cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prescribed burn frequency, vegetation cover, and management legacies influence soil fertility: Implications for restoration of imperiled pine barrens habitat

In fire-dependent ecosystems, the absence of fire can contribute to a positive feedback in which increased vegetation cover leads to increased accumulation of soil organic matter and nutrient stocks. These changes in turn can influence competitive shifts among plant communities, resulting in increased woody plant establishment, canopy closure, and ultimately leading toward mesophication. Poor soil conditions may be especially important for maintaining the open structure characteristic of pine barrens ecosystems, which are imperiled due to loss of key ecosystem processes such as fire and land conversion to cropland or pine plantations. Our objectives were to determine how soil characteristics are related to recent prescribed fire management, and how soils vary along gradients of current and historic vegetation cover in a barrens-forest mosaic in northern Wisconsin, USA. We sought to understand whether management with prescribed fire shifts soils toward barrens-type soil conditions, and whether soil conditions typify barrens habitat relative to shrub and forest habitat We analyzed organic (i.e. forest floor) and mineral soil horizons collected along gradients of recent prescribed burn history and current (barrens, pine woodlands, brush, and closed-canopy forest) and historic vegetation cover types (barrens, pine plantations, deciduous forests) to investigate the influence of each on specific components of soil fertility. Using a model selection approach, we found forest floor soil properties were most frequently associated with differences in current vegetation cover; for instance, pine woodland sites had greater organic matter stocks than barrens sites, and cation stocks were generally greater at brush sites than barrens and pine woodland sites. Some soil properties, including pH, however, appeared to be driven by prescribed burn frequency. Using ordination techniques to characterize multidimensional characterizations of soils, we identified a soil legacy effect related to historic vegetation cover and land management; native barrens sites had soil characteristics intermediate to restored barrens of pine woodland and deciduous forest origin. Our findings suggest restoration of pine plantations to barrens could benefit from fire activities that enhance consumption of the forest floor, while restoration of deciduous forest and brush habitats will likely be more related to the effective control of hardwood regeneration, after which soil conditions may return to a more archetypical barrens state.
Lemierre's syndrome in the pediatric population: Trends in disease presentation and management in literature.

Abstract Objective This study aims to examine literature on Lemierre's Syndrome (LS) in the pediatric population over time in order to describe patterns in disease progression, management, and prognosis. In addition, this study assesses specific rate of literature output and the location of research over the past 10 years . Methods A literature review was conducted through two databases, PubMed.gov and PMC. A search was conducted using the keywords “Lemierre syndrome” and “postanginal sepsis.” Literature was primarily reviewed for demographic, radiographic, and clinical data. Articles were included in the study if they were published in English and within the last 10 years. All types of research studies were recorded, however primary data collection came from case reports and series. Publications were grouped into two time periods: 2009–2013 and 2014–2019, allowing for comparison of various characteristics between these two groups. Results A total of 124 research studies on LS met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Of these, 98 case reports (79.0%) were examined. Disease Characteristics: Fusobacterium necrophorum was the most common precipitating pathogen isolated from cultures (66.2%). The main primary treatment modalities used were antimicrobials, surgery, anticoagulation, or a combination of these treatments. A total of 63.9% of the case reports indicated use of anticoagulation at some point during treatment. Publication Trends: The number of published studies has not significantly changed in the last decade, with a non-statistically significant decline of 5.6%, when comparing 2014–2019 to 2009–2013 (p = 0.21). Case reports/series were the most common study design (82.2% vs 69.5%) and level of evidence for published studies continued to be stable (level 4–5) through the years (86.9%). The number of publications within an international journal vs US based journal has also remained steady during both time periods (p = 0.698). Conclusion LS is an uncommon condition but one that is important for physicians to be aware of in the pediatric population. Treatment regimens including antibiotics and anticoagulation have remained stable through the past 10 years, however the efficacy of anticoagulation in treating LS continues to be debated. Though LS is considered a severe illness with potentially life threatening complications, publications on this topic, in pediatrics specifically, have decreased within the past five years.
Federated Learning's Blessing: FedAvg has Linear Speedup

