cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A theoretical resistance-curve based on nonproportional plastic strain

Using an exact solution for an elliptical hole in a perfectly plastic material, an expression is derived for the resistance of a ductile material undergoing subcritical crack propagation in the plane. This resistance curve is based on an analogy to the J-integral where an energy dissipation rate is determined rather than an energy release rate. The Tresca yield condition under plane stress loading conditions is employed in this derivation as well as finite deformation theory. This resistance curve is applicable to the initial stage of subcritical crack growth for a ductile material subject to crack tip blunting.
Psychopharmacology in Medically Ill Patients

Appropriate use of psychopharmacology in the medically ill patients requires careful consideration of the risks and benefits of using these medications. This would involve careful assessment of the underlying medical condition, interaction of psychotropic medications with other medications used to treat medical problems, potential alterations to pharmacokinetics from the medical condition, and increased vulnerability to side effects from medications because of impaired hepatic, renal, cardiac, and gastrointestinal functioning.
Can a viable DE program stay behind the technology "wave"?

Starting with a quote from Herbert Simon to that effect, this chapter questions whether distance education programs should strive to be on the cutting edge of information technology. The general perspective taken is that of the Value Net. A provider of distance education can be seen as a Firm linking Suppliers and Customers while interacting with Competitors and Complementors. The Supplier-Firm-Customer chain can be seen as education production, and the chapter briefly discusses the debate over whether quantitative production models can explain the education process. Theoretical generality is sacrificed in favor of a discussion of the actual mechanics of an online course taught to MBA students by the author. Mean numerical grades in face-to-face and online sections of the course are compared to show that educational outcomes face-to-face and online are not significantly different. Enrollments in the course are stable. Hence, the course is thought to be viable, as a program of such courses might be. The results of a survey of MBA students reveal that most students consider the professor more important than the technology in their learning and satisfaction. Taken together, the two results provide the beginnings of a case for Distance Education programs staying behind the technology wave.
Temperature Dependence of Quantum-Fluctuation Linewidth Broadening in (GaAl)As Diode Lasers

Measurements of the spectral line shape as a function of power have been carried out from room temperature down to 1.7 K in order to understand the influence of fundamental quantum fluctuations on the spectral characteristics of single-frequency cw (GaAl)As diode lasers. Previous measurements1 of linewidth from such devices as a function of reciprocal power at 273,195, and 77 K agreed well with a model2 for the linewidth in which spontaneous emission caused fluctuations in both the phase and amplitude of the laser field. A power-independent contribution to the laser linewidth was also observed3 whose magnitude increased from 1.9 MHz at 273 K to 8.4 MHz at 77 K and was consistent with a phenomenological model involving electron number fluctuations in the gain volume that produced fluctuations in the resonant frequency of the passive cavity. An alternative theory for this power-indepen dent broadening by Vahala and Yariv4 attributed the phenomenon to electron occupation fluctuations rather than number fluctuations.
Interests as predictors of performance: An omitted and underappreciated variable

Abstract Recent meta-analyses indicated that interest congruence can predict performance both at work and in school. Given these findings, the exclusion of interests from predictive models of performance has several potential consequences. In this study, we demonstrate that excluding vocational interests from models of performance has implications for the validity of the model as well as for understanding predictive bias in selection testing. Using a sample of 1449 students from a large university, we examined the validity and incremental validity of vocational interests for predicting academic performance above and beyond ACT scores, high school GPA, and other noncognitive predictors. Building on recent research, we also demonstrate that including vocational interests in the prediction model eliminates the predictive bias observed for ACT and HSGPA across men and women but not across racial/ethnic subgroups. The implications of these results for understanding performance and future research needs in the area of vocational interests are discussed.
Regeneration for resilience framework to support regeneration decisions for species with populations at risk of extirpation by white pine blister rust

Natural forests are increasingly invaded by nonnative pests and pathogens that threaten host species with population extirpation and cascading ecological impacts. The regeneration for resilience (R4R) framework provides a decision structure to prioritize limited resources and utilize artificial and natural regeneration management to offer the best likelihood of success in positioning stands and landscapes to support multi-generational self-sustaining host populations in the presence of the nonnative invader by (1) increasing host population size to offset invader-caused mortality, (2) increasing the frequency of genetic resistance traits in host populations in habitats that enable their expression and durability to retard future mortality and facilitate population sustainability and recovery, and (3) maintain host genetic diversity, adaptive capacity, and population connectivity. This application is designed for conditions where the nonnative invader is expected to be a persistent threat, the host species naturally has some genetic resistance to the invasive species, and the forest host populations are integral to support valued ecosystem processes and services. The R4R framework has been developed for application in high elevation five-needle pine ecosystems of North America impacted and threatened by the nonnative pathogen Cronartium ribicola that causes the lethal disease white pine blister rust (WPBR). Several examples using the R4R framework to integrate information on current forest condition, WPBR risk or hazard, genetic resistance to WPBR, and host population dynamics and silvics to prioritize areas and design interventions are discussed. Effective management of forest regeneration dynamics can increase forest resilience and adaptive capacity to mitigate impacts of invasive species.
Sensitivity of Percolation Estimates to Modeling Methodology: A Case Study at an Unlined Tailings Facility with Limited Monitoring Data

