cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predictive Metagenomic Analysis of Autoimmune Disease Identifies Robust Autoimmunity and Disease Specific Signatures

ABSTRACT Within the last decade, numerous studies have demonstrated changes in the gut microbiome associated with specific autoimmune diseases. Due to differences in study design, data quality control, analysis and statistical methods, the results of these studies are inconsistent and incomparable. To better understand the relationship between the intestinal microbiome and autoimmunity, we have completed a comprehensive re-analysis of 29 studies focusing on the gut microbiome in nine autoimmune diseases to identify a specific microbial signature predictive of autoimmune disease using both 16S rRNA sequencing data and shotgun metagenomics data. Despite the heterogeneity of our data set, our approach has allowed us to build robust predictive models for general autoimmunity, as well as models for individual autoimmune diseases. Through this, we identified a number of common features predictive of autoimmune diseases including deficiency in Alistipes and Lachnobacterium, in addition to 9 inflammatory bowel disease, 7 multiple sclerosis and 7 rheumatoid disease predictive taxa consistently identified across multiple cohort comparison machine learning models. Lastly, we assessed potential metabolomic alterations based on metagenomic/metabolomic correlation analysis, identifying 114 metabolites associated with autoimmunity-predictive taxa.
Vibrational Probe of Aqueous Electrolytes: The Field Is Not Enough

In this work, we study the vibrational solvatochromism and dynamics of dilute acetone as a carbonyl probe in simple aqueous electrolytes as a function of salt composition and concentration. We obse...
Trends in Whole-Grain Food Intake Among Adult Americans, Based on Different Definitions of Whole-Grain Foods, NHANES 2003–2018

Objectives Whole-grain (WG) foods have been defined in various ways, contributing to the challenge in guiding consumers and formulating nutrition policies to improve whole grain consumption. We aimed to compare the mean WG food consumption estimated using different definitions proposed by USDA, FDA, American Heart Association (AHA), American Association of Cereal Chemists International (AACCI), and Whole Grain Council (WGC).
Aspiration abortion without cervical dilation

Abstract Aspiration abortions on 67 conscious patients with pregnancies of 10 weeks' duration or less were performed successfully without cervical dilation and with minimal risk of perforation, with the use of a 6 mm. diameter flexible plastic cannula. Four other women required slight dilation of the cervix to complete the abortion. There was no significant morbidity in any patient. This simple technique should be useful in future large-scale abortion programs in licensed clinics.
Developing interactive web applications with the Google Web Toolkit

Web sites such as Gmail, Facebook and other Web 2.0 applications have changed the way that we think about web functionality. These sites behave more like desktop applications than traditional document-centric sites. Developing these interactive web applications using technologies such as AJAX is tedious, error prone and difficult to optimize. Development environments and tools for such applications lag behind the more mature tools available for languages such as Java. The Google Web Toolkit is an emerging technology that facilitates the integration of the powerful tools available for the Java platform into the interactive web world. The toolkit consists of tools that compile Java code into a combination of HTML and Javascript code; since the code is being written in Java, all of the tools available for Java development can be leveraged, such as the Eclipse IDE and testing tools such as JUnit. Utilizing a compiler to generate Javascript provides an opportunity for optimization that would be difficult without the use of the toolkit. In this workshop, participants will learn about the Google Web Toolkit, including the philosophy behind the toolkit, the GUI framework that it provides, and the methods available for interaction with remote services. Participants will be walked through the development of a simple "Stock Ticker" application that interacts with the Yahoo stock data service. Several other sample applications will be presented, including sample assignments given to students in a class focusing on applications of the GWT. An outline of the workshop is: • Introduction to the Google Web Toolkit (30 minutes) • Presentation and discussion of several applications built using the toolkit (30 minutes) • Development of the Stock Ticker application (1 hour) • Overview of the GUI Framework and server integration techniques (30 minutes) • Overview of a course on the GWT (15 minutes) • Questions/wrap up
Infrared laser-induced photodesorption of adsorbed and condensed phases

Abstract Infrared laser-induced photodesorption occurs via pulsed excitation of internal vibrational modes of molecules adsorbed on surfaces. A review of these experiments is given. Excitation of the second overtone of the molecule-surface bond has been proposed theoretically as alternative photodesorption channel. Experimental results are reported for CO-Cu(100). No desorption was detected even though the overtone occurred within the CO 2 laser range and incident intensities up to 100 MW/cm 2 were used.
Hierarchical Automatic Function Definition in Genetic Programming

