cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
People systematically overlook subtractive changes

Improving objects, ideas or situations—whether a designer seeks to advance technology, a writer seeks to strengthen an argument or a manager seeks to encourage desired behaviour—requires a mental search for possible changes1–3. We investigated whether people are as likely to consider changes that subtract components from an object, idea or situation as they are to consider changes that add new components. People typically consider a limited number of promising ideas in order to manage the cognitive burden of searching through all possible ideas, but this can lead them to accept adequate solutions without considering potentially superior alternatives4–10. Here we show that people systematically default to searching for additive transformations, and consequently overlook subtractive transformations. Across eight experiments, participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes when the task did not (versus did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (versus several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy or when they were under a higher (versus lower) cognitive load. Defaulting to searches for additive changes may be one reason that people struggle to mitigate overburdened schedules11, institutional red tape12 and damaging effects on the planet13,14. Observational and experimental studies of people seeking to improve objects, ideas or situations demonstrate that people default to searching for solutions that add new components rather than for solutions that remove existing components.
Psychosocial response of infertile patients to COVID-19-related delays in care at the epicenter of the global pandemic

Background To describe the psychosocial response of the infertile population whose care was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A web-based cross-sectional survey was administered to 117 infertile patients at our center who had their infertility treatment delayed due to suspension of care at our hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey consisted of 52-question multiple-choice questions including the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) instruments. Characteristics of respondents who "agreed" (strongly agree and agree) that "delaying treatment has permanently impacted my chances at future conception" were compared with participants who "disagreed" (neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree) using Fischer's exact test. Results In total, 79.5% agreed that delaying treatment has permanently impacted their chances at future conception. There were no discernible demographic differences between patients who "agreed" versus "disagreed" with the above statement. The mean LOT-R score was 14.1 (5.1) with an optimism score of 6.8 (2.6) and a pessimism score of 7.3 (2.9). The mean HADS depression score was 5.4 (3.4) with 28.2% reporting scores in the borderline-abnormal to abnormal range. The mean HADS anxiety score was 9.0 (3.9) with 64.6% reporting scores in the borderline-abnormal to abnormal range. Nearly one third of respondents (36.8%) reported wanting to "expedite/be more aggressive with treatment," whereas only 5.1% wanted to postpone treatment. Conclusions Women undergoing ART during the COVID-19 pandemic express significant concern and signs of distress about how delays in care affect their future reproductive potential.
Virtual environments for the representative assessment of personality: VE-RAP

Abstract Challenges in personality science abound. We need a systematic, theory-based way to examine the dynamics of within-person variability in behavior in response to context and over time. Such a theory-based approach should afford an analysis at different “grain” sizes from moment-to-moment for assessing individual patterns of behavior variability given situational challenges, and changes in those over time (Miller, Shaikh, et al., 2019). And, that approach to personality measurement should afford generalizability to everyday life (GEL). Virtual environments that are representative for assessing personality (VE-RAP) could be key to such methods: Here we argue for rethinking our traditional personality assessment toolbox as an environment that representatively samples from “the world” we wish to generalize to and instantiates that in a representative digital game that affords both within and between-person assessments of personality.
Review of a paediatric inflammatory bowel disease service during the pandemic and the impact of the CNS role.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing and remitting condition. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted provision of medical care across the world. IBD clinical nu...
Examining Project-Based Learning Successes and Challenges of Mathematics Preservice Teachers in a Teacher Residency Program: Learning by Doing

This phenomenological study describes how secondary mathematics preservice teachers (PSTs) in a teacher residency program designed and implemented project-based learning (PBL) units. The Six A’s, a framework used to evaluate the rigor and relevance of PBL units, helped capture the research question: What are the successes and challenges PSTs experience as they implement PBL units for the first time? This qualitative study illustrates how PSTs engaged students in relevant learning, wrestled with sustaining the rigor, and included the community to be partners in the projects. Findings indicate that high-quality implementation of PBL instruction requires involving the community, facilitating mathematical learning, and transforming the learning environment. PSTs recognized that a PBL approach requires a shift from traditional teaching practices and reconceptualizing both what it means for teachers to teach mathematics and for students to learn mathematics. This study contributes to the scarce body of knowledge on how teacher residency programs can utilize PBL as an instructional model to prepare PSTs for PBL environments.
Ensemble Encoder–Decoder Models for Predicting Land Transformation