Calculation of water budgets is critical to developing long-term management and remediation plans for legacy mine waste facilities. The effects of several modeling decisions commonly made by practitioners constructing numerical hydrologic models can significantly alter estimates of percolation and resultant management strategies. We investigated the effects of variations in several common modeling decisions for an unlined legacy tailings emplacement in Lincoln County, Nevada using predictions from HYDRUS 1D and 2D simulations. Modeling decisions investigated include choice of hydraulic property model, hydraulic properties, numerical mesh discretization, boundary condition representation, dimensionality, and geometry. Hydrologic parameterization was informed by measurement of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, in-situ density, field moisture content, bulk (dry) density, and water retention curve by hanging column, pressure plate, and chilled mirror hygrometer. Numerical hydrologic models resulted in percolation estimates from 0 to 24 mm/year through the tailings. Choice of hydraulic properties and temporal resolution of boundary condition data contributed the most to variations in percolation estimates. For comparison, percolation was predicted with a simple water balance model (HELP), resulting in a percolation rate of 51 mm/year. Such a wide range of percolation rate predictions demonstrates the potential for significant variability in model output within a range of defensible modeling decisions, assumptions, and parameterization methods. To appropriately bound this uncertainty, several model assumptions and iterations should be considered.
Publicity, Civil Liberties, and Political Life in Princely Hyderabad

In the 1930s, there were two glaring questions confronting the princely state of Hyderabad's Administration: the question of sovereignty (or the political future of the Hyderabad) and the problem of civil liberties. This article explores the complex socio-political conditions in the early decades of the twentieth century that gave rise to the formation of dynamic civil-society institutions in the princely state of Hyderabad. In particular, it asks how and why the discourse of civil liberties was taken up by these institutions and assesses the response of the Hyderabad Administration with respect to safeguarding civil liberties for its subjects. What the historical record reveals is that the early decades of the twentieth century in Hyderabad became a battleground between the Hyderabad Administration and the burgeoning public sphere that the Administration could not control nor manage.
Anodic Electrodeposition of Several Metal Organic Framework Thin Films on Indium Tin Oxide Glass

We present the rapid synthesis of a series of metal–organic framework (MOF) thin films on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass. ITO was first electrodeposited with either copper or zinc microcrystalline fi...
Inverted Encoding Models Reconstruct an Arbitrary Model Response, Not the Stimulus

Probing how large populations of neurons represent stimuli is key to understanding sensory representations as many stimulus characteristics can only be discerned from population activity and not from individual single-units. Recently, inverted encoding models have been used to produce channel response functions from large spatial-scale measurements of human brain activity that are reminiscent of single-unit tuning functions and have been proposed to assay "population-level stimulus representations" (Sprague et al., 2018a). However, these channel response functions do not assay population tuning. We show by derivation that the channel response function is only determined up to an invertible linear transform. Thus, these channel response functions are arbitrary, one of an infinite family and therefore not a unique description of population representation. Indeed, simulations demonstrate that bimodal, even random, channel basis functions can account perfectly well for population responses without any underlying neural response units that are so tuned. However, the approach can be salvaged by extending it to reconstruct the stimulus, not the assumed model. We show that when this is done, even using bimodal and random channel basis functions, a unimodal function peaking at the appropriate value of the stimulus is recovered which can be interpreted as a measure of population selectivity. More precisely, the recovered function signifies how likely any value of the stimulus is, given the observed population response. Whether an analysis is recovering the hypothetical responses of an arbitrary model rather than assessing the selectivity of population representations is not an issue unique to the inverted encoding model and human neuroscience, but a general problem that must be confronted as more complex analyses intervene between measurement of population activity and presentation of data.
Specimen records for North American Lepidoptera (Insecta) in the Oregon State Arthropod Collection. Cossoidea: Cossidae Leach, 1815 and Sessiidae Boisduval, 1828

A dataset for North American specimens in the holdings of the Oregon State Arthropod Collection is presented. Details about the metadata an some basic summary of the contents are presented. The dataset itself, in the form of a text file (csv formatting) is provided in the supplemental file materials.
Neuroinflammation in frontotemporal lobar degeneration revealed by 11C‐PBR28 PET