Federated learning (FL) learns a model jointly from a set of participating devices without sharing each other's privately held data. The characteristics of non-\textit{i.i.d.} data across the network, low device participation, high communication costs, and the mandate that data remain private bring challenges in understanding the convergence of FL algorithms, particularly in regards to how convergence scales with the number of participating devices. In this paper, we focus on Federated Averaging (FedAvg)--arguably the most popular and effective FL algorithm class in use today--and provide a unified and comprehensive study of its convergence rate. Although FedAvg has recently been studied by an emerging line of literature, it remains open as to how FedAvg's convergence scales with the number of participating devices in the fully heterogeneous FL setting--a crucial question whose answer would shed light on the performance of FedAvg in large FL systems. We fill this gap by providing a unified analysis that establishes convergence guarantees for FedAvg under three classes of problems: strongly convex smooth, convex smooth, and overparameterized strongly convex smooth problems. We show that FedAvg enjoys linear speedup in each case, although with different convergence rates and communication efficiencies. While there have been linear speedup results from distributed optimization that assumes full participation, ours are the first to establish linear speedup for FedAvg under both statistical and system heterogeneity. For strongly convex and convex problems, we also characterize the corresponding convergence rates for the Nesterov accelerated FedAvg algorithm, which are the first linear speedup guarantees for momentum variants of FedAvg in the convex setting. To provably accelerate FedAvg, we design a new momentum-based FL algorithm that further improves the convergence rate in overparameterized linear regression problems. Empirical studies of the algorithms in various settings have supported our theoretical results.
My Professional Journey: A Privilege and A Responsibility

Bonnie Nastasi’s career made a full circle from Louisiana to Ohio to Illinois to Connecticut to New York, back to Connecticut, and returning to her birthplace, New Orleans, with her primary career at Tulane, University. She developed an international career, related to a number of special research projects in locations such as Mauritius, India, and Sri Lanka, where she and her collaborators developed culturally specific intervention and assessment tools; and a 12-country collaborative project investigating culltural conceptions of children’s psychological well-being. Through these projects, she has developed a strong presence in International School Psychology. Her work has not only been multicultural, but multidisciplinary as well.
Architecture for Continuous Authentication in Location-Based Services

Location-based services are widely used today. The huge growth of location-based services is enabled by the growth of the usage of mobile devices. Moreover, these devices can sense several types of signals over the air using different radio frequency technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular signals, GPS satellites, etc.). Thus, they can calculate their location using any of the previously mentioned technology. Some applications use location generated by mobile devices as a factor in receiving services. These are known as location-based services. We believe that the location generated by mobile devices can be utilized for the purpose of continuous authentication. In this paper, we propose an architecture for continuous location-based authentication utilizing location data generated by mobile devices. Then, we present an experiment to test the proposed architecture.
Towards Applying Real Time Physiological Data and Gamification to Machine Learning Educational Systems

In the data age, everyday devices and applications implement machine learning (ML) to enhance user experiences. However, everyday users usually do not completely understand the technology. Moving forward with ML education will require support for new forms of digital literacies involving machine learning. Physiological computing and gamification techniques can present engaging opportunities for dynamic personally-relevant data collection and manipulation. Our research proposes a system design that applies both real-time physiological data and gamification elements to provide novice users the opportunity to learn about ML concepts.
XAI-based Microarchitectural Side-Channel Analysis for Website Fingerprinting Attacks and Defenses

Website Fingerprinting attacks aim to track the visited websites in browsers and infer confidential information about users. Several studies showed that recent advancements in Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) algorithms made it possible to implement website fingerprinting attacks even though various defense techniques are present in the network. Nevertheless, trained models for website detection are not analyzed deeply to identify the leakage sources which are not always visible to both attackers and Cyber Threat Intelligence engineers. This study focuses on explaining ML and DL models in the context of microarchitecture-based website fingerprinting attacks. In the attack model, performance counters and cache occupancy side-channels are implemented on Google Chrome and Tor browsers. After ML and DL models are trained, LIME and saliency map XAI methods are applied to examine the leakage points in the side-channel data. In order to match the leakage samples in the measurements to the network traces, a novel dataset is collected by utilizing Google Chrome and Firefox browser developer tools. Next, the efficiency of explainable methods are analyzed with XAI metrics. Finally, an XAI-based obfuscation defense technique is proposed as a countermeasure against microarchitecture-based website fingerprinting attacks
On Some Concurrent Binary Relations Occurring in Analysis

Publisher Summary This chapter presents concurrent binary relations that occur in various parts of analysis and shows how they can be applied successfully with the use of enlargements. It discusses simultaneous approximation theorems of Dirichlet and Kronecker and applies them to obtain an interesting boundedness condition for finite sets of complex numbers.
Class I HDACs Affect DNA Replication, Repair, and Chromatin Structure: Implications for Cancer Therapy

Abstract Significance: The contribution of epigenetic alterations to cancer development and progression is becoming increasingly clear, prompting the development of epigenetic therapies. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) represent one of the first classes of such therapy. Two HDIs, Vorinostat and Romidepsin, are broad-spectrum inhibitors that target multiple histone deacetylases (HDACs) and are FDA approved for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. However, the mechanism of action and the basis for the cancer-selective effects of these inhibitors are still unclear. Recent Advances: While the anti-tumor effects of HDIs have traditionally been attributed to their ability to modify gene expression after the accumulation of histone acetylation, recent studies have identified the effects of HDACs on DNA replication, DNA repair, and genome stability. In addition, the HDIs available in the clinic target multiple HDACs, making it difficult to assign either their anti-tumor effects or their associated to...
The relationship of amniotic fluid phosphate-to-zinc ratios to post-cesarean section infection