Land development is a dynamic and complex processinfluenced by a system of interconnected driving variables. Predicting such a process is important in mitigating severe climate situations and improving the resiliency of communities. Current predictive models in land transformation have not paid a serious attention to capturing and exploiting the interchannel relationships. Moreover, these models often have problems with generalization, which results in poor performance during testing. In this study, we use a novel multichannel data cube, constructed from socioeconomic attributes, terrain characteristics, and landscape traits, to predict land transformation in a watershed in the US. In particular, we introduce methods for projecting impervious land transformations using these data cubes, using 2-D and 3-D convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and their ensembles. We apply fusion at decision, score, and feature levels to improve the generalization ability and robustness of the proposed predictive models. Performance is assessed using the Dice coefficient, receiver operating characteristic curves, data visualization, and running time. Our study shows that the use of 2-D and 3-D CNN ensembles improved the performance of the models in terms of model stability, precision and recall, and Dice coefficient.
Optogenetic dissection of the roles of actomyosin in the mechanics underlying tissue fluidity

Rapid epithelial tissue flows are essential to building and shaping developing embryos. However, it is not well understood how the mechanical properties of tissues and the forces driving them to flow are jointly regulated to accommodate rapid tissue remodeling. To dissect the roles of actomyosin in the mechanics of epithelial tissue flows, here we use two optogenetic tools, optoGEF and optoGAP, to manipulate Rho/Rho-kinase signaling and actomyosin contractility in the germband epithelium, which flows via convergent extension during Drosophila body axis elongation. The ability to perturb actomyosin across the tissue allows us to analyze the effects of actomyosin on cell rearrangements, tissue tensions, and tissue mechanical properties. We find that either optogenetic activation or deactivation of Rho1 signaling and actomyosin contractility at the apical surface of the germband disrupts cell rearrangements and tissue-level flows. By probing mechanical tensions in the tissue using laser ablation and predicting tissue mechanical properties from cell packings, we find that actomyosin influences both the anisotropic forces driving tissue flow and the mechanical properties of the tissue resisting flow, leading to complex relationships between actomyosin activity and tissue-level flow. Moreover, our results indicate that changes in the distribution of medial and junctional myosin in the different perturbations alter tissue tension and cell packings in distinct ways, revealing how junctional and medial myosin have differential roles in promoting and orienting cell rearrangements to tune tissue flows in developing embryos.
Effect of dietary fiber on the oral glucose tolerance test in pregnancy

Abstract Paired oral glucose tolerance tests (GTTs) were performed during the third trimester of pregnancy to determine whether soluble fiber, which is known to blunt the rise in postprandial serum glucose in nonpregnant subjects, demonstrated similar effects in pregnancy. Normal pregnant women (n = 14) and gestational diabetic patients (n = 4) were first given a standard 100 gm oral GTT, and serum levels of glucose and insulin were determined in the fasting state and at 60, 120, and 180 minutes after ingestion of the glucose load. Several days later, a second GTT was done. In this test, glucose was combined with 15 gm of guar gum, a purified soluble dietary fiber. Improved glucose tolerance was documented in all but one patient. Guar gum produced a significant reduction in mean serum glucose levels at 1 hour (p
Export Competitiveness of Developing Countries and US Trade Policy

This paper examines the impact of the revocation of tariff exemptions on exports of developing countries using data from cases of the Competitive Needs Limits (CNL), a feature of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Competitive Needs Limits are arguably imposed on ‘super competitive’ GSP beneficiaries who no longer need the preferential treatment, and aim to reserve the GSP benefits for other GSP eligible countries. The findings suggest that being excluded from the GSP as a result of a CNL induces a large and significant drop in US imports from affected countries, both in value and as a share of total US imports, and much of their market share is captured by non-GSP countries, contrary to the policy objectives of CNLs.
Modeling spatial variation in productivity due to tillage and water erosion

The advent of precision farming practices has heightened interest in managing field variability to optimize profitability. The large variation in yields across many producer fields demonstrated by yield‐monitor‐equipped combines has generated concern about management-induced causes of spatial variation in soil productivity. Soil translocation from erosion processes may result in variation in soil properties across field landscape positions that produce long-term changes in soil productivity. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between soil redistribution caused by tillage and water erosion and the resulting spatial variability of soil productivity in a soil catena in eastern South Dakota. An empirical model developed to estimate tillage erosion was used to evaluate changes expected in the soil profile over a 50-year period on a typical toposequence found in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. Changes in the soil profile due to water erosion over a 50-year period were evaluated using the WEPP hillslope model. The tillage erosion model and the WEPP hillslope model were run concurrently for a 50-year period to evaluate the combined effect of the two processes. The resulting changes in soil properties of the root zone were evaluated for changes in productivity using a productivity index model. Tillage erosion resulted in soil loss in the shoulder position, while soil loss from water erosion occurred primarily in the mid to lower backslope position. The decline in soil productivity was greater when both processes were combined compared to either process acting alone. Water erosion contributed to nearly all the decline in soil productivity in the backslope position when both tillage and water erosion processes were combined. The net effect of soil translocation from the combined effects of tillage and water erosion is an increase in spatial variability of crop yields and a likely decline in overall soil productivity. # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Selected Self-Organization and the Semiotics of Evolutionary Systems