This study used 11 C-PBR28 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to determine whether levels of 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO), an inflammation-specific biomarker, are increased in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients. 11 C-PBR28, 18 F-FDG, and 11 C-PIB brain PET scans, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were conducted in four FTLD patients and 22 healthy controls. 11 C-PBR28 scans revealed that all FTLD patients showed increased TSPO binding versus controls. Significantly greater increases in TSPO were observed in the frontal, lateral temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices, topographically consistent with individual clinical phenotypes and with brain MRI and 18 F-FDG PET. Amyloid burden was not increased.
On the Curious History of the Big Six

Abstract. The Big Five became the foremost model of personality-trait structure in the last three decades, but was formed out of item/variable selections that partially or totally omitted dispositi...
The Affordable Care Act and Health Insurance Coverage Among People With Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Diabetes: Data From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Despite recent improvements, many people with diabetes remain undiagnosed, and those who are diagnosed often fail to reach their targets (1,2). Insurance coverage can change the health trajectory of people with diabetes by facilitating timely diabetes diagnosis and management (3,4). It is therefore important to understand how public policies can increase coverage among people with diabetes. Increasing access to health insurance was a key goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), but gaps remain in our knowledge about coverage gains among people with diabetes. An analysis of data from 2009 to 2016 found that insurance coverage for adults with diagnosed diabetes increased after key ACA provisions were implemented (5). However, the study did not include people whose diabetes is undiagnosed—a group comprising approximately one-third of all adults with diabetes prior to the ACA, including many people who are underserved minorities (1). To address this gap, we used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to estimate the full changes in insurance coverage under the ACA for adults with diabetes, including undiagnosed diabetes. We analyzed data from the 2005–2016 waves of NHANES, a repeated cross-sectional survey with biomarkers that is nationally representative of the noninstitutionalized civilian population on a biennial basis. Our sample included 2,401 nonpregnant U.S. citizens aged 26–64 years with diabetes, defined as HbA …
Pneumatic Compression in Addition to Pharmacologic Thromboprophylaxis Does Not Further Reduce DVT Risk.

In febrile infants up to 60 days of age, the combination of a normal urinalysis result, an absolute neutrophil count of less than 4,090 per mL (4.1 × 109 per L), and a serum procalcitonin level of less than 1.71 ng per mL is accurate at ruling out serious bacterial infections.
Trade and innovation: Unraveling a complex nexus

Abstract This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical economic literature on the innovation effect of international trade. To this end, we focus on technological innovation that targets product characteristics. We highlight three main channels through which international trade can affect innovation by domestic firms: increasing market size, intensifying market competition and facilitating foreign sourcing. While the market size effect of trade on domestic innovation is found to be predominantly positive, the effects of market competition and foreign sourcing are ambiguous and can depend on a variety of factors. Moreover, the impact of trade on innovation is likely heterogeneous across firms.
Introduction: Risk in a Complex World

The goal of the seminar on which this book is based was to improve our understanding of societal behavior with respect to risk. A step toward achieving this is to start closing the conceptual gap among treatments of (1) individual risk, where the individual acts to his own account; (2) fiduciary risk, where the individual acts on the behalf of others; and organizational risk, where a formal or informal group interprets both public and professional perceptions of risk and investigates actions based on this interpretation.
Effect of Large Deflections and Initial Imperfections on the Buckling of Cylindrical Shells Subject to Hydrostatic Pressure

Numerous treatments of the elastic buckling of thin cylinders under various loadings and with various boundary conditions exist in the literature. In general, those analyses which involve classical small deflection shell theory predict higher buckling loads than actually found during test. In an effort to explain the discrepancy between these theoretical values and experiment, Donnell in 1934 introduced the concept of large deflections together with the consideration of initial deviations from perfect shape. This approach has been employed by Donnell and Wan to investigate the phenomena of buckling of cylinders subject to axial compression and by Loo to study torsional buckling. Both of these studies yielded results that are in substantial agreement with experiment. In this paper the buckling of a "cylinder subjected to hydrostatic pressure is analyzed from the standpoint of large deflections together with initial imperfections because of the marked discrepancy between small deformation theory and test for this type of loading. The relations derived are in line with test results.
The alpha-glucosidases of Dictyostelium discoideum. II. Developmental regulation and cellular localization.

