cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mapping endpoints of partial proteolysis fragments from regulatory subunit of type I cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

Methods for mapping endpoints of partial proteolysis fragments from regulatory subunit of type I cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase are described with a view to using such data for fine-structure analysis of mutations and/or modifications affecting the protein's electrostatic charge. Peptides generated from [35S]methionine-labeled regulatory subunit were separated by high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Sites of papain cleavage in denatured regulatory subunit were deduced from the kinetics of the appearance, molecular weights, and relative isoelectric points of the fragments produced. These sites and sites of chymotrypsin digestion in the native protein were confirmed by studying peptide overlaps. Carboxy-terminal peptides were identified both by overlaps with cyclic AMP-binding chymotryptic fragments and by their preferential labeling during polysome runoff mediated by pactamycin, an inhibitor of protein initiation. Since peptides containing modifications or mutations that alter protein charge can be identified by shifts in first-dimension isoelectric focusing gel positions, knowledge of fragment endpoints will permit rapid mapping of sites of such alterations by two-dimensional gel analysis of partial proteolytic digests. Such a mapping procedure is inexpensive, can be applied to partially purified proteins or to proteins eluted from polyacrylamide gels, requires only nanogram amounts of the protein of interest, and does not require sequence data to determine relative positions of peptides. Therefore, it provides an attractive alternative to more classical peptide analysis for studying point mutations in cellular proteins of low abundance.
Soft body locomotion

We present a physically-based system to simulate and control the locomotion of soft body characters without skeletons. We use the finite element method to simulate the deformation of the soft body, and we instrument a character with muscle fibers to allow it to actively control its shape. To perform locomotion, we use a variety of intuitive controls such as moving a point on the character, specifying the center of mass or the angular momentum, and maintaining balance. These controllers yield an objective function that is passed to our optimization solver, which handles convex quadratic program with linear complementarity constraints. This solver determines the new muscle fiber lengths, and moreover it determines whether each point of contact should remain static, slide, or lift away from the floor. Our system can automatically find an appropriate combination of muscle contractions that enables a soft character to fulfill various locomotion tasks, including walking, jumping, crawling, rolling and balancing.
Physical Organic Chemistry of Transition Metal Carbene Complexes. 13.1 Kinetics of Proton Transfer from (5-Methyl-2-oxacyclopentylidene)pentacarbonylchromium(0) and Hydrolysis of Its Conjugate Anion in Aqueous Acetonitrile

The pKa = 13.41 of the title compound (5), determined by a kinetic method, is about 1.3 units lower than the pKa of (2-oxacyclopentylidene)pentacarbonylchromium(0) (1) in 50% MeCN−50% water at 25 °C. The acidifying effect of the methyl group is attributed to its stabilizing effect on the CC double-bond resonance structure of the anion (5-). The rate constant for deprotonation of 5 by OH- is about the same as for deprotonation of 1, despite the higher acidity of 5. This means that the intrinsic rate constant for proton transfer from 5 is significantly lower than that from 1. This reduction in the intrinsic rate constant is mainly the result of the imbalanced nature of the transition state which deprives the transition state from the stabilizing effect of the methyl group. Based on precedents, the most likely mechanism for the hydrolysis of 5 involves rate-limiting protonation of 5- concerted with metal−carbon bond cleavage. Even though the relatively small kinetic solvent isotope effect cannot rigorously e...
Effective treatment of extremely sensitive hay fever patients by the chilling method.

Abstract 1.1. The principle of chilling was utilized in the treatment of class A patients (the most extremely sensitive) suffering from late hay fever. 2.2. Thirty hay fever patients were treated with dosages exceeding three to four times the routine dosage of ragweed extract due to the retardation of absorption following the vasoconstriction of chilling. The chilling method does not require a reduction in dosage when intervals between injections are two to three weeks. One-half of the treated patients belonging to A class were able to receive perennial treatment following a course of treatment with chilling method. The dosage can be increased even during the hay fever season. 3.3. The chilling procedure is timesaving, since it diminishes the number of visits by 40 per cent. 4.4. Constitutional reactions occurred very seldom, and no delayed reaction was observed. 5.5. The clinical results of treatment gave marked improvement with effective relief of symptoms of hay fever in all treated patients. 6.6. Chilling renders the injections painless.
DSM-IV defined conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder: an investigation of shared liability in female twins.