Although many reports concerning risk factors for post-cesarean section febrile morbidity have been published, few have considered the antibacterial activity of amniotic fluid. This study, in which the amniotic fluid phosphate-to-zinc ratios were used as a reflection of antibacterial activity, demonstrates that, among 85 patients who underwent elective repeat cesarean sections, less febrile morbidity was present when the patient's amniotic fluid had greater antibacterial activity. There was less standard fever, use of antibiotics, and endometritis among patients whose amniotic fluid had lower phosphate-to-zinc ratios.
Fine Pitch Wedge Bonding for High Density Packaging

In today's computers, high pin count packages are required for the high performance, high density silicon being utilized. A significant challenge exists to provide such designs while maintaining a cost effective, high yielding assembly process. This paper discusses Unisys' experience in the development of fine pitch (100/spl mu/m) aluminum wedge bonding for a 591 Pin Grid Array package. Experience and available equipment dictated the package to be die attached using silver glass and wirebonded using 32/spl mu/m aluminum wire. Die attach was well within existing capabilities but the interconnect of over 550 wires on 100/spl mu/m pitch posed a significant challenge. Considerations were given to maximum wire to wire clearance, layer to layer misregistration, wire lengths, bonding tool angles, and fiducials that would provide maximum automatic alignment accuracy. Three dimensional CAD modeling of the bond head and package was followed with an Assembly Test Vehicle (ATV). The ATV was designed to match worst case geometries, and was used to verify concepts developed during 3D modeling. The product was introduced into production in 1993, and has exceeded predicted assembly yields. Although the fine pitch wire bonding was demonstrated on a single chip package, the technology is transportable to multichip applications.
RAM Pressure Stripping and Galactic Fountains

Ram pressure stripping can occur when the intracluster gas in a galaxy cluster impinges on the interstellar gas of a member galaxy. The effects have to be discussed separately for spiral galaxies (sporadic effects) and for ellipticals (more nearly continuous). Various kinds of “galactic fountains” tend to replenish the hot corona in a galaxy halo. An extended HI disk in an isolated spiral galaxy can decrease the coronal density by initiating a cooling flow, which is very sensitive to the coronal temperature.
Intracoronary ethanol ablation in swine: characterization of myocardial injury in target and remote vascular beds.

Intracoronary Ethanol Ablation. Introduction: Intracoronary ethanol ablation has been successfully used as arrhythmia therapy, hut the dose response of ventricular function and arrhythmogenesis to varying ethanol concentrations is undefined. Methods and Results: Twenty-six anesthetized pigs weighing 50 ± 11 kg underwent left and right heart catheterization. Ablation solutions composed of normal saline with ethanol in concentrations of 0%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% were mixed with metrizamide, a nonionic contrast agent (3.75 g per 20 mL), then infused into branch or distal coronary arteries in each of the left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary artery distributions. Hemodynamic measurements, and coronary and left ventricular angiography were performed before and after ablation. Programmed electrical stimulation was performed preablation and at a chronic-study at 4 to 6 days. Excised hearts were examined pathologically. Fifty-two lesions were created in 26 animals, and 24 animals survived to the follow-up study. Minimal hemodynamic alterations were observed in response to ablation. As the ethanol concentration of the ablation solution was increased, the prevalence of spontaneous nonsustained and sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias increased (P = 0.0002), the ablation vessels were more persistently occluded (P = 0.028), and the postablation global left ventricular ejection fraction showed greater impairment (P = 0.002). Identifiable myocardial lesions were identified in all study groups, including those receiving the 0% ethanol infusion. Lesion size increased significantly with increasing ethanol concentration (P = 0.0004) but there was significant variance within groups. In response to programmed electrical stimulation, ventricular fibrillation was a nonspecific finding before and after ablation. In contrast, monomorphic ventricular tachycardia was induced only at postablation testing, and four of five of these animals underwent infusions with ethanol concentration of ≥ 50% ethanol. Conclusion: Concentrations of ≥ 50% ethanol are most effective in creating large ventricular lesions in intracoronary ethanol ablation, but are associated with more impairment of left ventricular function, and have a greater likelihood of acute and early chronic arrhythmia aggravation.
Preferred nest site characteristics reduce predator‐specific predation risk in a canopy‐nesting raptor