Abstract Four isozymes of α-glucosidase in Dictyostelium discoideum have been identified and some of their enzymatic and physical properties characterized (R. H. Borts and R. L. Dimond, 1981, Develop. Biol. 87, 176–184) . In this report the cellular localization and developmental regulation of three of these isozymes are determined. α-Glucosidase-1 is the major isozyme of vegetative amoebae. It is lysosomally localized and secreted from the cell under certain conditions. It has an acidic pH optimum and carries the common antigenic determinant found on all lysosomal enzymes in this organism. The specific activity of this isozyme begins to decrease within a few hours after the initiation of development and is no longer detectable in the mature fruiting body. α-Glucosidase-2 has a neutral pH optimum and is neither lysosomal nor secreted. Rather it is membrane bound and is possibly located on the cisternal side of microsomal vesicles. This isozyme does not possess the common antigenic determinant. α-Glucosidase-2 comprises 20–40% of the total α-glucosidase activity of the vegetative cell. Its specific activity increases threefold during development. This isozyme appears to be developmentally controlled since it fails to accumulate in aggregation deficient mutants. Its accumulation is also dependent upon continued protein synthesis. α-Glucosidase-4, like α-glucosidase-1, has an acidic pH optimum. It does not appear to be lysosomally localized nor membrane bound. Approximately 30% of the activity is precipitable by antibody against the common antigenic determinant indicating that it is less highly modified or fewer molecules are modified. The isozyme is undetectable during vegetative growth and does not begin to accumulate until late aggregation. Activity peaks in mature fruiting bodies where it is the predominant acidic α-glucosidase activity. Accumulation of α-glucosidase-4 is blocked in morphologically deficient mutants and by inhibitors of protein synthesis.
A simulation of surface temperatures for a north-south latitudinal transect during the winter solstice

The linkage of two physically-based models of solar radiation transmission and of a steady state slope energy budget has been performed. Climatic observational inputs, were averaged in 10-degree latitude bands. A systematic midday examination of changing surface temperatures and differences between surface and air temperatures as functions of varying slope angles (0 to 90 degrees) and orientations (south-, west-, and northfacing) was executed. Two contrasting landscapes were examined (barren and grassy) along a latitudinal transect of the east coast of the Americas (northern hemisphere). The response of temperatures on a latitudinal basis was systematic and orderly. A great diversity among surface temperatures between different slopes and directions at particular latitudes was discovered, especially pronounced in the lower latitudes. The findings were contrasted with their summer equivalent.
Combined outer volume suppression and T2 preparation sequence for coronary angiography.

Purpose To develop a magnetization preparation sequence for simultaneous outer volume suppression (OVS) and T2 weighting in whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography. Methods A combined OVS and T2 preparation sequence (OVS-T2 Prep) was designed with a nonselective adiabatic 90° tipdown pulse, two adiabatic 180° refocusing pulses, and a 2D spiral −90° tipup pulse. The OVS-T2 Prep preserves the magnetization inside an elliptic cylinder with T2 weighting, while saturating the magnetization outside the cylinder. Its performance was tested on phantoms and on 13 normal subjects with coronary magnetic resonance angiography using 3D cones trajectories. Results Phantom studies showed expected T2-dependent signal amplitude in the spatial passband and suppressed signal in the spatial stopband. In vivo studies with full-field-of-view cones yielded a passband-to-stopband signal ratio of 3.18 ± 0.77 and blood-myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio enhancement by a factor of 1.43 ± 0.20 (P < 0.001). In vivo studies with reduced-field-of-view cones showed that OVS-T2 Prep well suppressed the aliasing artifacts, as supported by significantly reduced signal in the regions with no tissues compared to the images acquired without preparation (P < 0.0001). Conclusion OVS-T2 Prep is a compact sequence that can accelerate coronary magnetic resonance angiography by suppressing signals from tissues surrounding the heart while simultaneously enhancing the blood-myocardium contrast. Magn Reson Med, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Signature-based search algorithm

Most existing search algorithms for motion compensation have been specifically tailored to exploit the interframe redundancy in image sequences that contain small amounts of motion. With large amounts of motion, the performance of these algorithms is significantly reduced. A class of signature-based search algorithms is proposed as an alternative to these algorithms. A specific example, called the frequency labeling search algorithm, is developed in detail. Experimental results show that this algorithm gives compression rates 3-5 times that achieved by other algorithms in the presence of substantial amounts of motion. The accuracy of the technique can be adjusted to suit different applications by changing the number of coefficients used in the signature and the size of the candidate set. While it is computationally more expensive than other approaches, the cost of the frequency labeling technique falls within the range reasonable for real-time applications. >
The zebrafish as a model system to study cardiovascular development

The zebrafish, Brachydanio rerio, is rapidly becoming a system of choice for vertebrate developmental biologists. It presents unique embryological attributes and is amenable to saturation style mutagenesis, a powerful approach that, in invertebrates, has already led to the identification of a large number of key developmental genes. Since fertilization is external, the zebrafish embryo develops in the dish and is thus accessible for continued observation and manipulation at all stages of development. Furthermore, because the embryo is transparent, the developing heart and vessels can be resolved at the single-cell level. A large number of mutations that affect the development of cardiovascular form and function have recently been isolated from large-scale genetic screens for zygotic embryonic lethals. Our further understanding of the development of the cardiovascular system is important not only because of the high incidence, and familial inheritance, of congenital abnormalities, but also because it should lead to novel, differentiation-based strategies for the analysis and therapy of the diseased state.
Relationship between thigh muscle mass and augmented pressure from wave reflections in healthy adults

