cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electrically conductive semi-IPNs based on polyaniline and crosslinked polyvinylacetate

Electrically conductive semi-IPNs based on polyaniline and crosslinked polyvinylacetate were prepared. Polyaniline successfully percolated through the crosslinked PVAc networks and the resulting semi-IPNs show a continuous network morphology. The conductivity of the semi-IPN increases with increasing content of polyaniline and increasing acidity used during the polymerization of the polyaniline. The conductivity of the semi-IPN is 0.13 S/cm, with the highest polyaniline content of 19.3 wt %. The depression of polyaniline with temperature change is smallest followed by the depression of semi-IPN of the polyaniline/crosslinked polyvinylacetate, which is considerably smaller than the depression of crosslinked polyvinylacetate. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2287–2293, 2002
Practical Application of Synchrotron-Based Hard X-Ray Microprobes in Soil Sciences

Abstract Many of the most pressing questions in soil sciences require characterization of elemental abundances and speciation in minute samples that are heterogeneous at the submicrometer scale. This science addresses a wide gamut of environmental and health issues of high societal impact. Synchrotron radiation sources are ideal for developing high-intensity, highly focused X-ray probes and those that have been developed to deliver high-energy photons, so-called hard X-ray microprobes (HXRM), have had a major impact in advancing our understanding of the speciation, transport, and reactions of chemical species in soils. X-ray microprobe techniques offer distinct advantages over other analytical techniques by allowing analyses to be done in situ , an important example being the ability to determine chemical speciation of a wide variety of toxic elements in moist soils and biological specimens with little or no chemical pretreatment and low detection limits. In particular, coupled microfocused X-ray fluorescence, spectroscopy, and diffraction analysis allows one to quantify the abundance and speciation of elements in these materials at trace element concentrations and evaluate the mineralogy to which they are adsorbed or bound. Increasingly, these analyses are being done as imaging experiments not only in two dimensions but three dimensionally (3D) using tomographic techniques as well. Such information is crucial in understanding the toxicity, mobility, and containment of contaminating metals in the environment, mechanisms of trace element partitioning, and paths of strategic metal enrichment in nature.
Hyperinsulinism in mice with heterozygous loss of KATP channels

Aims/hypothesis ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels couple glucose metabolism to insulin secretion in pancreatic beta cells. In humans, loss-of-function mutations of beta cell KATP subunits (SUR1, encoded by the gene ABCC8, or Kir6.2, encoded by the gene KCNJ11) cause congenital hyperinsulinaemia. Mice with dominant-negative reduction of beta cell KATP (Kir6.2[AAA]) exhibit hyperinsulinism, whereas mice with zero KATP (Kir6.2−/−) show transient hyperinsulinaemia as neonates, but are glucose-intolerant as adults. Thus, we propose that partial loss of beta cell KATP in vivo causes insulin hypersecretion, but complete absence may cause insulin secretory failure.
Inscribing Asymmetry: Johann Zoffany's Banyan and ‘The Extension of Knowledge’

This article focuses on the banyan tree in Johann Zoffany's conversation piece painted in Lucknow around 1786–87. One of the most striking motifs in the composition, it has rarely been analyzed, especially within the context of what Warren Hastings called, ‘the extension of knowledge’ in colonial India. Specifically, I examine how its conflation with the artist's self-portrait spatialized the primeval within the orbit of collecting for the ‘gentleman Orientalist’. Such an interpolation, I suggest, links key members of Lucknow's colonial elite portrayed in the painting with the newly instituted Asiatic Society in nearby Calcutta. To this end, I look at how the banyan encodes asymmetrical patterns of knowledge within new European loci of history and geography in India. Not only does it situate the performance of colonial gentlemanliness in a sensibility for the protean, it also conveys Zoffany's own agency in producing and affixing colonial knowledge. Thus, I discuss how the banyan metonymically stands for ...
Canopy temperature and growth of differentially irrigated alfalfa

Abstract Plant temperature of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown with different amounts of irrigation water has not been reported. The objective of this experiment was to determine if progressive differences in canopy temperature existed among plots of alfalfa (ev. Cody) subjected to 7 graded watering treatments. Irrigation water (0, 2.5, 5.1, 7.6, 10.2, 12.7, 15.2 cm) was added after each of three harvests in 1980 and 1981. Extremes in weather between the summers of 1980 and 1981 enabled comparison of data from a stressed season (1980) with those from a non-stressed season (1981). Throughout the growth period in both years, canopy temperatures, leaf area, stem dry weight, leaf dry weight and total dry weight were determined. Canopy temperature was measured with an infrared thermometer. The relationship between canopy-minus-air temperature (Tc — Ta) versus vapor-pressure deficit (VPD) was determined on well watered alfalfa for 1980 and 1981. Differences in canopy temperature, leaf area index, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, and total dry weight, due to treatments, were evident in the dry year (1980), but not in the wet year (1981). In the dry year, the irrigated plots generally had cooler canopy temperatures and higher dry weights than the dry land plots, but differences due to the level of water added were not apparent. In both the dry year and the wet year, (Tc — Ta) was inversely related to VPD. Also, in both years, and for all treatments, leaf dry weight was about equal to stem dry weight.
Reconstructing a Pennsylvanian Delta System: ABSTRACT