Heinz von Foerster (1965, 1969, 1977) equated the ability of an organization to classify its environment with the notion of eigenbehavior. He postulated the existence of some stable structures (eigenvalues) which are maintained in the operations of an organization’s dynamics. Following Piaget (von Foerster, 1977), he observed that any specific instance of observation of such an organization will still be the result of an indefinite succession of cognitive/sensory-motor operations. This reiterated the constructivist position that observables do not refer directly to real world objects, but are instead the result of an infinite cascade of cognitive and sensory-motor operations in some environment/subject coupling. Eigenvalues are self-defining, or self-referent, through the imbedding dynamics — implying a complementary relationship (circularity, closure) between eigen-values and cognitive/sensory-motor operators: one implies, or defines, the other. “Eigenvalues represent the externally observable manifestations of the (introspectively accessible) cognitive (operations)” (ibid., p. 278, italics added). Further, “Ontologically, Eigenvalues and objects, and likewise, ontogenetically, stable behavior and the manifestation of a subject’s ‘grasp’ of an object cannot be distinguished” (ibid., p. 280). Eigenbehavior is thus used to define the behavior of autonomous, cognitive systems, which through the closure (self-referential recursion) of the sensory-motor interactions in their nervous systems, give rise to perceptual regularities as objects (Varela, 1979, ch. 13).
Absence of Secretory Phospholipase A2 Gene Alterations in Human Colorectal Cancer

Abstract A potent modifying locus of intestinal tumorigenesis in the mouse was recently identified as secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2). The human homologue of sPLA2 maps to chromosome 1p35, a region frequently lost in human tumors. To evaluate the possibility that sPLA2 was a tumor suppressor gene that was the target of the 1p loss events, we identified polymorphisms within the human sPLA2 gene. Using these polymorphisms, 31% of 16 colorectal carcinomas were found to lose a sPLA2 allele. However, sequence analysis of the complete coding region of sPLA2 revealed no somatic mutations in the remaining allele of those tumors with allelic loss, nor in 18 additional colorectal cancers. Thus, sPLA2 is within the chromosomal region often lost during colorectal tumorigenesis, but mutations of this gene do not appear to play a major role in colorectal cancer development, and sPLA2 is unlikely to be the 1p35 tumor suppressor.
Cells and Diffusion

Before formally considering diffusion and related topics, this chapter outlines the structure of certain plant cells and tissues, thus introducing most of the anatomical terms. The chapter illustrates a representative leaf cell from a higher plant and illustrates the larger subcellular structures. Surrounding the protoplast is the cell wall, composed of cellulose and other polysaccharides, which helps provide rigidity to individual cells as well as to the whole plant. The cell wall contains numerous relatively large interstices, so it is not the main permeability barrier to the entry of water or small solutes into plant cells. The main barrier, a cell membrane known as the plasma membrane (or plasmalemma), is found inside the cell wall and surrounds the cytoplasm. The permeability of this membrane varies with the particular solute, so the plasma membrane can regulate what enters and leaves a plant cell. The cytoplasm contains organelles such as chloroplasts and mitochondria, which are membrane-surrounded compartments in which energy can be converted from one form to another. Also in the cytoplasm are microbodies such as peroxisomes, numerous ribosomes, and proteins, as well as many other macromolecules and structures that influence the thermodynamic properties of water. The term cytoplasm includes the organelles (but generally not the nucleus), whereas the term cytosol refers to the cytoplasmic solution delimited by the plasma membrane and the tonoplast but exterior to the organelles.
Relationships Between Habitat Dynamics Food Availability, and Growth Patterns of Ephemerellid Mayflies from Western North America

I examined whether variation in timing and length of the growth period for 11 species of Ephemerellidae was a function of either microhabitat stability or food availability. My data indicate that the growth patterns of these related species may be broadly constrained by taxonomic affinities. However, the final 90% of growth for each species almost always occurred during periods of maximum stability of preferred habitats. In addition, length of the growth period apparently varied directly with durational stability of preferred habitats, although this relationship is not exceptionally strong. For some species, timing of growth may also be influenced by predictable seasonal variation in availability of food. In general, hypotheses based on single factors are inadequate to explain all observed patterns. Also, comparison of my results with other studies indicates that the relative importance of different selective factors probably varies with geographic location.
Tax Regressivity and the Choice of Tax Base

