cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic replanning for a mobile robot based on internal sensing

Schema-based navigational techniques are used to introduce dynamic path replanning for a mobile robot, based on internal sensor information. This mode of operation, termed homeostatic control, forms an integral part of the autonomous robot architecture. A model that is analogous to the mammalian endocrine system serves as the basis for this mode. Simulation results verify the viability of this concept. It is found that dynamic replanning can be carried out using internal monitoring of the robot's state, and not solely based on environmental perception. The robot can be shown to be responsive to changes in fuel, temperature, and other conditions as it navigates through the world. >
Contributions to the analysis of tissue growth

1) Autoplastic transplants of white skin on black ears take in the large majority of cases. 2) Homooplastic grafts fail to take in the majority of cases. 3) The grafts may be lost accidentally or by shrivelling or crusting, or possibly by desquamation. The homooplastic grafts are more subject to shrivelling than are the autoplastic. 4) Desquamation is approximately equally marked in both auto and homoo grafts. 5) Invasion of the grafts by neighboring pigmented epithelium occurs in both instances. 6) Light and the thickness of the graft do not influence the life of the grafts. The difference in the behavior of pigmented and unpigmented skin after transplantation depends mainly upon internal differences in the structure of the skin, and not upon a greater injurious influence of light on unpigmented as compared with pigmented skin.
Effects of pathogen exposure on life-history variation in the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar)

Investment in host defences against pathogens may lead to trade-offs with host fecundity. When such trade-offs arise from genetic correlations, rates of phenotypic change by natural selection may be affected. However, genetic correlations between host survival and fecundity are rarely quantified. To understand trade-offs between immune responses to baculovirus exposure and fecundity in the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar), we estimated genetic correlations between survival probability and traits related to fecundity, such as pupal weight. In addition, we tested whether different virus isolates have different effects on male and female pupal weight. To estimate genetic correlations, we exposed individuals of known relatedness to a single baculovirus isolate. To then evaluate the effect of virus isolate on pupal weight, we exposed a single gypsy moth strain to 16 baculovirus isolates. We found a negative genetic correlation between survival and pupal weight. In addition, virus exposure caused late-pupating females to be identical in weight to males, whereas unexposed females were 2-3 times as large as unexposed males. Finally, we found that female pupal weight is a quadratic function of host mortality across virus isolates, which is likely due to trade-offs and compensatory growth processes acting at high and low mortality levels, respectively. Overall, our results suggest that fecundity costs may strongly affect the response to selection for disease resistance. In nature, baculoviruses contribute to the regulation of gypsy moth outbreaks, as pathogens often do in forest-defoliating insects. We therefore argue that trade-offs between host life-history traits may help explain outbreak dynamics.
Remote source coding with two-sided information

This paper studies the impact of side information on the lossy compression of a remote source, one which is indirectly accessed by the encoder. In particular, we identify the conditions under which sharing side information between the encoder and the decoder may be superior or inferior to having two-sided, i.e., correlated but not identical, side information. As a special case, we characterize the optimal rate-distortion function for a direct binary source with two-sided information by proposing an achievable scheme and proving a converse. This example suggests a hierarchy on the impact of side information, in that the performance is mainly determined by how well the decoder learns about the source and then by how well the encoder learns about the decoder's observation.
Observations on cohesive bed reworking by waves: Atchafalaya Shelf, Louisiana

[1] Wave, current, acoustic backscatter and suspended sediment concentration measurements (both single-point and vertical profiles estimated by conversion of acoustic backscatter data) are used to investigate wave-current-cohesive sediment interaction on the muddy Atchafalaya inner shelf. During an energetic storm, we propose that bed state follows a cycle of dilation due to fluidization, erosion, deposition with fluid mud formation and consolidation. A one-dimensional-vertical cohesive sediment transport model is calibrated using current and concentration profiles to estimate the physical parameters that could not be measured directly, e.g., bottom stresses. Estimated bed position and computed bottom stresses suggest that the critical erosion threshold is in the range of 0.3 Pa to 0.5 Pa. The study site is impacted by a sediment-laden fresh water plume coming from the Atchafalaya River mouth. Bed density evolution during the storm is estimated from vertical sediment exchange between the water column and the bed excluding the duration of passage of a sediment-carrying water front. The values are in the range of 1,030 kg/m3 to 1,200 kg/m3and indicate that the bed density increases during the erosion phase and decreases during deposition. At the end of the storm, it shows a steady increasing trend during hindered settling and exceeds the space-filling value during consolidation. Both the critical erosion shear stress and bed density values are consistent with the results of laboratory tests on samples from the experimental site.
Chapter 9 Confocal Immunofluorescence Microscopy of Microtubules in Oocytes, Eggs, and Embryos of Algae and Amphibians