Background DSM-IV specifies a hierarchal diagnostic structure such that an oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) diagnosis is applied only if criteria are not met for conduct disorder (CD). Genetic studies of ODD and CD support a combination of shared genetic and environmental influences but largely ignore the imposed diagnostic structure. Method We examined whether ODD and CD share an underlying etiology while accounting for DSM-IV diagnostic specifications. Data from 1446 female twin pairs, aged 11–19 years, were fitted to two-stage models adhering to the DSM-IV diagnostic hierarchy. Results The models suggested that DSM-IV ODD–CD covariation is attributed largely to shared genetic influences. Conclusions This is the first study, to our knowledge, to examine genetic and environmental overlap among these disorders while maintaining a DSM-IV hierarchical structure. The findings reflect primarily shared genetic influences and specific (i.e. uncorrelated) shared/familial environmental effects on these DSM-IV-defined behaviors. These results have implications for how best to define CD and ODD for future genetically informed analyses.
Multi class traffic analysis of single and multi-band queuing system

To facilitate higher bandwidth for multimedia traffic, modern routers support simultaneous multi-band communication, leading to less interference, higher capacity and better reliability. However, there is lack of quantitative evaluation to judge whether multi-band is better than single band router in realistic scenarios. Our objective is to propose a scheduling algorithm for multi-band routers and compare single band and multi-band system with different allocation policies. We have used different scheduling algorithms for multi-band routers which transmit different classes of traffic through different frequency bands, thereby achieving improved performance. By comparing multi-band and single band mobile router performances, we have found out that one of them is not always better than the other although multi-band is expected to have better performance.
The Vitamin D Receptor Gene Start Codon Polymorphism: A Functional Analysis of FokI Variants†

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene contains a start codon polymorphism (SCP) which is three codons upstream of a second start site (ATG). The SCP genotype can be determined with the restriction enzyme FokI, where “f” indicates the presence of the restriction site and the first ATG, while “F” indicates its absence. Recent evidence suggests that the ff genotype is correlated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) in some populations. The SCP results in alternate VDRs that differ structurally, with the F variant (F-VDR) being three amino acids shorter than the f variant (f-VDR). To determine whether there are functional differences between the f-VDR and the F-VDR, we studied the two VDR forms expressed in COS-7 cells. The proteins were distinguishable from one another on Western blots by their different mobilities, confirming the larger size of f-VDR. Ligand binding studies showed no significant differences between the affinities of the two VDR forms for [3H]-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 ([3H]-1,25(OH)2D3) (Kd = 131 ± 78 pM, f-VDR; Kd = 237 ± 190 pM, F-VDR; p = 0.24); however, a 2-fold difference in affinity can not be discriminated by this method. There were no differences in the abilities of the two receptor forms to bind DNA as determined by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. The ability of the two VDR forms to transactivate target genes was investigated using three different vitamin D responsive luciferase reporter constructs: 24-hydroxylase, osteocalcin, and osteopontin. In these transactivation experiments, 1,25(OH)2D3 dose-response (0.1–10 nM) curves revealed that the ED50 values for transactivation were indistinguishable between the two VDR forms. Additionally, cultured human fibroblasts with FF,Ff, and ff genotypes had similar sensitivity to 1,25(OH)2D3 with respect to the induction of 24-hydroxylase mRNA. In summary, we were unable to detect significant differences in ligand affinity, DNA binding, or transactivation activity between f-VDR and F-VDR forms. We must emphasize, however, that the sensitivity of the methods used limits our ability to detect minor differences in VDR affinity and function. In conclusion, we cannot define a mechanism whereby the SCP in the VDR might contribute to population differences in BMD.
Is there a case for paternalism in forensic nursing

Forensic nurses often face a competing duty to patients and society. This article explores possible solutions to the ethical conflict.
An Analysis of Child Caregivers' Language During Book Sharing With Toddler-Age Children:

Increasing enrollment in childcare centers has led to questions about the extent to which those environments foster child development in areas such as language. This study examined the language of childcare center caregivers during book sharing with children to describe caregivers' use of linguistic structures (declarative, imperative, and compound/ complex sentences; wh—, yes/no, and choice questions) that have been suggested to positively or negatively affect early language acquisition. Results revealed similarities and differences in caregivers' use of the structures. Additionally, each caregiver demonstrated a communicative “style” during book sharing across the children. Implications for the speech—language pathologist's role within childcare centers are discussed.
Infection and Cancer Screening in Potential Living Donors: Best Practices to Protect the Donor and Recipient

Twenty-one percent of transplants in the US come from live donors. Data show that live-donor transplantation is a safe practice, but is not completely risk free. Malignancy and infection transmission through live organ donation is extremely rare, but can be a devastating event for the recipient, donor and treatment team if it occurs. The donor evaluation is multifactorial, taking into the account the unique medical, social and family history of individual donors, needs of the recipient, and determination of the anatomic and functional suitability of the donor organ, and is further complicated by geographical and temporal components. While balancing all practical considerations can be complex, a thorough medical assessment for infection and malignancy of potential living donor is central in protecting the donor and the intended transplant recipient.
Perfect requantization for video transcoding