In 1995, Paul Peterson, a professor of government at Harvard University, concluded that the greatest price of the United States (U.S.) federalist system was inter-jurisdictional inequity, but that the federal government’s role in redistributive policy could potentially minimize this cost. While Peterson’s work focused on the expenditure side of the budget, federal governments also facilitate the redistribution of income through the tax code, but some tax bases tend to be inherently more progressive than others. Given the range of tax bases available to policy makers, the role of a tax base in income distribution is fundamental to evaluating the distributional effects of different tax structures. Using the regressivity of state and local tax systems in the U.S., this study finds that consumption taxes may impose significant equity costs when designed as sales taxes. More specifically, for each one percent increase in sales tax revenue as a share of the tax base, the system becomes 12 to 17 percent more regressive. For each one percent increase in income tax revenue as a percent of the revenue base, the system becomes 12 to 13 percent less regressive- despite the fact that United States’ state governments tend to have either flat or only moderately graduated income tax rates. While this study finds that the choice of tax base can only explain about half the variation in regressivity rates, it does high light the difficulty in designing a consumption tax that achieves redistributive policy goals.
Objects and places: Geometric and syntactic representations in early lexical learning

Abstract Three experiments investigated differences in the geometric properties of objects and places underlying children's knowledge of count nouns and prepositions. Three-year-olds, 5-year-olds and adults were shown a novel object being placed in a single location on a box, and were told either “This is a corp” (noun condition) or “This is a corp my box” (preposition condition). They then were asked what new shapes and what new positions were acceptable instances of the novel term. Both children and adults could use the syntactic contexts to make appropriate semantic inferences, assuming that the noun referred to the object itself and the preposition to the object's location. Furthermore, there were striking differences in the geometric properties considered relevant to the two new words. In the noun condition, children and adults attended to the particular shape of the object, extending the new word to objects of the same shape as the standard, regardless of its position. In the preposition condition, they either completely disregarded object shape and accepted a wide variety of positions, or preserved just one component of object shape—the located object's principal linear axis—and accepted positions preserving the object's orientation relative to the box. In both conditions, there was sharpening of attention to shape over age. The results are discussed in terms of distinct geometric representations underlying the two domains of objects and places, and the role these representations play in guiding early word learning.
Symbiosis and Software Evolvability

As software systems become more pervasive and complex and - at the same time - expensive and difficult to maintain, the R&D community has turned to biological systems to find mechanisms that support system integrity and robustness. In both biology and software development, evolvability has become a research area in its own right. To improve software evolvability, many researchers have studied biological system properties, such as self-organization, modularity, and gene duplication. Our research focuses instead on software ecosystems and symbiosis as a business strategy for multivendor software systems.
Output feedback nonlinear control of an aeroelastic system with unsteady aerodynamics

Abstract The paper presents a nonlinear output feedback control system for the stabilization of an aeroelastic system with structural nonlinearities. The aeroelastic model describes the plunge and pitch motion of a wing. The unsteady aerodynamics are modeled with an approximation to Theodorsen's theory. A single control surface is utilized for the flutter control. For the purpose of control law derivation, a judicious choice of output as a linear combination of the plunge displacement and pitch angle is made. Based on a backstepping design technique, a control law for the trajectory control of the chosen output variable is derived. For the synthesis of the controller, only the plunge displacement, pitch angle, and control surface deflection are measured. An observer is designed to estimate the remaining state variables of the system for feedback. In the closed-loop system, including the observer and nonlinear controller, trajectory control of the output is accomplished and the state vector asymptotically converges to the origin. Simulation results are presented which show that the designed control system is effective in flutter suppression.
Expression in Escherichia coli of two Schistosoma mansoni genes that encode major antigens recognized by immune mice