Abstract A key goal in machine learning and artificial intelligence is to automatically and dynamically decompose problems into simpler problems in order to facilitate their solution. This paper describes two extensions to genetic programming, called “automatic” function definition and “hierarchical automatic” function definition, wherein functions that might be useful in solving a problem are automatically and dynamically defined during a run in terms of dummy variables. The defined functions are then repeatedly called from the automatically discovered “main” result-producing part of the program with different instantiations of the dummy variables. In the “hierarchical” version of automatic function definition, automatically defined functions may call other automatically defined functions, thus creating a hierarchy of dependencies among the automatically defined functions. The even-11-parity problem was solved using using hierarchical automatic function definition.
Blood-brain barrier, considerations in drug development and delivery

The brain capillary endothelium, which comprises the blood-brain barrier, provides an exceptionally effective barrier to the entry of foreign chemicals into the central nervous system (CNS). As such, it limits pharmacotherapy of major CNS diseases, which include neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, brain cancer, and neuro-AIDS. Two elements of the endothelium are largely responsible for its barrier properties. First, tight junctions between endothelial cells present a physical barrier. Second, endothelial cells themselves express high levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-driven drug efflux transporters, which present a selective/enzymatic barrier. Together, the physical and enzymatic barriers effectively limit blood to CNS delivery of both small-molecule and macromolecule drugs. Developing strategies to circumvent these barriers is a major challenge for both medicinal chemists and pharmacologists.
THEORY OF RADAR BACKSCATTER FROM SHORT WAVES GENERATED BY SHIPS, WITH APPLICATION TO RADAR (SAR) IMAGERY

In calm conditions, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ship wake images have the form of a bright "V," typically with a half-angle between 2 and 5 deg. The images sometimes persist for many miles behind the ship and are more likely to be obtained if the ship is traveling close to the azimuth direction of the radar than if it is traveling close to the range direction. Here it is shown that Bragg scattering from ship-generated diverging waves is consistent with observed images. Methods of calculating radar scattering cross sections for "idealized" conditions are developed and examples from their use are presented.
LAW AND CHOICE OF ENTITY ON THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FRONTIER

Social entrepreneurs are people who envision widespread, systematic social change and who attack society's ills at the roots employing the spirit and the tools of entrepreneurship. They reject the traditional boundaries between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors and carry out their plans through so-called hybrid social enterprises, which combine the soul of nonprofit organizations with the discipline and business savvy of for-profits. Although social entrepreneurs generally are driven by a desire to do good, they view themselves as business people who are trying to achieve double bottom-line (financial and social) or triple bottom-line (financial, social and environmental) results. Why should the emergence of these new hybrid social enterprises be of concern to lawyers? Because their creators claim that they inhabit a social frontier, which they sometimes refer to as the "emerging fourth sector," where outmoded laws and inappropriate, old-style legal entities hamstring their socially transformative plans. With increasing vehemence, they are demanding new laws, particularly new types of hybrid business entities, to give legal structure to the emerging fourth sector.This paper describes the social enterprise frontier, paying particular attention to a recent trend whereby social entrepreneurs form their ventures as for-profit companies even though their ambitions are largely charitable. The paper then critically examines various proposals for creating new types of hybrid for-profit/nonprofit entities to provide a legal structure for fourth sector social enterprises. The paper concludes that a very recent legal innovation, the Low Profit Limited Liability Company ("L3C"), holds particular promise for meeting the needs of social entrepreneurs and the emerging fourth sector.
Counselor education cultural climate: underrepresented master’s students’ experiences

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of master ' s students of color in their counselor education graduate programs. Design/methodology/approach – Experience narratives, obtained from semi-structured phone interviews, provided transcript data for open- and axial-coding for emergent themes. Findings – The reports of nine participants revealed themes of student cultural awareness, representation, support, standards, advocacy and tokenism. Research limitations/implications – Qualitative studies are context-bound and lack validity and reliability in the same sense that quantitative studies do, so the findings from this study are only transferable as far as each reader applies them to personal experiences. Further, due to the diversity of the research team, participants made choices about what and how much to share about their counseling program experiences. Practical implications – Practical implications involve recruitment and retention of students of color in master’s counse...
Two-step energy transfer enables use of phenylalanine in action-EET for distance constraint determination in gaseous biomolecules

Two-step energy transfer is potentially useful for exploring macromolecular structure, but it has not been observed previously in the gas-phase. Single step excitation energy transfer (EET) has been recently documented for tyrosine and tryptophan containing peptides, but not for phenylalanine. Herein, we report sequential energy transfer from phenylalanine to tyrosine to a disulfide, resulting in homolytic cleavage of a sulfur–sulfur bond. Interestingly, energy transfer from phenylalanine is only observed in the presence of tyrosine and only occurs within certain distance constraints. Isolated, electronically excited phenylalanine is known to have an extremely long lifetime in the gas phase, potentially suggesting quicker relaxation occurs via energy transfer to tyrosine. Alternatively, the direct overlap of states between phenylalanine and disulfide bonds is predicted to be poor, in which case tyrosine would serve to bridge the gap. In either case, the distance constraints imposed by this two-step EET are shown to be useful for evaluation and determination of gaseous biomolecular structure.
Comparison of Lumbar and Shunt Cerebrospinal Fluid Specimens for Cytologic Detection of Leptomeningeal Disease in Pediatric Patients With Brain Tumors

