cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
2. The Democratic Peace Myth: From Hiroshima to Baghdad

This paper examines the ideal of the democratic peace and the recent misuse of this ideal in the war on terrorism. It argues against the idea that aggressive military force can be employed to bring about the ideal of the democratic peace. By looking at John Stuart Mill's utilitarian justification of benevolent despotism for “barbarians,” it examines how idealism can lead to a defense of aggressive intervention. And it considers how idealistic zeal can lead to violations of just war principles, as in the case of Hiroshima. It concludes by arguing that Kant's deontological approach is better. Kant provides us with a reason to hope that as democracy spreads, peace will spread as well. But Kant also prohibits us from using force to actualize this ideal.
Making Tropical Succession and Landscape Reforestation Successful

Forests are dynamic ecosystems, spatial mosaics of localized disturbances and regenerating vegetation. Following forest conversion to human land uses, expanding forest cover follows four different modes of reforestation: (a) spontaneous natural regeneration; (b) assisted natural regeneration; (c) agroforestry; and (d) commercial tree plantations. Natural regeneration fundamentally depends on the alignment of ecological and social factors at landscape scales. A deeper socioecological understanding of reforestation in the tropics will lead to the development of effective policies and governance structures that enhance forest cover and ecosystem services, protect biodiversity, and improve forest-dependent livelihoods.
Aortic false aneurysm: Recognition by noninvasive techniques four years after mitral valve replacement

Abstract False aneurysms of the ascending aorta are generally suspected because of roentgenographic abnormalities or development of a pulsatile or nonpulsatile precordial or neck swelling. 1–6 This report illustrates the potential for 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic diagnosis.
Topography of somatosensory evoked potentials after stimulation of the median nerve

Abstract We studied topography of major negative-positive peaks, NI, PI, NII, PII and NIII, of scalp recorded somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) after stimulation of the median nerve. Unlike the diffusely distributed P14, NI, PI and NII recorded from contralateral hemisphere after unilateral stimulation normally showed statistically significant latency increase from frontal (N17, P20, N29) to central (N19, P23, N32) and parietal (N20, P26, N34) electrodes. However, NIII (N60) had considerable inter- and intra-individual variations with no consistent antero-posterior latency shift. In contrast to well localized N19 and N32 peaks at the contralateral central electrode, the N17, P20 and N29 peaks were registered over the bifrontal and ipsilateral central regions as well as in the vertex. The parietal N20 peak was also present at the occipital electrodes bilaterally. In patients with localized cerebral lesions, types of SEP abnormalities varied considerably, presumably reflecting complex somatosensory afferent pathways. A small lesion in posterolateral thalamus may totally eliminate NI, NII and NIII components over both hemispheres, sparing only P14 whereas a sizable lesion in the frontal or parietal lobe may affect only NII or NIII. Capsular lesions spare P14 and frontal N17 but may alter all the subsequent SEP components, or NII or NIII selectively. In some cases, the corresponding peaks at the central and parietal electrodes may be affected independently. The complex relationships between the type of SEP abnormalities and the location of cerebral lesions can best be explained by postulating the presence of multiple, at least partially, independent, thalamocortical projections mediating regionally specific somatosensory inputs.
Acoustic feature analysis in the perception of voicing contrasts

Various types of acoustic cues have been shown to signal voicing contrasts in initial prestressed stop consonants. Two of the most important of these cues are the time interval between the release burst and the onset of voicing (voice onset time) and the duration of voiced transitions. In the present experiment, a selective adaptation procedure was used to investigate possible feature extraction mechanisms which underlie the perception of voicing. Subjects first identified either of two series of test stimuli, [ba-pha) or [ga-kha]. Next they listened to repeated presentations of an adapting stimulus and then again identified the original test series. Adapting stimuli having the same value of voice onset time but different voiced transition durations produced differential (and sometimes opposite) effects on the identification of the test stimuli. In every case, the adapting stimulus with the greater duration of voiced transitions led to larger reduction in voiced responses or to a smaller increase in voiceless responses. These results are incompatible with models of voicing perception based strictly on detectors for voice onset time. The results also suggest that the adaptation effect occurs at a point in the system prior to the actual phonetic decision.
A mutant affecting the crystal cells inDrosophila melanogaster.

