cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Some Commercially Available Trap Designs and Sex Pheromone Lures for Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Three commercially available sex pheromone lures (Trece, Scentry, and Hercon) for the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), were effective for capturing males in Universal Moth Traps (Unitraps). The Trece and Scentry lures were equally effective, and there was some evidence for significantly greater captures with Hercon than with Trece lures. Longevity of the Trece. Scentry, and Hercon lures was 23, 37, and 28-37 d, respectively. Of the trap designs evaluated, Unitraps were the most effective. All-green and all-white Unitraps baited with Trece lures were significantly less effective than those with a green cover, yellow top, and white bottom (multicolored). Multicolored Unitraps captured significantly greater numbers of males than Multipher 1, 2, or 3 traps, and than commercially fabricated wire cone or commercially available Scentry Heliothis traps. Checking the Scentry Heliothis traps daily, rather than at 2- or 3-d intervals, as a way to reduce escape of moths that did not enter the trap tops, did not increase efficacy relative to Unitraps. There was no significant difference between captures in the wire cone and Scentry traps. These data should be useful in developing a standard trapping system for monitoring and population dynamics studies of the beet armyworm.
Rate of sonographic cervical shortening and biologic pathways of spontaneous preterm birth

Objective The objective of the study was to estimate the relationship between midtrimester cervical length (CL) and maternal serum markers of systemic inflammation, activation of the maternal-fetal hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and alterations in thrombosis-hemostasis. Study Design This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study designed to predict preterm birth in the general obstetric population. Women had serial CL ultrasounds and assessment of maternal serum corticotrophin-releasing hormone, C-reactive protein, and thrombin-antithrombin III complexes between 20 and 33 weeks' gestation and were followed up until delivery. Results Shortening of CL was associated with the rate of rise in corticotrophin-releasing hormone (r 2 = 0.34, P = .014) and C-reactive protein (r 2 = 0.44, P = .001) for women with CL less than 25 mm but not for the cohort overall. There was no association of change in CL with change in thrombin-antithrombin III concentration. Conclusion Among women with a midtrimester sonographically short cervix, changes in serum markers suggest that a shortening CL may be associated with systemic inflammation and activation of the maternal-fetal hypothalamic-pituitary axis but not systemic thrombosis-hemostasis.
A parallel implementation of 3D CT image reconstruction on the Cell Broadband Engine

Cone-beam X-ray computed tomography (CT) is attracting increasing attention due to its applications in medicine, biomedical sciences, material engineering, and non-destructive industrial evaluation. Rapid volumetric image reconstruction is highly desirable in all these fields for prompt visualization and analysis of complex structures of interest. However, in most applications, volumetric image reconstruction is still a very demanding computational task. The Cell Broadband Engine architecture (CBEA) is a novel microprocessor architecture designed to provide power-efficient and cost-effective high-performance processing for some of the world's most demanding applications, including next generation game consoles. Applications that show special promise of benefiting from CBEA are medical imaging, security and surveillance, digital media, entertainment, communications, and certain scientific workloads. We believe that the CBEA is a good vehicle for processing 3D CT image reconstructions because it has the capability of reaching 200 Gfps. We implemented 3D CT image reconstruction on the CBEA. However, the programming scheme of the CBEA is different from single-core architectures. To archive peak performance on the CBEA, coding optimizations are needed to exploit the unique features of the hardware. In this paper, we describe the parallelization of the 3D image reconstruction algorithm on the CBEA. The results show that the CBEA can achieve significant run time savings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reading Margaret Oliphant

Margaret Oliphant's fiction has been steadily undergoing critical reassessment since the 1990s. The advent of the Selected Works from Pickering & Chatto testifies to the growing significance of this great novelist within the scholarly community. The inquiries of several researchers, especially Elisabeth Jay and Joanne Shattock, have transformed our understanding of this prolific author's achievements. Yet the larger proportion of Oliphant's novels await the critical attention they deserve. The present discussion focuses on the main reasons why her seemingly minor works of prose fiction possess a psychological understanding that is as great as that which we find in her more famous narratives, such as Miss Marjoribanks (1866). The recognition of divided minds, of the games the mind plays, and her dramatization of them, is part of what gives her novels power that general critiques of her work often miss. This point becomes clear when we broaden our perspective on Oliphant's novels beyond the six fictions tha...
A comparison of trim drag for conventional and supercritical wings