PURPOSE: Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) significantly affects the prognosis and treatment of pediatric patients with primary CNS tumors. Cytologic examination of lumbar CSF is routinely used to detect LMD. To determine whether examination of CSF obtained from ventricular shunt taps is a more sensitive method of detecting LMD in these patients, we designed a prospective study to compare the findings of cytologic examinations of CSF obtained from concurrent lumbar and ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt taps. PATIENTS AND METHODS: As a part of diagnostic staging, follow-up testing, or both, 52 consecutive patients underwent concurrent lumbar and shunt taps on 90 separate occasions, ranging from the time of diagnosis to treatment follow-up. CSF from both sites was examined cytologically for malignant cells. RESULTS: The median age of the 28 males and 24 females was 7.5 years (range, 0.6 to 21.4 years). The primary CNS tumors included medulloblastoma (n = 29), astrocytoma (n = 10), ependymoma (n = 5), germinoma (n ...
News & Information: The IEEE Aerospace Conference, unique by its nature

Showcased this month is the IEEE Aerospace Conference, a weeklong conference organized to promote interdisciplinary understanding of aerospace systems, their underlying science and technology, and their applications to government and commercial endeavors.
Techniques for bilinear time series analysis

This paper reviews the general problem of nonlinear time series analysis. The special case of bilinear time series analysis is discussed in detail. The stability of the estimated nonlinear system models is of particular importance. We discuss a simple sufficient condition for the stability of such models. Several approaches to the estimation of the parameters of a bilinear time series are then reviewed. The paper concludes with a discussion of some theoretical aspects associated with using nonlinear time series models in applications involving predictive data compression. >
Public Things: Jonathan Lear's Radical Hope, Lars von Trier's Melancholia, and the Democratic Need

What if democracy postulates not just a demos and the other things on which democratic theory these days focuses (constitutions, clear territorial boundaries, proper procedures, commitment to formal or substantive equality) but also public things, shared common things, over which to argue, around which to gather? Such things require communal attention, public commitment, and collective maintenance. And they return the favor by lending to us some of their objectivity: that is to say, interacting with public things grants to democratic subjects some of those things’ durability and resilience. This insight is drawn from D. W. Winnicott’s object-relations theory in which the idea of a “holding environment” is key. This essay, develops new readings of Lear’s Radical Hope and von Trier’s Melancholia from a “public things” perspective and argues that new narrations of democratic maturation are needed to counter recent efforts to infantilize the democratic need for public things. Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt are drawn upon as well in this analysis of the complex politics of collaboration and privatization in the context of the theft of native lands and the catastrophe of climate change.
Evidence of cryptococcal antigen in archived cerebrospinal fluid samples that tested negative for agents of viral meningitis.

0196-4399/00 (see frontmatter) © 2009 Elsevier Clinical Microbiology Newsletter 31:6,2009 Cryptococcal meningitis is a major complication in patients with AIDS who are not on highly active antiretroviral therapy, in transplant recipients, and in patients with serious malignancies (1). It is routinely diagnosed by examining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens, but the diagnosis is likely to be delayed, because the symptoms of cryptococcal meningitis can mimic those due to other infectious agents or underlying conditions. Furthermore, performing lumbar punctures in seriously ill patients is not always desirable (1). It is not known what percentage of Cryptococcus-positive samples are likely to be missed if an adequate CSF sample is not available or laboratory tests are prioritized to rule out viral or bacterial meningitis or encephalitis (2). From 2003 to 2007, the viral encephalitis laboratory at the Wadsworth Center surveyed 3,700 CSF specimens from hospitalized patients in New York State for agents of viral encephalitis or meningitis (3). We assessed these samples to determine whether cryptococcal meningitis cases are underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. CSF specimens from Letter to the Editors
Cooperative party factions in American politics

What are the primary factions within the Democratic and Republican parties, and to what extent do rival factions cooperate? We address these questions using a unique data set of information sharing between party organizations, media outlets, 527s, and interest groups. Using social network methods, we identify two major information-sharing clusters, or expanded party networks; these networks correspond to a liberal/Democratic grouping and a conservative/Republican grouping. We further identify factions within each party network, but we find a high degree of cooperation between party factions. That is, our data suggest that beneath the intraparty disagreements we observe in primary elections and policy debates there is a subterranean pattern of organizational cooperation.
Cyanamide mediated syntheses under plausible primitive earth conditions. V - The synthesis of phosphatidic acids