Black cells (Bc, 2-80.6±) mutant larvae ofDrosophila melanogaster have pigmented cells in the hemolymph and lymph glands. In this report we present evidence that these melanized cells are a mutant form of the crystal cells, a type of larval hemocyte with characteristic paracrystalline inclusions.Bc larvae lack crystal cells. Furthermore, the distribution pattern of black cells inBc larvae parallels that of experimentally-blackened crystal cells in normal larvae (phenocopy).InBc/Bc zygotes black cells appear during mid embryonic development but inBc +/Bc zygotes pigmented cells are not found until late in the first larval instar.Crystal cells are present in the heterozygous larvae until this time, and paracrystalline inclusions can be seen in some of the cells undergoing melanization in these larvae.The rate of phenol oxidase activity inBc +/Bc larval cell-free extracts is less than half that ofBc +/Bc +extracts whereas enzyme activity is undetectable inBc/Bc larvae. We propose that theBc +gene product is required for maintaining the integrity of the paracrystalline inclusions; inBc/Bc larvae either the product is absent or nonfunctional so an effective contact between substrate and enzyme results in melanization of the cells.Phenol oxidase itself is either destroyed or consumed in the melanization process accounting for the absence of enzyme activity inBc/Bc larvae. These studies confirm that the crystal cells store phenolic substrates and are the source of the hemolymph phenol oxidase activity in the larva ofD. melanogaster.
Deliberate family process: a strategy for protecting children of alcoholics.

Summary The authors aim to identify family environment factors that significantly decrease the risk to offspring of alcoholics to become alcoholics or to evidence other kinds of problems in childhood. This paper reports the results of a study regarding the impact of family ritual formation on the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional functioning of school-aged children of alcoholics, in comparison with children from a matched sample of families with non-alcoholic parents. Taking a family process perspective, the study demonstrates that those children growing up in alcoholic families which deliberately plan and execute family rituals, valued relationships, and preferred roles are less likely to evidence behavior or emotional problems. It is argued that families with serious problems, such as parental alcoholism, which can still impose control over those parts of family life that are central to the family's identity, communicate important messages to their children regarding their ability to take control of present and future life events. These messages, in turn, can play an important role in the extent to which the offspring are protected from developing problems in childhood, as well as alcoholism in adolescence and adulthood.
Micropatterned Fluid Lipid Bilayer Arrays Created Using a Continuous Flow Microspotter

We have developed a new method for creating micropatterned lipid bilayer arrays (MLBAs) using a 3D microfluidic system. An array of fluid lipid membranes was patterned onto a glass substrate using a Continuous Flow Microspotter. Fluorescence microscopy experiments were used to verify the formation of a bilayer structure on the glass substrate. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments demonstrated the bilayersʼ fluidity was maintained while being individually corralled on the substrate. The reproducibility of bilayer formation within an array was demonstrated by the linear response of membrane fluorescence versus mol % rhodamine functionalized lipids incorporated into the vesicles prior to fusion to the surface. The highly customizable nature of the MLBAs was demonstrated utilizing three different fluorescently labeled lipids to generate a multiple component lipid array. Finally, the cholera toxin B/ganglioside GM1, antidinitrophenyl (DNP) antibody/DNP, and NeutrAvidin/biotin protein−ligand s...
LOGISTICS MANAGERS' LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

Previous research has suggested that a firm can improve its performance by developing the learning skills and harnessing the knowledge of its employees. This learning organization concept offers a theoretical rationale for promoting learning environments to better leverage employees' knowledge, skills and abilities. However, relatively little is known about firms' learning and development strategies for logistics managers. This paper reports on a study to assess firms' learning environments from the perspective of the logistics managers and to gauge the impact of learning behavior on business operations. Logistics managers from U.S.-based manufacturers were surveyed on the extent to which their firms practice behaviors characteristic of a learning organization, the extent to which logistics managers encounter environments that are conductive to work-related learning and their perceptions of firm performance. Findings suggest that the firms in the sample are only moderately successful at providing work environments that facilitate logistic managers' work-related learning. Results also find that individual level learning behavior was most strongly associated with customer service-related performance indicators. Promoting behavioral characteristics of the learning organization in conjunction with traditional operations planning may prove to be a balanced and effective approach to strategic logistics management. However, this may require a fundamental shift in the way logistics organizations are managed with respect to the education, training and development of personnel.
Computer Interpretation of English Text and Picture Patterns

This paper considers a class of information sources consisting of text and pictures. The text is English language text appearing in scientific and technical documents. The picture sources are the largely schematic pictures that occur in the same class of documents. However, the discussion is broadened slightly to include other picture sources. For a tiny fragment of English, the paper shows how the syntactic structure of text may be described, and then goes on to suggest that a similar analysis may be performed on the class of pictures under study. The description of these two kinds of information sources with a single class of descriptive techniques is suggested as an alternative to the synthetic approach in which artificial languages are specified and then learned and used. The major reason for doing syntactical analysis of such sources discussed here is that several information processing operations, amounting to the interpretation of the information sources looked upon as languages, can be done by the technique of syntax direction which uses the results of syntactic analysis to mediate subsequent processes for manipulating the information tokens. The paper concludes with an illustration of an algorithm for matching the sentences given by a simple grammar against the class of simple pictures which these sentences purport to describe.
Explaining Japan's Tortured Course to Surveillance Satellites