Two clones which contain genes encoding Schistosoma mansoni proteins recognized by immune mouse sera were chosen from a cDNA λgt11 expression vector library by preselecting clones from the library with rabbit antisera against adult worm phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-soluble antigens. One clone, MAC 182, codes for part of a Mr 70 000 protein; the other clone, MAC 184, codes for a Mr 27 000 protein. The insert sizes of MAC 182 and MAC 184 are 400 bp and 800 bp, respectively. Both clones express S. mansoni β-galactosidase fusion proteins as products of the construct. Antibodies from either chronically infected mice or mice vaccinated with irradiated cercariae recognize the MAC 182 fusion protein (MAC 182fp) but not the MAC 184 fusion protein (MAC 184fp). Rabbit antibodies prepared against MAC 182fp immunoprecipitate a Mr 70 000 in vitro translation product from adult mRNA and react in Western blot with a corresponding Mr 70 000 protein present in eggs, cercariae and adult worms but absent in schistosomula. Although the MAC 184fp is not recognized directly by chronic infection or vaccinated mouse antibodies, antisera prepared against the purified fusion protein immunoprecipitate a Mr 27 000 in vitro translation product which also reacts with mouse chronic infection sera. The same Mr 27 000 protein appears to be present in eggs, cercariae, schistosomula and adults as determined by Western blot with rabbit antisera against the MAC 184fp. These results suggest that the S. mansoni polypeptide encoded by the MAC 184 gene, when expressed within a fusion protein, fails to present epitopes normally recognized during natural infection. We propose that these epitopes are conformationally determined and are destroyed when the MAC 184 protein is expressed within β-galactosidase. This abrogation of conformational epitopes may explain the failure of antibodies from chronically infected or vaccinated mice and rabbits to effectively recognize gene products of certain λgt11-fusion protein clones.
Comparing the attitudes of local residents, planners, and developers about preserving rural character in New England

Abstract Rural areas across North America are experiencing unprecedented residential development that negatively impact the rural character that attracts new residents to these areas in the first place. This study looks at the three groups that influence residential sprawl in rural areas on the urban fringe: planners, homebuilders, and local citizens. This study in rural New England included both written surveys in the form of a photo-questionnaire, as well as interviews with planners and homebuilders about their attitudes toward development and open space preservation and their perceptions of rural character. Scenes of both traditional and innovative rural areas were used to elicit participants’ perceptions about the type of development, which they consider to be compatible with rural New England. The results of the survey showed many similarities between the three groups, but in some cases the “expert” planners revealed a more limited view of compatible development than did either local residents or homebuilders. Furthermore, homebuilders indicated that experimentation with innovative subdivision design was discouraged by current local planning laws. This study has planning implications for those interested in preserving rural character through innovative subdivision design, as well as reveals new insights into what attracts people to move to rural areas.
Thermal Properties and Paste and Gel Behaviors of Starches Recovered from Accessions Used in the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize Project

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to screen starches recovered from the corn accessions used in the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize (GEM) project for unusual thermal properties and paste and gel behaviors, so that they could be exploited in corn breeding programs to enhance traits important to corn utilization. In general, the values for gelatinization temperatures and peak height indices were greater, but heat of gelatinization values were less for the starches recovered from the GEM accessions (particularly BRA 052051 (SE 32)) than for starches from commercial Dent corn hybrids (11.3 vs. 13.6 J/g). Generally, retrogradation properties were similar among the GEM accessions, although there were specific accessions (particularly Lima 13) that possessed modestly lower percentage retrogradation (34 vs. 42%). Generally, peak viscosities, cold paste viscosities, and viscosity breakdowns were greater for the starches of the GEM accessions (particularly ARZM 01150, Antiqua 3, and URZM 01089, respectively) ...
Morphological analysis of the activation of adherent neutrophils in vitro

Abstract One approach to study the inflammatory potential of neutrophils involves in vitro methods, using either adherent or suspended cells. In order to do structure-function studies, traditional methods require that experiments be done in parallel: one experiment for structure and another for function. In this report new morphological methods for coordinated structure-function studies on the same cells are described. Isolation and biochemical analysis of sheep and human adherent neutrophils were done as described in the companion paper (Cerasoli et al ., 1988). Then, at designated time points, the adherent cells were fixed and processed in the microtiter wells for high-resolution light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The principal obstacle to the morphological studies was chemical etching of the microtiter wells by the processing solutions and embedding media. Insertion of No. 3 BEEM TM capsule ‘sleeves’ (the cap and conical tip were removed) into the wells before processing eliminated the obstacle and provided standard-sized, polymerized blocks for microtomes. Adherent neutrophils activated in vitro with 10 −7 M phorbol myristate acetate developed prominent cytoplasmic vacuoles. Furthermore, the activated cells assumed irregular shapes and cytoplasmic processes. These changes in adherent cell morphology in vitro are similar to those seen in neutrophils which have been activated and fixed in vivo . Thus, the in vitro approach we devised retains the morphologic characteristics of cells in vivo and provides an efficient method to do integrated structure-function studies. Using these techniques, we have studied alveolar neutrophils obtained from a patient with acute respiratory failure. These cells contained conspicuous cytoplasmic vacuoles, few granules, and their border was ruffled. The same morphologic changes observed after activation of peripheral blood neutrophils with phorbol myristate acetate in vitro were seen in the alveolar neutrophils obtained from this patient. Therefore, these studies reveal that similar morphologic changes are seen in neutrophils stimulated in vitro as well as cells which have been activated pathophysiologically in vivo .
Vertical integration in the computer mainframe industry: A transaction cost interpretation