A mixture of ammonium palmitate,14C-sn-glycero-1(3)-phosphate, cyanimide and imidazole when heated for several hours formed significant quantities of phospholipids. These reaction products were shown by chromatographic, chemical and enzymatic procedures to be monopalmitoylglycerophosphate (MPGP), dipalmitoylglycerophosphate (DPGP) and monopalmitoyl cyclic glycerophosphate (cMPGP). A portion of the MPGP and DPGP possessed the same steric configuration as naturally occurring lysophosphatidic acid and phosphatidic acid. The yield of total phospholipid was maximal at temperatures between 60° and 90° after 8 h. When ratios of reactants were varied, up to 45% of radioactive glycerophosphate was converted into phospholipids. The average proportions of individual phosphatidic acids were: 60% MPGP, 27% DPGP and 13% cMPGP. Evidence was obtained for a synergistic relationship between cyanamide and imidazole in promoting the formation of phosphatidic acids. These results suggest that phosphatidic acids, which are essential precursors for the biochemical synthesis of more complex membrane phospholipids, could have been produced on the primitive Earth.
Studies with corn-soya laying diets. 7. Limiting amino acids in a 60 : 40 blend of corn and soybean protein.

Abstract THE experimental evidence indicates that 12 percent protein corn-soya diets contain a marginal level of protein for meeting the amino acid requirements of laying pullets (Waibel and Johnson, 1961; Adams et al., 1961; and Bray and Morrissey, 1962). Although the practical problem is one of adequately supplementing the 12 percent protein diet so that the requirements for all amino acids are met under a range of feeding conditions, the near adequacy of such diets limits the response to amino acid supplementation. When practical rations are formulated to contain 12 percent protein, corn provides 60 percent of the protein. In order to critically evaluate the pattern of limiting amino acids of a 12 percent protein ration, basal diets containing a 60:40 blend of corn and soybean protein were fed to pullets at either the 8.5 or 9.0 percent protein level during a short-term assay in the studies reported herein. EXPERIMENTAL The…
Joint replenishment inventory control: Deterministic and stochastic models

Abstract This paper deals with inventory control models where a number of items are replenished jointly. The methods available for determining the economic operating policy for jointly replenished items under deterministic and stochastic demand conditions are reviewed. Experimental findings are discussed and ideas for future research directions are given.
Temperature-induced hydrophobic-hydrophilic transition observed by water adsorption.

The properties of nanoconfined and interfacial water in the proximity of hydrophobic surfaces play a pivotal role in a variety of important phenomena such as protein folding. Water inside single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can provide an ideal system for investigating such nanoconfined interfacial water on hydrophobic surfaces, provided that the nanotubes can be opened without introducing excess defects. Here, we report a hydrophobic-hydrophilic transition upon cooling from 22°C to 8°C via the observation of water adsorption isotherms in SWNTs measured by nuclear magnetic resonance. A considerable slowdown in molecular reorientation of such adsorbed water was also detected. The observed transition demonstrates that the structure of interfacial water could depend sensitively on temperature, which could lead to intriguing temperature dependences involving interfacial water on hydrophobic surfaces.
Lessons from America: Liberal French Nobles in Exile, 1793–1798. By Doina Pasca Harsanyi

Lessons from America: Liberal French Nobles in Exile, 1793–1798. By Doina Pasca Harsanyi (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010), xi + 204 pp. $80.00 cloth. Lessons fro...
The Ob protein (leptin) and the kidney

The Ob protein (leptin) and the kidney. Mutation of the Ob gene, which encodes for leptin, or mutation of the leptin receptor leads to obesity in mice. Humans, for the most part, have a positive correlation of leptin with body fat mass suggesting possible defects in leptin effector mechanisms that may contribute to obesity. As patients on hemodialysis have difficulty with appetite, we investigated whether leptin is cleared by the kidney and is elevated in hemodialysis patients. In patients with intact renal function there was a net renal uptake of 12% of circulating leptin, whereas in patients with renal insufficiency there was no renal uptake of leptin. In a separate cohort of 36 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), peripheral leptin levels factored for body mass index was increased by fourfold as compared to a group of healthy controls ( N = 338). The leptin receptor exists in a long and short form, with the long form primarily expressed in the hypothalamus but also in the lungs and kidneys of the mouse. Further studies are necessary to clarify the role of leptin in regulating appetite in patients with ESRD and the role of leptin in directly affecting kidney function via its receptors.
Perspective: Clues, not conclusions

Scientists have some way to go before they can prove that COPD should be treated as an autoimmune disease, says Steven R. Duncan.
“Semi-realistic” F-term inflation model building in supergravity

Abstract We describe methods for building “semi-realistic” models of F -term inflation. By semi-realistic we mean that they are built in, and obey the requirements of, “semi-realistic” particle physics models. The particle physics models are taken to be effective supergravity theories derived from orbifold compactifications of string theory, and their requirements are taken to be modular invariance, absence of mass terms and stabilization of moduli. We review the particle physics models, their requirements and tools and methods for building inflation models.
MAZIE: A Mass and Charge Inference Engine to Enhance Database Searching of Tandem Mass Spectra

