cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From Peace to Partnership: Challenges of Integration and Development along the Peru-Ecuador Border

Abstract The common needs and aspirations of those living on both sides of the Peru‐Ecuador border have challenged the central governments of these two “distant neighbors” to achieve a peaceful solution to their long‐standing border dispute. These similar hopes and necessities provide impetus for a socio‐economic partnership benefiting the transborder region in the near term, as well as the national economies as the relationship consolidates over the longer term. This study examines the developmental needs, opportunities, and projects relevant to the integration of the Peru‐Ecuador borderlands. Not only will new roads and bridges link populations once separated by armies, minefields, and neglect, but they will also serve as conduits for cultural, educational, and commercial exchange and integration. An incipient transborder culture and partnership await this border region in the new millennium.
The role of NO in the mechanism of NOx reduction with ammonia over a BaNa-Y catalyst

NO reduces HNO3 to HONO and surface nitrates to nitrites on a BaNa–Y zeolite, and it reacts with NO2 to form N2O3. Data are also presented which show that adsorbed NO+ reacts with water to form HONO. In the presence of NH3 and H2O these processes lead to the formation of ammonium nitrite, which efficiently decomposes near 100 °C to N2 + H2O, effecting the catalytic reduction of NOxNOx to N2. A criterion for this path is that the optimum yield of N2 is obtained with an equimolar mixture of NO + NO2. Since ammonium nitrate, which can also form on this catalyst, does not significantly decompose at 200 °C, a typical temperature for diesel exhaust, the reduction of nitrate to nitrite serves to regenerate active sites on the BaNa–Y zeolite.
In the Specimen Room

This, a whole human brain (cerebellum, hypothalamus . . . Like zoned territory, a roadmap), Mirrors an inner space. The folds of intelligence, the spurs Of emotion, the lobes of memory now shelf Pieces. Some connections still intact, but merely Symbols now. The split shank of air, Sticky with lacerations The instructor seems to inflict With his glittering ferrule, waving it about, Simulating the shapes of organs. Students take notes on Anatomy, watch him Explain a terminology for body parts With the grace of a symphony conductor.
A diterpene from Garberia heterophylla

The aerial parts of Garberia heterophylla afforded the known guaianolide-type sesquiterpene lactone eupahakonesin, 2,6-dimethoxybenoquinone and the triterpene epifriedelinol. In addition, a new and novel diterpene, garberic acid, was isolated. Its structure and stereochemistry was established by spectral methods and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies.
Engineering Techniques Applied to the Analysis and Control of In-Series Cardiac Assistance

This paper traces the development of in-series cardiac assist devices and describes the contributions of engineering methodology to the analyis of the interaction between the device and the cardiovascular system. Special emphasis is placed on issues regarding the control and optimization of this method of assistance. Recent results of our theoretical and experimental investigations are summarized. These results demonstrate that automatic control of in-series cardiac assist devices is essential to their effectiveness and is critical for preventing untoward hemodynamic effects. Guidelines concerning the design of algorithms for optimization of cardiac assistance are discussed.
Repeatability As An Indicator of Stability in Contemporary Comparison Sire Evaluations

Abstract Repeatabilities of sire summaries by contemporary comparison were a measure of stability of sire evaluation. Modified contemporary procedures of sire evaluation for first lactation records only were used to compute predicted differences for all Holstein bulls having ten or more daughters calving in any calendar year, 1964 through 1973. A subset of 455 bulls having repeatabilities of last available (final) proofs equal to or exceeding 90% was used to examine relationships between first available (initial) predicted difference, initial repeatability, and final predicted difference. Sire evaluations with low repeatabilities were more variable with a slightly greater tendency to decline than evaluations with high repeatabilities. The average decline of sire evaluations with low repeatabilities was due to less than expected substantial increases in predicted difference rather than to more than expected substantial declines of predicted difference. Final evaluations increased 1.53kg per point increase in initial repeatability. However, initial repeatability accounted for only 1% of the differences in final evaluations while initial predicted difference accounted for 76%. Analysis of semen prices showed a substantial cost for repeatability for bulls of high genetic merit for production and/or type. Cost-benefit ratios indicated that dairymen with intensive sire selection programs often will make most economical semen purchases at intermediate to low repeatabilities.
Comments on "Reducing computation in HMM evaluation"

We show that HMM word recognition using Deller and Snider's ( see ibid., vol.1, no.4, 1993) "any path" procedure makes an assumption of independence that is not made by either the forward or Viterbi algorithms. We also point out that additional savings in execution time can be achieved by precomputation. >
Heterogeneous rotational diffusion of a fluorescent probe in lipid monolayers