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the experiences of using immunofluorescence combined with confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM) to examine cytoskeletal organization in algal and amphibian oocytes, eggs, and early embryos. Preparation of Pelvetia or Xenopus eggs for immunofluorescence microscopy follows the same procedure as is used for more typical samples, such as cultured cells grown on coverslips. Many factors enter into the design or choice of a fixation protocol for immunofluorescence. However, two factors are of paramount importance—namely, (1) the fixation protocol must be compatible with the antibodies or staining technique to be used and (2) the fixation procedure must adequately immobilize and preserve the antigen under study and the cellular structures with which it is associated. Heavy deposits of pigment in the cortex and cytoplasm of amphibian oocytes and eggs hamper immunofluorescence microscopy of these cells. Dent and Klymkowsky (1989) demonstrated that a solution of hydrogen peroxide in methanol could be used to bleach Xenopus eggs, eliminating the interfering pigment. Extended bleaching of Xenopus oocytes (up to 72 hr) does not appear to affect either the structural preservation or reactivity of microtubules with tubulin antibodies. Autofluorescence resulting from the use of glutaraldehyde-containing fixatives can be minimized by treating cells with sodium borohydride prior to incubating with antibodies.
Diagonal Gel Electrophoresis

Diagonal gel electrophoresis is a form of two-dimensional analysis useful for investigating the subunit composition of multisubunit proteins containing interchain disulfide bonds. Proteins are electrophoresed in the first dimension in a slab or tube gel under nonreducing conditions. The proteins are then reduced in the gel and this piece of gel is layered onto a second gel and electrophoresed. In the second gel, the proteins migrate at right angles to their original, first-dimension migration. The majority of cellular proteins are not disulfide-linked and will fall on the "diagonal" in this system; that is, they migrate approximately equal distances in both directions during electrophoresis and lie approximately on the diagonal line connecting opposite corners of the gel. Upon reduction, component subunits of proteins connected by interchain disulfide bonds will resolve below the diagonal because the individual subunits migrate faster than the disulfide-linked complex during the second electrophoresis.
Hydrogen peroxide decomposition in bicarbonate solution catalyzed by divalent manganese species**This article has a companion paper in this issue (doi: 10.1139/v11-078).

The peroxymonocarbonate mono- and di-anions (HCO4– and CO42–) are known to be generated from H2O2/HCO3–. They are promising oxidants for wood pulp bleaching, but peroxide decomposition catalyzed by...
Forbidden M1 transitions

Abstract The M1 transitions of 43Ca, which would vanish if one used f 7 2 3 configurations only, are calculated including all the 2p-1f shell configurations. The M1 transitions of 41Ar are also discussed. The effects of low-lying core excited states, i.e. five-particle-two-hole states, are estimated and found to be insignificant because of special properties of the M1 operator.
On the control of incompletely described sequential machines

This paper deals with the control of a sequential machine whose model is not precisely known. The objective is to design a controller that assigns to the machine a prescribed steady-state behaviour. The results include necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a controller, as well as algorithms for its design. This work is motivated by potential applications in biology and in the correction of malfunctioning computer systems.
Surveying Capsid Assembly Pathways through Simulation-Based Data Fitting

Virus capsid assembly has attracted considerable interest from the biophysical modeling community as a model system for complicated self-assembly processes. Simulation methods have proven valuable for characterizing the space of possible kinetics and mechanisms of capsid assembly, but they have so far been able to say little about the assembly kinetics or pathways of any specific virus. It is not possible to directly measure the detailed interaction rates needed to parameterize a model, and there is only a limited amount of experimental evidence available to constrain possible pathways, with almost all of it gathered from in vitro studies of purified coat proteins. In prior work, we developed methods to address this problem by using simulation-based data-fitting to learn rate parameters consistent with both structure-based rule sets and experimental light-scattering data on bulk assembly progress in vitro. We have since improved these methods and extended them to fit simulation parameters to one or more experimental light-scattering curves. Here, we apply the improved data-fitting approach to three capsid systems-human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV)-to assess both the range of pathway types the methods can learn and the diversity of assembly strategies in use between these viruses. The resulting fits suggest three different in vitro assembly mechanisms for the three systems, with HPV capsids fitting a model of assembly via a nonnucleation-limited pathway of accumulation of individual capsomers while HBV and CCMV capsids fit similar but subtly different models of nucleation-limited assembly through ensembles of pathways involving trimer-of-dimer intermediates. The results demonstrate the ability of such data fitting to learn very different pathway types and show some of the versatility of pathways that may exist across real viruses.
Economies of scale after deregulation in LTL trucking: a test case for the survivor technique