Peptide sequence identification using tandem mass spectroscopy remains a major challenge for complex proteomic studies. Peptide matching algorithms require the accurate determination of both the mass and charge of the precursor ion and accommodate uncertainties in these properties by using a wide precursor mass tolerance and by testing, for each spectrum, several possible candidate charges. Using a data acquisition strategy that includes obtaining narrow mass-range MS1 “zoom” scans, we describe here a post-acquisition algorithm dubbed mass and charge (Z) inference engine (MAZIE), which accurately determines the charge and monoisotopic mass of precursor ions on a low-resolution Thermo LTQ-XL mass spectrometer. This is achieved by examining the isotopic distribution obtained in the preceding MS1 zoom spectrum and comparing to theoretical distributions for candidate charge states from +1 to +4. MAZIE then writes modified data files with the corrected monoisotopic mass and charge. We have validated MAZIE results by comparing the sequence search results obtained with the MAZIE-generated data files to results using the unmodified data files. Using two different search algorithms and a false discovery rate filter, we found that MAZIE-interpreted data resulted in 80% (using SEQUEST) and 30% (using OMSSA) more high-confidence sequence identifications. Analyses of these results indicate that the accurate determination of the precursor ion mass greatly facilitates the ability to differentiate between true and false positive matches, while the determination of the precursor ion charge reduces the overall search time but does not significantly reduce the ambiguity of interpreting the search results. MAZIE is distributed as an open-source PERL script.
Biomedical Applications of Avalanche Semiconductor Detectors

The attractiveness of silicon avalanche radiation detection systems lies in the following properties: (1) Extremely low noise and low background counting capability, which is maintained to temperatures as high as 100°C, without resorting to coincidence techniques. (2) Sensitivity to virtually the entire range of nuclear radiations and energies with highest efficiency concentrated in the low energy or soft radiation region without requirement for cooling. (3) Ruggedness and miniaturizeability-a characteristic shared with other semiconductor detectors--but, in addition, providing a larger degree of usefulness in extra-laboratory applications due, primarily, to the high signal level from the detector. These characteristics make avalanche systems potentially quite valuable in nuclear medicine, particularly for in vivo detection of lower energy radiations. This paper will describe a program that was undertaken to fabricate ten prototype avalanche detector instruments for collaborative research purposes with investigators in the fields of nuclear medicine and radiobiology. All ten instruments are currently in the hands of such researchers. The specific areas of investigation are varied and interesting, with a number being rather exciting from the standpoint of being new accomplishments, i.e., avalanche technology appears to be making possible some measurements and procedures not considered feasible heretofore. Examples of specific applications being investigated are transmission bone scanning, tumor detection and diagnosis (opthalmic and skin types), organ scanning by x-ray fluorescence techniques, tooth enamel density measurements and soil water content and pressure determinations. Some very preliminary results are available on several of the above studies.
A Reliable Metric for Quantifying Multiple Sequence Alignment

Aligning multiple homologous protein sequences (MSA) helps biologists identify the relationship between species and possibly predict the structure and functionality of the protein. However, optimally aligning multiple sequences has been proven to be intractable by Wang and Jiang in [1]. For the last two decades, researchers have often taken different heuristic approaches to solve this problem without a consistent and reliable scoring method. In this paper, we have developed a scoring metric (hierarchical expected matching probability [HEP]), that measures the probability of residue mutations and the biological correctness of MSA results. Both theoretical and manual selected test sequences have shown that our quantitative metric is more reliable, consistent, and biologically meaningful than many commonly used scoring metrics.
Automated Contour Ordering In Moird Topograms For Biostereometrics

A method is described for ordering the fringes in an ordinary moird topogram. It requires no a priori shape information and resolves 'hill-or-valley' ambiguities using local surface reflectance properties. The theoretical and practical constraints of this method are discussed, and analysed examples are presented as experimental evidence.
Informational source, implicational value, and the attribution of attitudes

Perceivers were asked to integrate two contradictory pieces of information when making an attribution, each piece varying in its implicational relationship to the attitude to be inferred. One source of information, supplied by the target person, was a set of attitude responses, which were either strongly or weakly predictive of the target’s attitude. A second source of information, supplied by a third person, was in the form of an attribution based upon an essay that the target had purportedly written. The essay was described as having been written under either high or low constraint. The impact of either of the two pieces of information on perceivers’ attributions was directly related to its diagnosticity. The effect of the response set was generally greater when it was unambiguous rather than ambiguous. The observer’s attribution had more influence when the essay was written under choice rather than constraint conditions. However, even the attribution based upon the low freedom essay had some impact. This research demonstrates that attributions of attitude can be a source as well as a target of informational influence.
Impact of Aging on Sexual Function in Men with Spinal Cord Injury