Abstract The basic transaction cost argument is extended to consider technology, appropriability and industry maturity. The change in vertical integration patterns of computer firms for successive logic components in the period 1950–1970 provides historical evidence. The main finding is that increased vertical integration for integrated circuits is consistent with transaction cost and production cost arguments. When technology, appropriability, industry maturity and firm strategy are considered, vertical integration is explained more fully.
Dinoflagellates ‐ a selective review

Abstract A brief history of the investigation of fossil dinoflagellates and a summary of certain biological considerations are followed by a survey of recent progress along selected lines in the study of these organisms. Some of the new information that has come to light as a result of the reinforcing interplay between biological and paleontological investigations is reviewed and some of the nomenclatural and taxonomic questions raised by it, which will concern students of living and fossil dinoflagellates alike, are pointed out. Morphological features that distinguish theca from resting cyst and the requisite for an adequate description of the resting cyst are tabulated. An extensive bibliography includes detailed papers on the topics covered.
Probabilistic formulation of the emergency service location problem.

The problem of locating emergency service facilities is studied under the assumption that the locations of incidents (accidents, fires, or customers) are random variables. The probability distribution for rectilinear travel time between a new facility location and the random location of the incident Pi is developed for the case of Pi being uniformly distributed over a rectangular region. The location problem is considered in a discrete space. A deterministic formulation is obtained and recognized to be a set cover problem. Probabilistic variation of the central facility location problem is also presented.
High density lipoprotein influences the response of rat adrenocortical cells to λ3-melanotropin

Abstract Gamma 3 -melanotropin (γ 3 -MSH) exhibits a marked dose-dependent synergism with ACTH 1–24 on corticosterone production by cells isolated from the inner zones of the rat adrenal cortex. This phenomenon is demonstrated to best advantage when donor animals are killed after stress or pretreatment with ACTH. If adrenal cells are prepared from quiescent or hypophysectomized animals, the inclusion of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in the incubation medium is required for a significant γ 3 -MSH response. Dibutyryl cAMP can successfully substitute for ACTH 1–24 in these incubations but rat low density lipoprotein does not reproduce the HDL effect. These data are consistent with our in vivo studies demonstrating that γ 3 -MSH potentiation is a product of increased cholesterol mobilization within the adrenal cortex and suggest that in the rat, a significant source of the cholesteryl ester pool which is responsive to γ 3 -MSH may derive from circulating HDL.
Consequences of combined chemical and radiative exposure of solid surfaces

We present studies of the consequences of simultaneous exposure of inorganic single crystals to radiation and water. The first case consists of a biomineral namely CaHPO 4 .2H 2 O (brushite) which is a wide band gap, hydrated inorganic single crystal. We examine the laser induced ion and neutral emissions accompanying 248-nm excimer laser radiation. Both types of emission are several orders of magnitude higher following exposure to 2 keV electrons at current densities of 200 μA/cm 2 and doses of 10 2 -10 3 mC/cm 2 . We show the that the enhancements in emission are strongly correlated with e-beam induced morphology changes (including recrystallization) on this unusual surface. We then examine similar effects on dry crystals such as NaCl and NaNO 3 which are exposed to 10 -5 Pa partial pressures of H 2 O. Again dramatic enhancements in radiation induced emissions are exhibited along with the generation of unique morphological structures with nanometer scale dimensions.
Phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (pp125FAK) is increased in human keratinocytes induced to migrate by extracellular matrices

During the healing process of skin wounds, human keratinocytes migrate across a provisional matrix of the wound bed. The mechanisms by which keratinocytes migrate on connective tissue are not known. In this study, we examined the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), an 125 kDa protein that co-localizes with focal adhesions in cells plated on extracellular matrix. We induced human keratinocytes into various states of migration by plating them on extracellular matrices that minimally, moderately, or strongly induce cellular migration, and then examined the expression of FAK at the protein level and its degree of tyrosine phosphorylation using Western immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation. In highly migratory human keratinocytes, we found that three proteins were predominantly tyrosine phosphorylated, one of them being FAK. Tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK tightly correlated with the level of cellular motility but not cell attachment to the matrix. Time course experiments demonstrated that in highly motile keratinocytes, tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK peaked at 12 h, the time when maximal migration on the matrix ensues. In contrast to FAK, the β1 integrin subunit of human keratinocytes that configures with the α2, α3, and α5 integrin subunits to form integrin receptors for matrix, did not display tyrosine phosphorylation linked to motility. Using anti-sense oligonucleotides to FAK, we demonstrate that FAK is required for human keratinocyte migration, but not for focal adhesion formation. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Coexistence of alpha-fetoprotein, albumin and transferrin immunoreactivity in neurones of the developing mouse brain.