Bit rate adaptation is one of the most important types of video transcoding. In this paper, we investigate certain critical points in the spectrum of rate shaping requests. We show that the selection of quantization step sizes may not have monotonic effects on rate-distortion characteristics in the transcoding sense. In other words, rate-distortion tradeoff for transcoding which operates on an already-compressed source can be different than that for regular encoding which operates on an original source. We show in a generic form that careful selections of the step size can lead to much improved performance for transcoding, especially when comparing to what would have been produced through a direct encoding. We demonstrate this unique rate-distortion characteristic through simulations as well as real transcoding scenario with H.264 sequences.
The Experimental Use of Guthion® as a Selective Fish Eradicator

Abstract Channel catfish fingerlings exhibited a greater tolerance of Guthion® than four other species of fish in laboratory tests. Under field conditions, 13 other species of fish were effectively removed by 1.0 ppm of Guthion without significant effects on catfishes. Differences in water quality and temperature did not affect the effectiveness of the chemical. Food organisms were not permanently affected. Insect naiads were evident 10 days after treatments were applied. No difference in the abundance of zooplankters could be attributed to the application of the Guthion. Fish killed by Guthion were not fit for consumption. Profound differences were noted between the residue levels in the flesh as compared to those in the offal of dressed fish. Offal contained up to 2.5 times as much residue as the flesh. Residue levels dropped sharply by the end of 1 week and were no longer detectable 6 weeks after exposure.
A regular rhombohedral lattice sampling of Munsell renotation space

At the October, 1953, meeting of the OSA Committee on Uniform Color Scales there was reviewed the progress made since 1948 in experimental determinations of the rates of change of color perception with distance in the (Y,x,y) CIE color solid under various observing conditions. Similarly there was reviewed progress in devising more accurate formulas for the size of color differences perceptually evaluated. It was noted that these studies have supplied a basis for improvement in the spacing recommended in 1943 by the OSA Committee on the Spacing of the Munsell Colors. The committee voted to proceed with this adjustment of spacing and to undertake the preparation of a face-centered cubic (or regular rhombohedral) sampling of the adjusted color space in the form of color chips suitable for study by members of the committee. If the adjusted space is perceptually uniform, the rhombohedral sampling will result in an array of colors each of which, in the interior of the array, is surrounded by 12 nearest neighbors all differing from the central color by the same perceptual amount. On this account this array of colors is maximally convenient for a closing visual check of the adequacy of the experimental data used for adjusting the color space. As a first step toward production of such an array of colors in chip form, Dr. Wyszecki was asked to compute color specifications for a sampling of Munsell renotation space according to a rhombohedral space lattice of such unit size as to produce, with available colorants, about 500 colors. This paper gives the numerical results requested, together with a brief discussion of space lattices and their importance in studies of tridimensional color spacing.Deane B. Judd, ChairmanOSA Committee on Uniform Color Scales
Industrial cogeneration: Problems and promise☆

Abstract Considerable potential for industrial cogeneration of electricity and process heat is currently available in the U.S. A number of prime mover technologies suitable for application in cogeneration facilities are already technically proven in other conventional systems. Industries with particularly attractive opportunities include paper and pulp, chemical, petroleum refining, iron and steel, and cement manufacturers. The apparent technical potential is limited significantly by economic, environmental, and regulatory factors, as well as by the need for new dimensions in industry and utility cooperation. Although substantial societal benefits in the form of energy conservation are available from a strong commitment to industrial cogeneration systems, many obstacles to systems deployment remain, which will not be readily overcome without the adoption of policy incentives.
The linear complementarity problem as a separable bilinear program

The nonmonotone linear complementarity problem (LCP) is formulated as a bilinear program with separable constraints and an objective function that minimizes a natural error residual for the LCP. A linear-programming-based algorithm applied to the bilinear program terminates in a finite number of steps at a solution or stationary point of the problem. The bilinear algorithm solved 80 consecutive cases of the LCP formulation of the knapsack feasibility problem ranging in size between 10 and 3000, with almost constant average number of major iterations equal to four.
The management of bulbar urethral stricture disease before referral for definitive repair: have practice patterns changed?