Early critics of motor carrier deregulation believed that the policy was unwise because strong economies of scale would lead to harmful market concentration, particularly in the industry's LTL segment. Using two methodologies, the survivor technique and the trans-log cost function, this study finds that economies of scale do extend across the entire spectrum of firm sizes in LTL trucking. Long-run average cost appears to decline mildly and at a diminishing rate with increases in firm size, however, such that any cost advantage for larger firms has been insufficient to eliminate new entry and competition from smaller rivals. As a result, after the first 20 years of deregulation, the corresponding increase in market concentration has also been mild. Moreover, the consistency of results from the two methodologies gives credibility to the survivor technique as an empirical method of identifying economies of scale. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Classification of EEG patterns using nonlinear dynamics and identifying chaotic phase transitions

Abstract A dynamical classification method is introduced based on the principle of encoding sensory information in oscillating spatio-temporal patterns. The method is used for the evaluation of EEG signals measured by spatially distributed electrodes over sensory cortices of rabbits. Our analysis reveals two types of patterns in neocortex. One type occurs with short latency after stimulus arrival. This early pattern represents the direct impact of a discriminated stimulus on the receiving cortex. The other type is endogenous and occurs with variable latency in the subsequent ∼1200 ms . It represents the destabilization of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the cortices and consequent phase transitions.
Picosecond relaxation measurements by polarization spectroscopy in condensed phases

A frequency domain technique is demonstrated which permits the determination of the homogeneous linewidth and relaxation rates of inhomogeneously broadened transitions in crystals, liquids, and glasses. The density-matrix formalism is employed to explain the origins of the intensity-dependent dichroism and birefringence observed in these experiments and to extract the relevant relaxation times. The samples initially studied were liquid solutions of the organic dyes malachite green and 1,3\ensuremath{'} -diethyl-2,2\ensuremath{'} quinolylthiacarbocyanine iodide. The ground-state recovery times were found to be 1.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 and 3.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 ps, respectively, for the two dyes in water solution. The transverse relaxation times were estimated to be less than 0.02 ps. The present technique is compared to resonant Rayleigh-type three-wave mixing and to time-resolved spectroscopic techniques.
R-Modes in Superfluid Neutron Stars

The analogues of r-modes in superfluid neutron stars are studied here. These modes, which are governed primarily by the Coriolis force, are identical to their ordinary-fluid counterparts at the lowest order in the small angular-velocity expansion used here. The equations that determine the next order terms are derived and solved numerically for fairly realistic superfluid neutron-star models. The damping of these modes by superfluid ``mutual friction'' (which vanishes at the lowest order in this expansion) is found to have a characteristic time scale of about ${10}^{4}$ s for the $m=2$ r-mode in a ``typical'' superfluid neutron-star model. This time scale is far too long to allow mutual friction to suppress the recently discovered gravitational radiation driven instability in the r-modes. However, the strength of the mutual friction damping depends very sensitively on the details of the neutron-star core superfluid. A small fraction of the presently acceptable range of superfluid models have characteristic mutual friction damping times that are short enough (i.e., shorter than about 5 s) to suppress the gravitational radiation driven instability completely.
Small-cell carcinoma of the kidney: Report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract Extrapulmonary small-cell carcinoma (EPSCC) is a rare small-cell carcinoma (SCC). It is recognized as a clinicopathological entity distinct from SCCs of the tracheobronchial tree. EPSCCs account for about 2.5% of all SCCs. SCCs of the kidney are an even rarer neoplasm. Abdominal pain and hematuria are the major clinical symptoms. Many cases are already advanced disease at diagnosis and have poor prognoses. Platinum-based chemotherapy seems to be beneficial for overall survival. We describe an 82-year-old male patient who was seen at the emergency room due to complaints of gross hematuria and right-flank pain. Computed tomography showed a large right renal tumor. Treatment modalities, pathologic features, survival outcome of this case, and a review of similar cases in the literature are presented and discussed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the 21 st case of SCC of the kidney reported in the literature to date. It is also the first report in Taiwan of a primary SCC of the kidney with the tumor thrombus extending to the inferior vena cava which required a right radical nephrectomy.
Rupture of Heart Complicating Myocardial Infarction: Analysis of 40 Cases including Nine Examples of Left Ventricular False Aneurysm