α-Fetoprotein (AFP), a major fetal plasma protein, is present at high levels (mg ml−1) throughout development and at extremely low levels (ng ml−1) in the normal adult (see refs 1,2). Unlike that of most other species, rat and mouse AFP bind oestrogens with a high affinity3. This aroused speculation regarding its involvement in the growth and differentiation of oestrogen target tissues4. Extracellular sequestration of maternal oestrogens through binding to AFP is generally assumed to protect the female rodent brain from excessive oestrogenization (masculinization) from the high oestrogen levels present during the critical period for sexual differentiation5. There is an intra-cellular pool of AFP of unknown function in brain cytosol of fetal and neonatal rats6 and mice7. Its intraneuronal localization has been confirmed within the central and peripheral nervous systems of the developing rat8,9 and human fetus10 by immuno-peroxidase cytochemistry. Other major plasma binding proteins such as albumin9,10 and prealbumin10 but not transf errin 9,10 have also been localized within neurones of the developing rat and human brain. As part of a continuing ontogenetic study, I present here the first evidence, derived by single- and double-label immunofluorescence, for the intraneuronal localization and coexistence of immunoreactive AFP, albumin and trans-ferrin within the same neurones of the late fetal and postnatal mouse brain. These observations may be relevant to the process of sexual differentiation of the brain, and the mechanism of transport of hormones and other growth-promoting substances into neurones during development.
ROC curve formulas for fused correlated classification systems

The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve can be used to quantify the performance of Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) systems. When multiple classification systems are fused, the assumption of independence is usually made in order to mathematically combine the individual ROC curves for each of these classification systems into one fused ROC curve. However, correlation may exist between the classification systems and the outcomes used to generate each ROC curve. This paper will demonstrate a method for creating a ROC curve of the fused classification systems which incorporates the correlation that exists between the individual classification systems. Specifically, we will use the derived covariance between multiple classification systems to compute the existing correlation and thus the level of dependence between pairs of classification systems. Then, given a fusion rule, two systems, and the correlation between them, the ROC curve for the fused system is produced. We generate the formula for the Boolean OR and AND rules, giving the resultant ROC curve for the fused system. This paper extends our previous work in which bounds for the ROC curve of the fused, correlated classification systems were presented.
Energy and Greenhouse Gas Profiles of Polyhydroxybutyrates Derived from Corn Grain: A Life Cycle Perspective

Polyhydroxybutyrates (PHB) are well-known biopolymers derived from sugars or vegetable oils. Cradle-to-gate environmental performance of PHB derived from corn grain is evaluated through life cycle assessment (LCA), particularly nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Site-specific process information on the corn wet milling and PHB fermentation and recovery processes was obtained from Telles. Most of energy used in the corn wet milling and PHB fermentation and recovery processes is generated in a cogeneration power plant in which corn stover, assumed to be representative of a variety of biomass sources that could be used, is burned to generate electricity and steam. County level agricultural information is used in estimating the environmental burdens associated with both corn grain and corn stover production. Results show that PHB derived from corn grain offers environmental advantages over petroleum-derived polymers in terms of nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emis...
Incorporating a Measure of Uncertainty into Systems of Systems Development Performance Measures

Technical Performance Measures TPMs historically are used to help the Program Manager in predicting if a program is on a path to achieve required performance. When extended over a developmental timeline, TPMs have provided a deterministic approach for predicting expected operational performance. However, TPMs are difficult to derive for a complex acknowledged system of systems SoS. An SoS Performance Measure SPM has been developed that is equivalent in purpose to TPMs and demonstrated for a deterministic state similar to TPM usage. However, reality indicates that many of the SoS component variables have significant uncertainty associated with them during the SoS development. Therefore, to more accurately account for the ability of an SoS to achieve its desired performance, this variability needs to be accounted for. This paper extends the deterministic SPM concept to a stochastic SPM to account for this uncertainty. An Antisubmarine Warfare ASW mission example is used, and demonstrates how this extension improves the effectiveness of the SPM methodology.
Cloud-Cover Recurrence and Diurnal Variation.