Skeletal muscle may be viewed as an endocrine organ that releases numerous factors with the potential to influence vascular tone. Previous cross-sectional studies have shown an inverse relationship between muscle mass and arterial stiffness. We examined the relationship between muscle mass, arterial pressure in the aorta and brachial artery, and pressure from wave reflections [characterized as heart rate corrected augmentation pressure (AP)] and augmentation index (AIx). Twenty-seven (13 male, 14 female) subjects who were non-smokers and had no known cardiovascular or metabolic diseases visited the laboratory for two sessions of testing. Upon arriving for the first session, mid-thigh muscle (mCSA) and fat (fCSA) cross-sectional area were assessed using peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography. Following this, concentric one-repetition maximum (1-RM) testing was completed to assess knee extensor strength. The second visit consisted of taking brachial and aortic blood pressure measurements. A significant positive relationship was found between mCSA and brachial systolic blood pressure (r = 0.47, p = 0.02), but not between mCSA and aortic systolic blood pressure (r = 0.35, p = 0.09). There was an inverse association between mCSA and AP75 (−0.49, p = 0.01) and AIx75 (−0.49, p = 0.01). In conclusion, muscle mass is associated with brachial systolic blood pressure and inversely associated with pressure from wave reflections. Our findings suggest a link between global musculo-skeletal integrity and cardiovascular hemodynamics in young healthy adults.
Melatonin Directly Inhibits Rat Gonadotroph Cells

Melatonin, a secretory product of the pineal gland, can suppress the neonatal rat pituitary LH and FSH responses to LHRH in both intact animals and pituitary cultures. The present study has examined the effect of melatonin on an enriched gonadotroph cell preparation to determine whether the indole interacts directly with the gonadotroph or requires other pituitary cells to mediate the inhibition of gonadotropin release. Monodispersed anterior pituitary cells were prepared from 15- day-old female rats by a modification of the procedure of Hopkins and Farquhar. This procedure, in contrast to certain other methods tested in our laboratory for monodispersion, produced cells maximally responsive to both LHRH and melatonin and comparable to those dissociated with collagenase in our earlier studies. The dispersed cells were fractionated by velocity sedimentation on a 1–3% bovine serum albumin gradient. LH, FSH, TSH, PRL, and GH concentrations in cell lysates of each fraction were measured by double antibody RIA....
Pumpkin Yield and Weed Populations Following Annual Ryegrass

ABSTRACT Sustainable production can sometimes be achieved with diversification of cropping patterns and by the use of disparate crops in rotation. Following a forage grass harvest for feed it may be possible to produce a cucurbit crop before it is time to reseed an overwintering grass cover crop. Pumpkins may be a crop that can be grown in rotation with grasses. Five annual Italian ryegrass varieties of varying maturity [“Shiwasuaoba” (early); “Miniamioba” and “Waseyutaka” (medium); “Marshall” and “Zorro” (late)] were established in the fall. In early summer of the following year the grasses were harvested, their yield determined, and the stubble left in place. The control was composed of winter wheat which was harvested in the spring and the stubble turned under and the soil maintained without cover. Seed of pumpkin, cv. ProGold 300, were sown into strips tilled in the ryegrass stubble or bare soil. Number and weight of pumpkins were determined. Weed cover in plots following pumpkin harvest was determine...
The Women of Salerno: Contribution to the Origins of Surgery From Medieval Italy

Medicine in medieval Europe benefited from Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin influences. Because of geographic and other favorable conditions, many of these cultural contributions synergized to form the Medical School at Salerno around 900 AD. Somewhat uncharacteristically, women physicians played a part in the advances that came from this school. Among the contributions associated with the School of Salerno were (1) textbooks of anatomy, obtained mainly from porcine dissections, (2) insistence on certification and training for physicians, (3) application of investigative thinking and deduction that led to important advances such as the use of healing by secondary intention, (4) the first textbook about women's medicine, and (5) the first recorded female medical school faculty member named Trotula de Ruggiero or Trocta Salernitana. The women physicians of Salerno contributed to a textbook that gained wide acceptance and distribution throughout Europe. The textbook, called De Passionibus Mulierium, was first published about 1100 AD and was a prominent text until a significant revision by Ambrose Pare's assistant in the early 1600s. Pare was the preeminent anatomist of his time, and many of his important anatomic and surgical considerations were directly and indirectly derived from the work of the women of Salerno. The advances first recorded, taught, and implemented by the women of Salerno are an interesting and important part of our surgical heritage.
Preproenkephalin mRNA and enkephalin in normal and denervated adrenals in the Syrian hamster: comparison with central nervous system tissues.