Objective To describe the management of patients with bulbar urethral stricture disease before referral for definitive urethroplasty and determine if practice patterns have changed with respect to endoscopic interventions. Materials and Methods We performed an institutional review board–approved retrospective review and recorded patient demographics, stricture-related information, and all procedures performed for bulbar urethral stricture disease before initial presentation at our institution. Included procedures were: UroLume stent (AMS, Minnetonka, MN), laser urethrotomy, direct visual urethrotomy (DVIU), and dilation of urethral stricture. Patients with prior urethroplasty were excluded. We compared the differences between procedures when stratified by stricture length. Results We identified 363 men who underwent urethroplasty for bulbar urethral stricture disease from January 1996 to September 2011. Of the total, 235 men (65%) had a prior DVIU, whereas 65 of these men (28%) had multiple DVIUs. One hundred ninety-nine men (55%) had a prior dilation and 155 of these men (78%) had multiple dilations. The remaining procedures consisted of laser urethrotomy (6; 2%), and UroLume stent (4; 1%). Twenty-four patients (6%) had no procedures before referral. There was no statistically significant difference between numbers of prior procedures when stratified by stricture length. From 1996 to 2010, there was no appreciable change in number of procedures before referral, with ∼70% of patients with ≥2 prior procedures. Conclusion Our institution has not seen a measurable change in practice patterns before referral from 1996 to 2010. Future studies are needed to determine if the change in referral patterns in 2011 represents a future trend.
Evaluation of observed blast loading effects on NIF x-ray diagnostic collimatorsa)

We present the “debris wind” models used to estimate the impulsive load to which x-ray diagnostics and other structures are subject during National Ignition Facility experiments. These models are used as part of the engineering design process. Isotropic models, based on simulations or simplified “expanding shell” models, are augmented by debris wind multipliers to account for directional anisotropy. We present improvements to these multipliers based on measurements of the permanent deflections of diagnostic components: 4× for the polar direction and 2× within the equatorial plane—the latter relaxing the previous heuristic debris wind multiplier.
Dephosphorylation of standard prolactin produces a more biologically active molecule: evidence for antagonism between nonphosphorylated and phosphorylated prolactin in the stimulation of Nb2 cell proliferation

Charge isomers of monomer PRL have been described for all species thus far examined. For the rat, cow, and chicken, at least a major proportion of the more acidic isomers have been shown to be phosphorylated. The physiological relevance of this posttranslational phosphorylation, however, remains unclear. In this study we have compared the growth-promoting activities of dephosphorylated and standard rat PRL (partially phosphorylated) in the widely used Nb2 bioassay. Dephosphorylated PRL was produced by treatment of standard rat PRL with acid phosphatase, resulting in the conversion of a 91.9% nonphosphorylated/8.1% phosphorylated preparation to a 98.6% nonphosphorylated preparation. These two preparations were added separately or in combination to stationary Nb2 cells. Cell number was assessed 3 days later using a colorimetric assay. Dephosphorylated PRL showed significantly higher growth-promoting activity than standard PRL at concentrations up to 10 ng/ml. In the 1-5 ng/ml concentration range, dephosphor...
Provenance for MapReduce-based data-intensive workflows

MapReduce has been widely adopted by many business and scientific applications for data-intensive processing of large datasets. There are increasing efforts for workflows and systems to work with the MapReduce programming model and the Hadoop environment including our work on a higher-level programming model for MapReduce within the Kepler Scientific Workflow System. However, to date, provenance of MapReduce-based workflows and its effects on workflow execution performance have not been studied in depth. In this paper, we present an extension to our earlier work on MapReduce in Kepler to record the provenance of MapReduce workflows created using the Kepler+Hadoop framework. In particular, we present: (i) a data model that is able to capture provenance inside a MapReduce job as well as the provenance for the workflow that submitted it; (ii) an extension to the Kepler+Hadoop architecture to record provenance using this data model on MySQL Cluster; (iii) a programming interface to query the collected information; and (iv) an evaluation of the scalability of collecting and querying this provenance information using two scenarios with different characteristics.
Modal representation in polyphonic offertories

In 1957 Nino Pirrotta expressed his view of Palestrina's music and the Tridentine reforms as follows:The composers were directed to avoid too open an intrusion of secular elements, and to preserve the comprehensibility of the text so far as possible. That the latter would have been attainable through the avoidance of canons and other developed contrapuntal procedures (Animuccia, preface to Laude, Libro ii, 1570) is only in part true, if the noteworthy complexity of Palestrina's polyphonic composition is taken into account. In fact the problem had to be solved more from the spiritual than from the purely technical side. The true contribution of Palestrina and some of his contemporaries (e.g. de Kerle and Animuccia) to its solution — dramatised in anecdotes which do not withstand historical criticism — consists in the deep and inner religiosity which his works unquestionably express. This religiosity, joined to the responsibility for interpreting the official attitude of the Church, influenced the style in that it led to extreme circumspection in taking up the new means of emphasis and expression, be it because they had arisen from secular music (above all after the rise of the madrigal) or because they seemed incompatible with the restraint becoming to the divine service (since they tended towards the description and expression of personal feelings).
Inhibition of fatty acid oxidation and glucose metabolism does not affect food intake or hunger motivation in syrian hamsters