Habitat features influence nest survival and, as a result, identifying relationships between habitat characteristics and nest survival remains a central focus among studies of avian reproduction. In cases where nest predation is the main cause of failure, knowing how the habitat affects predation risk may provide managers with a tangible means by which to improve reproductive success. The Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) is a species of regional conservation concern due to small population sizes and high rates of nest failure. We monitored Mississippi kite nests, documented causes of nest failure, and examined relationships between habitat features and predator-specific patterns in nest predation in a floodplain forest in east-central Arkansas. We identified Texas ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) and owls (Strigidae) as the dominant nest predators and predation by each was influenced by different habitat features. Ratsnake predation was greater in areas with fewer overstory trees and when kite nests were positioned farther above the tree canopy. Owls were more likely to depredate nests farther from the forest edge and nests that had less canopy coverage around them. Our results illustrate that the nest site characteristics preferred by kites reduce nest predation risk, indicating most of the management actions proposed to promote kite nesting are likely to create or maintain quality habitat for this species in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Beyond knowing the main causes of nest failure in kites, our results may also provide a glimpse into threats faced by mid-story and other canopy-nesting birds, a guild for which very little information exists regarding causes of nesting failure. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.
SU-E-I-21: Deformation Mapping and Shape Prediction with 3D Tumor Volume Morphing

Purpose: To compare projection-based versus global correction that compensate for deadtime count loss in SPECT/CT images. Methods: SPECT/CT images of an IEC phantom (2.3GBq 99mTc) with ∼10% deadtime loss containing the 37mm (uptake 3), 28 and 22mm (uptake 6) spheres were acquired using a 2 detector SPECT/CT system with 64 projections/detector and 15 s/projection. The deadtime, Ti and the true count rate, Ni at each projection, i was calculated using the monitor-source method. Deadtime corrected SPECT were reconstructed twice: (1) with projections that were individually-corrected for deadtime-losses; and (2) with original projections with losses and then correcting the reconstructed SPECT images using a scaling factor equal to the inverse of the average fractional loss for 5 projections/detector. For both cases, the SPECT images were reconstructed using OSEM with attenuation and scatter corrections. The two SPECT datasets were assessed by comparing line profiles in xyplane and z-axis, evaluating the count recoveries, and comparing ROI statistics. Higher deadtime losses (up to 50%) were also simulated to the individually corrected projections by multiplying each projection i by exp(-a*Ni*Ti), where a is a scalar. Additionally, deadtime corrections in phantoms with different geometries and deadtime losses were also explored. The same two correction methods were carried for all these data sets. Results: Averaging the deadtime losses in 5 projections/detector suffices to recover >99% of the loss counts in most clinical cases. The line profiles (xyplane and z-axis) and the statistics in the ROIs drawn in the SPECT images corrected using both methods showed agreement within the statistical noise. The count-loss recoveries in the two methods also agree within >99%. Conclusion: The projection-based and the global correction yield visually indistinguishable SPECT images. The global correction based on sparse sampling of projections losses allows for accurate SPECT deadtime loss correction while keeping the study duration reasonable.
Dating violence: comparing victims who are also perpetrators with victims who are not

Dating violence is accepted as bi-directional with both genders as victims and perpetrators. While researchers have studied perpetration and victimization, limited research has explored differences in young women who are victims and perpetrators with those who are victims only. This study compares injury and mental health symptoms of victims who reported perpetrating violence with victims who did not.
The effect of cinacalcet on intraoperative findings in tertiary hyperparathyroidism patients undergoing parathyroidectomy.

Introduction Tertiary hyperparathyroidism (3HPTH) patients who undergo parathyroidectomy (PTX) are often managed with calcium lowering medications such as cinacalcet (Sensipar) before surgery. Here, we assess how cinacalcet treatment influences intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) kinetics and surgical findings in 3HPTH patients undergoing PTX. Methods We reviewed retrospectively 113 patients 3HPTH who underwent PTX, 14 of whom were taking cinacalcet and 112 who were not taking the drug. IOPTH levels fitted to linear curves versus time were used to evaluate the role of cinacalcet. Results Cinacalcet did not correlate with rates of cure (P = .41) or recurrence (P = .54). Patients taking cinacalcet experienced a steeper decrease in IOPTH compared with those not taking the medication (P = .005). Cinacalcet treatment was associated with an increase in rate of hungry bones (P = .04). Weights of the heaviest glands resected (P = .02) and preoperative PTH levels (P = .0004) were greater among patients taking cinacalcet. Conclusion Perioperative cinacalcet treatment in patients with 3HPTH alters IOPTH kinetics by causing a steeper decrease in IOPTH, but does not require modification of the standard IOPTH protocol. Although cinacalcet use does not adversely affect cure rates, it is associated with greater preoperative PTH and an increased incidence of hungry bones, hence serving as an indicator of more severe disease. Cinacalcet does not need to be held before operation.
Spiritually Competent Practice with Individuals and Families Dealing with Medical Conditions.