The magnitude of the trim drag incurred by advanced supercritical wings and conventional wide-body wings at cruise conditions are investigated. Experiments were performed in a transonic pressure tunnel at a Mach number of 0.82 with a conventional wide-body wing and supercritical wing with high aspect ratio (9.80) using one of three low-tail configurations or two T-tail configurations in order to determine the effects of horizontal tail size, location, camber and static margin. Drag measurements indicate trim drag for the supercritical wing not to be significantly higher than for the conventional wing, although the minimum drag values for the supercritical wing occurred at lower static margins than for conventional wings. Both wings exhibited a reduction in trim drag with reduced cambered tail size, and greater minimum drag increments for cambered tails than for symmetrical tails. Lower trim-drag increments were also observed for the T-tail configuration than the low tails. The increase in lift-drag ratio for the supercritical wing over the conventional wing amounted to 11% for the best tail configurations.
Note-taking in the college classroom as evidence of generative learning

College student notes were analysed with respect to the amount of words copied directly, omitted and added to the teacher’s overheads or PowerPoint slides in order to understand the effect of teacher scaffolds on student generative learning during initial encoding. Scores on quizzes taken at the end of classes from which notes were collected were analysed with respect to the content of student notes and teacher scaffolds. Statistically significant results were found when comparing how much students copied, added and omitted, whether teachers used PowerPoint presentations or overheads, and with respect to the amount of information teachers presented visually. Significant effects also were found on performance quiz items with respect to the amount of information that teachers provided.
Effects of Six-Hour Suspended Sediment Treatments on White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in an Artificial Stream

ABSTRACT To examine effects of short-term exposure to two types of sediment on health of warmwater fishes, a controlled experiment was conducted with Micropterus dolomieu and Catostomus commersoni. Fishes were stocked into net pens at upstream and downstream ends of an artificial stream. Following an acclimation period of five to six days, discharge was increased throughout the stream to bankfull levels, and fishes in downstream pens (only) were exposed to sediment concentrations of 200 mg/L of fine sand or 500 mg/L of agricultural soil for six hours in two independent trials. Fishes were then immediately assigned a health assessment index value based on conditions of internal and external organs. There were no significant effects on health assessment indices for either species from the experimental treatments, although the indices may have been more sensitive if fish were afforded a post-treatment latent period to allow stress-induced changes to manifest. Our data agree with existing models that describe...
Nothing is Permanent but Change: The Journey to Consolidation and Back

Responding to a staffing shortage and assessment of usage data, eight of Hale Library's nine service desks were consolidated into one service point. Fourteen months later, the Libraries conducted an assessment of the consolidation using reference transaction data, responses to a survey administered to Libraries’ staff, and responses from a student focus group. The assessment revealed many logistical and staffing challenges with the new desk. As a result, a separate service point for reference was created directly outside the consolidated desk. Our statistics indicate that this was a successful change.
Factors limiting rosette recruitment in scarlet gilia, Ipomopsis aggregata: seed and disturbance limitation.

We performed a factorial combination of seed additions, surface soil disturbance, and protection from potential seed predation in experimental plots to elucidate the relative importance of each factor in the recruitment of scarlet gilia seedlings. We detected a significant interaction between seed addition and surface soil disturbance on seedling recruitment over 2 years of establishment. Plots that received both supplemental seed addition and disturbance established 10.5 times as many rosettes as control plots. We did not detect main or interactive effects of caging on seedling establishment. We explored the importance of density-dependent recruitment by investigating the number of rosettes per experimental plot through time. In addition, we used planned contrasts to compare the absolute and percent changes in control and treatment plot rosette densities between the study years. We found significant downward concave curvature to the seedling recruitment curve, suggesting negative density-dependent recruitment across the experimental range of rosette densities. We found a significant difference between the control plots and the seed addition-disturbance plots in terms of absolute changes in plot density from 1997 to 1998. Greater net mortality occurred in plots that received both seed addition and disturbance. However, we found no differences among treatments in the percent change in rosette density across the study years. Our study demonstrates that seedling recruitment in natural plant populations may be limited by the interaction of seed and microsite availability, and that seedling recruitment in scarlet gilia may be negatively density dependent. Our results suggest that the fecundity effects of particular plant-animal interactions (e.g., pollination, herbivory) may affect scarlet gilia population dynamics, particularly under conditions of high soil disturbance.
Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in children.

The majority of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections appear to be acquired during childhood. Despite this fact, the natural history of H. pylori infection in children, such as the mode of acquisition, the clinical symptoms and signs of infection and the appropriate treatment, is poorly understood. There is no consensus regarding which children with H. pylori infection deserve treatment nor is there agreement on the appropriate treatment regimen. This stems from the lack of controlled studies into H. pylori infection during childhood. For example, there have been no controlled studies to determine effective treatment of H. pylori infection in children. Although published guidelines for the treatment of childhood H. pylori infection do not currently exist, there is reasonable evidence to support treatment in children with gastric or duodenal ulcer, gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma and atrophic gastritis. There is no strong evidence to recommend treatment of children with H. pylori infection and recurrent abdominal pain, asymptomatic infection, children in chronic care facilities and children who have a family member with H. pylori infection. Current evidence suggests that single and dual therapy regimens for H. pylori infection in children are not effective. Triple therapy , generally the combination of 2 antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor, given two times daily for 2 weeks appears to offer the best current treatment.
Exact minimum-time control of a distributed system using a traveling wave formulation