Forty heart specimens demonstrating cardiac rupture complicating acute myocardial infarction were reviewed. Twenty-seven men with a mean age of 64.1 years and 13 women with a mean age of 71.7 years composed the population of this series. All anatomic regions of the left ventricle were equally involved in cardiac rupture. Twenty-eight specimens showed rupture of the free wall of the left ventricle; nine of these 28 cases developed a false aneurysm. The nine cases of false aneurysm were complicated by rupture of the false aneurysm in four. Two of the nine patients with formation of a false aneurysm had successful surgical resection of the aneurysm. Five cases of rupture of the free wall of the left ventricle revealed a significant time discrepancy between the onset of the clinical symptoms of the acute myocardial infarction and the histologic age of the myocardial infarction at autopsy. In each case, the histologic age revealed an older infarct than the clinical symptoms would suggest This is interpreted to suggest that the myocardial infarction per se was undetected and that the symptoms erroneously attributed to acute myocardial infarction were secondary to cardiac rupture. Fifteen specimens showed rupture of an intracardiac structure, eight revealed rupture of the ventricular septum and seven showed rupture of a papillary muscle. Prompt clinical detection of cardiac rupture is stressed with a goal of surgical intervention in selected patients.
Gaussian Beam Imaging with Cylindrical Optics

We review the propagation of Gaussian beams of radiation through asymmetric elements which focus in only one direction perpendicular to the axis of propagation: these are most commonly cylindrical lenses or mirrors. We develop formulas for Gaussian beam imaging with fixed total distance between input and output waists, and use them to derive simple expressions for the case where the input and output waists are located in the same plane. This situation is required for correcting the beam patterns of certain types of feedhorns to improve the symmetry of their radiation patterns, as well as for the illumination of asymmetric antennas. A cylindrical lens has been used to transform the symmetric beam of a 100 GHz scalar feedhorn into an elliptical pattern; the results are in good agreement with the imaging formulas and demonstrate the utility of this technique.
Gene expression profiling of genetically determined growth variation in bivalve larvae (Crassostrea gigas)

Growth rates in animals are governed by a wide range of biological factors, many of which remain poorly understood. To identify the genes that establish growth differences in bivalve larvae, we compared expression patterns in contrasting phenotypes (slow- and fast-growth) that were experimentally produced by genetic crosses of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas . Based on transcriptomic profiling of 4.5 million cDNA sequence tags, we sequenced and annotated 181 cDNA clones identified by statistical analysis as candidates for differential growth. Significant matches were found in GenBank for 43% of clones ( N =78), including 34 known genes. These sequences included genes involved in protein metabolism, energy metabolism and regulation of feeding activity. Ribosomal protein genes were predominant, comprising half of the 34 genes identified. Expression of ribosomal protein genes showed non-additive inheritance — i.e. expression in fast-growing hybrid larvae was different from average levels in inbred larvae from these parental families. The expression profiles of four ribosomal protein genes ( RPL18 , RPL31 , RPL352 and RPS3 ) were validated by RNA blots using additional, independent crosses from the same families. Expression of RPL35 was monitored throughout early larval development, revealing that these expression patterns were established early in development (in 2-day-old larvae). Our findings (i) provide new insights into the mechanistic bases of growth and highlight genes not previously considered in growth regulation, (ii) support the general conclusion that genes involved in protein metabolism and feeding regulation are key regulators of growth, and (iii) provide a set of candidate biomarkers for predicting differential growth rates during animal development.
The statistical approach in histology

A statistical approach to histology is outlined starting from the notion that the field of histology is morphological, and that its data are provided by the exercise of a skill. These data give rise by a variety of operations to certain scales of measurement. Particular attention is drawn to the use of the ordinal scale in histology. The concept of randomness has been utilized in several ways. Volume can be estimated by microscopic random sampling, and relative numbers of cells or nuclei can be determined by enumeration in representative tissue sections, provided systematic bias is allowed for. The observation that particular cells or events appear to occur at particular sites in a tissue may have to be tested against the alternative hypothesis that the spatial distribution is random. There are certain fallacies which may enter into the use of the appropriate tests for randomness and non-randomness. The statistical concept of a random variable underlies probabilistic models of cellular proliferation in tissues that are growing exponentially. Stochastic models of the steady state have not been constructed for cell populations. Models of tissues in a steady state can be constructed in terms of specific hypotheses concerning the component cells, i.e. as regards the distribution of age or intermitotic time. These models give little information about individual cells unless the equilibrium is perturbed and the restoration of equilibrium of the models compared with empirical data.
The concept of polarization in dispersed two-phase potential flow

Abstract Particles moving relative to a surrounding fluid in potential flow become polarized. This polarization may be expressed in terms of the net dipole moment of a particle which is related to the potential jump at its surface. A constitutive equation for the polarizability enables many of the macroscopic properties to be derived from fundamental theorems of averaging.
Formation of inflation expectations in the U.K.: Pitfalls in the use of the error-learning model

Abstract This paper examines the formation of explicitly-reported price expectations in the UK. Expectations are formed over a long period, and a general distributed lag provides a superior explanation to that provided by a second-order error-learning form. The error-learning mechanism is shown to be biased when lagged expectations incorporate a random shock, and when expectations are reported more frequently than the length of the forecast horizon.
Economic directions for program evaluation

What do the preceding chapters suggest about the role of economic analysis in program evaluation, and where might efforts to improve these tools be concentrated?
Atherosclerosis and central adiposity in a pediatric patient with AIDS treated with HAART: autopsy findings.