Abstract The distribution and characteristics of preproenkephalin (PPenk) mRNA and enkephalin-containing (EC) peptides are compared in CNS and adrenal tissues from Syrian hamsters and Sprague-Dawley rats. Total cellular RNA extracts from both rat and hamster tissues produce a single hybridization band of PPenk mRNA of approximately 1500 bases when analyzed by Northern blot hybridization. Quantitation by solution hybridization reveals that in the hamster the highest levels of PPenk mRNA are found in adrenal (16.3 ± 1.4 pg equivalents/μg RNA (mean ± S.E.M.) and striatum (13.3 ± 0.7), followed by hypothalamus (0.8 ± 0.2), and hippocampus (0.4 ± 0.2). In the rat the highest levels of PPenk mRNA are in the striatum (35 ± 2 pg/μg RNA) followed by the hypothalamus (3.0 ± 0.5), hippocampus (0.3 ± 0.1) and adrenal (0.18 ± 0.04). Thus, the rank order of abundance of PPenk mRNA is similar in these CNS tissues for rat and hamster. The hamster adrenal levels are more than 90-fold greater than those of the rat. The abundance of EC peptides in both hamster and rat tissues mirror the rank order found with PPenk mRNA. Hamster adrenal contains the highest level of EC peptides (441 ± 37 pmol/mg protein (mean ± S.E.M.)) which is more than 400-fold greater than that of the rat adrenal and 8- to 12-fold greater than that found in rat and hamster striatum or hypothalamus. Both size exclusion chromatography and Western blot analysis indicate that EC peptides in hamster adrenal are predominantly large proenkephalin-like peptides with approximately 6 copies of Met- and 1 copy of Leu-enkephalin and that included in their number is a prominent EC peptide with a molecular weight of 34 kDa. Unilateral denervation of the hamster adrenal results in a time-dependent ipsilateral decrease in EC peptide and PPenk mRNA levels. Thus, by day 8 postsurgery, PPenk mRNA levels have declined by an average of 80% while EC peptides are reduced by 68% when compared to the innervated contralateral adrenal. These results demonstrate the great abundance of PPenk mRNA and EC peptides in the hamster adrenal. They also demonstrate the apparent need for transsynaptic impulse activity to maintain the high steady-state levels of PPenk and EC peptides. These characteristics of the hamster adrenal system provide opportunities for physiological and pharmacological investigations of the regulation of proenkephalin gene expression.
Multiple forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase in a murine adrenal cortex cell line (Y-1).

Murine adrenal cortex tumor Y-1 cells contained both soluble and particulate forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (3′,5′-cyclic AMP 5′-nucleotide hydrolase, EC 3.1.4.17). The soluble forms of the enzyme comprised 80% of total cellular phosphodiesterase activity. The soluble enzyme(s) hydrolyzed both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP, with apparent Km values of 125 and 30 μm, respectively. Soluble cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase showed marked inhibition by the calcium chelator, ethylene glycol bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N′-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), and the anticalmodulin drugs, chlorpromazine, N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7), and calmidazolium. No alteration in soluble cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity was observed when cyclic AMP was added to the assay. Resolution of the soluble enzymatic activity by DEAE-cellulose chromatography in the presence of calcium showed two peaks of phosphodiesterase activity. Further purification of one of these peaks on DEAE-cellulose in the presence of EGTA yielded a phosphodiesterase activity peak that was stimulated fivefold by calmodulin. The particulate form of the enzyme hydrolyzed both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP; the apparent Km values for these substrates were similar (90 and 100 μm, respectively). Hydrolysis of cyclic GMP by the particulate enzyme was inhibited by cyclic AMP in a concentration-dependent manner with an apparent half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 100 μm. The particulate form of phosphodiesterase was not inhibited by EGTA or anticalmodulin drugs.
LED Displays Past, Present, Future

Solid state displays have made solid progress in the last few years. Colors, sizes, brightness and costs have made significant progress with much more progress expected in the near future.
METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS AND SECOND LANGUAGE READING

second language reading has begun to focus, among other things, on readers' strategies. In the same way that investigating speakers' communicative strategies reveals the ways speakers manage oral communication, comprehension, input, and thus, ultimately, acquisition (Wenden & Rubin), reading strategies are of interest for what they reveal about the way readers manage their interaction with written text and how these strategies are related to text comprehension. Since the 1970s there has been no shortage of L2 learning theorists advocating teaching students to use a variety of reading strategies in order to read better.' These strategies run the gamut from the traditionally recognized reading skills of skimming and scanning, contextual guessing or skipping unknown words, tolerating ambiguity, reading for meaning, critical reading, and making inferences, to more recently recognized strategies such as building and activating appropriate background knowledge (Zvetina) and recognizing text structure (Block).2 Less common have been empirical investigations into reading strategies actually used by successful and unsuccessful second language learners (Hosenfeld; Hauptman; Knight, Padron & Waxman; Sarig; Block; Barnett). In exploratory, descriptive investigations of small numbers of individual learners using think-aloud techniques, studies by both Hosenfeld and Block identified apparent relations between certain types of reading strategies and successful or unsuccessful foreign or second language reading. For example, Hosenfeld's successful reader: 1) kept the meaning of the passage in mind during reading; 2) read in "broad phrases"; 3) skipped words viewed as unimportant to total phrase meaning; and 4) had a positive self-concept as a reader. By contrast, Hosenfeld's unsuccessful reader: 1) lost the meaning of sentences as soon as they were decoded; 2) read in short phrases; 3) seldom skipped words as unimportant, viewing words as "equal" in terms of their contribution to total phrase meaning; and 4) had a negative selfconcept as a reader. Block, in a study focused on generally nonproficient readers, found that four characteristics seem to differentiate more
Multistream robust speaker recognition based on speech intelligibility