Counselors and psychotherapists are increasingly expected to provide services that are spiritually competent. Those counseling individuals and families where medical concerns are a focus would do w...
A modified sequential function specification finite element-based method for parabolic inverse heat conduction problems

A method for enhancing the stability of parabolic inverse heat conduction problems (IHCP) is presented. The investigation extends recent work on non-iterative finite element-based IHCP algorithms which, following Beck’s two-step approach, first derives a discretized standard form equation relating the instantaneous global temperature and surface heat flux vectors, and then formulates a least squares-based linear matrix normal equation in the unknown flux. In the present study, the non-iterative IHCP algorithm is stabilized using a modified form of Beck’s sequential function specification scheme in which: (i) inverse solution time steps, Δt, are set larger than the data sample rate, Δτ, and (ii) future temperatures are obtained at intervals equal to Δτ. These modifications, contrasting with the standard approach in which the computational, experimental, and future time intervals are all set equal, are designed respectively to allow for diffusive time lag (under the typical circumstance where Δτ is smaller than, or on the order of the characteristic thermal diffusion time scale), and to improve the temporal resolution and accuracy of the inverse solution. Based on validation tests using three benchmark problems, the principle findings of the study are as follows: (i) under dynamic surface heating conditions, the modified and standard methods provide comparable levels of early-time resolution; however, the modified technique is not subject to over-damped estimation (as characteristic of the standard scheme) and provides improved error suppression rates, (ii) the present method provides superior performance relative to the standard approach when subjected to data truncation and thermal measurement error, and (iii) in the nonlinear test problem considered, both approaches provide comparable levels of performance. Following validation, the technique is applied to a quenching experiment and estimated heat flux histories are compared against available analytical and experimental results.
Cold-climate slope deposits and landscape modifications of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Eastern USA

Abstract The effects of Pleistocene cold-climate geomorphology are distributed across the weathered and eroded Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain uplands from the Wisconsinan terminal moraine south to Tidewater Virginia. Cold-climate deposits and landscape modifications are superimposed on antecedent landscapes of old, weathered Neogene upland gravels and Pleistocene marine terraces that had been built during warm periods and sea-level highstands. In New Jersey, sequences of surficial deposits define a long history of repeating climate change events. To the south across the Delmarva Peninsula and southern Maryland, most antecedent topography has been obscured by Late Pleistocene surficial deposits. These are spatially variable and are collectively described as a cold-climate alloformation. The cold-climate alloformation includes time-transgressive details of climate deterioration from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 through the end of MIS 2. Some deposits and landforms within the alloformation may be as young as the Younger Dryas. Southwards along the trend of the Potomac River, these deposits and their climatic affinities become diffused. In Virginia, a continuum of erosion and surficial deposits appears to be the product of ‘normal’ temperate, climate-forced processes. The cold-climate alloformation and more temperate deposits in Virginia are being partly covered by Holocene alluvium and bay mud.
Combining Theoretical Models of Perceived Risk and Fear of Gang Crime among Whites and Latinos

Abstract Using path analytical techniques, this study extends social disorganization theory to individual perceptions and examines the combined effects of demographic characteristics, diversity, disorder, decline, and perceived risk on the fear of gang crime among whites and Latinos in Orange County, California. Findings indicate that relationships among the theoretical models are similar for both groups, but effects of some demographic factors differ by ethnicity—indicating an ethnic interactive effect. Specifically, this study, using a more representative sample, supports Lane's (2002) finding that diversity concerns lead to perceptions of disorder which lead to worries about community decline and therefore more perceived gang-related risk and fear.
Expertise Research Methodology: Identifying Differences and Factors Influencing High and Low Performance

Expertise research methodologies have focused upon the identification of differences and factors influencing high and low performance at the individual, process, and organizational level. The goal of this review is to use the results to facilitate performance improvement through the investigation of high and low performing entities. Various approaches are reported in the literature to investigate expertise and quantify factors relating to development of this expertise at the individual, group, and organizational level. This review of research literature focuses upon studies utilizing expertise methodologies outside of the laboratory for identification of differences and factors influencing high and low performance. Studies cited emphasize performance at the individual, process, or organizational level. Statistical methods and techniques for identifying high and low performance are identified. Results have implications for use in performance improvement initiatives in assessing differences or factors influencing performance as well as identification of interventions and outcome measures.
Supervisory Skills: The Evolution of the Art.