In this paper, the minimum-time control problem for rest-to-rest translation of a one-dimensional second-order distributed parameter system by means of two bounded control inputs at the ends is solved. A traveling wave formulation allows the problem to be solved exactly, i.e., without modal truncation. It is found that the minimum-time control is not bang-bang, as it is for systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom. Rather, it is bang-off-bang, where a period of control inactivity in the middle of the control time interval is required for synchronization with waves propagated through the system.
Numerical stability of hyperbolic equations in three independent variables

It is shown that nonsimplicial networks proposed for the solution of hyperbolic equations in three dimensions, which satisfy the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy condition for stability, should be further analyzed using the von Neumann condition, since the latter is a stronger necessary condition than the former for nonsimplicial networks. Several networks proposed for the solution of three-dimensional supersonic flow fields are evaluated on this basis. The stability predictions for one of the proposed networks are compared with the results of numerical experiments. This method of stability analysis also indicates an approximate "degree" of instability of unstable networks. With the availability of high-speed digital computers, the von Neumann condition can be tested even for complicated difference networks.
A molecular mechanics force field for lignin

A CHARMM molecular mechanics force field for lignin is derived. Parameterization is based on reproducing quantum mechanical data of model compounds. Partial atomic charges are derived using the RESP electrostatic potential fitting method supplemented by the examination of methoxybenzene:water interactions. Dihedral parameters are optimized by fitting to critical rotational potentials and bonded parameters are obtained by optimizing vibrational frequencies and normal modes. Finally, the force field is validated by performing a molecular dynamics simulation of a crystal of a lignin fragment molecule and comparing simulation-derived structural features with experimental results. Together with the existing force field for polysaccharides, this lignin force field will enable full simulations of lignocellulose.
Digital artery sympathectomy.

A very distal sympathectomy at the level of the origin of the proper digital arteries has been devised. Four men and four women have been operated on for digital vascular insufficiency due to frostbite, crush injuries, scleroderma, and Raynaud's disease. The operation is done through a palmar approach and the adventitia removed, over a length of 3 to 4 mm, from the proper digital arteries distal to the junction of the distal perforating artery with the common digital artery. Three frostbite victims have done well; their ulcers have healed, pain symptoms have improved, and a skin temperature rise of 1.5° to 2.5° F has persisted over a 17-year follow-up. Two crushed fingers have shown some, but not impressive, permanent symptomatic improvement. Three women had four operations for Raynaud-type disease. Two of the women, 40 and 41 years of age, showed a permanent skin temperature rise of only 2° and 1° F, respectively. They showed significant, but not total, pain relief. The third woman, 22 years of age, had atrophic, curled index and thumb nails. After sympathectomy, the nails grew normally, there was significant pain relief, and the patient showed a permanent 3° F rise in skin temperature.
The posterior distribution of the fixed and random effects in a mixed-effects linear model

The subject of this paper is Bayesian inference about the fixed and random effects of a mixed-effects linear statistical model with two variance components. It is assumed that a priori the fixed effects have a noninformative distribution and that the reciprocals of the variance components are distributed independently (of each other and of the fixed effects) as gamma random variables. It is shown that techniques similar to those employed in a ridge analysis of a response surface can be used to construct a one-dimensional curve that contains all of the stationary points of the posterior density of the random effects. The “ridge analysis” (of the posterior density) can be useful (from a computational standpoint) in finding the number and the locations of the stationary points and can be very informative about various features of the posterior density. Depending on what is revealed by the ridge analysis, a multivariate normal or multivariate-t distribution that is centered at a posterior mode may provide a s...
The roles of parenting and child welfare services in alcohol use by adolescents

Abstract The research asked whether two aspects of parenting (child maltreatment and parental drinking) as well as child welfare services have an effect on adolescents' alcohol use. Secondary data analysis with the discrete-time method of causal analysis was employed. The sample of 1591 adolescents was from families involved with child protective services. The data was extracted from a longitudinal data set collected nationally between 1999 and 2004. The results showed that experience of neglect predicted adolescents' subsequent alcohol use, but parental drinking and child welfare services made no significant impact. Implications for child welfare services are discussed.
Determination of PM2.5 sources using time-resolved integrated source and receptor models.