Abstract Several types of cardiovascular lesions may develop in pediatric human immunodeficiency virus–positive (HIV+)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, namely myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, pericardial effusion, pericarditis, left ventricle hypertrophy, fibrocalcific arteriopathy, and aneurysms. Additional lesions may be discovered by histological examination. These include fibrocalcific lesions in medium-sized arteries and small vessels, mainly of the heart and brain, and vasculitis. In the large arteries the vasa vasorum may present chronic inflammatory infiltrates or leukocytoclastic vasculitis, resulting in aneurysms. We are reporting the case of a 14-year-old girl with mother-to-infant HIV transmission with a long history of several central nervous system infections and AIDS dementia, who received treatment with the HAART protocol (including a protease inhibitor) for 3 years. A year after beginning this treatment, cholesterol serum levels were 2.8 g/L and 3.8 g/L. Autopsy fin...
Caudate electrochemical response following amphetamine administration in pigtail monkeys.

Abstract In vivo electrochemical and heart rate (HR) recordings following amphetamine (AMPH) (0.8 mg/kg) and saline administration were made from caudate in four young adult pigtail ( M. nemestrina ) monkeys using linear sweep voltammetry. One hour following drug injection, two familiar humans served as test stimuli, and were visually exposed to the animals for 15-minute epochs each. One was threatening to the animals, and one was not. AMPH produced a significant increase in height of the electrochemical peak thought to represent oxidation of dopamine and its metabolites. Heart rate (HR) decreased during the time the peak height was increasing. HR and peak height increased during presentation of both humans under both AMPH and saline conditions. However, peak height increase under AMPH, but not saline, conditions discriminated the negative from neutral stimulus. The findings demonstrate that AMPH administration induces a significant increase in the height of a major electroactive peak in the caudate nucleus of pigtail monkeys, and further that such amphetamine-induced increases can be manipulated by altering the affective and/or emotional state of the animal.
Unusual Fibrosclerotic Lesion of the Laryngotracheal Complex Presenting as Subglottic Stenosis

We present a case report that describes the pathology, presentation, and management complexities of an unusual, destructive fibrosclerotic lesion of the laryngotracheal complex. An otherwise healthy 21-year-old man presented with a 1-year history of progressive shortness of breath and stridor. The initial examination revealed a 3-cm, grade III subglottic stenosis. Nodular fibrosis of the strap muscles, laryngotracheal cartilages, and trachea was evident. Biopsies revealed dense peritracheal desmoplastic reaction with focal erosion of cartilage. However, features diagnostic for relapsing polychondritis, desmoid tumor, or orbital pseudotumor were absent. The disease progressed to involve severe stenosis and thickening of the trachea and main stem bronchi. Surgical and medical management of this unusual fibrosclerotic lesion did not ameliorate the disease process, but a recent encouraging response to tamoxifen citrate has been observed with improvements in vocal fold motion and activity levels. Prognosis and management experience for this unknown pathologic entity are absent in the literature. In this case, diffuse disease progression occurred despite surgical and medical management, but has been halted by tamoxifen therapy. The prospect of a durable response and disease remission is unknown.
PROUST: Knowledge-Based Program Understanding

This paper describes a program called PROUST which does on-line analysis and understanding of Pascal written by novice programmers. PROUST takes as input a program and a nonalgorithmic description of the program requirements, and finds the most likely mapping between the requirements and the code. This mapping is in essence a reconstruction of the design and implementation steps that the programmer went through in writing the program. A knowledge base of programming plans and strategies, together with common bugs associated with them, is used in constructing this mapping. Bugs are discovered in the process of relating plans to the code; PROUST can therefore give deep explanations of program bugs by relating the buggy code to its underlying intentions.
Epidermal growth factor, its receptor, and related proteins

An interesting aspect of the developments forthcoming from the study of cell growth control by growth factors is the structural and functional homologies that have been found to exist between growth factors or their receptors and other molecules. The epidermal growth factor (EGF) system has been particularly fruitful in this regard. The information in this article is meant to summarize the relationships that have been recently described between EGF and other EGF-like molecules and between the EGF receptor and related macromolecules.
Examination of hygroscopic properties of aerosols using a combined multiwavelength elastic-Raman lidar

Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas due to its high concentration in the atmosphere (parts per thousand) and its interaction with tropospheric aerosols particles. The upward convection of water vapor and aerosols due to intense heating of the ground leads to aggregation of water particles or ice on aerosols in the air forming different types of clouds at various altitudes. The condensation of water vapor on aerosols is affecting their size, shape, refractive index and chemical composition. The warming or cooling effect of the clouds hence formed are both possible depending on the cloud location, cover, composition and structure. The effect of these clouds on radiative global forcing and therefore on the short and long term global climate is of high interest in the scientific world. A major interest is manifested in obtaining accurate vertical water vapor profiles simultaneously with aerosol extinction and backscatter in the meteorological and remote sensing fields all around the globe in an effort to understand the hygroscopic properties of aerosols In previous work, simultaneous measurements of RH with backscatter measurements from a surface nephelometer were used to probe the hygroscopic properties of aerosols. However, most of these measurements were not able to probe the high RH domain since such high RH is rare for surface altitudes. For this reason, experiments using a 355 nm raman water vapor and aerosol lidar at the ARM site were used. Capable of providing simultaneous backscatter and RH profiles, and performing the experiments under low altitude cloud decks insured stable well mixed layers as well as probing RH profiles to above 95% which is required for the differentiation of different aerosol hygroscopic models.
Spectrum distortion from amplifier overloads in proton-recoil proportional counting

Abstract The problem of spectrum distortion from amplifier overloads in proton-recoil proportional counting has been studied. These studies show that the distortion is caused by amplifier paralysis which results from severe overloading of the ionization amplifiers. An amplifier system is reported that uses pole-zero compensation techniques and active baseline restoring to extend the overload tolerance of the ionization amplifiers, thereby greatly increasing the count rate capability of the spectrometer. The compensated system is tested by measuring proton spectra at various counting rates in a plutonium fuelled fast reactor (ZPR-3). Spectra taken with the compensated amplifier system and with a conventional double differentiated system are compared. An approximate three times improvement in overload capabilities is obtained with the compensated system.
Stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography.

This review summarizes the variety of stationary phases that have been employed for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) separations. Currently, about 70% of reported CEC research utilizes C18 stationary phases designed for liquid chromatography, but an increasing number of new materials (e.g., ion-exchange phases, sol–gel approaches, organic polymer continuous beds) are under development for use in CEC. Novel aspects of these different materials are discussed including the ability to promote electroosmotic flow, phase selectivity and activity for basic solutes. In addition, new column designs (polymer continuous beds and silica–sol–gel monoliths) are described.
Institutional reality, financial reporting and the rules of the game

In this paper, I review the major arguments in John Searle's 1995 book, The Construction of Social Reality, and use them as the basis for exploring the relationship between economic reality and financial accounting numbers. In this book, Searle provides the tools to analyze factual type representations in terms of objective and subjective with respect to both their ontological status and their epistemological status. Using these tools, I demonstrate that many financial accounting representations may be properly characterized as epistemologically objective facts, even though they have an ontologically subjective mode of existence. Other financial accounting representations, however, only come into existence in accordance with a set of rules, financial accounting rules, that have no objective basis in either physical or institutional reality. The financial accounting rules for aggregating the monetary amount of total assets, for calculating net assets, net income and earnings per share are more akin to the rules for a game such as football. Once the rules have been established, certain representations based on those rules may be said to be epistemologically objective with respect to those rules, even though there is no objective basis for the rules themselves. This does not, however, render financial accounting representations useless. In fact, I argue that representations of net income and owners equity are useful because, like economic price indices and other such indicators, they are fuzzy indicators of wealth and changes in wealth. As such, they are not foolproof representations. Depending upon the rules, such indicators may be constructed in ways that are more or less reliable, or more or less misleading with respect to the objectives of users. Indeed, from this perspective, the job of standard-setting bodies, such as the FASB, can be characterized in terms of continually amending the rules in an effort to keep “the game” within the bounds of acceptable perceptions of reality.
Exploitation of evolutionarily conserved amoeba and mammalian processes by Legionella

Legionella pneumophila proliferates within various protists and metazoan cells, where a cadre of ∼300 effectors is injected into the host cell by the defect in organelle trafficking/intracellular multiplication (Dot/Icm) type IVB translocation system. Interkingdom horizontal gene transfer of genes of protists and their subsequent convergent evolution to become translocated effectors has probably enabled L. pneumophila to adapt to the intracellular life within various protists and metazoan cells through exploitation of evolutionarily eukaryotic processes, such as endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi vesicle traffic, phosphoinositol metabolism, AMPylation, deAMPylation, prenylation, polyubiquitination, proteasomal degradation and cytosolic amino- and oligo-peptidases. This is highlighted by the ankyrin B (AnkB) F-box effector that exploits multiple conserved eukaryotic machineries to generate high levels of free amino acids as sources of carbon and energy essential for intracellular proliferation in protists and metazoan cells and for manifestation of pulmonary disease in mammals.
Evolution of Flammulina velutipes basidiocarp size with respect to relative humidity