We examined the interaction of the metabolic fuels, glucose and free fatty acids (FFA), in the control of food intake in Syrian hamsters. Hamsters were treated with a 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) which inhibits glucose utilization, and methyl palmoxirate (MP), which inhibits fatty acid oxidation. The 2DG and MP, alone or in combination did not enhance food intake in hamsters fed a standard rodent chow diet. Determination of the circulating glucose, FFAs, and ketones confirmed that the drugs were having the intended metabolic effects. The 2DG caused marked hyperglycemia and decreased ketones consistent with an inhibition of glycolysis, and the MP caused increased FFAs and decreased ketones indicating inhibition of fatty acid oxidation. A third experiment examined the hamsters' willingness to ingest a diet made highly unpalatable with NaCl, another measure of hunger motivation. Although food-deprived hamsters ingested more of a salt-adulterated diet than did control animals, hamsters treated with MP and 2DG did not. These experiments provide further evidence that the control of food intake in Syrian hamsters is appreciably different than that of laboratory rats.
Analysis of Acyclic Attenuating Systems for the SSR Protection Model

The distribution of privileges in domains of subjects defines the protection state of a system. Operations which change this state are themselves authorized by privileges in the current state. This poses an analysis problem of characterizing states which are derivable from a given initial state. Analysis is particularly difficult if creation of new subjects is permitted. Also the need for tractable analysis conflicts with the need for generality in specifying policies. The Schematic Send-Receive (SSR) model resolves this conflict by classifying subjects and objects into protection types. The domain of each subject consists of a static type-determined part specified by an authorization scheme and a dynamic part consisting of tickets (capabilities). We analyze a restricted class of systems in SSR. Specifically, the scheme authorizes crest ion via a binary relation on types. Our major constraint is that this relation be acyclic excepting loops which authorize a subject to create subjects of its own type. Our constraints admit a large class of useful systems.
Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis Prophylaxis: A Succinct Review for Pediatric Emergency Physicians and Nurses

This article briefly reviews the pathogenesis, microbiology, epidemiology and the diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis, and provides guidelines regarding antibiotic prophylaxis. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of data or published recommendations to guide the use of antibiotic prophylaxis for subacute bacterial endocarditis with specific injuries or emergency department procedures.
String loop corrections to beta functions

Abstract We study the problem of finding the beta functions, and the associated spacetime effective action, for interacting open and closed strings propagating in background fields. String loop divergences play a crucial role in this problem. Cancelling them against sigma model divergences gives a consistent set of loop-corrected beta functions, which can be derived from a simple generalization of the string-tree-level effective action. This suggests the existence of new string theories which are conformally invariant only after all world sheets have been summed.
Fast printer color calibration using pre-build linearization tables

Closed loop printer color calibration is a process to ensure consistent color reproduction. For an ink jet printer, the color rendering result may vary due to the manufacturing variations in ink drop weight, ink chemistry, and environmental effects of temperature and humidity on printing process. In this paper, we present a fast printer color calibration method which is designed specifically for mid- to low-end printers. A new linearization method has been proposed. Using this method, we can reduce the number of color patches used for color calibration, whereas maintain the high calibration accuracy. The basic idea is that, for each primary ink (CMYK or CMYKcm), instead of printing and measuring the whole color ramp to generate the linearization table online, we measure only one color patch to estimate the ink drop weight. Then by using a set of pre-build linearization tables, the final linearization table is obtained by interpolating the pre-build tables. We show how to select the ink jet pens with different drop weights to pre-build the linearization tables. We show also how to estimate the ink drop weight and compute the final linearization table by interpolation.
Property structures, demography and the crisis of the agrarian economy of colonial Bombay Presidency.

Some of the most influential arguments about the failure of dynamic development in Indian agriculture during the colonial period have focused on the scarcity of capital, the absence of suitable technology, and demographic growth. This article assesses the role of those limitations, but contends that they describe the impasse of colonial Indian agriculture rather than explain why it happened. It is necessary to explain why available capital was not used productively, why formal potentials for technical improvements were not introduced into production, and why demographic growth should not have stimulated innovations rather than cause technological stagnation. To do so requires bringing into central focus the social‐property relations. The article explores the manner in which peasant possession of land and other means of subsistence limited productive utilisation of capital and technology, triggered a certain demographic regime and, in turn, disrupted further developmental possibilities. The article is base...
Inertia effects on characterization of dynamic response of brain tissue.