Abstract Multivariate statistical techniques are applied to particulate matter (PM) and meteorological data to identify the sources responsible for evening PM spikes at Sunland Park, NM (USA). The statistical techniques applied are principal components analysis (PCA), redundancy analysis (RDA), and absolute principal components scores analysis (APCSA), and the data evaluated are 3-h average (6–9 p.m.) PM 2.5 mass and chemical composition and 1-h average PM 2.5 and PM 10 mass and environmental data collected in the winter of 2002. Although the interpretation of the data was complicated by the presence of sources which are likely changing in time (e.g. brick kilns), the multivariate analyses indicate that the evening high PM 2.5 is associated with burning-activities occurring to the south of Sunland Park, and these emissions are characterized by elevated Sb, Cl − , and elemental carbon; ∼68% of the PM 2.5 mass can be attributed to this source. The PM 10 evening peaks, on the other hand, are mainly caused by resuspended dust generated by vehicular movements south of the site and transported by the local terrain-induced drainage flow.
Three dimensional confinement in inverted quantum dot nanopore lasers

The nanopore is a quantum well structure with a periodic array of pores that have been filled with wider gap semiconductor material. The fabrication and optical characteristics of smaller, more uniform arrays are presented.
Water intake and the termination of diapause in the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis☆

Abstract Partially dehydrated diapausing corn borers were found to be incapable of terminating diapause and completing prepupal development until after they had had access to water. Long-day photoperiods would not terminate diapause in partially dehydrated borers, but such dehydration did not prevent the insects from responding to the photoperiod. Partial dehydration followed by water imbibition did not accelerate development unless the borer's photoperiodic requirements had been satisfied. After prolonged (30 days') exposure to dry conditions and long daylengths, diapause termination and pupation were dependent upon the production of proctodone for about 48 hr and upon the production of prothoracotropic hormone for about 72 hr following water imbibition. Diapause termination in this species is postulated to be a two-phase developmental process. The first phase is rate controlled by the photoperiodic synchronization of rhythmic functions, and the second phase includes the physiological action of proctodone and the activation of the neuroendocrine system. Completion of the second phase is dependent upon and an appropriate water blance.
Snow cover effects on acoustic sensors

Abstract Measurements were conducted to determine the effect of a snow cover on acoustic wave propagation during a 50 day period in Alaska. Acoustic waveforms produced by a blank pistol shot were recorded after propagating horizontally over various snow-covered propagation paths and were used to determine the snow cover parameters by comparison with theoretically calculated waveforms. This automatic comparison procedure was successful in determining the average snow cover permeability and depth even when the snow cover depth varied greatly across the propagation path. Although the snow cover properties remained relatively constant during the measurement period, the acoustic measurements were able to determine the changes caused by wind events and new snowfall. Acoustic measurements can provide a rapid, accurate method for determining and monitoring snow cover characteristics. The excess attenuation produced by the snow cover was generally about − 30 dB for 100 m distance and frequencies above 100 Hz. Theoretical calculations also show that even a thin snow cover only 0.02 m thick will affect acoustic pulse propagation. The attenuation and distortion caused by a snow cover can degrade passive acoustic sensor identification and distance estimation, but these detrimental effects can be mitigated by proper design of signal processing algorithms.
Hybrid finite element model for phase transitions in nonlinear electromechanically coupled material

A finite element approach for modeling phase transitions in electro-mechanically coupled material is presented. The approach is applicable to modeling a broad range of material behavior, including repolarizations in ferroelectrics (PZTs) as well as ferroelectric-antiferroelectric phase transitions in electroceramics such as lead lanthanum zirconate stannate titanate. A 3D 4 node hybrid element has been formulated. In addition to nodal displacement and voltage degrees of freedom used in conventional coupled elements, the hybrid element also utilizes internal electric displacement degrees of freedom, resulting in improved numerical efficiency. The elements utilize energy based nonlinear constitutive relations for more accurate representation of material response at high electric fields. The phase/polarization state of each element is represented by internal variable,s which are updated at each simulation step based on a phenomenological mode. The material model has been roughly fitted to response of PZT-5H under free strain conditions. The model reproduces strain and electric displacement hysteresis loops observed in the material. The hybrid finite element model results are demonstrated for a complex geometry with non-uniform fields.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Steps towards an ecology of infrastructure: complex problems in design and access for large-scale collaborative systems

This paper analyzes the initial phases of a large-scale custom software effort, the Worm Community System (WCS), a collaborative system designed for a geographically dispersed community of geneticists. Despite high user satisfaction with the system and interface, and extensive user feedback and analysis, many users experienced difficulties in signing on and use, ranging from simple lack of resources to complex organizational and intellectual trade-offs. Using Bateson's levels of learning, we characterize these as levels of infrastructural complexity which challenge both users and developers. Usage problems may result from different perceptions of this complexity in different organizational contexts.
Theoretical analysis of the falling cylinder viscometer for power law and bingham plastic fluids