The rotational correlation time of the lipid probe 1-palmitoyl-2-{6-[(7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)amino]hexanoyl}-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (NBD-PC) is measured using fluorescence anisotropy for two lipid species. We measure the rotational diffusion in a monolayer of 1,2-Didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) which displays a phase transition at room temperature from the liquid-expanded to the liquid-condensed phase. The constant rotational diffusion of the probe throughout the phase transition reflects the measurement of dynamics in only the liquid-expanded phase. We contrast the dynamic changes during this phase coexistence to the continuous density increase observed in 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) at room temperature. We observe a non-exponential decay of the probe diffusion consistent with heterogeneity of the orientational dynamics.
Phase separation of grafted polymers under strong demixing interaction

The phase separation of grafted homopolymers of two different kinds (A and B) under strong demixing interaction is investigated, with demixing energy far greater than kT per chain. A stable self-consistent model for the phase-separated state will all the chains end at the same height is successfully constructed. The configuration contains pure A and B monomer regions and inevitable A-B mixed regions. The composition and magnitude of the free energy of the system were studied, the size of the periodic regions and its dependence on the demixing interaction strength were calculated. The system with distributed end density profile is further studied. Comparison is made with results obtained from the previous weak interaction model using second order correlation function under mean field approximation
Servicewomen’s Strategies to Staying Safe During Military Service

Numerous studies have documented high rates of sexual harassment and sexual assault among servicewomen during military service. In this study, we qualitatively explore the strategies United States servicewomen employed to reduce their risk of violence exposure during their military service. Based on the analysis of 14 focus group discussions conducted from 2007 to 2010, we found that women used a number of protective strategies, including accessing networks of support, capitalizing on their status (linked to rank, age, or prior deployment experience), and wearing non-feminine clothing to minimize violence exposure keeping themselves and others safe. Although the women describe strategies they perceive as reducing the immediate threat of sexual harassment and sexual assault, they do not directly challenge the social hierarchy of the military environment, rape myths, or sexualized images of military women. Through an in-depth analysis of the women’s experiences and perceptions, we provide insights on the importance of better understanding issues related to environment and safety among women in the military—a relatively understudied area. In light of the context-specific risk women face in the military, we believe that our work provides a foundation for future efforts designed to prevent the occurrence of sexual assault during military service.
Designing systems for large-scale, discrete-event simulations: Experiences with the FastTrans parallel microsimulator

We describe the various aspects involved in building FastTrans, a scalable, parallel microsimulator for transportation networks that can simulate and route tens of millions of vehicles on real-world road networks in a fraction of real time. Vehicular trips are generated using agent-based simulations that provide realistic, daily activity schedules for a synthetic population of millions of intelligent agents. We use parallel discrete-event simulation techniques and distributed-memory algorithms to scale these simulations to over one thousand compute nodes. We present various optimizations for speeding up simulation execution times, including (i) a set of routing algorithms such as variations of Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm and heuristic-based A⋆ search, and (ii) a number of different partitioning schemes for load balancing, including geographic partitioning (that assigns simulation entities that are geographically close by to the same processor) and scattering (that assigns geographically close by entities to different processors). Our main findings include: (i) A⋆ significantly outperforms other routing algorithms while computing near-optimal paths; (ii) surprisingly, scattering outperforms more sophisticated partitioning schemes by achieving near-perfect load-balancing. With optimized routing and partitioning, FastTrans is able to simulate a full 24 hour work-day in New York — involving over one million road links and approximately 25 million vehicular trips — in less than one hour of wall-clock time on a 512-node cluster.
Responsibility, Reactive Attitudes and Free Will: Reflections on Wallace’s Theory

R. Jay Wallace's Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments develops an original compatibilist approach to issues about moral responsibility and freedom that cannot be ignored by anyone working on these topics. Wallace's theory is "Strawsonian" in the sense that it is heavily indebted to P. F. Strawson's influential work on reactive attitudes. But we would seriously underestimate the originality of Wallace's accomplishment if we said that his theory was merely an extension of Strawson's. It includes new twists that Strawson did not envisage and removes some weaknesses in Strawson's position that are clearly there. The Strawsonian approach is one of several new compatibilist approaches to responsibility and freedom that have changed the face of debates about these topics over the past four decades; and Wallace's book is the most developed and challenging Strawsonian view available. I have reservations about some of Wallace's conclusions, but I have nothing but admiration for the book. It develops an original position and is written with critical acumen and in a lucid style that could be shown to graduate students as a model of what good philosophical writing can be. I am an incompatibilist about free will and responsibility, so I will focus my remarks on Wallace's defense of compatibilism. That defense is central to the book, though focused mainly in chapter 4 to 7. (I agree with much of what he says about the reactive attitudes in chapters 1 to 3, including his critical remarks on Strawson's own view.) Wallace admits that everyday intuitions about the incompatibility of free will and determinism are powerful. Nonetheless, he thinks incompatibilist intuitions rest upon mistaken extensions of our ordinary practices of excusing and exempting persons from moral responsibility. His goal is to expose these mistakes. Compatibilists usually try to attack the incompatibilist assumption that having alternative possibilities or the power to do otherwise is incompatible with determinism. But Wallace thinks this line of attack is weak (pp. 115, 259). He thinks compatibilists should instead reject the claim that moral
Existence of Stark ladder resonances

We show that resonances, in the translation analytic sense of Herbst and Howland, exist for the one dimensional Stark Hamiltonian, −d2/dx2+q(x)+ex, withq(x) a trigonometric polynomial, providede is sufficiently large.
Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of phonon-assisted luminescence from polyexcitons in Si.

