additive model) is also formulated. An example is presented along with some computational results.
Local atomic and electronic structure of boron chemical doping in monolayer graphene.

We use scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy to characterize the atomic and electronic structure of boron-doped and nitrogen-doped graphene created by chemical vapor deposition on copper substrates. Microscopic measurements show that boron, like nitrogen, incorporates into the carbon lattice primarily in the graphitic form and contributes ∼0.5 carriers into the graphene sheet per dopant. Density functional theory calculations indicate that boron dopants interact strongly with the underlying copper substrate while nitrogen dopants do not. The local bonding differences between graphitic boron and nitrogen dopants lead to large scale differences in dopant distribution. The distribution of dopants is observed to be completely random in the case of boron, while nitrogen displays strong sublattice clustering. Structurally, nitrogen-doped graphene is relatively defect-free while boron-doped graphene films show a large number of Stone-Wales defects. These defects create local electronic resonances ...
Exploiting the Epigenome to Control Cancer-Promoting Gene-Expression Programs

The epigenome is a key determinant of transcriptional output. Perturbations within the epigenome are thought to be a key feature of many, perhaps all cancers, and it is now clear that epigenetic changes are instrumental in cancer development. The inherent reversibility of these changes makes them attractive targets for therapeutic manipulation, and a number of small molecules targeting chromatin-based mechanisms are currently in clinical trials. In this perspective we discuss how understanding the cancer epigenome is providing insights into disease pathogenesis and informing drug development. We also highlight additional opportunities to further unlock the therapeutic potential within the cancer epigenome.
A Method for Weighing Pullets During the Growing Period

Abstract Replacement pullets were weighed in groups of five and then individually. The average body weight was similiar for the two weighing methods. However, the 95% confidence intervals and bird-to-bird standard deviation were less when birds were group weighed. Pullets were group weighed on five commercial farms. Twenty groups of 5 pullets were found to be adequate for average body weight. Sixteen groups were adequate for minimum 95% confidence intervals and bird-to-bird variation.
The energetics of supported metal nanoparticles: relationships to sintering rates and catalytic activity.

Transition metal nanoparticles on the surfaces of oxide andcarbon support materials form the basis for most solid catalysts and electrocatalysts, and have important industrial applications such as fuel production, fuels, and pollution prevention. In this Account, I review my laboratory group’s research toward the basic understanding of the effects of particle size and support material on catalytic properties. I focus on studies of well-defined model metal nanoparticle catalysts supported on single-crystalline oxide surfaces. My group structurally characterized such catalysts using a variety of ultrahigh vacuum surface science techniques. We then measured the energies of metal atoms in these supported nanoparticles, using adsorption calorimetry tools that we developed. These metal adsorption energies increase with increasing size of the nanoparticles, until their diameter exceeds about 6 nm. Below 6 nm, the nature of the oxide support surface reaches also greatly affects the metal adsorption energies. Usin...
Effects of a risk-based online mammography intervention on accuracy of perceived risk and mammography intentions

Objective This experiment tested the effects of an individualized risk-based online mammography decision intervention. The intervention employs exemplification theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion to improve the match between breast cancer risk and mammography intentions.
The pathological sense of self in anorexia nervosa.

Diagnostic and therapeutic work with four anorectic patients has suggested a working hypothesis which conceives of anorexia as a disturbance in the sense of self. The authors have studied specific factors that contribute to a pathological organization of the whole personality. The disturbance appears to begin in the mirroring phase, and a specific conflict emerges as the child experiences his own body as a visible aspect of itself, yet feels unseen by the parent.The loss of body weight is thought of as a desperate appeal to the parents to make psychic contact with the unseen person.
A New Powered Lower Limb Prosthesis Control Framework Based on Adaptive Dynamic Programming