In this eleventh address in the lecture series "As Far As Eye Can See," Professor Glen G. Eye addressed the Association for Super vision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) at its annual conference in New Orleans. Instructional leadership has been the main focus of his entire professional career. Professor Eye's forty years of profes sional association with A.S. Barr, founder and editor of this journal, and fifty years of serious attention to the literature in supervision serve as an excellent springboard for dealing with the assigned topic, "Supervisory Skills: The Evolution of the Art." ANY ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE the evolution of a function such as supervision or supervisory skills may en compass a number of avenues to follow in fulfilling the obligation. The title assigned for this presentation refers to supervisory skills. The emphasis, therefore, will be upon the function of supervision rather than upon the position of supervisor. Among choices of avenues available are those such as beliefs, perceptions, or historical records which may appear either in documented literature or through hearsay. The media for reporting the evolution of the art might depend upon words, slogans, and imagined or real conflict. The choice of the avenue of pursuit among those might lead to such terms as "snoopervising" as a word, "democracy" as a slogan, "bureaucratic" as an imagined conflict, and "rationale" as a natural outcome of facts. The treatment chosen for this presentation is based essentially upon the historical records from all sources available that reveal facts and, therefore, permit rationales to be inferred which in turn may describe the evolution of the art. This discussion will pursue the following logical sequence: definitions, purposes, structural locations, processes of supervision, evaluation of supervisory out come, tangential forays, and futurity potential. The con finement of the presentation to a reasonable length requires a minimum of quotation and a maximum of interpretation of documentary sources. The references to specific sources will be footnoted where possible, even though no specific quotes will be used.
1-14C-acetyl-coenzyme A as steroid precursor in the monkey adrenal in vitro.

Nach In-vitro-Inkubation von Nebennierenschnitten eines Rhesusaffen mit 1-14C-acetyl-CoA und 7 α-3H-Pregnenolon konnte man Pregnenolon, DHEA und Progesteron isolieren, die alle sowohl3H-als auch14C-Aktivitat enthielten. Es ergaben sich Hinweise fur verschiedene Biosynthesewege fur Pregnenolon und DHEA.
Effect of circulatory changes on the pulmonary compliance of normal subjects and patients with mitral stenosis.

Fulfillment by the lungs of their bellows function depends largely on their resiliency and elasticity. Unless the lungs can readily comply with the changes in the thoracic cage during inspiration and expiration, ventilation will be seriously impaired. Pulmonary compliance is expressed as the ratio of lung volume in liters to intraesophageal pressure in centimeters of water. The present study is concerned with the role of pulmonary vascular engorgement in reducing compliance in normal subjects and in patients with mitral stenosis.
Diapause Induction in Gratiana boliviana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a Biological Control Agent of Tropical Soda Apple in Florida

ABSTRACT The South American leaf-feeding beetle Gratiana boliviana Spaeth (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has been released since 2003 in the southeastern United States to control the invasive weed tropical soda apple, Solanum viarum Dunal (Solanaceae). Successful establishment of a biological control agent in temperate and subtropical regions depends on several life-history adaptations, including winter diapause. The timing of diapause allows the syncronization of insect herbivores with the phenology of plants, and field observations in Florida suggested that G. boliviana overwinters as an adult in diapause. The objectives of this study were to describe the diapause of G. boliviana and determine the effect of temperature and photoperiod on diapause induction. Compared with nondiapause adults, diapausing adults were yellow rather than green, had hypertrophied fat bodies, contained little food in the digestive tract, showed negligible ovarian development, and minimal movement of the hind wings when the beetles...
Multiphoton excitation fluorescence correlation spectroscopy of fluorescent DNA base analogs

Two- and three-photon excitation was used to investigate the properties of two fluorescent DNA base analogs: 2-aminopurine and 6-methylisoxanthopterin. 2-aminopurine is a widely used fluorescent analog of the DNA base adenine. Three-photon excitation of 2-aminopurine is achievable by using intense femtosecond laser pulses in 850-950 nm spectral region. Interestingly, the three-photon excitation spectrum is blue-shifted relative to the three-times-wavelength single-photon excitation spectrum. The maximum of the absorbance band in the UV is at 305 nm, while the three-photon excitation spectrum has a maximum at around 880 nm. Fluorescence correlation measurements were attempted to evaluate the feasibility of using three-photon excitation of 2-aminopurine for DNA-protein interaction studies. However, due to relatively small three-photon absorption cross-section, a good signal-to-noise fluorescence correlation curves take very long time to obtain. Fluorescence properties of 6-methylisoxanthopterin, the fluorescent analog of guanine, were investigated using two-photon excitation. This molecule has the lowest energy absorption band centered around 350 nm, thus, two-photon excitation is attainable using 700 to 760 nm output of Ti-sapphire laser. The excitation spectrum of this molecule in the infrared well matches the doubled-wavelength single-photon excitation spectrum in the UV. The high fluorescence quantum yield of 6-methylisoxanthopterin allows efficient fluorescence correlation measurements and makes this molecule a very good candidate for using in in vitro DNA-protein interaction studies.
Spotting Lies: Can Humans Learn to Do Better?