Modeling and simulation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulted from collision or blast loading requires characterization of mechanical response over a wide range of loading rates under valid testing conditions. In this study, mechanical response of fresh bovine brain tissue was studied using the two modified Kolsky bar techniques. Radial deformation behavior of annular specimens, which are typically used to characterize the dynamic uniaxial compressive response of biological tissues, was examined using a modified Kolsky bar and a high speed camera to collect images while the specimen deforms at an axial strain rate of 2000s(-1). The high-speed images revealed inhomogeneous specimen deformation possibly brought about by radial inertia and causing a multi-axial stress state. To acquire valid stress-strain results that can be used to produce constitutive behavior of the soft materials, a novel torsion technique was developed to obtain pure shear response at dynamic loading rates. Experimental results show clear differences in the material response using the two methods. These results indicate that the previously demonstrated annular specimen geometry aimed at reducing inertia induced stress components for high rate soft materials uniaxial-compressive testing may still possess a significant component of radial inertia induced radial stress which consequently caused the observed inhomogeneous deformation in brain tissue test samples. Language: en
A compact multi-standard and non-standard reconfigurable FPGA-based method for embedded real-time video image compilation or conversion

For LADAR systems with an arbitrary or undetermined scanner system, the raw video data produced is not usually in a form that can be used by standard video display devices such as a television monitor or frame grabber. This raw data must first be processed and organized into a standard video format or into a custom digital format for further processing. If this system is designed as an FPGA-based system, it can be combined with an FPGA-based scanner controller for an even more compact unit. This FPGA-based system can be extremely complex or simple depending on the desired input/output format. Even better, the system can be made reconfigurable to allow many input and output data formats. Such a system has already been designed and is being tested. Many programmable constants are provided to allow modification of the raw data from the photo-detector at a 4.195KHz horizontal line scan rate and produce a composite RS-170 compliant video signal with a 15.75KHz horizontal line scan rate. The program can adapt to any set of input and output frequencies, sync pulse width, white and black level.
Rock-physics Characterization of a Tertiary Fluvial Reservoir, La Cira-Infantas Oil Field (Colombia).

Rock-physics analysis and modeling of a Tertiary fluvial reservoir in La Cira-Infantas oil field shows that velocity and acoustic impedance are reliable reservoir quality discriminators. High velocity and acoustic impedance correspond to shales while low velocity and acoustic impedance indicate high-quality sandstone reservoirs. Rock-physics-and-stratigraphy-based interpretation of Pwave seismic data appears to be a promising approach for the detection of depleted, bypassed and untapped reservoirs and deeper pools in mature fields such as La Cira-Infantas.
Assessment typology and intervention with the survivors of stalking

This review article proposes use of a case example to explore a therapeutic framework that utilizes short-term crisis intervention to assist the survivor of the stalking experience. Legal sanctions and laws to protect these victims have been criticized as lacking, and many times in the past mental health professionals have been accused of allowing survivors of stalking to slip through the cracks. This article was written to provide the reader with the basic information needed to begin to understand, diagnose, and treat the survivor exposed to this type of phenomenon.
Eukaryotic regulatory elements lurking in plasmid DNA: the activator protein-1 site in pUC.

Imagine that a Cartesian demon is trying to fool molecular biologists who study gene regulation. He inserts a potent regulatory site into their standard plasmids, a site that can confer transcription regulation via a wide variety of agents on a linked core promoter. These agents include growth factors, neurotransmitters, oxidative stress, UV irradiation, cytokines, phorbol esters, cyclic nucleotides, and steroid/thyroid hormones. Then the demon watches as innocent investigators insert their favorite promoter fragment into the booby-trapped plasmids, transfect the construct into mammalian cells, and analyze gene regulation. Confusion ensues. Parts of this tale are real. Plasmids of the pUC series contain a binding site for activator protein-l (AP-1). a potent and widespread transcription factor that is composed of the Jun and Fos proteins and whose activity is subject to many avenues of regulation (1, 2). The “demon” site, located at basepair 37 in the standard sequence (3) is only a few hundred basepairs from the multiple cloning site where promoter sequences are typically inserted for study. The plasmid AP-1 site, TGACACA, was first suspected on the basis of sequence (Ref. 2, p. 1200) and by its seeming ability to confer responsiveness to UV irradiation (Ref. 4, p. 5175). Its biological activity has now been studied and independently confirmed. The site confers activation by phorbol esters and by transfected Jun on promoters inserted into the multiple cloning site. Jun activation is potentiated by unliganded thyroid hormone receptor and liganded estrogen receptor, but is repressed by thyroid hormone (1) (our unpublished findings). Repression by thyroid hormone is unique to the plasmid site and not conferred by a consensus AP-1 site (TGACTCA). Thus, whereas the demon site can be expected to confer the full range of AP-1 effects, in-
Adaptive identification for the dynamics of large space structures