Delimiting the most informative voice segments of an acoustic signal is often a crucial initial step for any speech processing system. In the current work, we propose a novel segmentation approach based on a perception-based measure of speech intelligibility. Unlike segmentation approaches based on various forms of voice-activity detection (VAD), the proposed segmentation approach exploits higher-level perceptual information about the signal intelligibility levels. This classification based on intelligibility estimates is integrated into a novel multistream framework for automatic speaker recognition task. The multistream system processes the input acoustic signal along multiple independent streams reflecting various levels of intelligibility and then fusing the decision scores from the multiple steams according to their intelligibility contribution. Our results show that the proposed multistream system achieves significant improvements both in clean and noisy conditions when compared with a baseline and a state-of-the-art voice-activity detection algorithm.
Comitative coordination: A case study in group formation

This paper argues that in Russian a (singular) NP can combine with a comitative PP to form a complex plural NP, and that this NP denotes a group in the sense of Landman (1989). A single-headed GPSG analysis of the construction is proposed and argued for, and the implications of the analysis for number agreement are discussed. The semantic properties of the construction (and its counterpart in Polish) are subsequently detailed and are compared with those of ‘ordinary’ NP coordination; the preliminary conclusion is that the construction differs both in denotation and in conventional meaning from NP coordination.
Thresholds for carcinogenesis and their significance to medical practice

The Delaney Amendment covering the addition of carcinogens to foods, the Toxic Substances Control Act governing the release of carcinogens into water, and other regulations are based on a "no-threshold" concept. That is, they assume that any level above zero will induce cancer in an exposed population. The threshold concept holds that zero risk occurs at or below some finite exposure which is greater than zero. This paper shows that thresholds for carcinogenesis are in accord with common medical experience, and discusses the medical implications of thresholds.
Food Biotechnology: Boon or Threat?

Abstract The use of techniques of genetic engineering in the food system is the source of some debate. Proponents stress the potential biotechnology has for reducing the need for agricultural chemicals and improving the production, quality, safety, cost, and convenience of food products. They consider special labeling unnecessary and potentially misleading. Opponents raise a variety of food safety, ecological, social, and ethical issues and call for labeling, sometimes at any cost. Both ranges of views make valid points and overlook important realities. Nutrition education professionals, who are seen as trusted sources of information about food biotechnology, can help consumers understand issues raised by genetic engineering and facilitate cooperative dialogue among consumer, industry, and regulatory groups with the ultimate goal of promoting a safe, nutritious, and sustainable food system.
Indexing transitional knowledge

Various indexes have been proposed to mark when a child is on the verge of acquiring new knowledge. This article described a new method for indexing this point of transition, which is based on the specificity of children's verbal explanations. The degree to which children were specific in their verbal explanations was related to whether they benefited from instruction. In particular, children who were vague in their explanations (i.e., less specific) benefited from instruction more than children who were explicit in their explanations (i.e., more specific). This index provides insights into the child's mental state prior to acquiring new knowledge
A coupled attractor model of the rodent head direction system

Head direction (HD) cells, abundant in the rat postsubiculum and anterior thalamic nuclei, fire maximally when the rat's head is facing a particular direction. The activity of a population of these cells forms a distributed representation of the animal's current heading. We describe a neural network model that creates a stable, distributed representation of head direction and updates that representation in response to angular velocity information. In contrast to earlier models, our model of the head direction system accurately tracks a series of actual rat head rotations, and, using biologically plausible neurons, it fits the single-cell tuning curves of real HD cells recorded from rats executing those same rotations. The model makes neurophysiological predictions that can be tested using current technologies.
Exploring ‘near’: Characterizing the spatial extent of drinking place influence on crime

The important role of facilities in understanding crime patterns is widely recognized. Studies have demonstrated a connection between the presence of facilities such as bars, parks, schools and fas...
Multiple-tube resonance model