The Coffeyville interval within the Missourian Series of the Pennsylvanian System in northeastern Oklahoma was studied to determine its origin. The interval is an isochronous unit underlain by the Checkerboard limestone key bed and overlain by the Hogshooter limestone. Through most of the area these transgressive limestone marker beds define a time-rock unit. Stratigraphic characteristics within the interval are illustrated by cross sections, and specific data obtained from more than 500 well logs were used to make isopachous, sandstone-shale ratio, and isolith maps. Core, E log, and outcrop observations provided information on sedimentary structures, textures, and vertical sequences. The primary depositional framework is deltaic. From the available data it is possible to delineate 8 separate environmental facies within the delta complex, and to correlate each facies with particular S.P. curve shapes. Outcrop and core studies of trace fossils, textures, and sedimentary structures were correlated to individual facies. Criteria were established to recognize ancient deltaic deposits and methods of environmental analysis. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1821------------
Picosecond Kinetic Study of the Photoinduced Homolysis and Heterolysis of Diphenymethyl Bromide. 1. The Nature of the Conversion from Radical Pairs to Ion Pairs

Picosecond absorption spectroscopy is used to study the dynamics of bond homolysis and heterolysis of diphenylmethyl bromide and bis(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl bromide in acetonitrile. Combining these kinetics results with our previous study of diphenylmethyl chlorides, the nature of the conversion of the geminate radical pair into contact ion pairs is addressed. Also a qualitative potential energy diagram, based upon a valence bond description, that accounts for the factors that determine the partitioning between geminate radical pair and contact ion pair subsequent to the decay of the first excited singlet state is presented.
Laparoscopic Surgery of the Colon and Rectum

The use of laparoscopic techniques in benign colorectal surgery has expanded over the past several years, but controversy continues to surround the use of laparoscopic resection in cases of colorectal carcinoma. Diagnostic laparoscopy, the creation of stomas, and limited resections are becoming reasonable indications for benign diseases. In cases of malignancy, resection through a conventional incision or a laparoscope must adhere to the same defined surgical oncologic principles. Current randomized trials comparing open resection to laparoscopic resection should address these concerns. Port-site recurrence remains a leading concern regarding the widespread acceptance of laparoscopic resection for colorectal carcinoma. This article focuses on the applications of laparoscopic colorectal surgery for malignant diseases. Further research in this area combined with advances in laparoscopic technology will be critical to the future successful application of laparoscopic surgery to colorectal carcinoma.
Classification of unquantized Yang--Mills fields

A classification of unquantized Yang--Mills fields is given according to their algebraic and differential properties. A method is used which is similar to the one employed by Petrov and Schell in their classification of the vacuum gravitational field. It is proved that there is no inherently nonlinear solution to a sourceless Yang--Mills field in a vacuum. (AIP)
An Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory: The Facile Hydrogenation of Methyl trans-Cinnamate

Hydrogenation of alkenes is an important reaction in the synthesis of organic molecules. In this experiment, students conduct a high-yield microscale hydrogenation reaction of methyl trans-cinnamate using a readily available, safe, and convenient hydrogen source. The conditions are similar to those seen in an organic chemistry textbook for an alkene hydrogenation: 5% Pd/C catalyst, 1 atm H2, and room temperature. Students learn how to monitor the change in hydrogen pressure versus time using a Vernier LabQuest and a gas pressure sensor during the 45 min reaction time. The hydrogenation apparatus is easily constructed in 5 min. Students are able to demonstrate using the ideal gas law that the amount of alkene hydrogenated is equal to the decrease in hydrogen pressure. The structure of the saturated ester is confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy.
Effective slip in pressure-driven Stokes flow

Nano-bubbles have recently been observed experimentally on smooth hydrophobic surfaces; cracks on a surface can likewise be the site of bubbles when partially wetting fluids are used. Because these bubbles may provide a zero shear stress boundary condition and modify considerably the friction generated by the solid boundary, it is of interest to quantify their influence on pressure-driven flow, with particular attention given to small geometries. We investigate two simple configurations of steady pressure-driven Stokes flow in a circular pipe whose surface contains periodically distributed regions of zero surface shear stress. In the spirit of experimental studies probing slip at solid surfaces, the effective slip length of the resulting flow is evaluated as a function of the degrees of freedom describing the surface heterogeneities, namely the relative width of the no-slip and no-shear stress regions and their distribution along the pipe. Comparison of the model with experimental studies of pressure-driven flow in capillaries and microchannels reporting slip is made and a possible interpretation of the experimental results is offered which is consistent with a large number of distributed slip domains such as nano-size and micron-size nearly flat bubbles coating the solid surface. Further, the possibility is suggested of a shear-dependent effective slip length, and an explanation is proposed for the seemingly paradoxical behaviour of the measured slip length increasing with system size, which is consistent with experimental results to date.
Social anxiety, state dependence, and the next-in-line effect