We calculate the line shapes and total oscillator strengths for phonon-assisted recombination from polyexcitons, complexes involving two, three, or four excitons, in Si. Line shapes are determined from ground-state to ground-state transition matrix elements, using variationally determined correlated wave functions. Transition matrix elements are calculated with Monte Carlo methods. We find that about 90% of the total oscillator strength in the decay of the larger complexes can be accounted for by the ground-state to ground-state mechanism, obviating the need for consideration of excited final states. The line shapes and widths of the larger complexes are similar to that of the biexciton, with oscillator strength per exciton increasing slightly with increasing complex size due to many-body effects.
MOVIE - A Software Environment For Modeling Complex Adaptive Systems

We discuss here the basic elements of the new software system for large scale computation -MOVIE- (Metashell based Object oriented Visual Interactive Environment), recently designed and implemented at Caltech within the Caltech Concurrent Computation Program. From the research perspective, the goal of the MOVIE project is to create a simulation environment for modeling complex systems, with the focus on computational structures capable to adapt and act "intelligently", such as ensembles of image processing, early vision, neural network and Artificial Intelligence modules, integrated in the form of "neural robots". The high level MOVIE model, based on portable communication and computation protocol is suitable for large scale "intelligence engineering" by modeling such systems in distributed heterogeneous multicomputer environment and porting successful implementations to dedicated massively parallel hardware. From the software engineering point of view, the MOVIE model offers a platform for unifying elements of contemporary computing such as networking, windowing, parallelism, number crunching and symbolic processing. The basic idea, borrowed from Sun NeWS, is to use an appropriately extended PostScript as the unifying language. The MOVIE extension aims at promoting PostScript to a general purpose high level object oriented language with a high performance user expandable computational sector, fully compatible with the Adobe model for 2D graphics and the Sun X11 /NeWS model for windowing and multitasking.
Decision-directed adaptive recursive estimators: Divergence prevention

In recent years, minimum-variance recursive estimators, such as the Kalman filter, have been used successfully in many practical applications. However, a common problem, known in the literature as the divergence phenomenon, is often encountered in these applications. Divergence is said to occur when the error covariance calculated by the estimator becomes inconsistent with the actual error covariance. Previous methods of dealing with this problem have involved limited memory filtering or simultaneous estimation of random process statistics. The method presented here is different in that the state model and statistics are accepted as given; the form of the optimal estimator is used, but a constant check is made on the consistency of the calculated and actual error covariances. The method is independent of the source of error, whether it be inaccuracies in the system model, incorrect values of the a priori and random process statistics, approximations required in the case of nonlinear systems, or computational roundoff. A test for inconsistency and an adaptive decision-directed procedure for adjusting the calculated covariance, shown to be optimal in a certain sense, are discussed. Several simulated examples, in which inconsistencies in the calculated and actual error covariances exist, show a significant improvement in the performance of the estimator when the given procedure is appended.
A numerical and experimental investigation of simulated explosions inside a flow network

The results of a numerical and an experimental study of a flow network subjected to a simulated explosion are presented. The numerical simulation uses a computer code called EVENT that predicts the response of a system under gas-dynamic stress conditions. The experiment uses a real flow system that is injected with a high-pressure gas. The results from these two are compared using a flow parameter such as pressure. We conclude that the numerical calculation matches the results of the experiment quite well.
The Absorption of X-Rays of Wave-Length 50 ≤ λ 150 X.U. by Elements of Low Atomic Number

With a 600 kv x-ray source and a two-crystal spectrometer especially designed for short wave-length x-rays, the mass absorption coefficients for C(6), Na(11), Al(13), S(16), K(19), Ni(28), Cu(29) were determined for wavelengths from 50 to 209 X.U. A small $\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\lambda}$ interval was used. The results are estimated to be in error by no more than two percent. The present results are compared with the few overlapping measurements of other observers. The values of the electronic scattering coefficient predicted by the Klein-Nishina formula are in excellent agreement with the experimental values of the scattering by carbon in the region $40\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\le}100$ X.U., which confirms the Klein-Nishina formula for this wave-length region. The photoelectric absorption in copper was found to be proportional to ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{2.83}$.
INSTRUCTIONAL EVALUATION AND PREDICTION OF TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS IN A SMALL PRIVATE COLLEGE