This brief presents a novel application of adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) for optimal adaptive control of powered lower limb prostheses, a type of wearable robots to assist the motor function of the limb amputees. Current control of these robotic devices typically relies on finite state impedance control (FS-IC), which lacks adaptability to the user’s physical condition. As a result, joint impedance settings are often customized manually and heuristically in clinics, which greatly hinder the wide use of these advanced medical devices. This simulation study aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of ADP for automatic tuning of the twelve knee joint impedance parameters during a complete gait cycle to achieve balanced walking. Given that the accurate models of human walking dynamics are difficult to obtain, the model-free ADP control algorithms were considered. First, direct heuristic dynamic programming (dHDP) was applied to the control problem, and its performance was evaluated on OpenSim, an often-used dynamic walking simulator. For the comparison purposes, we selected another established ADP algorithm, the neural fitted Q with continuous action (NFQCA). In both cases, the ADP controllers learned to control the right knee joint and achieved balanced walking, but dHDP outperformed NFQCA in this application during a 200 gait cycle-based testing.
Legal Protection of Echinacea and Other Medicinal Plant Species

Little protection has been granted to native Echinacea species due to the regional abundance of Echinacea species in the wild and its ease of cultivation. The exceptions are two species, Echinacea laevigata and E. tennesseensis, which were both federally listed as threatened, due to their rarity. It is only when sudden market demands trigger exceptionally large harvests that property owners and conservationists become concerned about legal protection and the sustainability of harvesting practices. Laws regulating the harvest and exportation of wild plant species are the result. Of the 22 states that have laws concerning native plant protection, only North Dakota specifically lists Echinacea angustifolia. Populations of Echinacea species are found from the Great Plains in southern Canada and Montana to Texas east to Michigan, Virginia, and Florida, yet the native species across this range have little protection in any state. Educational efforts may be the best way to conserve Echinacea species on private lands where most of these native populations occur.
Predictors of suboptimal bowel preparation in asymptomatic patients undergoing average-risk screening colonoscopy

Predictors of suboptimal bowel preparation in asymptomatic patients undergoing average-risk screening colonoscopy
Urban terrain multiple target tracking using probability hypothesis density particle filtering

A multi-model particle probability hypothesis density filer (PPHDF) algorithm for multiple target tracking in urban terrain is investigated in this paper. The multi-model PPHDF is based on target state-space modeling of urban scenarios, random finite set theory, multiple model estimation theory, and sequential Monte Carlo implementations. Our proposed algorithm can instantaneously and efficiently estimate both the number of targets and their corresponding states without conventional measurement-to-track associations. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the multi-model PPHDF can achieve good tracking performance with tractable computational complexity in the test bench urban tracking scenario with complex multipath radar return patterns.
Evidence of correlation between fingerprint quality and skin attributes

The purpose of this paper is to find whether there is any evidence of correlation between fingerprint quality and the factors of skin texture, keratin level, skin pigmentation, skin color, skin temperature, elasticity, and finger minutiae. In simpler terms, the goal was to see if and which finger characteristics affected the readability of the fingerprint. To achieve this goal, about 8000 random samples were collected from the fingers of 80 different subjects. The sensors collected data involving skin texture, keratin level, skin pigmentation, skin color, temperature, elasticity, and the amount of minutiae present on the finger. The sensors also collected the image quality of each fingerprint. This measurement is highly correlated with fingerprint scanner effectiveness and was therefore used as a representation of fingerprint readability in the experiment. A best subset test was run between the aforementioned factors and image quality in Minitab. This function tests all of the possible linear models that could be created by combining the factors against image quality and gives 2 results. The 1st result are the determined best models and the second are the statistics that tell the user how effective the models are. A model using all of the factors except pigmentation was used as the best model. However, this model only had an R2 value of 2.4, which meant that the model could only explains 2.4% of the image quality data. This provides strong evidence that there is no linear relationship between the factors and fingerprint image quality, and therefore fingerprint scanner effectiveness. In order to address the possibility of a nonlinear relationship between the factors and image quality, each factor was plotted on a graph against image quality. If the variable had a nonlinear relationship with image quality, a pattern would appear on the graph. No convincing pattern appeared on any of the graphs, which gave evidence that there is also no nonlinear relationship between the finger factors and image quality. This, combined with the previous finding concerning linear relationships, allows us to state that there is strong evidence that the factors do not correlate with fingerprint scanner effectiveness.