On December 25, 1998 the Japanese government reinterpreted a long-standing policy prohibiting the use of outer space for military purposes by announcing its intention to develop a network of domestically produced and deployed “information-gathering” satellites to be utilized primarily by the Japan Defense Agency (JDA) and other national security institutions. This decision is important in its own right—for one, Japan is a major player in the space technology arena—but also because of the precedent it sets for other areas of technology and military policy in Japan today. As many observers have noted, Japan appears to be undergoing a broad reexamination both of its view of the appropriate level of interaction between government bureaucracy and industry and of its military security strategy in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The case of surveillance satellites links these two areas together, offering broader lessons for the course of Japanese policy in numerous areas in the future.
Effects of Marinating on Heterocyclic Amine Carcinogen Formation in Grilled Chicken

This study compared heterocyclic aromatic amines in marinated and unmarinated chicken breast meat flame-broiled on a propane grill. Chicken was marinated prior to grilling and the levels of several heterocyclic amines formed during cooking were determined by solid-phase extraction and HPLC. Compared with unmarinated controls, a 92-99% decrease in 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) was observed in whole chicken breast marinated with a mixture of brown sugar, olive oil, cider vinegar, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and salt, then grilled for 10, 20, 30 or 40 min. Conversely, 2-amino-3, 8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) increased over 10-fold with marinating, but only at the 30 and 40 min cooking times. Marinating reduced the total detectable heterocyclic amines from 56 to 1.7 ng/g, from 158 to 10 ng/g and from 330 to 44 ng/g for grilling times of 20, 30 and 40 min, respectively. The mutagenic activity of the sample extracts was also measured, using the Ames/Salmonella assay. Mutagenic activity was lower in marinated samples cooked for 10, 20 and 30 min, but higher in the marinated samples cooked for 40 min, compared with unmarinated controls. Although a change in free amino acids, which are heterocyclic amine precursors, might explain the decrease in PhIP and increase in MeIQx, no such change was detected. Marinating chicken in one ingredient at a time showed that sugar was involved in the increased MeIQx, but the reason for the decrease in PhIP was unclear. PhIP decreased in grilled chicken after marinating with several individual ingredients. This work shows that marinating is one method that can significantly reduce PhIP concentration in grilled chicken.
Nanomechanical modulation of single-electron tunneling through molecular-assembled metallic nanoparticles

We present a microscopic study of single-electron tunneling in nanomechanical double-barrier tunneling junctions formed using a vibrating scanning nanoprobe and a metallic nanoparticle connected to a metallic substrate through a molecular bridge. We analyze the motion of single electrons on and off the nanoparticle through the tunneling current, the displacement current, and the charging-induced electrostatic force on the vibrating nanoprobe. We demonstrate the mechanical single-electron turnstile effect by applying the theory to a gold nanoparticle connected to the gold substrate through an alkane dithiol molecular bridge and probed by a vibrating platinum tip.
On Carbon Monoxide and Dioxygen Binding by Iron(II) Porphyrinato Systems

Abstract The current literature on the binding of dioxygen and carbon monoxide to iron(II) porphyrinato systems is reviewed. Conditions of measurement and their errors are considered in arriving at a selection of systems that are believed to be comparable. The data from these systems are tabulated and are used to enumerate some of the factors that influence ligand binding.
Functional Characterization of TNNC1 Rare Variants Identified in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

TNNC1, which encodes cardiac troponin C (cTnC), remains elusive as a dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) gene. Here, we report the clinical, genetic, and functional characterization of four TNNC1 rare variants (Y5H, M103I, D145E, and I148V), all previously reported by us in association with DCM (Hershberger, R. E., Norton, N., Morales, A., Li, D., Siegfried, J. D., and Gonzalez-Quintana, J. (2010) Circ. Cardiovasc. Genet. 3, 155–161); in the previous study, two variants (Y5H and D145E) were identified in subjects who also carried MYH7 and MYBPC3 rare variants, respectively. Functional studies using the recombinant human mutant cTnC proteins reconstituted into porcine papillary skinned fibers showed decreased Ca2+ sensitivity of force development (Y5H and M103I). Furthermore, the cTnC mutants diminished (Y5H and I148V) or abolished (M103I) the effects of PKA phosphorylation on Ca2+ sensitivity. Only M103I decreased the troponin activation properties of the actomyosin ATPase when Ca2+ was present. CD spectroscopic studies of apo (absence of divalent cations)-, Mg2+-, and Ca2+/Mg2+-bound states indicated that all of the cTnC mutants (except I148V in the Ca2+/Mg2+ condition) decreased the α-helical content. These results suggest that each mutation alters the function/ability of the myofilament to bind Ca2+ as a result of modifications in cTnC structure. One variant (D145E) that was previously reported in association with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and that produced results in vivo in this study consistent with prior hypertrophic cardiomyopathy functional studies was found associated with the MYBPC3 P910T rare variant, likely contributing to the observed DCM phenotype. We conclude that these rare variants alter the regulation of contraction in some way, and the combined clinical, molecular, genetic, and functional data reinforce the importance of TNNC1 rare variants in the pathogenesis of DCM.
What's in a story? A text analysis of burn survivors' web-posted narratives