Abstract People experience anxiety prior to a public performance. Later, they cannot recall what happened when they were next-in-line to perform. In the current article, we examine the contribution of affect to next-in-line memory deficits. We find that next-in-line deficits are suffered by subjects who report high, but not low social anxiety, and we assess two explanations for the next-in-line effect. According to one explanation, the effect is a deficit in state-dependent retrieval: according to the second explanation, the effect is a state-induced encoding deficiency. Results indicate that preperformance memory deficits are not deficits in state-dependent retrieval; rather, they suggest that preperformance anxiety disrupts the encoding of ongoing events.
Suitability of Lake Erie for bigheaded carps based on bioenergetic models and remote sensing

Abstract Algal blooms in the Great Lakes are a potential food source for silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ) and bighead carp ( H. nobilis ; together bigheaded carps). Understanding these blooms thus plays an important role in understanding the invasion potential of bigheaded carps. We used remote sensing imagery, temperatures, and improved species specific bioenergetics models to determine algal concentrations sufficient for adult bigheaded carps. Depending on water temperature we found that bigheaded carp require between 2 and 7 μg/L chlorophyll or between 0.3 and 1.26 × 10 5 cells/mL Microcystis to maintain body weight. Algal concentrations in the western basin and shoreline were found to be commonly several times greater than the concentrations required for weight maintenance. The remote sensing images show that area of sufficient algal foods commonly encompassed several hundred square kilometers to several thousands of square kilometers when blooms form. From 2002 to 2011, mean algal concentrations increased 273%–411%. This indicates Lake Erie provides increasingly adequate planktonic algal food for bigheaded carps. The water temperatures and algal concentrations detected in Lake Erie from 2008 to 2012 support positive growth rates such that a 4 kg silver carp could gain between 19 and 57% of its body weight in a year. A 5 kg bighead carp modeled at the same water temperatures could gain 20–81% of their body weight in the same period. The remote sensing imagery and bioenergetic models suggest that bigheaded carps would not be food limited if they invaded Lake Erie.
Sampling of cariogenic microorganisms in human populations.

The sampling of cariogenic microorganisms such as Streptococcus mutans is performed in etiologic studies of dental caries, in obtaining estimates of microbial prevalence in human populations and in monitoring the results of various dental and antimicrobial therapies. Although the selection of a sampling methodology is primarily dependent upon the specific objectives of the study, considerations pertaining to validity, sensitivity, and reliability are also important. A general knowledge of the ecology and primary oral reservoirs of infection of the cariogenic bacteria is essential in the sampling of dental plaque as well as saliva and each sampling method is associated with certain strengths as well as weaknesses and limitations. A proposal is made for a simple universal oral sampling method, based on a 15–sccond saline rinse, which gives results which correlate strongly with total plaque load levels of 5. mutans as well as salivary S. mutans levels.
Properties of urease fractions separated on CM-cellulose

Abstract Urease, crystallized from jack bean meal, was separated into several fractions on CM-cellulose in the cold. Each fraction contains several components having sedimentation constants ranging from less than 3 to as high as 32. The bulk of the enzymic activity resides in one fraction. The principal non-urease component has about one-fifth as many SH-groups that are titratable by silver as the most active fraction, which contains 41 SH-groups per mole. Copper and mercury ions, corresponding to 1% of the sulfhydryl groups present, may be added to the most active fraction without apparent loss of activity, but additions corresponding to 10% of the total SH's produce 50% inhibition. Starch gel and paper electrophoretic studies show each of the isolated fractions to contain one main component.
Threat level green: Conceding ecology for security in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

Abstract Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the predicted scenarios of Central Asian water wars and catastrophic nuclear accidents have failed to materialize. However, the Aral Sea continues to shrink apace, and dangerous Soviet-built nuclear reactors have since proliferated in the former eastern bloc. These seemingly paradoxical outcomes can in part be attributed to the framing of these environmental issues as security matters by leading international regulatory, aid and lending institutions. Integrating these environmental concerns with the realist worldview of security studies systematically emphasized security dimensions at the expense of ecological concerns even amongst organizations distant from traditional defense affairs. This article proposes that international security strategy in this period is one of environmental appeasement defined as the systematic granting of ecologically unfriendly concessions in order to reduce short-term security risks. The article presents evidence that this appeasement strategy generated seemingly impressive results in terms of ameliorating short-term security risks, while actually exacerbating the underlying ecological situation. The article argues that while the foundational environmental risks remain unaddressed, the associated security threats have likewise not been ultimately resolved.
Kinematics of Common Dwarf Stars: A Maximum-Likelihood Analysis