Summary.-To evaluate a small private college's students' racings of instructional effectiveness a principal components factor analysis, applied to intercorrelations for 675 students' evaluations from one semester, idendied three underlying dimensions of instruction, affective, and classroom environment. Multiple regression analysis further highlighted speciFic predictors of instructional quality, course content, and perception of improvement in technical skills which could be given additional weight in the development of global assessments of teaching effectiveness. Recommendations for further research are provided. While there has been substantial research into the question of students' evaluation of faculty, much of it has focused on areas wherein bias can enter the process. Recent research aimed at identifying determinants of an excellence in classroom experience included a study conducted by Meredth (1985) who used stepwise multiple regression analysis to identlfy five predctors of quahty instruction. HIS research showed that the abhy to remain attentive in class, good teachedstudent rapport, the abhty to explain ddficult data in a "down-to-earth" manner, instructors' preparation and organization, and stimulation of intellectual curiosity were important to a global assessment of excellent teaching. Shatz and Best (1986) dscovered that both students and faculty agreed that organization, instructors' enthusiasm, and fairness of examinations and gradmg were important to a good experience. Related research by Perhs, Schenk, Stephan, Vrungos, and Wynants (1995) indicated that teacher-student rapport and excitement in the classroom were important to over-all faculty rating. Langbein (1994) concluded that the amount of time spent on course material, time in the classroom, and the duration of students' and instructors' interaction were important aspects of students' ratings of instructional qual~ty. These findmgs are consistent with those of Hildebrand, Wilson, and Dienst (1971) who found that presentation of material identified effective teachers. They hscovered that the best teachers were those who used a seminar format and the worst were those using a lecture style. Marsh (1991b) argued that global ratings reflect students' implicit weighted average of instructional questions on a specific survey. Finally, Shaughnessy and Neely (1988) noted that rating outliers had no statistically significant effect on the over-all assessment.
Pathways to Prevention for Children of Depressed Mothers: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Practice

Maternal depression is one of the most well-documented risk factors for child and adolescent depression, but little work has focused on how to reduce this risk. Although a few interventions have been developed and tested, implementing targeted prevention efforts with depressed mothers and their children is not common practice. The increased risk of depression for children of depressed mothers is so clear, however, professionals can no longer “sit on the sidelines” without initiating specific prevention efforts with this population. To do so requires a paradigm shift—moving from a focus on individual treatment to a prevention approach that engages the entire family as the unit of care. The purpose of this paper is to draw on existing literature to highlight potential “pathways to prevention” for children of depressed mothers. Recommendations for initiating these pathways based on family lifecycle stage, point of contact, and service setting are presented and discussed.
Computational verb systems: computing with perceptions of dynamics

Abstract The concepts and principles of (computational) verb logic, (computational) verb set, (computational) verb number, (computational) verb prediction and (computational) verb control are presented.
Heightened interferon-α/β response causes myeloid cell dysfunction and promotes T1D pathogenesis in NOD mice

Increasing attention is drawn to the contributions of abnormalities in both innate and acquired immune responses to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes (T1D). Dendritic cells (DC) are critical immune cells linking innate and acquired immune responses and previous studies in NOD mice suggest abnormalities in these cells. To address DC dysregulation we examined kinetic global gene expression in NOD and B6 GM-CSF/IL-4-induced bone marrow-derived DC following lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulation. We identified expression differences in over 300 genes including a cluster of 16 interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) target genes overexpressed in NOD DC. Mechanistically, heightened IFN-alpha/beta responses were not due to increased production of this cytokine, IFN-gamma priming or increased Syk kinase activity. We found, however, heightened responses to IFN-alpha/beta in NOD versus B6 as demonstrated by increased type 1 IFN target gene expression, for example, IRF-7, in NOD DC and macrophages. Analysis of multiple congenic strains demonstrated that the Idd5 susceptibility region largely governed heightened IFN-alpha responses. Of interest, heightened IFN-alpha/beta response in NOD mice was not confined to hematopoietic cells but was also seen in the pancreas and beta cells. Compounding the IFN-alpha response defect, NOD mice harbor significantly more PDC in spleen in comparison to B6 and produce four- to sixfold more IFN-alpha when stimulated with CpG. Finally, treatment of NOD mice with IFN-alpha inducing agents, for example, high-dose poly I:C accelerates diabetes in both female and male mice. The abnormalities in the IFN-alpha/beta axis appear to play a significant role in T1D pathogenesis.
The mechanism by which 2-deoxyglucose inhibits glucose-induced activation of Pilobolus longipes spores