Story-telling has been found to be beneficial following trauma, suggesting a potential intervention for burn survivors who frequently make use of? telling their story? as part of their recovery. This study is the first to examine the word content of burn survivors' Web-posted narratives to explore their perceptions of the event, supportive resources, their post-burn well-being, and re-integration using a comparison group and a text data analysis software developed by the widely recognized James Pennebaker. Suggestions for using expressive writing or story-telling as a guided psychosocial intervention with burn survivors are made.
Preliminary Study Using Forward Reaction Control System Jets During Space Shuttle Entry

Failure or degradation of the flight control system, or hull damage, can lead to loss of vehicle control during entry. Possible failure scenarios are debris impact and wing damage that could result in a large aerodynamic asymmetry which cannot be trimmed out without additional yaw control. Currently the space shuttle uses aerodynamic control surfaces and Reaction Control System jets to control attitude. The forward jets are used for orbital maneuvering only, while the aft jets are used for yaw control during entry. This paper develops a controller for using the forward reaction control system jets as an additional control during entry, and assesses its value and feasibility during failure situations. Forward-aft jet blending logic is created, and implemented on a simplified model of the space shuttle entry flight control system. The model is validated and verified on the nonlinear, six degree-of-freedom Shuttle Engineering Simulator. A rudimentary human factors study was undertaken using the forward cockpit simulator at Johnson Space Center, to assess flying qualities of the new system and pilot workload. Results presented in the paper show that the combination of forward and aft jets provides useful additional yaw control, in addition to potential fuel savings and the ability to balance the use of the fuel in the forward and aft tanks to meet availability constraints of both forward and aft fuel tanks. Piloted simulation studies indicated that using both sets of jets while flying a damaged space shuttle reduces pilot workload, and makes the vehicle more responsive.
Palladium-Based Nanostructures with Highly Porous Features and Perpendicular Pore Channels as Enhanced Organic Catalysts

Channeling a good catalyst: Highly porous palladium nanostructures (pPdNs) with perpendicular pore channels were prepared under mild conditions. The combination of high surface area and rich edge/corner atoms gives pPdNs better catalytic performance than known Pd catalysts for the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene and styrene and the Suzuki coupling reaction.
Video-assisted instruction improves the success rate for tracheal intubation by novices

Abstract Background Tracheal intubation via laryngoscopy is a fundamental skill, particularly for anaesthesiologists. However, teaching this skill is difficult since direct laryngoscopy allows only one individual to view the larynx during the procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine if video-assisted laryngoscopy improves the effectiveness of tracheal intubation training. Methods In this prospective, randomized, crossover study, 37 novices with less than six prior intubation attempts were randomized into two groups, video-assisted followed by traditional instruction (Group V/T) and traditional instruction followed by video-assisted instruction (Group T/V). Novices performed intubations on three patients, switched groups, and performed three more intubations. All trainees received feedback during the procedure from an attending anaesthesiologist based on standard cues. Additionally, during the video-assisted part of the study, the supervising anaesthesiologist incorporated feedback based on the video images obtained from the fibreoptic camera located in the laryngoscope. Results During video-assisted instruction, novices were successful at 69% of their intubation attempts whereas those trained during the non-video-assisted portion were successful in 55% of their attempts (P=0.04). Oesophageal intubations occurred in 3% of video-assisted intubation attempts and in 17% of traditional attempts (P Conclusions The improved rate of successful intubation and the decreased rate of oesophageal intubation support the use of video laryngoscopy for tracheal intubation training.
The Feedback between Equatorial Convection and Local Radiative and Evaporative Processes: The Implications for Intraseasonal Oscillations

Abstract Existing theories of the Madden–Julian oscillation neglect the feedback between the modification of sea surface temperature by the convection and development of a convective cluster itself. The authors show that the convection-generated SST gradient plays an important role in cluster propagation and development. The relative importance of radiative and evaporative fluxes in SST regulation is also discussed. Various Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment and Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment observation platforms are used to estimate the effects of equatorial convection on SST changes during March 1993. The data include drifting buoys and TAO-buoy array measurements, combined with the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System analyzed surface wind fields and Geostationary Meteorological Satellite cloud-top temperatures. It is shown that during the equatorial convection episode SST is decreasing under and to the west of the convective heat sour...
Studies of Spin Excitations with Electromagnetic and Hadronic Probes