The kinematics of K and M dwarfs in the solar neighborhood are analyzed statistically using the sample of stars that were selected spectroscopically by Vyssotsky. We use all available information: photoelectric photometry, trigonometric parallax, proper motion, and radial velocity, in a global maximization. The procedure can rigorously handle errors of observation and incompleteness of the catalog over photometry and derive unbiased values of the kinematic parameters with reliable error estimates. The kinematical distribution of K5 to M5 dwarfs is represented as a sum of discrete components, each described by an anisotropic velocity ellipsoid and asymmetric drift. The maximum-likelihood model has typical young disk (σR, σ, σz, va) = (31, 18, 12, 7) ± 1 km s-1 and old disk (σR, σ, σz, va) = (54, 36, 31, 23) ± 3 km s-1 kinematic parameters and rms error estimates. The peculiar motion of the Sun relative to the LSR is estimated as (U☉, V☉, W☉) = (8, 7, 6) ± 1 km s-1. The young disk dwarfs show a vertex deviation of 12° ± 4°. The old disk K and M dwarfs are significantly less luminous than the young disk dwarfs of the same color, with a difference of 0.7 ± 0.1 mag at (R - I) = 1.0 and which increases with redder color.
trends in Internet-based business-to-business marketing

Abstract The Internet is changing the transactional paradigms under which businesses-to-business marketers operate. Business-to-business marketers that take advantage of the operational efficiencies and effectiveness that emerge from utilizing the Internet in transactions are outperforming firms that utilize traditional transactional processes. As an example, Dell computers, by utilizing business-to-business processes that take advantage of the Internet, has gained the largest market share in the PC business when compared to traditional manufacturers such as Compaq. This paper first examines the genesis of the Internet movement in business-to-business markets. The long-term impact of the increase of business-to-business utilization of the Internet on the marketing theory and marketing process is then discussed. Finally, managerial implications and directions for future research are highlighted.
Christian Fundamentalists and Public Opinion Toward the Middle East: Israel's New Best Friends?*

Objectives. Although Christian fundamentalist elites have become increasingly vocal in their support for Israel in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it is not clear that this rhetoric has produced differing attitudes about U.S. foreign policy in public opinion. This article examines whether such differences exist, and whether they are rooted in aspects of fundamentalist eschatology. Methods. Data from a national telephone survey on attitudes toward the Middle East conflict and U.S. policy were examined using multivariate regression and means comparisons. Results. These results demonstrate that Christian fundamentalists are the strongest supporters of Israel in America today. Fundamentalists have greater sympathy for Israel, oppose policies to pressure Israel, and are distinctive from all other groups in their high levels of support for continuing Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, as well as complete Israeli control of Jerusalem. Conclusion. Christian fundamentalists in America are distinctive on this vital issue in American foreign policy because of their literal interpretation of the Bible or their leaders' increased cues on Middle East policies, or both. This suggests that religion is now an important factor in understanding public opinion on U.S. foreign policy in the region.
Designing a likert-type scale to predict environmentally responsible behavior in undergraduate students: A multistep process.

Abstract A six-step procedure was used to develop an instrument to predict environmentally responsible behavior in undergraduate students. One hundred eighty-seven examples of pro-environmental behavior were identified and classified into six different categories, and 15 undergraduate students at a major research university provided Thurstone-type judgments for each item. Students were asked to indicate the degree to which they felt the performance of each action was appropriate to a category of environmental action in which it appeared. The 144 items retained were pilot tested as two parallel 5-point Likert-type instruments with 828 students enrolled in an introductory biology course for nonscience majors. Development of the 28-item Environmental Action Internal Control Index (EAICI) incorporated SPSS-X techniques for correlational analysis, including factor analysis, regression analysis, and discriminant analysis. This instrument was field tested with another group of 853 students enrolled in the follow...
Relationship between a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis and 30-day outcome in emergency department patients with chest pain.