Abstract Sporangiospores of Pilobolus longipes were activated by either glucose, 6-deoxyglucose, or derivatives of cyclic AMP. Cyclic AMP content increased after the addition of either glucose or 6-deoxyglucose and the increase preceded spore activation, indicating that glucose triggers germination via cyclic AMP. Activation, whether induced by glucose, 6-deoxyglucose, or cyclic nucleotides was inhibited by 2-deoxyglucose. However, cyclic AMP levels also increased after the addition of 2-deoxyglucose. Radioactive 2-deoxyglucose was recovered from spores mainly as 2-deoxyglucose 6-phosphate, suggesting that phosphorylation of 2-deoxyglucose may inhibit spore activation by trapping ATP. Support for the hypothesis came from ATP assays which showed that 2-deoxyglucose reduced intracellular ATP to undetectable levels. Moreover, when ATP levels were restored with exogenous fructose, 2-deoxyglucose was no longer inhibitory but was then an effective germination trigger.
Surgical Prophylaxis of Pouchitis in Ulcerative Colitis

Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is now the procedure of choice for most patients requiring proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis. The J-shaped pouch, usually 15–20 cm in length, is easiest to construct and has functional outcomes identical to those of the more complex designs. IPAA is a complex procedure, and complications occur frequently. Despite the significant improvements this surgical advance has made on the quality of life in these patients, inflammation of the surgically created ileal pouch or pouchitis remains a major late postoperative complication that can often overshadow the benefits of this otherwise curative operation. Several inflammatory and noninflammatory complications can occur after IPAA. Pouchitis is the most common, occurring in ≈50% of patients. Whereas acute pouchitis can be treated rapidly and successfully in the majority of patients, refractory and chronic pouchitis remain therapeutic challenges to patients and physicians. The problem is believed to be caused by stasis of feces in the pouch with overgrowth of aerobic and anaerobic organisms. The size of the pouch has a significant influence on the incidence of pouchitis: a smaller pouch usually empties better than a larger pouch and so may be less susceptible to pouchitis.
Ultrasonically guided percutaneous transhepatic transcholecystocholangiography in the nondilated biliary tree.

Five patients with CT or ultrasoundproven nondilated intrahepatic biliary radicles underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous transhepatic transcholecystocholangiography (PTHTCC) for visualization of the biliary tree following failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. In no instance were more than 2 passes of a 22-gauge needle necessary to enter the gallbladder. Visualization of the biliary tree was excellent in all cases, and there were no complications. Therefore, PTHTCC is a safe and reliable method of visualizing the nondilated biliary tree.
A review of the life-events calendar method for criminological research

Abstract This review presents an overview of the life-events calendar method for criminologists. In recent years researchers in the health and social sciences have increasingly adopted the life-events calendar method to examine a range of topics. Most of these applications have occurred across disparate disciplines outside of criminology. Criminologists may therefore be unaware of the life-events calendar method's advantages for studying offending. Compared to traditional surveys the life-events calendar method facilitates recall more effectively and measures temporal ordering, co-occurring events, and other complicated data more accurately. Respondents with unstable lives and cognitive difficulties respond favorably to the life-events calendar method's interactive mode of administration and use of visual and mental cues, and using the life-events calendar method to gather retrospective longitudinal data from offenders is cheaper and potentially more practical than implementing traditional panel designs. For these reasons the life-events calendar method should be regarded as a viable option for criminologists.
Evaluation of liposomal clodronate in experimental spontaneous autoimmune hemolytic anemia in dogs

Objectives Liposomal clodronate (dichloromethylene diphosphonate) has been used to deplete macrophages and block clearance of opsonized cells in mouse models of autoimmune disease. However, liposomal clodronate (LC) has not been previously evaluated in a large-animal spontaneous autoimmune disease model. Therefore, the safety and efficacy of LC treatment was assessed in normal dogs and in dogs with spontaneous autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). Methods LC was administered intravenously first to healthy dogs and then to dogs with spontaneous, severe AIHA to determine if the treatment was safe and could block clearance of opsonized red blood cells (RBCs) in vivo. Studies were also conducted to assess the in vitro effects of LC on dog macrophages and dendritic cells. Results Intravenous infusion of low doses of LC was well tolerated and blocked clearance of opsonized RBCs in normal dogs in vivo. LC was taken up by splenic macrophages and dendritic cells in vivo, and induced killing of macrophages and dendritic cells in vitro. Seven dogs with severe, spontaneous AIHA were treated with LC in a pilot study. Treatment was well tolerated, 2 of 7 LC-treated dogs with AIHA had a decrease in RBC clearance, and LC-treated dogs had significantly increased survival times compared to historical control dogs matched for disease severity. Conclusions These results indicate that LC can be safely administered intravenously to dogs and that even relatively low doses are capable of blocking RBC clearance and improving outcomes in a spontaneous large-animal model of AIHA. Therefore, additional studies of LC for treatment of autoantibody-mediated cytopenias in dogs and humans may be warranted.
The effect of streptococcus on the persistence of Brugia malayi and on the production of elephantiasis in cats