Excitation of unnatural parity states, predominantly of high spin, using electromagnetic and hadronic probes, is discussed. Spectroscopic strengths are deduced from studies of (e,e’), (p,p’), (π,π’), and (p,n) for states whose “doorway” is the “stretched” particle-hole configuration. These levels are excited primarily through the isovector electromagnetic-nucleon magnetization coupling, nucleon-nucleon tensor coupling, and pion-nucleon spin-orbit coupling. The extracted isovector spectroscopic strength is typically 38% of the extreme single particle-hole model and about 66% of that predicted by more realistic nuclear structure calculations. The observed isoscalar strength is only about one half of the isovector strength. The results obtained with the three different probes are quite consistent. The primary conclusion is that the “missing strength” for these high spin excitations is at least as large as for the low spin Ml and GT excitations. This implies the existence of other important “quenching” mechanisms since the Δ-N-1 mechanism involved in the discussion of the low spin excitation affects only the isovector transitions and contributes little to high spin excitations. This implies the existence of other important “quenching” mechanisms since the Δ-N-1 mechanism involved in the discussion of the low spin excitation affects only the isovector transitions and contributes to high spin excitations. A method for using (e, e’) and π+/π- cross section ratios to separate and determine the absolute isoscalar and isovector spin densities for TO to TO transitions in N≠Z nuclei is also discussed and some comments on extracting information from (e,e’) and (p,p’) studies at high q on low spin 1+ and 2- levels are presented.
Three-Dimensional Body Scan Data Analysis: Body Size and Shape Dependence of Ease Values for Pants' Fit

Three-dimensional body scanning technology was used to analyze fit of women's pants and to measure garment ease at various locations. Special test pants constructed with adjustable Velcro sections were used to provide custom fit for each study participant. Twenty-four subjects, ages 35 to 55, represented three body shape groups (straight, medium, curvy) determined by the hip-to-waist circumferences ratio, and four size groups covering Misses size range 4 to 16. Scans of a subject wearing minimal clothing and of the same subject wearing the test pant, adjusted by the researchers for best fit in a standing position, were compared. The differences between the pant and body scans (ease) were determined for circumference, slice area, surface area, and volume measurements at various locations and analyzed for size and shape dependence. Decrease in percent ease differences with increasing size was observed for several variables; no clear dependence on shape was found. Size dependences were used to propose a way ...
Modifying atom-surface interactions with optical fields

The ability to control matter on the nanometer scale is greatly influenced by the van der Waals vdW interaction. Therefore, understanding and manipulating the vdW interaction is of interest to the fields of nanotechnology and atom optics. We show that near-resonant light can significantly modify atom-surface vdW interactions in the nonretarded regime. A theory based on quantized electromagnetic fields is used to calculate 1 the ordinary vdW interaction, 2 corrections to the ordinary vdW interaction due to thermal radiation, and 3 modifications to the ordinary vdW interaction that result from monochromatic laser radiation. Near- resonant laser light with an intensity of 5 W /cm 2 is predicted to double the vdW interaction strength for sodium atoms, and possible experiments to detect this effect are discussed. The strength of the van der Waals vdW interaction be- tween matter is usually determined by the atomic or bulk material properties of a system. Therefore, the vdW force can typically only be altered by changing the atomic constituents of the matter involved in the interaction, limiting the ability to control nanometer scale forces. This circumstance reso- nates with the point of view in which the vdW interaction can be thought of as being caused by the fluctuating dipole moment of a quantum-mechanical atom 1. These fluctuat- ing dipoles can then interact with each other, leading to the vdW force between the atoms. However, there exists an al- ternative perspective in which the origin of the vdW interac- tion is due to electromagnetic-field fluctuations in the vacuum, which in turn induce a fluctuating dipole moment in the atoms 2. This suggests that the vdW interaction can be affected by the radiation environment that the matter resides in, opening the exciting possibility of using light to control or even inhibit the vdW interaction. One way to change the radiation environment of matter is through temperature, which exposes the atoms to a thermal electromagnetic field. In principle, this should modify the vdW or Casimir-Polder interaction. Just such an effect has recently been observed for an atom and a nearby surface in the retarded regime 3, where the atom-surface distance z is much larger than the principle transition wavelength of the atom. However, thermal modifications are predicted to be negligible in the nonretarded regime 4,5, where distances are such that z. This is unfortunate since the ability to change the force between atoms and a surface would have an impact on atom chips, atom optics, and quantum reflection experiments.
Authorization Federation in IaaS Multi Cloud