Theoretical equations and their solutions for the falling cylinder viscometer are presented for the Bingham plastic and power law models.
Methyl 3 o benzyl 2 4 6 trideoxy 6 iodo alpha d erythro hexo pyranoside a chiral synthon for the synthesis of inhibitors of 3 hydroxy 3 methyl glutaryl coenzyme a reductase

Abstract Methyl 3-0-benzyl-2,4,6-trideoxy-6-iodo-α-D- erythro -hexopyranoside 2 was prepared from D-glucose and demonstrated to have potential utility as a chiral synthon for the elaboration of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
Synthesis and characterization of thermoresponsive amphiphilic block copolymers incorporating a poly(ethylene oxide-stat-propylene oxide) block

Amphiphilic BuO-(PEO-stat-PPO)-block-PLA-OH diblock and MeO-PEO-block-(PEO-stat-PPO)-block-PLA-OH triblock copolymers incorporating thermoresponsive poly(ethylene oxide-stat-propylene oxide) (PEO-stat-PPO) blocks were prepared by ring-opening polymerization of lactide (LA) initiated by macroinitiators formed from treating BuO-(PEO-stat-PPO)-OH and MeO-PEO-block-(PEO-stat-PPO)-OH with AlEt3. MeO-PEO-block-(PEO-stat-PPO)-OH was prepared by coupling MeO-PEO-OH and HO-(PEO-stat-PPO)-OH, followed by chromatographic purification. The cloud points of 0.2% aqueous solutions are between 36 and 46 °C for the diblock copolymers that contain a 50 wt % EO thermoresponsive block and 78 °C for the triblock copolymer that contains a 75 wt % EO thermoresponsive block. Variable temperature 1H NMR spectra recorded on D2O solutions of the diblock copolymers display no PLA resonances below the cloud point and fairly sharp PLA resonances above the cloud point, suggesting that desolvation of the thermoresponsive block increases the miscibility of the two blocks. Preliminary characterization of the micelles formed in aqueous solutions of BuO-(PEO-stat-PPO)-block-PLA-OH conducted using laser scanning confocal microscopy and pulsed gradient spin echo NMR point to significant changes in the size of the micellar aggregates as a function of temperature. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5156–5167, 2005
Characterization of a 76 GHz antenna for personnel avoidance radar for robotics vehicles

A radar system for robotic vehicles has been developed for collision avoidance. A major component of the system is an antenna that has a narrow beam in azimuth and a broad beam in elevation with very low side-lobes. This paper presents the design and characterization of the antenna that operates at around 76 GHz. The high operating frequency required a special set up for the measurements of the antenna performance. The antenna is designed as an array of pyramidal horns fed with an E-plane waveguide power divider that produces the required aperture taper for low side-lobes.
Deterministic hydrodynamics: Taking blood apart

We show the fractionation of whole blood components and isolation of blood plasma with no dilution by using a continuous-flow deterministic array that separates blood components by their hydrodynamic size, independent of their mass. We use the technology we developed of deterministic arrays which separate white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets from blood plasma at flow velocities of 1,000 μm/sec and volume rates up to 1 μl/min. We verified by flow cytometry that an array using focused injection removed 100% of the lymphocytes and monocytes from the main red blood cell and platelet stream. Using a second design, we demonstrated the separation of blood plasma from the blood cells (white, red, and platelets) with virtually no dilution of the plasma and no cellular contamination of the plasma.
Coverage criteria for logical expressions

A large number of coverage criteria to generate tests from logical expressions have been proposed. Although there have been large variations in the terminology, the articulation of the criteria and the original source of the expressions, many of these criteria are fundamentally the same. The most commonly known and widely used criterion is that of modified condition decision coverage (MCDC), but some articulations of MCDC have had some ambiguities. This has led to confusion on the part of testers, students, and tool developers on how best to implement these test criteria. This paper presents a complete comprehensive set of criteria that incorporate all the existing criteria, and eliminates the ambiguities by introducing precise definitions of the various possibilities.
Aleutian Strain Events: Observations and Interpretation

Summary Static dislocation theory has been applied to interpret a large aseismic strain event observed on strainmeter records from the central Aleutian Islands, and to interpret permanent sudden changes in earth strain that accompanied an Aleutian earthquake. In this interpretation, the aseismic strain adjustment is assumed to be caused by an episode of fault creep occurring in the region of the instruments. The model assumes that the faulting process can be suitably approximated by a rectangular plane dislocation of constant offset occurring in a homogeneous, isotropic, elastic half space. Fault depth, dimensions, dislocation offset, and orientation are parameters which specify strain changes. An iterative least-squares inversion technique has been applied to find the fault parameters that allow a best fit to the data. A solution in reasonable agreement with both the aseismic strain changes and the theory of Aleutian plate tectonics can be found. However, this agreement is obtained only if results obtained by considering the earthquake are used to correct the aseismic solution. It appears that observed strains are too large by an order of magnitude.
Complexity regularized shape estimation from noisy Fourier data