Populations ofFlammulina velutipes adapted to drier environments produce basidiocarps that emerge from their substrate with pilei and stipes 24% broader and pilei 19% thicker than the basidiocarps of populations of the same species adapted to wetter environments. The dry-tolerant isolates had more surface area exposed to evaporative loss, a higher percentage of water in their tissues, and a larger initial water allocation. Both wet-specialist and dry-tolerant population isolates are genetically programmed for large ultimate size under saturated water conditions; however, under water stress conditions, expanding and thickening the pileus too late reduces spore production fivefold for the wet-specialist populations.
Grades or Scores: Predicting Future College Mathematics Peflormance

Do men and women with similar admissions test scores earn similar grades in mathematics? What factors may explain underprediction for women? Do men and women differ in persistence in mathematics study?
Cognitive dysfunction in adults with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus of long duration: effects of recurrent hypoglycaemia and other chronic complications.

To examine the long-term effects of recurrent severe hypoglycaemia and other biomedical complications on mental efficiency, a battery of cognitive tests was administered to 142 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic adult patients (age 33.5±5.6 years; mean ±SD) and 100 demographically similar non-diabetic control subjects. All diabetic subjects had been diagnosed before the age of 17 years. Diabetic subjects with one or more complications (distal symmetrical polyneuropathy; advanced background or proliferative retinopathy; overt nephropathy; one or more episodes of severe hypoglycaemia) performed significantly (p<0.001) more poorly than non-diabetic control subjects on tests requiring sustained attention, rapid analysis of visuospatial detail, and hand eye co-ordination. Regression analyses indicated that the best biomedical predictor of cognitive test performance was a diagnosis of polyneuropathy. Although severe recurrent hypoglycaemia was not associated with performance on any test, the neuropathy × recurrent hypoglycaemia interaction term was significant. These results suggest that in adults with Type 1 diabetes of long duration, recurrent hypoglycaemia does not appear to influence cognitive performance directly, but may interact with neuropathy to exaggerate or otherwise magnify the extent of neurobehavioural dysfunction.
MRI of the scrotum.

Surface coil magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the scrotum allows differentiation of the testis, epididymis, and spermatic cord. Intratesticular and extratesticular lesions are demarcated by the tunica albuginea. The sensitivity of MR is very high for detection of scrotal abnormalities but is non-specific since it is unable to distinguish primary testicular tumors from benign lesions. Undescended testes which lie proximal and distal to the internal inguinal ring are well visualized by MR imaging. The advantages of MR imaging in locating undescended testes is that it is noninvasive, without ionizing radiation, and capable of multiplanar images.
A Model for Myosin VI Kinetics Under Load

Myosin VI is thought to function both as a transporter and an anchor in vivo. In an earlier study (Altman et al, Cell 2004), inhibition of myosin VI stepping kinetics by load applied using an optical trap was observed at saturating ATP and low ADP concentrations (< 2.5 μM). A simple mechanism whereby the rate of ADP binding increases exponentially with load was proposed. Here we present myosin VI stepping data taken at a variety of applied loads and ADP concentrations, and show that the Altman model only holds at low ADP concentrations. At higher, physiologically relevant ADP concentrations under load we observe a dwell time that is an order of magnitude smaller than that predicted by the Altman model. We present a modified model in which applied load alters the equilibrium between two myosin VI states with different nucleotide affinities. This new kinetic scheme accurately describes myosin VI behavior at various nucleotide conditions under a large range of loads and provides insight into how myosin VI may function both as a force-generating transporter and as an anchor in vivo.
Statistical theory for the entropy of a liquid

A correlation expansion for the entropy of a classical monatomic liquid has been found to give an accurate account of the entropy for liquid sodium and for liquid argon. Here, this correlation expansion is given a conceptually simple derivation in the grand-canonical ensemble. The one- and two-particle terms together are shown to accurately represent the entropy of the hard-sphere liquid. The simplicity of the theory suggests a model for an ''ideal liquid,'' whose free energy takes on an especially simple form. The correlation expansion for the entropy is compared in detail with previous related work.
Effect of velocity and pipeline configuration on dispersion in turbulent hydrocarbon-water flow using laser image processing