Abstract Cats were exposed to 200 Brugia malayi larvae on one hind foot over a 3 week period. Six weeks after the initial exposure to B. malayi , 10 of the cats were challenged on both hind legs with a Group G streptococcus. The remaining 10 cats were not exposed to the streptococcus. Following bacterial challenge, the B. malayi -infected leg of 9 of 10 cats displayed sequelae including erysipelas and abscesses. In addition, 5 of the affected legs had an elephantoid appearance, both by gross observation and as seen at necropsy 10 weeks after the initial B. malayi infection. The contralateral, uninfected leg of each cat remained normal in appearance. Histologic processing and examination of the elephantoid tissue showed it to be collagen; eosinophils and mast cells were plentiful in the collagen matrix. In the controls, only 1 animal displayed erysipelas and no abscesses were seen. Lymphedema seen in the B . malayi -infected leg of 5 control cats was less extensive than in uninfected cats challenged with streptococci and at necropsy no significant collagen matrix was evident. The location and number of worms in the lymphatics were noted. This study demonstrated that secondary microbial infections can contribute to the causation of elephantiasis under certain circumstances and that developing B . malayi were in some way adversely affected by the streptococcal involvement of the filaria-infected lymphatics.
Visual acuity is better for letters in rows than in columns.

The spatial resolving capacity of the visual system is usually measured with charts containing letters of different sizes displayed in horizontal rows or, less often, in vertical columns. Although previous studies suggest that acuity may not be equal for these two arrangements1–7 it is implicitly assumed in clinical tests that orientation of an array of letters is of no consequence to the measurement. The work reported here shows that this assumption is incorrect. While undergoing an examination in an eye clinic, I noticed that letters of a given size seemed more difficult to identify when they were arranged in vertical compared with horizontal arrays. Subsequently, I tested a group of subjects using letters presented pseudo-randomly with different inter-letter spacings, in rows or columns. Subjects were required to identify letters from left to right or from top to bottom in each isolated row or column. A significantly higher number of errors was made for letters in columns than for those in rows. The effect does not depend on order or direction of letter presentation, and it is not found when acuity determinations are made using a non-letter test symbol. To explore the conjecture that the effect could be associated with previous experience, two additional groups of subjects were tested. First, bilingual Chinese, whose first language is read in both horizontal and vertical arrays, were tested using Chinese characters and English letters. Second, acuity determinations were made with young children who could identify letters but did not read. In each case, acuity was not significantly different for horizontal or vertical presentations, a finding consistent with the notion that learning may influence the development of visual resolution.
Accumulation of γ-aminobutyric acid in nodulated soybean in response to drought stress

Nitrogen fixation and nodule permeability to O 2 diffusion are decreased by drought stress. Since γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesis is rapidly stimulated by a variety of stress conditions including hypoxia, it was hypothesized that decreased O 2 availability in nodules stimulates glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activity (EC 4.1.1.15), thereby resulting in GABA accumulation. First, the amino acid composition of xylem sap was determined in plants subjected to soil water deficits. While the xylem sap concentration of several amino acids increased when the plant was subjected to a water deficit, the greatest increase was in GABA. GABA accumulation was examined in response to stress induced by hypoxia or the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the nutrient solution. The exposure of soybean nodules to hypoxia for 6 h enhanced the GABA concentration by 6-fold, but there was no change in GABA concentration in response to the PEG treatment. No major changes in the in vitro GAD activity were measured in nodule cytosol or bacteroids. The present data do not support the hypothesis that decreased nodule O 2 permeability and a resulting O 2 deprivation inside nodules may stimulate in vitro GAD activity and thus GABA accumulation. However, the data could indicate a possible effect of hypoxia and drought stress on the in vivo activity of GAD.
The distinct nitrogen isotopic compositions of low and high molecular weight marine DON

Abstract To constrain the sources and cycling of bulk and size-fractionated marine dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), samples were collected for concentration and isotopic (δ 15 N) analysis from the western tropical North Atlantic Ocean as well as over the North Australian shelf. Bulk DON concentrations are typically between 4 and 6 μM, with low molecular weight (LMW, i.e., 15 N of both bulk and high molecular weight (HMW, i.e., > 1000 Da to 15 N, and a coherent pattern emerges where LMW DON δ 15 N 15 N. An analytical concern is that the bulk DON δ 15 N as calculated from our coupled HMW and LMW measurements is often lower than that measured directly for the bulk DON. Despite this discrepancy, the self-consistency of the data in other regards argues for the robustness of the basic observation of lower δ 15 N in LMW relative to HMW DON. One explanation for this isotopic difference is considered most likely, based on the model that DON δ 15 N elevation relative to PON is fundamentally due to DON production from PON without isotopic fractionation, coupled with DON destruction occurring with fractionation. In this model, HMW DON loss must occur predominantly through the breakage of N-containing bonds, for which isotope fractionation should be substantial, whereas LMW DON loss is partly due to direct assimilation by phytoplankton and other microbes, which appears to occur with only minor isotopic fractionation. However, an alternative hypothesis exists: LMW and HMW DON may have distinct sources, for example, prokaryotic and eukaryotic plankton, respectively. In either case, it appears that most LMW DON has not passed through the HMW DON pool, as this would require an unrealistically large isotope fractionation at the HMW to LMW conversion. Finally, neither the concentration nor the δ 15 N of the bulk or either size fraction of DON varies with in situ N 2 fixation rates measured at the time of sample collection. However, the δ 15 N of both bulk and LMW DON from the western tropical North Atlantic shows significant differences between samples collected six months apart, which may be due to seasonally variable stimulation of primary production by the Amazon River.
A stress-based effective film technique for wafer warpage prediction of arbitrarily patterned films