We consider the estimation of an unknown arbitrary 2D object shape from sparse noisy samples of its Fourier transform. The estimate of the closed boundary curve is parametrized by normalized Fourier descriptors (FDs). We use Rissanen's (1998) MDL criterion. to regularize this ill-posed non-linear inverse problem and determine an optimum tradeoff between approximation and estimation errors by picking an optimum order for the FD parametrization. The performance of the proposed estimator is quantified in terms of the area discrepancy between the true and estimated object. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Historical Perspectives: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)

In the 1960s, hyaline membrane disease (HMD) was the major cause of neonatal death in the United States. Boston, Geller, and Smith (1) reported 100% mortality if neonates had Pao2s of less than 100 mm Hg in the first 12 hours after birth, and Stahlman and associates (2) reported a 70% mortality if neonates were breathing 100% oxygen in the first 12 postnatal hours. Included among the deaths were infants who weighed more than 1,800 g at birth. Outcomes were similar in other centers. Available care often consisted of administering oxygen, intravenous fluids, and antibiotics and keeping patients warm. As a last ditch effort, some babies were mechanically ventilated. Knowledge of the physiology of neonates and of their disease processes increased rapidly during this period. Smith (3) and Nelson and colleagues (4) demonstrated that neonates who had HMD had low lung compliance and a reduced functional residual capacity. Stahlman, (5) Rudolph and associates, (6) and many others demonstrated abnormalities in ventilation or the cardiovascular systems of affected neonates. John Clements isolated surfactant from the lung, (7) and Mary Ellen Avery and Jerry Mead (8) demonstrated a deficiency of surfactant in the lungs of neonates who died of HMD. Surfactant deficiency was associated with atelectasis. In detailed pulmonary and cardiovascular studies of neonates who had HMD, Chu and associates (9) demonstrated that a significant portion of the problem with this disease was due to mismatching of ventilation and perfusion and that grunting was an effort to counteract atelectasis (Figure). The development of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the early 1960s, such as that created by Dr. Mildred Stahlman at Vanderbilt University, provided an environment in which sick neonates could be cared for, questions could be asked and answered, and physiologic measurements (such as those used by Stanley …
Staphylococcus epidermidis Extracted Slime Inhibits the Antimicrobial Action of Glycopeptide Antibiotics

Certain strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis produce a mucoid slime that appears to be an important virulence factor. After crude slime was isolated from selected strains of S. epidermidis, phenol and chloroform were used to remove proteins and lipids. The remaining extract contained a polysaccharide that was seen on SDS gels stained with Stains-all. This extract was an inhibitor of the antimicrobial action of vancomycin, raising the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to vancomycin in all 18 isolates of S. epidermidis. A dose-response curve was seen between the amount of extract added and the degree of resistance, as measured by both MIC and growth curves. A similar effect was noted with MICs of organisms to teicoplanin. Addition of the extract did not change the MIC to LY146032, although a modest effect on growth rate was observed. The extract did not raise the MIC to clindamycin, rifampin, and cefazolin. The extract reversed the synergism seen between vancomycin and gentamicin in the 5 strains tested in time-kill studies. The interference by slime of the antimicrobial effect of vancomycin and teicoplanin may explain why these antibiotics are sometimes ineffective in eradicating foreign body infections due to slime-producing coagulase-negative staphylococci.
A positive association of lumbar spine bone mineral density with dietary protein is suppressed by a negative association with protein sulfur

Dietary protein is theorized to hold both anabolic effects on bone and demineralizing effects mediated by the diet acid load of sulfate derived from methionine and cysteine. The relative importance of these effects is unknown but relevant to osteoporosis prevention. Postmenopausal women (n = 161, 67.9 +/- 6.0 y) were assessed for areal bone mineral density (aBMD) of lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (TH) using dual X-ray absorptiometry, and dietary intakes of protein, sulfur-containing amino acids, and minerals using a USDA multiple-pass 24-h recall. The acidifying influence of the diet was estimated using the ratio of protein:potassium intake, the potential renal acid load (PRAL), and intake of sulfate equivalents from protein. aBMD was regressed onto protein intake then protein was controlled for estimated dietary acid load. A step-down procedure assessed potential confounding influences (weight, age, physical activity, and calcium and vitamin D intakes). Protein alone did not predict LS aBMD (P = 0.81); however, after accounting for a negative effect of sulfate (beta = -0.28; P < 0.01), the direct effect of protein intake was positive (beta = 0.22; P = 0.04). At the TH, protein intake predicted aBMD (beta = 0.18; P = 0.03), but R2 did not improve with adjustment for sulfate (P = 0.83). PRAL and the protein:potassium ratio were not significant predictors of aBMD. Results suggest that protein intake is positively associated with aBMD, but benefit at the LS is offset by a negative impact of the protein sulfur acid load. If validated experimentally, these findings harmonize conflicting theories on the role of dietary protein in bone health.
Breastfeeding and WIC Participants: A Qualitative Analysis