Abstract Drop size distribution and concentration profile data for hydrocarbon-water mixtures are obtained in a 8.2 cm dia pipe at a range of velocities for a straight horizontal pipe, horizontal and vertical flow after one bend and vertical flow after three bends. The laser image processing technique employed in this project is proven reliable. The maximum drop size ( d 99 ), is more dependent on the number of upstream interactive bends than on the velocity. The drop size distributions follow a Rosin-Rammler power law. The values of Rosin-Rammler exponents, based on this work, are on average 2.1 for all the configurations studied. The concentration profiles as a function of velocity for straight horizontal flow are obtained and show the transition from stratified to adequately dispersed flow at about 2.3 m/s velocity. The concentration profiles for horizontal or vertical flow after one bend show dispersed flow in some cases; however, in other cases swirling makes representative sampling more difficult. Vertical downflow after three interactive bends breaks the droplets to a finer size, and concentration profiles obtained in this location are more uniform than the other configurations studied. Representative sampling can be accomplished in this location even at 0.7–1.0 m/s velocity, in a 8.2 cm pipe.
Classification of Shiga toxin-producing escherichia coli (STEC) serotypes with hyperspectral microscope imagery

Non-O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains such as O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145 are recognized as serious outbreak to cause human illness due to their toxicity. A conventional microbiological method for cell counting is laborious and needs long time for the results. Since optical detection method is promising for realtime, in-situ foodborne pathogen detection, acousto-optical tunable filters (AOTF)-based hyperspectral microscopic imaging (HMI) method has been developed for identifying pathogenic bacteria because of its capability to differentiate both spatial and spectral characteristics of each bacterial cell from microcolony samples. Using the AOTF-based HMI method, 89 contiguous spectral images could be acquired within approximately 30 seconds with 250 ms exposure time. From this study, we have successfully developed the protocol for live-cell immobilization on glass slides to acquire quality spectral images from STEC bacterial cells using the modified dry method. Among the contiguous spectral imagery between 450 and 800 nm, the intensity of spectral images at 458, 498, 522, 546, 570, 586, 670 and 690 nm were distinctive for STEC bacteria. With two different classification algorithms, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Sparse Kernel-based Ensemble Learning (SKEL), a STEC serotype O45 could be classified with 92% detection accuracy.
Global precipitation retrieval algorithm trained for SSMIS using a Numerical Weather Prediction Model: Design and evaluation

This paper presents and evaluates a global precipitation retrieval algorithm for the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS). It is based on those developed earlier for the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) [1]-[6] and employs neural networks trained with 122 global storms that spanned a year and were simulated using the fifth-generation National Center for Atmospheric Research/Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5) and a radiative transfer program validated using AMSU observations. Only non-icy surfaces at latitudes less than 50° have been analyzed because their surface effects are more predictable. Sensitivity to surface emissivity variations was reduced by using only more surface-insensitive principal components of brightness temperature. Based on MM5 simulations, retrievals for land are slightly less accurate than those for sea and all are useful for rates above 1 mm/h. F-16 SSMIS, NOAA-15 AMSU, and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) annual estimates generally agree. SSMIS retrieves less precipitation for some areas partly due to its higher resolution that resolves precipitation better. SSMIS overestimates precipitation over under-vegetated land requiring the near-surface evaporation correction illustrated earlier for AMSU [6].
Immortalization of human adult prostatic adenocarcinoma cells by human papilloma virus HPV16 and — 18 DNA

Abstract Primary prostate epithelial and prostate adenocarcinoma cells cultured in serum-free medium grew for up to 10 passages before senescence. Cells from prostate adenocarcinoma of a 55-year-old patient without lymph node involvement were transfected with plasmids containing recombinant human papilloma virus HPV16 or HPV18 DNA and the selectable neomycinresistance gene. After G-418 selection, cells underwent crisis, and surviving cells infected with retroviruses encoding the HPV18 E6/E7 genes (HPV-PAC1), transfected with a head-to-tail dimer of the complete HPV16 genome (HPV-PAC2), or transfected with HPV18 E6/E7 early genes (HPV-PAC3) were established. HPV-PAC1 and HPV-PAC2 cultures appeared morphologically similar to primary cultures even after 40 passages. However, HPV-PAC2 cultures had a clonal morphology. All lines were positive for cytokeratin 18, had acquired vimentin expression, and contained either HPV16 or HPV18 sequences integrated into host DNA. None was tumorigenic in nude mice or formed colonies in soft agar. These cells did not secrete prostate specific antigen nor respond to androgen although tamoxifen inhibited the growth of the cells. Immunohistochemistry showed no evidence of p53 overexpression. Further characterization of these cell lines and examination of their response to chemotherapeutic agents may provide relevant information for the study of hormone-independent PC.
Molecular photoionization cross-sections and their dependence on excitation energy☆

Abstract A general formula for the photoionization cross-section of a linear molecule in terms of atomic subshell cross-sections and diffraction effects is given. Example calculations are carried out for line intensities of CO and N 2 as a function of incident photon energy from threshold up to the soft X-ray region. The importance of associating CNDO coefficients to orthogonal Slater AO's is pointed out. General rules for dependence of photoionization cross-sections on excitation energy are discussed.