A new approach for identifying the dynamics of large space structures using noisy measurements is presented. In this approach, a modal system description is avoided and, hence, the a priori specification of model order. Instead, the system's order is recursively determined on-line, along with its parameters, using recursive lattice filters which are widely used in adaptive signal processing. The order determination is carried out based on statistical hypothesis testing theory. The approach is illustrated for the problem of identifying the structural dynamic characteristics of a free-free beam. Results on the effectiveness and accuracy of the identification scheme with respect to noise levels, sampling rates, and data window sizes are presented
An Alternate Presentation of Fourier Transform Development from Fourier Series

Students often have difficulty understanding the Fourier transform concept and its relation to Fourier series concepts and signal spectrum concepts. Conceptual problems occur for the student in understanding the transition from the line spectra obtained with Fourier series to the continuous frequency spectra obtained with Fourier transforms and in understanding the reason that the resulting amplitude spectrum is in fact an amplitude density spectrum. An alternate presentation of the development of the Fourier transform from the complex exponential Fourier series is presented. This presentation has been found to improve students' understanding of the nature of the spectral information obtained for an aperiodic signal with the Fourier transform.
Orienting disabled students

Disabled students offer a special challenge to orientation planners. These students must be mainstreamed into regular orientation programs and given special attention, particularly prior to enrollment.
Profound thrombocytopenia associated with Crotalus ruber ruber envenomation: A clinical case

A case of thrombocytopenia associated with a bite by the rattlesnake Crotalus ruber ruber is presented. Platelets decreased to a value of 4000/mm3 over a 4-day period following envenomation. A gradual recovery and rebound over normal levels occurred during the ensuing 2 weeks. The most probable explanation is that of peripheral destruction or consumption of platelets, as the bone marrow revealed adequate megakaryocytes during the time of thrombocytopenia. It is suggested that platelets be monitored more closely after snake envenomation.
Comparative studies of the reflectivity of vitrinite and sporinite

Abstract Reflectance of vitrinite and sporinite of 27 Upper Carboniferous and 31 Upper Cretaceous-Tertiary coal samples from the United States was measured and compared. Plots of vitrinite reflectance vs sporinite reflectance indicate that the two groups of coals follow separate trends. Differences in source plant material and plant evolutionary changes (conifers vs lycopods and articulates) are thought to be, in addition to other factors, the dictating factors controlling those variations. The convergence of vitrinite and sporinite upon coalification in Cretaceous-Tertiary coals appears to be “earlier”, at a vitrinite reflectance 0.15–0.20% lower than that of the Upper Carboniferous coals. Resin impregnation of coniferous wood may have retarded the measured reflectance value though the maturation level and process with respect to a time-temperature function are essentially the same for both Cretaceous-Tertiary and Upper Carboniferous coals.
Optimal nonlinear fax restoration

An optimal filter is estimated to restore binary fax images. The filter is an approximation of the binary conditional expectation which minimizes the expected absolute error between the degraded image and the ideal image. It is implemented as a morphological hit-or-miss filter. Estimation methodology employs a model-based simulation of the degradation due to the fax process.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
An evaluation of some microeconomic consequences of a future oil embargo

In order to develop an energy policy designed to help insulate the economy against the effects of a future oil embargo, projections of the effects of an embargo are necessary. Past work has concentrated on the aggregate output loss from an embargo, but has not carefully considered other important effects. This paper examines two important effects. First, the most heavily damaged sectors are identified, showing the automobile industry to have by far the most significant damage. Second, a large part of the economic damage done by an embargo is shown to be due to a decline in the demand for output rather than as a direct consequence of reduced petroleum supplies. This finding is significant for two related policy reasons. First, it implies that even if policy makers could replace all of the embargoed oil, major economic disruptions could still result from an embargo. Second, policies designed to minimize demand disruptions can achieve significant benefits, at low cost, and should have a high priority in policy matters pertaining to embargoes.
Transcriptional regulation of the transferrin receptor in differentiating HL-60 leukemic cells.

Summary HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells were induced to differentiate along the granulocytic pathway by treatment with dimethylsulfoxide. A significant decrease in transferrin receptor specific mRNA was seen as early as 4 hr after exposure to inducer. Relative to untreated controls, transcript levels decreased 5-fold within 24 hr of exposure to dimethylsulfoxide and remained depressed throughout a 6-day treatment period. Reductions in receptor transcripts preceded the loss of surface receptor which in turn preceded the expression of the differentiated phenotype. The findings demonstrate that differentiation-associated regulation of the transferrin receptor can occur at the transcriptional level.
Prospects for altering host range for baculovirus bioinsecticides

Abstract Advances in the understanding of baculovirus replication and the identification of genes that affect host range set the stage for constructing recombinant baculoviruses for specific pest insects. The modification of baculovirus host specificity has recently been achieved by inserting or deleting genes that affect virus replication or cellular defenses.
Crystallization of FeBSi metallic glass during ball milling