Background: Accurate identification of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) in the emergency department (ED) remains problematic. Studies have not been able to identify a cohort of patients that are safe for immediate ED discharge; however, prior studies have not examined the utility of a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis. Objectives: To compare the 30-day event rate in ED chest pain patients who were diagnosed with a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis with the 30-day event rate in the cohort of patients in whom a definitive diagnosis could not be made in the ED. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of consecutive ED patients with potential ACS. Data included demographics, medical and cardiac history, laboratory and electrocardiogram results, and whether or not the treating physician ascribed the condition to a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis. The main outcome was death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or revascularization within 30 days, as determined by phone follow-up or medical record review. Results: The investigators enrolled 1,995 patients in the ED who had potential ACSs. Overall, 77 had a final hospital diagnosis of AMI (4%). Within 30 days, 73 patients received revascularization (4%), and 26 died (1%). There were 599 (30%) patients given a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis. Comparing the patients with a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis with those without an obvious noncardiac diagnosis, the presence of a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis was associated with a reduced risk of an in-hospital triple-composite endpoint (death, MI, and revascularization), with a risk ratio of 0.32 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.19 to 0.55) and 30-day triple-composite endpoint with a risk ratio of 0.45 (95% CI = 0.29 to 0.69); however, patients with a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis still had a 4% event rate at 30 days (95% CI = 2.4% to 5.6%). Conclusions: In the ED chest pain patient, the presence of a clear-cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis reduces the likelihood of a composite outcome of death and cardiovascular events within 30 days. However, it does not reduce the event rate to an acceptable level to allow ED discharge of these patients.
Molecular basis of homocysteine toxicity in humans.

Because of its similarity to the protein amino acid methionine, homocysteine (Hcy) can enter the protein biosynthetic apparatus. However, Hcy cannot complete the protein biosynthetic pathway and is edited by the conversion to Hcy-thiolactone, a reaction catalyzed by methionyl-transfer RNA synthetase in all organisms investigated, including human. Nitrosylation converts Hcy into a methionine analogue, S-nitroso-Hcy, which can substitute for methionine in protein synthesis in biological systems, including cultured human endothelial cells. In humans, Hcy-thiolactone modifies proteins posttranslationally by forming adducts in which Hcy is linked by amide bonds to e-amino group of protein lysine residues (Hcy-eN-Lys-protein). Levels of Hcy bound by amide or peptide linkages (Hcy-N-protein) in human plasma proteins are directly related to plasma ‘total Hcy’ levels. Hcy-N-hemoglobin and Hcy-N-albumin constitute a major pool of Hcy in human blood, larger than ‘total Hcy’ pool. Hcy-thiolactone and Hcy-thiolactone-hydrolyzing enzyme, a product of the PON1 gene, are present in human plasma. Modification with Hcy-thiolactone leads to protein damage and induces immune response. Autoantibodies that specifically recognize the Hcy-eN-Lys-epitope on Hcy-thiolactone-modified proteins occur in humans. The ability of Hcy to interfere with protein biosynthesis, which causes protein damage, induces cell death and elicits immune response, is likely to contribute to the pathology of human disease.
POLLEN-POLLEN AND POLLEN-STYLE INTERACTIONS DURING POLLEN TUBE GROWTH IN ERYTHRONIUM GRANDIFLORUM (LILIACEAE)

Using pairs of pollen donors, I analyzed the growth of pollen tubes growing in different channels of the same style in Erythronium grandiflorum. After 24 hr the length of pollen tubes of randomly selected pollen donors was affected by the presence of other donors. The mean pollen tube lengths of donors did not differ when taken across all of the donor pairings, but in individual pairs, pollen from one donor was often significantly longer than pollen from the other donor when tested across several recipients. Pollen tube lengths were also consistently longer for pollen paired with pollen from the same donor than when paired with pollen from other donors, apparently because of mutual stimulation between the pollen populations from the same plant. In a second experiment, the amount of pollen tube attrition after five days of growth of pollen from a donor growing near (within 3 m) the recipient depended upon the source of other pollen growing in the same style. Local pollen experienced more attrition paired with self pollen than when paired with outcross pollen. Pollen from different outcross distances also modified the attrition of local pollen, but local pollen usually outcompeted pollen from greater distances. Since the growth of local pollen was modified depending upon the source of other pollen growing in the same style, it is probable that recipient styles are selectively inhibiting pollen tubes to produce the patterns of pollen tube interaction observed. The results from these two experiments indicate that the amount of attrition for pollen can be dependent on the composition of the pollen pool. Both direct pollen tube interactions and mediation by the stylar tissue appear to affect the growth rate and attrition of pollen in Erythronium.
Negative potentials evoked by nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis in the spinal trigeminal tract of the cat.

Abstract In cats that were precollicularly decerebrated, bilateral elactrical stimulation of the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis (NRGC) evoked negative potentials in the spinal trigeminal tract at the level of the subnucleus oralis of the spinal trigeminal nuclear complex. These negative potentials exhibited two types of configurations that differed in the slope of the rising and declining phase, duration, and amplitude of the negative wave. They were also found to develop as a function of the reticular stimulus parameters. Thus, they possessed electrophysiologic characteristics similar to the dorsal root potentials induced by comparable reticular activation in the spinal cord. The time course of the NRGC-evoked negative potential paralleled the inhibition of dental pulp-elicited responses in the subnucleus oralis, promoted by the same reticular stimulation. As the dorsal root potential is generally taken to be a manifestation of primary afferent depolarization, it is suggested, by extrapolation, that the NRGC may, at least in part, suppress the transmission of nociceptive signals from the dental pulp by a depolarization of the pulpal afferent fibers.
Information maximization in face processing