As more and more organizations move to cloud, it is inevitable that cross-organizational collaboration will need to be supported in the cloud. In this paper, we explore models for collaboration among clouds whose resources are distributed across multiple cloud service providers. In particular, we focus on collaboration and sharing of resources in an infrastructure as a service cloud, where compute resources complemented with storage and networking are offered as a service to customers by cloud service providers. We develop a multi-cloud trust model at different scopes of administration. At cloud level, infrastructure resources can be shared between clouds. At lower administrative scopes, cloud service providers are able to share their resources and service instances among customers within multiple clouds. Finally, we formally specify the administrative aspects of multi-cloud collaboration models we develop. We have implemented a proof of concept prototype based on the administrative model of OpenStack, the de facto open-source software for building infrastructure as a service clouds.
A Cellulose Fiber-Based Diet for Screwworm (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Larvae

A highly absorbent cellulose fiber from recycled paper was tested and compared with a polyacrylate gelling agent, Aquatain, normally used for bulking and solidifying larval rearing medium of screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The absorbent fiber, when mixed with water and dietary ingredients, produced a diet medium of homogeneous texture that supported larval growth and development comparable with the standard gelled diet. Larval and pupal weights from two concentrations of cellulose fiber-based diet were significantly higher than those obtained using gelled diet. The number of pupae per tray, percentage of adult emergence, oviposition, percentage of egg hatch, and adult longevity obtained from the insects reared in the cellulose fiber-based diet were comparable or slightly better than the biological parameters recorded from flies reared in the gelled diet. Moreover, results indicate that a lesser amount of the cellulose fiber-based diet than the normal amount of gelled diet per tray would support normal larval growth. Physical properties and texture of the new diet seem to allow the larvae to move and feed more freely than they do on the semisolid gelled diet, resulting in less wasted diet. The cellulose fiber is biodegradable and inexpensive, whereas the polyacrylate gel polymer is not biodegradable and is relatively expensive. Replacing gel with cellulose fiber in the screwworm larval diet for mass rearing should result in substantial cost savings in material and labor as well as eliminating concern of environmental pollution due to diet waste disposal.
Sequencing and analysis of the gastrula transcriptome of the brittle star Ophiocoma wendtii

The gastrula stage represents the point in development at which the three primary germ layers diverge. At this point the gene regulatory networks that specify the germ layers are established and the genes that define the differentiated states of the tissues have begun to be activated. These networks have been well-characterized in sea urchins, but not in other echinoderms. Embryos of the brittle star Ophiocoma wendtii share a number of developmental features with sea urchin embryos, including the ingression of mesenchyme cells that give rise to an embryonic skeleton. Notable differences are that no micromeres are formed during cleavage divisions and no pigment cells are formed during development to the pluteus larval stage. More subtle changes in timing of developmental events also occur. To explore the molecular basis for the similarities and differences between these two echinoderms, we have sequenced and characterized the gastrula transcriptome of O. wendtii. Development of Ophiocoma wendtii embryos was characterized and RNA was isolated from the gastrula stage. A transcriptome data base was generated from this RNA and was analyzed using a variety of methods to identify transcripts expressed and to compare those transcripts to those expressed at the gastrula stage in other organisms. Using existing databases, we identified brittle star transcripts that correspond to 3,385 genes, including 1,863 genes shared with the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus gastrula transcriptome. We characterized the functional classes of genes present in the transcriptome and compared them to those found in this sea urchin. We then examined those members of the germ-layer specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs) of S. purpuratus that are expressed in the O. wendtii gastrula. Our results indicate that there is a shared ‘genetic toolkit’ central to the echinoderm gastrula, a key stage in embryonic development, though there are also differences that reflect changes in developmental processes. The brittle star expresses genes representing all functional classes at the gastrula stage. Brittle stars and sea urchins have comparable numbers of each class of genes and share many of the genes expressed at gastrulation. Examination of the brittle star genes in which sea urchin orthologs are utilized in germ layer specification reveals a relatively higher level of conservation of key regulatory components compared to the overall transcriptome. We also identify genes that were either lost or whose temporal expression has diverged from that of sea urchins.
On the phonetic information in ultrasonic microphone signals

We study the phonetic information in the signal from an ultrasonic “microphone”, a device that emits an ultrasonic wave toward a speaker and receives the reflected, Doppler-shifted signal. This can be used in addition to audio to improve automatic speech recognition. This work is an effort to better understand the ultrasonic signal, and potentially to determine a set of natural sub-word units. We present classification and clustering experiments on CVC and VCV sequences in speaker-dependent and multi-speaker settings. Using a set of ultrasonic spectral features and diagonal Gaussian models, it is possible to distinguish all consonants and most vowels. When clustering the confusion data, the consonant clusters mostly correspond to places and manners of articulation; the vowel data roughly clusters into high, low, and rounded vowels.
Early Jurassic sedimentation of a rift-valley lake: Culpeper basin, northern Virginia