As longevity after spinal cord injury (SCI) has increased, attention has shifted from treatment of active conditions to prevention of secondary disability and enhancement of quality of life. Satisfactory sexual functioning is an important contributor to quality of life. Little attention, however, has been paid to the impact of aging on sexual function after SCI. This article describes the effects of aging on sexual functioning in able-bodied persons and how these effects may influence sexual functioning in men with SCI. Physiological decreases in hormonal concentrations, muscle mass, and bone strength can have a marked effect on individuals who already have deficits in these areas as a result of SCI. Many of the treatments of sexual dysfunction in SCI are relatively new, such as intracorporeal injections and oral sildenafil, and the safety and efficacy of long-term use are not clear. Medical conditions common in the elderly, such as coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and depression, can hav...
Enhanced ATR using Fisher fusion techniques with application to side-looking sonar

Raytheon has extensively processed high-resolution sidescan sonar images with its Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) algorithms to classify target-like objects (TLOs) in a variety of underwater environments. The ATR algorithm segments the image into candidate highlight and shadow regions of interest (ROIs), and extracts and scores features from these ROIs. The TLOs are classified by thresholding an overall classification score, formed by summing the individual feature scores. The algorithm performs reliably against TLOs that exhibit highlight and shadow regions that are both distinct relative to the ambient background. However, the sonar images for many real-world undersea environments can contain a significant percentage of TLOs exhibiting either "weak" highlight or shadow regions. Robust performance in these environments is achieved by tailoring the individual feature scoring algorithms to optimize the separation between the corresponding highlight or shadow feature scores of targets and non-targets. This study examines modifications to a previously presented alternate approach that employs Fisher fusion principles to generate optimal weighting coefficients which are applied to the individual feature scores before final classification processing. Results from processing of at-sea data sets demonstrate the performance benefits obtained from the modifications.
Gas turbine emulator for testing of high-speed generators

This work demonstrates, in simulation, a method by which the speed-torque behavior of a gas turbine engine can be emulated by a synchronous motor. The method applies modelbased vector control to the drive of the synchronous motor in order to permit testing of a new high speed generator prior to the availability of the actual gas turbine engine. The credibility of this approach is established by simulating the step load response of the gas turbine engine emulator. Results show that the emulator is able to track the steady-state and transient speed behavior of a gas turbine engine following step increases and decreases of electrical load with a tracking error below 1 percent.
Making Meaning of Life Events: Theory, Evidence, and Research Directions for an Alternative Model:

Utilizing cognition, emotion, and psychotherapy research, theoretical and empirical evidence on adjustment to negative life events is reviewed. Two models of adjustment to negative life events are ...
Selection for minimization of translational frameshifting errors as a factor in the evolution of codon usage

In a wide range of genomes, it was observed that the usage of synonymous codons is biased toward specific codons and codon patterns. Factors that are implicated in the selection for codon usage include facilitation of fast and accurate translation. There are two types of translational errors: missense errors and processivity errors. There is considerable evidence in support of the hypothesis that codon usage is optimized to minimize missense errors. In contrast, little is known about the relationship between codon usage and frameshifting errors, an important form of processivity errors, which appear to occur at frequencies comparable to the frequencies of missense errors. Based on the recently proposed pause-and-slip model of frameshifting, we developed Frameshifting Robustness Score (FRS). We used this measure to test if the pattern of codon usage indicates optimization against frameshifting errors. We found that the FRS values of protein-coding sequences from four analyzed genomes (the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli, and the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyce pombe) were typically higher than expected by chance. Other properties of FRS patterns observed in B. subtilis, S. cerevisiae and S. pombe, such as the tendency of FRS to increase from the 5′- to 3′-end of protein-coding sequences, were also consistent with the hypothesis of optimization against frameshifting errors in translation. For E. coli, the results of different tests were less consistent, suggestive of a much weaker optimization, if any. Collectively, the results fit the concept of selection against mistranslation-induced protein misfolding being one of the factors shaping the evolution of both coding and non-coding sequences.
A personal computer program for calculation of soil bulk density, coefficient of linear extensibility, and linear shrinkage

Abstract A computer program was developed to calculate bulk density(BD), coefficient of linear extenslbility(COLE), linear extensibility(LE), and linear shrinkage(LS) in the presence or absence of coarse fragments (>2mm). When coarse fragments are present in a soil clod, COLE and linear extensibility calculations become more complex, requiring additional equations and correction factors. The calculation of linear shrinkage is not sensitive to coarse fragments, thus requiring a single equation. This BASIC computer language program is accommodating to various parameter imputs and correction factors for fast calculation of BD, COLE, LE and LS in soil clods with and without coarse fragments.
Rational Strategic Choice Revisited

This note corrects an error in Bernheim's (1986) axiomatic characterization of solution concepts for strategic games. Unlike the correction offered by De Wolf and Forges (1998), the approach taken here preserves Bernheim's central results concerning the interrelationships between solution concepts.
First Report of a Leaf Spot Disease of Wild Rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) in Florida Caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. raphani.