This perspective paper explores principles of unsupervised learning and how they relate to face recognition. Dependency coding and information maximization appear to be central principles in neural coding early in the visual system. These principles may be relevant to how we think about higher visual processes such as face recognition as well. The paper first reviews examples of dependency learning in biological vision, along with principles of optimal information transfer and information maximization. Next, we examine algorithms for face recognition by computer from a perspective of information maximization. The eigenface approach can be considered as an unsupervised system that learns the first- and second-order dependencies among face image pixels. Eigenfaces maximize information transfer only in the case where the input distributions are Gaussian. Independent component analysis (ICA) learns high-order dependencies in addition to first- and second-order relations, and maximizes information transfer for a more general set of input distributions. Face representations based on ICA gave better recognition performance than eigenfaces, supporting the theory that information maximization is a good strategy for high level visual functions such as face recognition. Finally, we review perceptual studies suggesting that dependency learning is relevant to human face perception as well, and present an information maximization account of perceptual effects such as the atypicality bias, and face adaptation aftereffects.
Early recovery of the actin cytoskeleton during renal ischemic injury in vivo

The actin cytoskeleton of proximal tubule cells is important for both the maintenance of membrane domains and attachment to neighboring cells and underlying substrata. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion during ischemic injury causes early alterations in the actin cytoskeleton, resulting in loss of membrane domains and cellular attachment. We examined the actin cytoskeleton during recovery from ischemic injury. As shown previously in cell culture studies, ATP depletion to 14% of control values from in vivo ischemia resulted in decreases in G-actin consistent with net polymerization of the cytoskeleton. After 20 minutes of recovery restored ATP levels to 24% of control values, percent G-actin increased back to control values, yet cytoplasmic actin polymerized with little evidence of apical recovery. After 120 minutes of recovery, ATP levels had increased to 48% of control values with little qualitative or quantitative change in actin polymerization from 20 minutes of recovery. When ATP levels recovered to 65% of control values at 360 minutes after ischemia, movement of F-actin back toward the apical surface was observed. These data, along with prior data using maleic acid, suggest that thresholds of cellular ATP may cause differing effects on distinct cellular actin pools. We conclude that actin cytoskeletal recovery occurs very early and may be necessary for reestablishment of polarity essential for normal reabsorptive functions.
Evidence of η'' or ordered zone formation in aluminum alloy 7075 from differential scanning calorimetry

The development of high strength levels in Al-Mg-Zn-(Cu) alloys is dependent on the decomposition of the supersaturated solid solution ([alpha][sub ss]). The equilibrium phase, [eta], and the transition phase, [eta][prime], have compositions Mg(Zn, Al, Cu)[sub 2] and the GP Zones are solute rich clusters. Several authors have presented evidence that there is another precipitate which forms between the GP Zones and [eta][prime], though there is some controversy whether it is crystallographically distinct from the matrix, [eta][prime], or an ordered GP Zone. Regardless of their structure, these particles are seldom observed and are not usually considered in the decomposition of these alloys. Most of the previous observations of these particles have been the result of involved transmission electron microscopic and X-ray scattering experiments. This report shows they may also be detected using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Also significant is the fact that the particles were observed in AA 7075, an important commercial alloy. Lloyd and Chaturvedi also saw indications of [eta][prime] or ordered zones using DSC, but the results reported herein are different in several important respects. DSC traces of alloys aged for various times at room temperature and 121 C have shown there is at least one phase which canmore » form during the decomposition of aluminum alloy 7075 that is not usually stated in the decomposition reaction. The results of previous studies suggest they may be ordered GP Zones or [eta][prime].« less
Rethinking the fate of males with mutations in the gene that causes Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT) is usually described as an X-linked dominant disorder that is lethal prenatally to males. While this hypothesis stemmed from the nearly exclusive recognition of the classical features in females and the scarcity of similarly affected or severely affected brothers of girls manifesting the classic phenotype, there are actually no pedigree data to support it. The identification of methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 gene (MECP2) as the causative gene for most cases of RTT allows us to examine the fate of males with a mutation in the gene. Although the number of cases is small, mutations in MECP2 that lead to the classical phenotype in females do not appear to result in prenatal lethality of affected hemizygous males. It is likely that sporadic cases are not ascertained because of the relative non-specific congenital onset encephalopathy. Males who have MECP2 mutations and Klinefelter syndrome or who are mosaic for the mutation are more likely to present with a RTT-like phenotype.
Upper-level steering flow and continental anticyclones on the central Gulf Coast of the United States