Abstract We corroborated the results of Trudeau et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64 , 99 (1990)] showing that an Fe-B-Si metallic glass undergoes crystallization during milling in a Spex ball mill. We find, however, that after milling the partially-crystallized powders could not be fully reverted to a metallic glass by piston-anvil quenching from the liquid state. We measured significant iron contamination in the as-milled powders, and particles of α-Fe could induce crystallization in iron-rich regions in their vicinity. Our results do not support the concept of a mechanically-driven crystallization.
Positive and Negative Inotropic Effects of Elevated Extracellular Potassium Level on Mammalian Ventricular Muscle

The effect of moderate elevation in extracellular potassium concentration (up to 12 mM) on contraction of cat ventricular muscle was examined. Isometric force development was recorded from eight excised trabeculae and from six coronary-perfused in situ papillary muscle preparations. Contraction in the steady state was variably affected, sometimes decreasing monotonically, sometimes remaining unchanged, with increasing potassium level. In 11 of these 14 preparations, the steady state was preceded by a transient period in which the contraction was augmented. In addition, eight excised trabeculae were used in an experimental arrangement designed to distinguish between inotropic effects caused by potassium-induced alterations in the action potential and other, more direct, effects of this ion on contraction. The negative inotropic effect is attributable to a potassium-induced reduction in the amplitude and/or duration of the action potential plateau. The positive inotropic effect was found in experimental arrangements where effects of the potassium-rich medium on action potential time-course were effectively "buffered." The positive inotropic effect thus depends on the presence of the elevated potassium concentration and can occur independently of effects on the action potential time-course.
The Evaluation and Algorithm of CNC Machine Tool Module Combination Configuration Program

Modular design is an effective design concept and method that adapts to fierce market competition and versatile customer requirement. Solving the key questions in applying modular design method is the important research topic of modern CAD technology. This paper studies the evaluation question of module combination program, and puts forward the evaluation model for CNC machine tool product. Analytic hierarchy process is used as the evaluation algorithm of combination program. The actual evaluation is carried out to verify the model and algorithm.
On representing ‘true-in-l’ in L

Given Tarski’s familiar treatment of the semantic paradoxes, no formal language can adequately represent its own truth-concept.1 But natural languages do, apparently, express their own truth-concepts and this fact alone has been enough to motivate some to seek alternative treatments of the paradoxes. In this paper we demonstrate that a language construed according to the ‘category’ approach,2 modified in certain respects, can indeed express its own truth-concept.
Robust optical flow estimation using underwater color images

Accurate and efficient optical flow estimation is a major step in many computational vision problems, including 3-D mapping applications. While processing of gray scale image sequences has been the main approach, some authors have recently investigated and reported the use of color images. The main advantage in the use of color images is to exploit redundant information at each pixel, namely 3 channels, as potential cues for visual motion. Moreover, several spectral-dependent factors including medium attenuation may justify the use of color cues in underwater, calling for a physics-based approach to optical flow analysis. This paper explores a simplified underwater image formation model 1) to provide some preliminary insight on the information encoded in various color channels, 2) draw some general conclusions on the use of color and its various representations, and 3) verify if the results are consistent with the experiments with 7 sets of coral reef video recoded in relatively clear shallow waters of the Bahamas. These results suggest that optical flow algorithms based on the HSV representation can provide improved localization and accuracy.
Soft Retrieval and Uncertain Databases

We investigate tools that can enrich the process of querying databases by enabling the inclusion of more human focused considerations. We show how to include soft conditions with the use of fuzzy sets. We describe some more sophisticated techniques for aggregating the satisfactions of the individual conditions based on the inclusion of importances and the use of the OWA operator. We discuss a method for aggregating the individual satisfactions that can model a lexicographic relation between the individual requirements. We look at querying databases in which the information in the database can have some probabilistic uncertainty.
The average thickness of a growing thin film undergoing a phase change

A probabilistic method is presented for computing the average thickness of a thin, growing solid film undergoing a phase change in which the phases grow at different rates. This approach can describe a variety of growth behaviors including chemical vapor deposition and growth by oxidation. This method is shown to agree with a simulation of deposition. It is then used to model literature data on the growth of an Al 2 O 3 film transforming from the θ to α phase.
Approximating the risk for time-to-failure models through using statistics of extremes

Abstract This paper studies the approximation of the partitioned multiobjective risk method's (PMRM) extreme event risk function for time-to-failure models. The analytic expression of the approximation for the extreme event risk function is derived through the use of the statistics of extremes for the case where the underlying distribution is of an extreme-value type III for minima. This analytic expression provides an effective theoretical tool for understanding the behavior of conditional expected values for time-to-failure models for a large class of distribution functions used in reliability. The results are confirmed for example problems of exponential and uniform distributions.