Gray, calcareous, lacustrine strata of Early Jurassic age crop out adjacent to the faulted western margin of the Culpeper basin, a Mesozoic graben dominated by fluviogenic red beds. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and paleontological aspects reveal a distinct zonation of littoral, sublittoral, and profundal deposits in the lacustrine sequence. Reconstructed physiographic profiles of the lake exhibit shore-terrace, slope, and basin-plain subenvironments. Dominant sedimentary processes in these domains were, respectively, sediment agitation by waves; deposition from suspension, slumping, and proximal sediment gravity flows; and suspension and distal turbidity current deposition. Deposition of the lacustrine sediments occurred in a eutrophic, calcite-precipitating, permanently or normally stratified lake. The lake occupied an elongate, actively subsiding sub-basin adjacent to, or possibly straddling, the western border fault. The sedimentary fill of the sub-basin is characterized by several cyclic fluvio-lacustrine sequences which average 150 m in thickness and closely resemble sedimentary cycles of other Newark rift basins. The maximum areal extent of the lake may have exceeded 3,000 km2, with an average maximum depth of ∼35 m. Proterozoic and lower Paleozoic strata of the Blue Ridge anticlinorium to the west constituted the major source of clastic sediments in the lacustrine sequence, but uptilted basalt flows and interbedded sedimentary units of the Culpeper Group simultaneously shed detritus from the east.
Gamma knife radiosurgery in patients with persistent acromegaly or Cushing's disease: long‐term risk of hypopituitarism

SummaryIntroduction For patient with a recurrent or residual acromegaly or Cushing's disease (CD) after resection, gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is often used. Hypopituitarism is the most common adverse effect after GKRS treatment. The paucity of studies with long-term follow-up has hampered understanding of the latent risks of hypopituitarism in patients with acromegaly or CD. We report the long-term risks of hypopituitarism for patients treated with GKRS for acromegaly or CD. Methods From a prospectively created, IRB-approved database, we identified all patients with acromegaly or CD treated with GKRS at the University of Virginia from 1989 to 2008. Only patients with a minimum endocrine follow-up of 60 months were included. The median follow-up is 159·5 months (60·1–278). Thorough radiological and endocrine assessments were performed immediately before GKRS and at regular follow-up intervals. New onset of hypopituitarism was defined as pituitary hormone deficits after GKRS requiring corresponding hormone replacement. Results Sixty patients with either acromegaly or CD were included. Median tumour volume at time of GKRS was 1·3 cm3 (0·3–13·4), and median margin dose was 25 Gy (6–30). GKRS-induced new pituitary deficiency occurred in 58·3% (n = 35) of patients. Growth hormone deficiency was most common (28·3%, n = 17). The actuarial overall rates of hypopituitarism at 3, 5 and 10 years were 10%, 21·7% and 53·3%, respectively. The median time to hypopituitarism was 61 months after GKRS (range, 12–160). Cavernous sinus invasion of the tumour was found to correlate with the occurrence of a new or progressive hypopituitarism after GKRS (P = 0·018). Conclusions Delayed hypopituitarism increases as a function of time after radiosurgery. Hormone axes appear to vary in terms of radiosensitivity. Patients with adenoma in the cavernous sinus are more prone to develop loss of pituitary function after GKRS.
Does Food Processing Contribute to Childhood Obesity Disparities

Childhood obesity in the United States has become epidemic: the prevalence of obesity among children aged six to eleven years more than doubled between the late 1970s and 2000, rising from 6.5% to 15.3% (National Center for Health Statistics). Serious health consequences of childhood obesity include asthma (Belamarich et al.), type 2 diabetes (PinhasHamiel et al.), and high blood pressure (Must and Strauss). Half of overweight children become obese adults, and adult obesity is a strong predictor for numerous major health conditions. Annually, the cost of obesity comes to $117 billion plus 300,000 deaths (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Disturbing evidence has also emerged on the distributional effect of childhood obesity: there is a disproportional increase in the number and severity of overweight children. Figure 1 compares the distribution of z-score (body mass index [BMI] for age) of children aged two to ten years between 1989‐91 and 1998 using the Continuing Surveys of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII). A child is considered at-risk overweight or overweight, respectively, if his/her BMI exceeds the 85th or 95th percentile of the age- and genderspecific growth chart. This figure reveals that within a decade the right tail is expanding and there is an increase in severely obese children. Health care costs increase by 2.3% for every added unit of BMI (Raebel et al.). Moderately (BMI 30‐35) and severely (BMI ≥ 35) obese individuals, respectively, incur 25% and 44% more health care costs than normal weight individuals; these additional costs are largely explained by the increased risk of
Principles and techniques of en bloc vertebrectomy for bone tumors of the thoracolumbar spine: an overview

Oncological principles for en bloc resection of bone tumors were initially developed for tumors of the long bone by orthopedic surgical oncologists. Recently, spine surgeons have adopted these principles for the treatment of vertebral column tumors. The goal of en bloc resection is to establish a surgical margin that can be designated marginal or wide. In this article, the principles of surgical oncology for bone tumors of the spine are briefly reviewed and the different surgical approaches used to remove these tumors in an en bloc fashion are described in detail.
Health care provider and self-assessment of health status and sexual behaviour in HIV-seropositive young men with haemophilia.