In speech analysis, a recurring acoustical problem is the estimation of resonant structure of a tube of non-uniform cross-sectional area. We model such tubes as a finite sequence of cylindrical tubes of arbitrary, non-uniform length. From this model, we derive a closed form expression of the resonant structure of the model and analytically derive the boundary conditions for the case of a constant group delay. Since it has been noted in the literature that the group delay of the vocal tract is constant, these boundary conditions hold for the vocal tract. In the limiting case, the non-uniform tube model reduces the well studied uniform tube model. For this limiting case, we derive an expression of the tube resonant structure in terms of a Fourier transform. Finally, we derive wave equations from the model, which are consistent with the wave equations for the telegraph wire problem.
Group IV atomic layer epitaxy

Abstract Group IV atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) provides special challenges in that the conventional alternation of anion and cation species is not applicable. New experimental approaches are proposed that synergistically combine to gain real-time, in situ information on the surface, its activation energy, reconstruction, and work function so as to choose optimally feedstock molecules. New computer codes in computational chemistry are expected to stimulate further a synergistic approach to group IV ALE.
Cholesterol reduction through low-intensity interventions: Results from the Minnesota heart health program☆

The National Cholesterol Education Program has underscored the need for health professionals to work together to promote dietary changes and reduce blood cholesterol levels across the population. This article reports the results of an evaluation of several low-intensity intervention programs designed for the general public that could be offered on a larger scale, either through traditional outlets for short courses or on an outpatient basis after physician referral. The interventions were designed as classes, required approximately 8 hr of contact time with the participants, cost approximately $20 per participant, and were taught by nutritionists and dietitians recruited from the community and trained for this program. Results indicated that similar net reductions in total cholesterol of about 4% were achieved at 1-yr follow-up either from a course which focused on changing eating patterns or from one which focused on weight loss and weight-loss management. These results support the hypothesis that cholesterol reduction is possible with inexpensive and simple methods in healthy, low-risk populations.
The discovery of salinosporamide K from the marine bacterium "Salinispora pacifica" by genome mining gives insight into pathway evolution.

The γ-lactam-β-lactone natural product salinosporamide A (1) is a potent proteasome inhibitor produced by the marine bacterium Salinispora tropica.[1,2] This chlorinated anticancer agent dominates a family of natural structural analogues that primarily differ at the C-2 substituent.[3] In the case of 1, the C-2 chloroethyl group is a key functional group that enables the molecule to irreversibly bind to the 20S proteasome.[4] All γ-lactam-β-lactone natural products, including the salinosporamides (1–4), the cinnabaramides (5), and omuralide (6), share the initial reaction with the proteasome in which the N-terminal threo-nine residue of the catalytic β-subunit attacks the β-lactone group of the inhibitor to form an ester linkage.[3] While this covalent proteasome–inhibitor complex is susceptible to water hydrolysis, a subsequent reaction of the β-lactone-derived C-3 hydroxyl group with a C-2 side-chain leaving group such as in 1 yields a tetrahydrofuran adduct that is stable to hydrolysis.[4] Due to the mechanistic importance of the salinosporamide C-2 substituent, biosynthetic studies in S. tropica explored the origins of this small compound library to reveal that the salinosporamides are atypical products of a hybrid polyketide synthase–nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS–NRPS).[5,6] By accommodating different PKS building blocks such as chloroethyl-, methyl-, ethyl-, and propyl-malonyl-CoA, salinosporamides A(1), D (2), B (3) and E (4), respectively, are biosynthesized.[6,7] This understanding provided the logic to engineer the unnatural derivative fluorosalinosporamide[8,9] (7) as well as the molecular basis to explore new genome sequences for the discovery of novel salinosporamide derivatives. Herein we report the genome-inspired discovery and characterization of salinosporamide K (8) from a new source, “Salinispora pacifica” strain CNT-133, that provides insight into the evolution of the salinosporamide biosynthetic pathway. From the three proposed Salinispora species, S. tropica and “S. pacifica” are more closely related to each other than each is to S. arenicola.[10]
Agnathia–otocephaly complex: A case report and examination of the OTX2 and PRRX1 genes

Agnathia-otocephaly is a rare, often lethal malformation characterized by absence or hypoplasia of the mandible, microstomia, hypoglossia/aglossia, and variable anterior midline fusion of the ears (melotia, synotia). Etiologies have been linked to both genetic and teratogenic factors and to date, a definitive, commonly identifiable cause has not been recognized. Mouse and human genetic studies have implicated OTX2 and PRRX1 as potential candidate genes for agnathia-otocephaly. In this study we report a sporadic case of agnathia-otocephaly complex with associated features of maldevelopment and examine the roles of OTX2 and PRRX1. The proband, a male born at 31 weeks, displayed severe micrognathia, microstomia, posteriorly-rotated and low set ears, and downward slanting palpebral fissures. Mutation analysis was performed after sequencing the entire coding regions of OTX2 and PRRX1 genes isolated from the proband and his parents. After thorough analysis, no DNA variations were detected. This suggests that mutations in different genes or environmental causes are responsible.