Initially flat silicon wafers are prone to warp due to the high levels of intrinsic stress of deposited films, particularly metallic films. Processing and handling of warped wafers in the fab is a challenge. One of the ways to control the degree of warpage is by limiting the amount of metallization allowed on the wafer. However, this imposes a constraint on the silicon designers, and can lead to decreased performance of the IC. Therefore, there is a need to accurately predict the amount of wafer warpage caused by a proposed layout in order to give designers the most freedom to develop IC solutions while ensuring that the processed wafers meet the manufacturing equipment requirements. The metal artwork (in addition to other materials, layer thicknesses, processing parameters, etc.) is an important factor in determining wafer curvature. Simple analytical methods, such as Stoney's Formula, cannot capture the non-uniform warpage due to these patterned films. On the other hand, numerical methods which require detailed modeling of the film patterns across the whole wafer are computationally expensive. Thus, a new finite element modeling technique was developed in which the entire patterned film stack is represented as a uniform effective orthotropic film bonded onto a silicon substrate. The orthotropic properties are determined from a small set of virtual experiments using a unit-cell model that is characteristic of the actual pattern. The resultant effective film, despite using a very course mesh, is able to capture the non-uniform surface stress induced by a patterned multi-layer film stack, and thus results in very similar wafer warpage as in the conventional detailed model. Several example film patterns will be presented here, where the warpage difference between the detailed model and the effective film model are less than a few percent across the whole wafer.
Morphine tolerance-induced modulation of [3H]glyburide binding to mouse brain and spinal cord

Modulation by opioids of ATP-gated potassium channels, which regulate in part intracellular calcium levels, was measured by the binding of [3H]glyburide. Scatchard analyses generated a KD for whole brain of vehicle-pretreated mice of 288 pM with a Bmax of 694 fmol/mg protein. In the spinal cord the KD was 0.94 nM and the Bmax was 184 fmol/mg protein. Acute morphine decreased the KD in brain and spinal cord with no change in Bmax. Morphine tolerance increased the KD in brain and spinal cord 2.6- and 2.9-fold, respectively, concurrent with 1.6- and 3.4-fold increases in Bmax. Modulation by morphine of glyburide-sensitive binding sites may contribute at least in part to tolerance to morphine via alterations in intracellular calcium levels in neurons.
On Remaining Life Analysis of Turbine Disks Subjected to High Thermal Stresses

Disk failures can be caused by a number of mechanisms under the turbine operating conditions of high rotational speed at elevated temperatures. It is not uncommon for highly stressed turbine blades and disks to operate at temperatures in excess of 1,000°F, where increased exposure can affect their life. In the past, it has been adequate to analyze the life of these high temperature components using methods which calculate creep life and low cycle fatigue life independently in predicting service hours. More often than not, the parameters included in the creep life model are based on empirical data. Here, a practical methodology is presented to predict the remaining life of a turbine disk that utilizes a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and a creep model. A full three-dimensional CFD analysis is performed on the turbine disks at design and off-design conditions, in order to accurately capture the thermal loads. A detailed FEA is performed on the turbine disk. The stress inputs for the creep life model are based on the stresses obtained from the FEA. A case study is presented that utilizes the proposed methodology. It is found that the methodology is beneficial for the remaining life analysis on highly loaded turbine disks. The accuracy of the methodology is somewhat dictated by the amount of historical operating data that is available.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Bayesian image segmentation of transmission electron tomography 3D reconstructions

The use of transmission electron tomography for three dimensional morphology analysis of nanostructured materials has grown significantly in recent years due to the improved robustness of automated image collection, alignment and reconstruction routines. Although the amount of published 3D electron tomography data has increased accordingly, in many cases the data is used purely for visualization purposes, due to the difficulty of making quantitative measurements from the as-reconstructed data. This is due to the traditionally difficult step of segmentation of the 3D image volume, which has been hindered due to noise, artifacts and lack of necessary image detail or sharpness. In this work the Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) is used to reconstruct High Angle Annular Dark Field-Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (HAADF-STEM) tomography data. The number of SIRT iterations is varied to optimize the reconstruction for segmentation. In particular, signal to noise ratio, signal to artifact ratio, and image blur are identified as parameters which each contribute to the suitability of the reconstruction for segmentation. The Expectation Maximization/ Maximization of Posterior Marginals image segmentation algorithm is applied to the SIRT reconstructions, and the resulting Average Intensity Projection (AIP) of the segmented image stack is compared to the raw tomography projection data.
A Revised Low-Frequency Cosmic Noise Spectrum

Cosmic radio noise spectra obtained from an Astrobee sounding rocket and from more detailed analysis of RAE-1 data are presented. The flux levels measured by the two spacecraft are consistent and fall off more rapidly below 1 MHz than previous data.
Melting temperatures of nucleic acids: discrepancies in analysis.