We hypothesized that persons with HIV who perceive themselves as having waning health status may participate in fewer sexual behaviours than HIV-infected persons without HIV-related health problems. The object-ives of this study were to compare health care provider responses with participant responses for health status and for sexual activity and to examine the relationship of HIV-related health status to the sexual behaviour of HIV-seropositive adolescents and young men with haemophilia. A detailed questionnaire designed by researchers from 11 participating US haemophilia treatment sites and CDC personnel was administered to 306 HIV-seropositive young men with haemophilia aged 12-25 years. A health care provider from the haemophilia treatment centre also completed a questionnaire on each respondent. Self-assessment of HIV-related health status was similar to provider assessment of health status. Providers accurat-ely assessed participant sexual activity (overall Kappa = 0.62). Participation in vaginal intercourse and condom use was independent of health status. Following extensive educational efforts, most HIV-seropositive adolescents and young men with haemophilia are aware of the relationship between their HIV seropositivity and health status. Waning health status does not reduce participation in penetrative sexual behaviours or increase use of condoms. HIV prevention efforts should continue for this population.
Universal approximation bounds for superpositions of a sigmoidal function

Approximation properties of a class of artificial neural networks are established. It is shown that feedforward networks with one layer of sigmoidal nonlinearities achieve integrated squared error of order O(1/n), where n is the number of nodes. The approximated function is assumed to have a bound on the first moment of the magnitude distribution of the Fourier transform. The nonlinear parameters associated with the sigmoidal nodes, as well as the parameters of linear combination, are adjusted in the approximation. In contrast, it is shown that for series expansions with n terms, in which only the parameters of linear combination are adjusted, the integrated squared approximation error cannot be made smaller than order 1/n/sup 2/d/ uniformly for functions satisfying the same smoothness assumption, where d is the dimension of the input to the function. For the class of functions examined, the approximation rate and the parsimony of the parameterization of the networks are shown to be advantageous in high-dimensional settings. >
Dye laser spectroscopy of the B2 Σ+ -X2Σ+ transition of CaOH

Abstract The B2Σ+-X2Σ+ transition of CaOH has been examined by the technique of dye laser excitation spectroscopy. The rotational structure of the 000-000 and 100-100 bands was determined.
A Note on a Path Counting Formula

A path counting formula pivotal in the development of certain ladder determinantal ideals is revisited and recast in a probabilistic framework. Results from large-sample distribution theory are exploited to provide an approximate enumeration formula. The results in this note reside on the interface of statistics and combinatorics and hopefully stimulate further research in this direction.
Pneumonia Associated with Near-Drowning

Drowning and near-drowning can abruptly devastate the lives of both the affected victims and their families. In addition to the complications directly caused by the submersion, several indirect causes of morbidity exist. Infection is one of the complications associated with near-drowning, and pneumonia is the most severe of these infectious complications. The risk factors, microbiological causes, diagnostic approach, and appropriate therapy for pneumonia associated with near-drowning are not well described in the literature. Herein, we review the epidemiology and pathophysiology associated with near-drowning, discuss the potential mechanisms of infection, and describe the likely risk factors for pneumonia related to near-drowning. We also detail the microbiological causes of this entity and provide important clinical and epidemiological information associated with specific pathogens. Finally, we summarize an appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic approach to pneumonia associated with near-drowning.
Decomposing Racial Disparities in Prison and Drug Treatment Commitments for Criminal Offenders in California.

We assess whether black-white disparities in commitments to prison or diversions to treatment for drug offenders in California can be explained by differences in the characteristics of criminal cases and whether case characteristics are weighed differently by race. We also examine whether the influence of case characteristics changed after California implemented a mandatory prison diversion program for eligible drug offenders. Our results show that black-white disparities in prison commitments are fully explained by criminal case characteristics, but a significant share of the differences in treatment diversions remains unexplained. The unexplained racial disparity in treatment diversions did not change after California implemented mandatory diversion for eligible drug offenders. These findings suggest that case characteristics play a larger role in explaining prison commitments for drug offenders than the discretion of prosecutors and judges. Diversion to treatment appears to be driven more by the discre...