Wild rocket, also known as wall rocket or sand rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC, family Brassicaceae), is grown in Florida as a salad green and herb, especially for addition to “spring mix” and other bagged salad blends. It is similar in texture and flavor to the more widely known garden arugula (Eruca vesicatoria (L.) Cav. subsp. sativa). During the winter vegetable season of 2006–2007, a leaf spot disease causing severe economic loss was seen in commercial fields of wild rocket near the town of Sebastian in Indian River County, FL. Discrete water-soaked to greasy appearing spots were observed on leaf blades that rarely exceeded 1 mm in diameter with some surrounded by a narrow, yellow halo. There was no evidence of marginal V-shaped lesions suggestive of vascular black rot disease caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. A bacterium that formed yellow colonies on nutrient agar was consistently isolated from these lesions. Four strains were isolated, purified, and characterized. All strains ...
Nodal Signaling in Early Vertebrate Embryos: Themes and Variations

The nodal family of TGFbeta-related ligands have emerged as critical regulators of early vertebrate embryogenesis. Recent studies in mice, fish, and frogs of nodals and their intracellular transducers allow a comparison of how this signaling pathway is used in the patterning of early embryos of these different vertebrates.
THE LOCALIZATION OF NON TACTILE THERMAL SENSATIONS

An experiment by Nathan and Rice (1966) on the localization of thermal sensations was replicated. The present, somewhat more detailed, results essentially confirm the findings of the earlier authors. Thermal sensations evoked by non-tactile thermal stimuli can be localized; their localization is less accurate than that of tactile stimuli; and the accuracy of localization increases with increasing intensity of stimulation and sensation. To account for these findings several alternative hypotheses concerning the interaction between thermal and tactile modalities and large and small fiber sensory systems have been suggested.
A monoclonal antibody blocking ELISA to detect serotype-specific infectious bronchitis virus antibodies

Abstract 1. A monoclonal antibody (Mab) blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (B-ELISA) was developed and compared to a conventional indirect ELISA (I-ELISA) and a virus-neutralization (VN) test for detection of specific antibodies to avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) serotypes. Sera used in this study were derived from chickens experimentally inoculated with the three most prevalent IBV serotypes, Arkansas (Ark), Connecticut (Conn), and Massachusetts (Mass). 2. Overall, there was good correlation between the results of B-ELISA and the VN test. Both detected serotype-specific antibodies in chicken sera during primary and secondary phases of the immune response. Results of both tests indicated that the antibodies produced during the primary response to IBV serotypes are strongly serotype-specific. Those produced during the secondary response react more strongly with the homologous virus, but do exhibit some level of cross-reactivity with heterologous antigens. I-ELISA detected IBV group-specific and not serotype-specific antibodies. 3. The B-ELISA which both offers the convenience of the conventional I-ELISA and the serotype specificity of the VN test, holds excellent promise for field application in IBV diagnosis and evaluation of response to IBV vaccines.
Strategies for Measuring and Promoting Mothers' Social Support Networks

ABSTRACT This chapter recommends respondent-driven sampling (RDS) and peer-driven intervention (PDI) as new strategies for improving safe motherhood and women's health in countries where women have limited access to information and communication technology. Strategies for measuring and promoting mothers' social support networks could be applied to enrich communication about reproductive health and safe motherhood, especially in countries where women's low social status leads to child marriage, low educational attainment/illiteracy, and limited access to modern information and communication technology. By using RDS to study communities and social network structures, outreach workers can educate women via women's social support groups, enhancing and broadening the use of modern information and communication technologies. RDS is a strategy that allows researchers to identify and focus on distinct groups within a community. PDI uses a two-step intervention where respondents are educated by outreach workers an...
Tribological properties of femur–tibia articulation of lubber grasshopper

Abstract This study focuses on the tribological properties of femur–tibia articulation of grasshopper (Romalea guttata) leg joints. It was found that the coefficient of friction for the articulation was very low, 0.052±0.001 and 0.037±0.002 under dry and squalane lubricated conditions, respectively. A synergistic combination of a unique joint morphology and internal nanostructure of grasshopper joints were found to be responsible for their exceptional frictional and mechanical properties. Overall, given the exact mechanism by which insect joints reduce friction and wear is still unknown, this original study reveals the main characteristics of the insect joints responsible for their efficient operation and improved tribological properties.
ORAL MANIFESTATIONS OF HURLER-PFAUNDLER AND PIERRE-ROBIN SYNDROMES.