Abstract Melting temperature, Tm, is an important property of nucleic acid duplexes. It is typically determined from spectroscopic or calorimetric melting experiments. More than one analytical method has been used to extract Tm values from experimental melting data. Unfortunately, different methods do not give the same results; the same melting data can be assigned different Tm values depending upon which method is used to process that data. Inconsistencies or systematic errors between Tms reported in published data sets can be significant and add confusion to the field. Errors introduced from analysis can be greater than experimental errors, ranging from a fraction of degree to several degrees. Of the various methods, the most consistent and meaningful approach defines melting temperature as the temperature at the transition midpoint where half of the base pairs are melted and standard free energy is zero. Assuming a two-state melting behavior, we present here a set of general equations that can be used to reconcile these analytical Tm differences and convert results to the correct melting temperatures at the transition midpoint. Melting temperatures collected from published sources, which were analyzed using different methods, can now be corrected for these discrepancies and compared on equal footing. The similar corrections apply to Tm differences between calorimetric and spectroscopic melting curves. New algorithm for selection of linear sloping baselines, 2nd derivative method, is suggested, which can be used to automate melting curve analysis.
Comparativist Rationality and

US testing of nuclear weapons has resulted in about 800,000 premature fatal cancers throughout the globe, and the nuclear tests of China, France, India, Russia, and the UK have added to this total. Surprisingly, however, these avoidable deaths have not received much attention, as compared, for example, to the smaller number of US fatalities on 9-11-01. This essay (1) surveys the methods and models used to assess effects of low-dose ionizing radiation from above-ground nuclear weapons tests and (2) explains some of the epistemological and logical problems (with these methods and models) that have caused scientists to decide against health screening of the most likely test victims. It also (3) argues that, once the faulty presuppositions and question-begging frames about testing and screening are recognized, there are compelling arguments in favor of nuclear-test nations' screening fallout victims, at least among their citizens. Finally, it (4) suggests that logically and epistemically flawed fallout studies/recommendations against screening are more like to occur when scientists adopt a Laudan-style comparativist rationality, rather than when they adopt a metascience more like that of Kuhn and others.
tRNA imbalance promotes -1 frameshifting via near-cognate decoding

tRNAGly1 is the Escherichia coli glycine tRNA specific for GGG codons. A genetic selection for multicopy suppressors of a frameshift mutation has shown that increased levels of wild-type tRNAGly1 causes -1 frameshifting. Analysis of the suppression spectrum of this multicopy suppressor and peptide sequencing of the suppressed protein product showed that it promoted GG doublet decoding at the near-cognate GGA codons. It is proposed that increasing the concentration of the GGG-specific tRNAGly1 relative to the cognate GGA-decoding tRNAGly2 allows the near-cognate tRNA to read GGA codons. Near-cognate decoding of GGA codons by tRNAGly1 can occur by a two-out-of-three reading mechanism, in which only the first two bases of the GGA codon are paired with the anticodon, thus permitting doublet translocations. In mycoplasmas, a single tRNA typically decodes all four triplets of a codon family and introduction of a feature of the Mypoplasma mycoides tRNAGly responsible for non-discriminate decoding, a C at position 32, into the anticodon E. coli tRNAGly1, enhanced the efficiency of doublet decoding.
Down the Garden Path: Inducing and correcting overgeneralization errors in the foreign language classroom

In this study we compared two methods for teaching grammatical exceptions in the foreign language classroom. Thirty-nine students in two sections of an introductory college French course served as subjects. Eight target structures, exemplifying “exceptions to a rule,” were randomly assigned to one of two teaching conditions for a section taught in the spring; each structure was assigned to the opposite teaching condition for a section taught the following fall. In one condition we simply taught the students the exception as an exception. In the other – what we called the Garden Path condition – we presented canonical exemplars encouraging students to induce the rule; we then asked them to generate the form (which we knew to be an exception) and then corrected their resulting overgeneralization error. Analysis of subsequent formal testing showed that students learned the exception better in the Garden Path condition and that this advantage persisted throughout the semesterlong course. We hypothesized that this technique helped students to focus attention both on the rule and on the features of the particular structure that marked it as an exception.