In a previous paper, trends in weather types dominated by continental anticyclones over the central Gulf Coast of the United States were analyzed. These events were found to be decreasing in frequency from 1961 to 1989. Magnitudes of some individual surface atmospheric variables during these events also changed significantly over this period even though the air masses represented did not change significantly. In this paper, the geography of 500 hPa height variability and steering flow patterns are examined in periods preceding such events in New Orleans in order to explain the forcing mechanisms that may be producing the observed frequency and intensity changes. Results indicate that the meridional gradient of atmospheric mass between the subtropics and extratropics may have increased over time, and consequently the increased zonal flow may have contributed to the relative paucity of continental anticyclone days in recent years. The zonality/meridionality of the flow and the extent of the circumpolar vortex over the region both appear to be related to the observed frequency shift. Furthermore, variability in the 500 hPa flow appears to be linked to the surface weather variability that was previously observed. These results are important in identifying the degree of scale interaction between upper-level, hemispheric-scale flow and local- to regional-scale surface weather patterns. © 1998 Royal Meteorological Society
Antibodies in the sicca syndrome (sjögren's syndrome)

Sera from eight patients with sicca syndrome were studied to find antibodies to salivary gland tissue and other organs. Abnormalities in serum proteins in electrophoresis were compatible with those usually reported in connective tissue disorders. Multiple antibodies, including salivary gland, were demonstrated in only two patients who also had high titers of rheumatoid factor. Two other patients had negative latex agglutination tests. Most of the group had no tissue antibodies.
Core body temperature in narcoleptic and normal subjects living in temporal isolation

The aim was to detect abnormalities in the circadian temperature rhythms of narcoleptic patients, as evidence of abnormal circadian pacemaker function. Six narcoleptic patients and nine normal controls lived in a time-isolation laboratory for 18-22 days. Rectal temperature was measured every minute and modeled by mean waveforms and cosine functions, which have complementary advantages. In this study, the two types of models gave similar results: The levels, periods, amplitudes, and phases of the circadian temperature rhythms of patients and controls did not significantly differ--evidence against an abnormality of circadian pacemaker function in narcolepsy. The increases of temperature that normally follow main sleep periods were smaller in narcoleptic subjects, and narcoleptic naps, which were involuntary, were heralded and accompanied by small decreases of mean temperature.
Periodic Solutions of Linear Integro‐Differential Equations

Using a degree-theoretic result of Granas, a homotopy is constructed enabling us to show that if there is an a priori bound on all possible T-periodic solutions of a Volterra equation, then there is a T-periodic solution. The a priori bound is established by means of a Liapunov functional. The latter result is unusual in that no bounds on the Liapunov functional are required. Thus, in addition to the periodic solution, the equation may have both bounded and unbounded Solutions.
Percutaneous cholecystostomy treatment of acute cholecystitis in pregnancy.

Background Medical treatment of acute cholecystitis in pregnancy may lead to prolonged management and recurrent hospitalizations, whereas surgical management predisposes the mother and fetus to the inherent risks of surgery and general anesthesia. Although percutaneous cholecystostomy has been proven to be an efficacious treatment in critically ill and general surgery patients who are at high risk for surgery, this technique has not been used routinely as a treatment for acute cholecystitis in pregnancy. Cases We report two women (at 30 and 32 weeks' gestation, respectively) who presented with acute calculus cholecystitis. The first patient was a 33-year-old female who failed endoscopie retrograde cholangiopancreatography and papillotomy and had multiple return visits for nausea and vomiting. The second patient was a 23-year-old female with three previous admissions for cholecystitis during the pregnancy. These two patients underwent emergency ultrasound-guided percutaneous transhepatic cholecystostomy. Percutaneous cholecystostomy provided adequate biliary decompression for the remainder of the pregnancy; the patients delivered healthy infants and underwent successful uncomplicated elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy within 3 months of delivery. Conclusion Percutaneous cholecystostomy may provide a safe and effective alternative for the palliation of acute cholecystitis in pregnancy until a postpartum cholecystectomy can be performed.
C-to-CoRAM: compiling perfect loop nests to the portable CoRAM abstraction

This paper presents initial work on developing a C compiler for the CoRAM FPGA computing abstraction. The presented effort focuses on compiling fixed-bound perfect loop nests that operate on large data sets in external DRAM. As required by the CoRAM abstraction, the compiler partitions source code into two separate implementation components: (1) hardware kernel pipelines to be mapped onto the reconfigurable logic fabric; and (2) control threads that express, in a C-like language, the sequencing and coordination of data transfers between the hardware kernels and external DRAM. The compiler performs optimizations to increase parallelism and use DRAM bandwidth efficiently. It can target different FPGA platforms that support the CoRAM abstraction, either natively in a future FPGA or in soft-logic on today's devices. The CoRAM abstraction provides a convenient high-level compilation target to simplify the task of design optimization and system generation. The compiler is evaluated using three test programs (matrix-matrix multiplication, k-nearest neighbor, and 2D convolution) on the Xilinx ML605 and the Altera DE4. Results show that our compiler is able to target the different platforms and effectively exploit their dissimilar capacities and features. Depending on the application, the compiler-generated implementations achieve performance ranging from a factor of 4 slower to a factor of 2 faster relative to hand-designed implementations, as measured on actual hardware.
Quasi-co-local subgroups of abelian groups