Abstract Estimators of conditional probabilities of recurrence of six-eighths or more cloud cover, given a set of unconditional probabilities according to initial times, are presented and tested against a sample of Northern Hemispheric data. The estimators are shown to be highly efficient in the sense that more than 95% of the achieved estimates fall within ±0.02 of observed values of the conditional probabilities. A sensitivity analysis is presented to demonstrate that the methodology and results are essentially independent of particular data source with regard to geographic location, climatic regime, or season of the year insofar as parameter determination and concomitant accuracy of estimation are concerned. Extensions to broader classes of meteorological phenomena are also indicated.
Interleukin 2, production in the syngeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction

In the syngeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction, Ly 1 cells proliferate following stimulation with Ia-positive macrophage-like cells. The proliferation is accompanied by the release of interleukin 2 into the medium. Both the proliferation and interleukin 2 production are dependent on the expression of Ia antigenic determinants, as the addition of haplotype-specific anti-Ia antisera to the cultures inhibits both parameters.
Some Implications of Jeffrey'S Serial Habituation Hypothesis: A Theoretical Basis of Resolving One-Look versus Multiple-Look Attentional Account of Discrimination Learning.

Summary It is suggested that, on the basis of the operational rules of the cue saliency hierarchy, Jeffrey's Serial Habituation Hypothesis provides a theoretical basis for a hierarchically developing multilevel cue processing program. An analysis of Trabasso and Bower's redundant relevant cue problem, advanced in terms of the Zeaman and House two-phase model, reveals that the same attentional rules implied by Jeffrey's proposition also explain cue utilizational strategies in the associational phase of discrimination learning. It is concluded that Jeffrey's model adequately explains the role of perceptual cognition in problem-solving in children and adults.
Aging Children and Their Older Parents: The Coming Generation of Caregiving

This study uses a data set of older children and their older parents to examine caregiving relationships. Using the 1993 Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the 1993 Health Care Burden file, we examine help given by children to their parents. We distinguish between daughters who are household heads and daughters who are wives. We find parents receive substantially more care from daughters than from sons. The caregiving role of daughters who are household heads differs notably from that of wives. An analysis of caregiving, employment, and house-work shows that children who are caregivers devote more combined hours to these activities than children who do not provide care.
Osmoregulatory changes accompanying smoltification in coho salmon

Abstract During the spring smoltification of the coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), alterations in osmoregulatory function occur in the urinary bladder, intestine and opercular membrane. Na and Cl reabsorption by the urinary bladder of seawater-adapted fish, initially at freshwater levels, is abolished during the period of smoltification. Intestinal fluid absorption of freshwater-adapted fish increases to seawater levels. The abundance of mitochondria-rich “chloride cells” in freshwater-adapted fish opercular membranes increases. All of these changes occur some weeks after the plasma thyroxine surge and coincide with increased brancial Na,K-ATPase activity. These data suggest that the appropriate time for seawater entry or placement of hatchery-reared coho salmon may be several weeks after the new moon-related thyroxine peak.
Effects of uridine on the growth and differentiation of HL-60 leukemia cells

Abstract HL-60 leukemia cells, induced to differentiate, activate a Na+-dependent nucleoside transport system, concomitant with a reduction in the nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBMPR)-sensitive facilitated transport of nucleosides. The consequence of these changes lead to the formation of intracellular pools of uridine. To examine the possible role of accumulated uridine in the commitment of HL-60 leukemia cells to undergo maturation, the effects of uridine on the growth and differentiation of HL-60 cells were monitored. Uridine at millimolar levels caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of cellular growth, resulting in the accumulation of cells in the G2/M phases of the cell cycle, phenomena that preceded the formation of differentiated cells. These effects of uridine were reduced by 10 μM NBMPR, an inhibitor of the facilitated transport of nucleosides. The effects of 24 mM uridine on growth and differentiation of HL-60 cells were also prevented by 5 mM inosine, and partially prevented by either 2 mM hypoxanthine or 20 μM adenosine. Pretreatment of HL-60 cells with 24 mM uridine for 6 days, followed by a 2 h exposure to TPA, resulted in the rapid attachment of cells to the tissue culture dish, and the extension of long processes. Although the concentrations of uridine required for the above effects are greater than those achieved during differentiation, these observations suggest that uridine may play a role in regulating the maturation process.
Response to Lubin's proposed explanations of our discrepancy.

Lubin's proposal that a correlation between radon and smoking among individuals might explain the very large discrepancy between our data on U.S. counties and the prediction of linear no-threshold theory of radiation induced cancer is tested. It is shown that even correlations far beyond the limits of plausibility cannot explain an appreciable part of our discrepancy. On the other hand, Lubin is commended for proposing a definite potential explanation for our discrepancy that can be quantitatively tested for applicability to our analysis, and further such proposals are strongly invited. All other explanations of our discrepancy and all other reasons for not accepting our conclusions that are proposed in the Lubin paper are shown not to be applicable. The role of plausibility in epidemiological studies is discussed and shown to be all-important.