This article describes a qualitative study designed to evaluate the obstacles to breastfeeding among Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants. The aims of the study presented here were to determine why participants chose particular feeding methods, to identify particular barriers to breastfeeding among low-income women, and to explore microlevel, as well as macrolevel, factors that have the potential to increase breastfeeding rates exponentially. Results of this study indicate that school and/or work requirements, familial influence, physician advice, and culturally constructed belief systems are factors that heavily influence low-income women's infant-feeding decisions.
Hypersonic Wind-Tunnel Measurements of Boundary Layer Pressure Fluctuations.

During atmospheric reentry, hypersonic vehicles are subjected to high levels of boundarylayer pressure ∞uctuations. To improve understanding and prediction of these ∞uctuations, measurements of surface pressure ∞uctuations on a 7 ‐ sharp cone were conducted in Sandia’s Hypersonic Wind Tunnel under noisy ∞ow and in Purdue University’s Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel under noisy and quiet ∞ow. Fluctuations under laminar boundary layers re∞ected tunnel noise levels. Laminar boundary-layer measurements under quiet ∞ow were an order of magnitude lower than under noisy ∞ow. Transition on the model only occurred under noisy ∞ow, and ∞uctuations peaked during transition. The transition location, marked by the peak, was predicted using tunnel noise parameters (Pate’s correlation). Turbulent boundary-layer ∞uctuations were lower than transitional ∞uctuations and also re∞ected tunnel noise levels. Measurements of second-mode waves showed the waves started to grow under a laminar boundary layer, saturated, and then broke down near the peak in transitional pressure ∞uctuations.
Anti‐inflammatory properties of a prostaglandin antagonist, a corticosteroid and indomethacin in experimental contact dermatitis

SUMMARY The topical effects of N0164 (a phenyl phosphonate derivative which is a partially selective antagonist of prostaglandin E2), indomethacin and triamcinolone acetonide have been shown to reduce the erythema and ear weight gain from inflammation induced by experimental contact allergic eczema. Oxazolone sensitized Swiss Webster mice were used, ear erythema and ear weights being used as a measure of the anti-inflammatory response to the drugs. N0164 was also shown to have systemic anti-inflammatory activity after intraperitoneal injection.
A comparison of the hybrid and EnSRF analysis schemes in the presence of model errors due to unresolved scales

A hybrid analysis scheme is compared with an ensemble square root filter (EnSRF) analysis scheme in the presence of model errors as a follow-up to a previous perfect-model comparison. In the hybrid scheme, the ensemble perturbations are updated by the ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF) and the ensemble mean is updated with a hybrid ensemble and static background-error covariance. The experiments were conducted with a two-layer primitive equation model. The true state was a T127 simulation. Data assimilation experiments were conducted at T31 resolution (3168 complex spectral coefficients), assimilating imperfect observations drawn from the T127 nature run. By design, the magnitude of the truncation error was large, which provided a test on the ability of both schemes to deal with model error. Additive noise was used to parameterize model errors in the background ensemble for both schemes. In the first set of experiments, additive noise was drawn from a large inventory of historical forecast errors; in the second set of experiments, additive noise was drawn from a large inventory of differences between forecasts and analyses. The static covariance was computed correspondingly from the two inventories. The hybrid analysis was statistically significantly more accurate than the EnSRF analysis. The improvement of the hybrid over the EnSRF was smaller when differences of forecasts and analyses were used to form the random noise and the static covariance. The EnSRF analysis was more sensitive to the size of the ensemble than the hybrid. A series of tests was conducted to understand why the EnSRF performed worse than the hybrid. It was shown that the inferior performance of the EnSRF was likely due to the sampling error in the estimation of the model-error covariance in the mean update and the less-balanced EnSRF initial conditions resulting from the extra localizations used in the EnSRF.
Risk of coronary disease in the South Asian American population.