Abstract Let { 0 } ≠ K be a subgroup of the abelian group G . In [J. Buckner, M. Dugas, Co-local subgroups of abelian groups, in: Abelian Groups, Rings, Modules, and Homological Algebra, in: Lect. Notes Pure and Appl. Math., vol. 249, Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, FL, 2006, pp. 29–37], K was called a co-local (cl) subgroup of G if Hom ( G , G ) is naturally isomorphic to Hom ( G , G / K ) . We generalize this notion to the quasi-category of abelian groups and call the subgroup K ≠ { 0 } of G a quasi-co-local (qcl) subgroup of G if Q ⊗ Z Hom ( G , G ) is naturally isomorphic to Q ⊗ Z Hom ( G , G / K ) . We show that qcl subgroups behave quite differently from cl subgroups. For example, while cl subgroups K are pure in G , i.e. G / K is torsion-free if G is torsion-free, any reduced torsion group T can be the torsion subgroup t ( G / K ) of G / K where G is torsion-free and K is a qcl subgroup of G .
Determination of burning velocity of pentaborane-oxygen-nitrogen mixtures

Abstract Pentaborane has been selected as a representative boron hydride in order to obtain burning velocity measurements over a wide range of fuel-air mixtures. Freely propagating laminar flame kernels produced by spark ignition are photographed by the flash schlieren technique, and the burning velocity is derived from the measured rate of growth of these kernels. The pentaborane-air burning velocity reaches a maximum value of slightly on the rich side of stoichiometric. The influence of oxygen concentration on burning velocity is reported. Pentaborane flames show pronounced cellular structure of the flame front at all mixture ratios.
Hispanics With Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Are More Likely to Have Features of Autoimmune Hepatitis and Reduced Response to Ursodeoxycholic Acid Than Non-Hispanics

Background & Aims Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a cholestatic disease that predominantly affects middle-aged Caucasian women. Studies have suggested that PBC has a more aggressive course in individuals of Hispanic ancestry. We investigated the clinical presentation and progression of PBC in an ethnically diverse population. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study, analyzing data from Hispanic (n = 70) and non-Hispanic patients (n = 134) with PBC seen at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2011. We compared demographics, clinical presentation, response to therapy, and outcomes between the groups. Results Age at diagnosis, antimitochondrial antibody positivity, frequency of advanced histologic stage, use and dose of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), and the presence of pruritus or fatigue were similar between groups. Hypothyroidism was less frequent among Hispanics (16% vs 29% in non-Hispanics; P = .04). Hispanic subjects were more likely to have overlap syndrome of PBC and autoimmune hepatitis than non-Hispanics (31% vs 13%; P = .002). After a median follow-up period of 3.65 years, a greater percentage of Hispanics had ascites (24% vs 12%; P = .03) and variceal bleeding (20% vs 7%; P = .01), although there were no differences in the number of deaths or liver transplants. Of 204 total patients, 180 received UDCA for at least 1 year. A lower proportion of Hispanic patients had a biochemical response to treatment (60% vs 88%; P Conclusions In a cross-sectional study, patients of Hispanic ethnicity with PBC had an increased prevalence of overlap syndrome, reduced response to UDCA treatment, and more frequent complications of portal hypertension than non-Hispanic patients.
Endoscopic optic nerve decompression

Endoscopic optic nerve decompression is a safe and reliable approach for surgical decompression. However, the indications and efficacy of surgical decompression remain debatable. Surgical decompression may be performed for numerous lesions that compress the optic nerve in the optic canal leading to problems with vision. However, it is most often most controversially employed for decompression in indirect traumatic injuries to the optic nerve. Advances in endoscopic instrumentation and surgical techniques have made endoscopic optic nerve decompression via an intranasal transethmoidal-transsphenoidal a preferred approach over other extracranial or craniotomy approaches.
An Integrated Land-Aquatic Classification System

Abstract Responsible resource use depends largely on accurate inventories, which implies the creation of a land classification system because an inventory without classification is mainly an unorganized list. In this paper we develop a simple classification system based on causes of differences between classes and integrate the riverine with the terrestrial to form the basic ecological system. Within this concept, diverse users of the system such as fishery managers, timber harvesters, and livestock grazers have a common classification base from which to operate. Thus, this land-water classification system will help managers meet the increasing demands placed on all resources while giving the fishery the optimum input into the decision-making process.