Abstract Two interesting syndromes involving changes and abnormalities in one or more oral structures have been presented.
From the Field to the Courthouse: Should Social Science Research Be Privileged?

Social scientists need clarification about the extent to which the confidential aspects of their research are protected from compulsory disclosure in legal proceedings, and the extent to which they ought to be. Investigating the nature of social science research with an emphasis on researcher-participant relationships in ethnographic practice, I conclude that a qualified privilege would confer three major benefits on social science researchers: confidence that the government will not unnecessarily interfere with research, facilitation of improved researcher-participant relationships, and increased accuracy, thoroughness, and reliability of research data. I also discuss the development of privilege and confidentiality issues in practical research contexts through an examination of two criminal cases in which social science researchers refused to divulge the confidential information obtained in the course of research. Finally, I discuss the possible formulations of a scholarly research privilege. This is especially important because courts have cast social scientists as members of the larger community of academic or scholarly researchers with respect to these issues. Potential sources of protection include state journalist protection laws, federal common law, and federal statutory law. Evaluation of these sources and the case law to which they correspond suggests that developing common law privileges in state and federal jurisprudence is the most promising means of affording the confidential aspects of social science research legal protection. As researchers continue to press privilege
A novel micromachined high-field asymmetric waveform-ion mobility spectrometer

Abstract The fabrication and characterization of a novel micromachined high-field asymmetric waveform-ion mobility spectrometer (FA-IMS) is described. The spectrometer has a 3×1×0.2 cm3 rectangular drift tube and a planar electrode configuration. The planar configuration permits simple construction using microfabrication technology where electrodes and insulating regions are made with deposited metal films on glass substrates. The spectrometer is characterized using organic vapors (including acetone, benzene, and toluene) at ambient pressure and with air as the drift gas. Ions are created in air at ambient pressure using photo-ionization with a 10.6 eV photo discharge lamp (λ=116.5 nm). The micromachined FA-IMS exhibited behavior consistent with conventional FA-IMS designs where compensation voltage was effective in discriminating between ion species in high-field radio-frequency (RF) regimes. Excellent resolution of benzene and acetone ions in mixtures illustrates an advantage of the FA-IMS over low-field ion mobility spectrometry. Detection of toluene at concentrations as low as 100 ppb has been demonstrated. Improvements in detection limits, by as much as 100×, are anticipated with improved ionization source designs. The ability to transport both positive and negative ions simultaneously through the FA-IMS drift tube is demonstrated here for the first time. Ion intensity is found to be proportional to sample concentration, although clusters of sample ions and neutrals at high concentrations illustrate the need for a drift region which is kept free of sample neutrals. Micromachining promises cost, size, and power reductions enabling both laboratory and field instruments.
Patterns of foraging and distribution of bluegill sunfish in a Mississippi River backwater: Influence of macrophytes and predation

1 Ecology of Freshwater Fish 1997: 6: 8-15. 0 Munksgaard, 1997 Abstract - We studied the trophic interactions and spatial distributions of bluegills Lepomis macrochirus and largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in a macrophyte bed in Lake Onalaska, a backwater lake in the upper Missis- ' sippi River. The diets of adult and age-0 bluegills were similar and changed seasonally probably in response to changes in life stages of macroinverte- brates (i.e. emergence of winged adults). Diets and die1 patterns of abundance of bluegill suggest that age-0 and adults were feeding in the vegetated, littoral zone. Predation by age-0 largemouth bass appears to influence use of vegetated habitat by age-0 bluegills. In summer, when most age-0 bluegills were vulnerable to predation by age-0 largemouth bass, bluegill abundance was strongly correlated with vegetation biomass. In October and November, piscivory by age-0 largemouth bass was limited by gape. Consequently, the relationship between the abundance of age-0 bluegills and vegetation biom- ass was weakened because predation risk by age-0 largemouth bass was reduced.
Simultaneous and self-referenced amplitude and phase measurement of two frequency combs using multi-heterodyne spectroscopy

We present a new type of multi-heterodyne spectroscopy that does not require separate reference field characterization and use it to demonstrate simultaneous, full-field characterization of two 40-line by 10-GHz optical frequency combs in line-by-line pulse shaping and fiber transmission applications.
Further Effects of Androgenic Substance on Sexual Development in the Female White Rat

SummarySixty-seven intersexed rats, produced by injecting the pregnant rat with testosterone, have been examined. Testosterone given to the pregnant rat may in some instances arrest the fusion of the caudal portions of the mullerian ducts and the unfused portions are patent and open into the urethra. In addition, a number of animals have been produced in which wolffian duct derivatives, efferent tubules, epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles are present in association with a fallopian tube, uterus and the upper portion of the vagina and with masculinization of the female gonad.