Though cynicism may seem ram pant, the empirical fact is that most people seem to believe most of what they hear most of the time. I have seen this repeatedly in the studies my colleagues and I have conducted on the detection of deception.1 To determine whether people can sep arate truths from lies, we show them videotapes we have made of people we know to be lying or telling the truth. The topics of these lies and truths vary widely. For example, sometimes the people on the tape are talking about their feelings about other people they know; other times, the speakers are describing their opinions about controversial is sues; in still other studies, they are talking to an artist about their pref erences for various paintings, some of which are the artist's own work. When we show people ("judges") these tapes, we ask them to tell us, for each segment that they watch, whether they think the person on the tape (the "speaker") was lying or telling the truth. We also ask them to indicate, on rating scales, just how deceptive or truthful the speaker seemed to be. We might also ask them how they think the speaker really did feel and what impression the speaker was trying to convey about how he or she felt. For exam ple, it might seem that the speaker was politely trying to give the im pression that she liked the person she was describing, when in fact she detested that person. Typically, the tapes that we play for our judges include equal num bers of truths and lies. Yet when judges watch or hear the tapes, they almost always think that many more of the messages are truths than lies. (One of the rare exceptions was a study in which the speakers on the tape were experienced salespersons pitching the kinds of products that they sell; in that study, the judges more often thought that the salesper sons were lying.2) Similarly, judges typically believe that the speakers really do feel the way they are claim ing to feel. When a speaker claims to like a painting, the judges are more inclined to believe that he or she
Comparing spatial clustering tests based on rare to common spatial events

This paper compares the performance of three clustering tests––Rogerson R, Getis-Ord G and Lin-Zeng LR-T––using a range of simulated sample distributions from rare to common spatial events. It is shown that all of the tests are sensitive to high value clustering, and all but G are sensitive to low-value clustering. For a spatial pattern exhibiting negative spatial autocorrelation, R is likely to associate the autocorrelation with clustering when sample size is greater than 20, while LR-T and G are unlikely to accept any presence of negative autocorrelation as clustering.
A comparison of R- and Q-modes in target transformation factor analysis for resolving environmental data∗

Abstract Target transformation factor analysis has been used for the quantitative resolution of environmental data. The initial studies have utilized the correlation between individual samples over the set of measured properties of those samples as the matrix denning the relationships within the data. The analysis of this matrix is a Q-mode analysis. For large data sets, this technique requires the diagonalization of a large matrix. An alternative approach is to examine the matrix of correlations between the measured properties of the samples over all of the individual samples in the data set. The analysis of this matrix is called an R-mode analysis. It is found that for several typical data sets, equivalent results are obtained for the two modes and, in some cases, R-mode may resolve the sources more accurately.
Molecular dynamics modeling of self-diffusion along a triple junction

We propose a computational procedure for creating a stable equilibrium triple junction (TJ) with controlled grain misorientations. We apply this procedure to construct a TJ between a $\ensuremath{\Sigma}5(210)$ grain boundary (GB) and two general high-angle GBs in copper and calculate the diffusion coefficients along the TJ and the GBs using molecular dynamics with an embedded-atom potential. The TJ diffusion is only a factor of 2 faster than diffusion in the $\ensuremath{\Sigma}5$ GB but significantly faster than diffusion in the general GBs. Both the GBs and the TJ studied here show a premelting behavior near the bulk melting point, where their diffusivities converge to the diffusivity of bulk liquid. Although our results are consistent with the common assumption that TJ diffusion is generally faster than GB diffusion, the difference between the two diffusivities does not appear to be large enough to ensure a significant contribution of TJs to diffusional creep in polycrystals at high temperatures.
Bureaucratic behavior modeled by reduced-rank regression: The case of expenditures from the Soviet state budget

Abstract A bureaucratic hierarchy compresses information flowing upward and disaggregates directives passing downward, thus making itself amenable to modeling by reduced-rank regression. Applying this technique to the Soviet government, we find that about eight latent variables are required to characterize the mapping of predetermined variables into a vector of budgetary expenditures. The latent variables can be interpreted as targets for expenditures in high-priority sectors.
Effects of edges on plant communities in a managed landscape in northern Wisconsin

Abstract The effects of edges on plant communities following clearing of coniferous forests in the Great Lakes region had not been previously examined. This study quantified plant responses to six recent (8–12 years old) clearcut edges adjacent to jack pine ( Pinus banksiana ) and red pine ( Pinus resinosa ) plantations. Percent cover of each understory plant species was estimated within 10 randomly placed plots at 19 distances along a 240 m transect extending from the clearcut, across the edge, and into the forest interior. Species richness was significantly higher in the jack pine stands ( n =10.2–12.2) than in the red pine stands ( n =6.1–9.1, p
Presidential address—obesity discrimination: what can we do?