To the Editor: Defined as persons of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or Sri Lankan ancestry, the South Asian (SA) population is believed to have a higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) than that of other ethnic groups [(1–6)][1]. Substantial evidence comes mostly from prevalence data or
The jaw lever system in ungulates: a new model

In ungulates the distance from the jaw joint to the last molar is approximately the same as that of the grinding tooth row length. An hypothesis is presented that attempts to explain why ungulate grinding teeth are positioned where they are along the jaw. If the jaw joint on the balancing side serves as the fulcrum in anisognathus animals, a region along the jaw is defined, corresponding to where teeth are actually found, where rather simple muscle action can apply equal forces at any point. The ability to produce the same force at any point in this region, as such, may not be the critical feature since anterior or posterior to this region, tooth placement produces either a relatively inefficient or an unstable condition.
Imatinib attenuates monocrotaline pulmonary hypertension and has potent vasodilator activity in pulmonary and systemic vascular beds in the rat

Cardiovascular responses to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib were investigated in the rat. Intravenous injections of 0.3–30 mg/kg imatinib produced small decreases in pulmonary arterial press...
Some efficient algorithms for a class of abstract optimization problems arising in optimal control

Three abstract optimization problems are presented along with doubly iterative algorithms for their numerical solution. These algorithms are generalizations of particular algorithms described by Barr and Gilbert [19], [21] and Fujisawa and Yasuda [22]. The supporting theory is fully developed along with proofs of convergence. Practical aspects of computations are considered and procedures which insure rapid convergence are discussed. Two applications to discrete-time optimal control problems are described.
A novel decision making system based on binary feature matrix and its applications in power system

Various decision making methods have been proposed in the past for diverse applications. However, there is still a need for improvement: existing methods are either time consuming or difficult to expand when needed. This paper presents a novel decision making method based on binary feature matrix. This new method has the advantages of easier expansion of the rule set with additional features and being faster. Potential applications in electric power system are discussed.
Verifying micro-architecture simulators using event traces

Contemporary micro-architecture research inherently relies on cycle-accurate simulators to test new ideas. Typical simulator implementations involve tens of thousands of lines of high-level code. Although general software engineering verification and validation techniques can be applied, the mere complexity of simulators makes using formal techniques difficult and calls for domain-specific knowledge to be a part of the verification process. This domain-specific information includes modeling the pipeline stages and the timing behavior of instructions with respect to these stages.We present an approach to simulator verification that uses domain-specific information to effectively capture a potential mismatch between the assumed architecture model and its simulator. We first discuss how a simulator-generated event trace can be fed into an automatically generated verification program from a first-order logic specification to verify that the simulator obeys the invariants. We then show techniques that extract simulator behavior from traces and present the results to the user in the form of graphs and rules. While the former seeks an assurance of implementation correctness by checking that the model invariants hold, the latter attempts to derive an extended model of the implementation and hence enables a deeper understanding of what was implemented.Our techniques are applicable to any micro-architecture simulator. We present the application of our techniques to hand-written simulators as well as to those generated from an architecture specification language.
Growth characteristics of human epidermal melanocytes in pure culture with special reference to genetic differences.

Human melanocyte cultures were established using disaggregated epidermal cell suspensions derived from foreskins and plated onto culture dishes in medium containing 2% fetal bovine serum, growth factors, hormones, and melanocyte growth factor (MGF) extracted from bovine hypothalamus (Wilkins et al., J. Cell. Physiol., 122: 350, 1985). After 2 days in culture the cells were transferred to serum-free medium to eliminate keratinocyte and fibroblast growth. Melanocytes grew preferentially and pure melanocyte populations could be harvested after 12–16 days in vitro. Melanocytes were later subcultured in the presence of 1% FBS. Pure melanocyte cultures were characterized by light and electron microscopic criteria, as well as by cytochemical demonstration of the melanocytes specific enzyme, tyrosinase. At the ultrastructural level, cultured melanocytes derived from black (negroid) neonatal skin (B-M) had numerous mature rodshaped stage IV melanosomes, while white (caucasoid) skin-derived melanocytes (W-M) in culture contained no mature melanosomes. Growth rate, cell yield, and in vitro lifespan for B-M were more than twice that for W-M in pure melanocyte cultures in the presence of MGF. Our results suggest that MGF-dependent growth of B-M differs from that of W-M.
Imaging of Acute Thoracic Injury: The Advent of MDCT Screening

Chest radiography remains the primary screening study for the assessment of victims of chest trauma, but computed tomography (CT), particularly multidetector CT (MDCT), has progressively changed the imaging approach to these patients. MDCT acquires thinner sections with greater speed, allowing higher quality axial images and nonaxial reformations than conventional or single-detector helical CT. The speed of MDCT, both in acquiring data and in reconstructing images, makes the performance of total body surveys in the blunt polytrauma patient practicable. In general, CT has been well documented to offer major advantages over chest radiography in both screening for thoracic injuries and in characterizing such injuries. This capacity has been enhanced by the application of multichannel data acquisition. The greater sensitivity of MDCT has been well demonstrated in diagnosing vascular and diaphragmatic injuries. This article reviews current concepts of diagnostic imaging in acute chest trauma from blunt force and penetrating mechanisms emphasizing the spectrum of diagnostic imaging findings for various injuries, based primarily on radiographic and CT appearances. The advantages of MDCT for selected injuries are emphasized.