Obesity is a disease associated with premature mortality and contributes to the severity of multiple obesityrelated conditions, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, musculoskeletal and quality of life impairment, cancer, and others [1,2]. A variety of bariatric surgical procedures, developed and performed throughout the past 40 years, have consistently demonstrated superior weight loss compared with nonoperative or usual care [3]. The demonstrated benefits of these bariatric surgical procedures have included, but not been limited to, improvement or remission of virtually all the associated obesityrelated conditions and improved survival [3–5]. The induction of remission of type 2 diabetes by bariatric/ metabolic surgery, independent of the severity of obesity (body mass index [BMI]) has generated interest throughout the medical and lay communities [6]. The quality of life is also improved [7,8]. As the result of improvement or induction of remission of obesity-related conditions, the consumption of healthcare resources is reduced throughout time, such that bariatric surgical procedures achieve a complete return on investment. Specifically, laparoscopic gastric bypass has been reported to produce a return on investment in as few as 2 years, a remarkable finding produced by few medical interventions [9,10]. Because of the lack of a centralized or national reporting system regarding the performance of specific surgical procedures, including all procedures at hospitals and outpatient surgery centers, the number of bariatric surgical procedures performed in the United States cannot be determined with certainty. Estimates of the prevalence of
The role of flexible hollow core carbon dioxide lasers in resection of lumbar intraspinal lipomas

The authors assess the role of flexible hollow core CO2 laser system (Omniguide system) in resection of intraspinal lipomas. Eight patients with intraspinal lipomas were operated using an Omniguide laser system over a 22-month period. The age range varied between 6 months and 16 years. All of them had lipoma of the conus medullaris associated with lumbar subcutaneous lipoma. Two of these had previous surgery with resection of the subcutaneous part of the lipoma; in one of them, a partial resection of the conus medullaris lipoma had also been performed. In six, there were no obvious motor or sensory deficits whereas two had gross neurologic deficits, with the deficits occurring in one after the previous decompression. Resection of the conus lipoma, untethering of the spinal cord, and reconstruction of the decompressed conus was performed in all aided with Omniguide laser system. The power settings of the laser system ranged from 4 to 8 W. Subtotal to near-total resection was achieved in all. None of the patients developed any new motor or sensory deficits. Three had postoperative CSF leaks which initially required reoperation with graft resuturing and subsequently placement of lumboperitoneal shunt. One child with preexisting neurologic deficits improved in power over the next 12 months. Flexible CO2 laser system was precise and convenient in decompressing the conus lipomas and untethering of the cord in lumbar spinal lipomas.
Effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde on cultured pre-implantation mouse embryos

Pre-implantation 2-cell stage mouse embryos, obtained from superovulated CF-1 mice, were exposed to ethanol and acetaldehyde through the culture medium for 60 min followed by a 105-h incubation period. Control and ethanol exposed embryos survived equally well in ethanol concentrations as high as 800 mg/100 ml medium and acetaldehyde levels up to 10 mg/100 ml medium.
The parvovirus MVM: Particles with altered structural proteins

Abstract Mouse A-9 cells infected with the minute virus of mice were found to have DNA-containing particles of two densities when centrifuged to equilibrium in CsCl, as well as particles which contained no detectable DNA. The DNA-containing heavy particles (1.47 g/cc) were converted to the light particles (1.42 g/cc) after one round of infection when left in the infected cell culture. The light particles had about a fivefold higher hemagglutinating activity than the heavy particles. The only difference in composition detected between the heavy and light particles was in the structural proteins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis resolved three proteins in the minute virus of mice particles: A protein (92,000 daltons), B protein (72,000 daltons) and C protein (69,000 daltons). The A protein was found in about the same number of molecules in all particles. The empty particles and the heavy particles had B as the major capsid protein, while the light particles had C as the major capsid protein.
Research Note—Are Store-Brand Buyers Store Loyal? An Empirical Investigation

This paper tests the notion of whether high preference for store brands leads to higher store loyalty. Our work differs from the earlier empirical evidence on this issue in how we define and measure the two key constructs: store-brand loyalty and store loyalty. To measure store-brand preference, we develop a multicategory brand choice to elicit the basic latent tendency for a household to buy store brands, while controlling for other factors such as price sensitivity. The household-specific measures on store-brand preference and price sensitivity (along with other control variables) are then used to assess household store loyalty in the context of entry by a Wal-Mart supercenter in the market. Results show that store-brand buying behavior is driven by households' underlying “value trait” over and beyond what is captured by price sensitivity alone. In addition, these value-oriented households, which show high preference for store brands in the pre-entry period, shift a significantly higher level of their e...
Will Interventions Targeting Conscientiousness Improve Aging Outcomes

The articles appearing in this special section discuss the role that conscientiousness may play in healthy aging. Growing evidence suggests that conscientious individuals live longer and healthier lives. However, the question remains whether this personality trait can be leveraged to improve long-term health outcomes. We argue that even though it may be possible to design therapeutic interventions that increase conscientiousness, there may be more effective and efficient ways to improve population health. We ask for evidence that a focus on conscientiousness improves behavior change efforts that target specific health-related behaviors or large-scale environmental modification.