cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal and transverse strength of glass ribbon for plastic reinforcement

The strength measurements for Corning Code 8871 glass ribbon with a rectangular crosssection measuring 0.22 in.×0.002 in. are presented. Owing to the narrow width of the ribbon, tensile strength measurements were carried out only in the longitudinal direction. To establish the isotropy of ribbon strength, flexure tests were conducted in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. It was found that in the as-manufactured condition, the transverse strength is lower than the longitudinal strength, indicating preferred orientation of flaws introduced during manufacturing. After etching in 10% HF/15% HNO3 solution for different lengths of time, the longitudinal and transverse flexural strengths increased with etch time, reaching an asymptotic value after 20 sec. The transverse strength value, after etching, was generally higher than the longitudinal strength, partly due to the considerably smaller surface area exposed to tension and partly due to the uncertainties in measurement of chord length. The anisotropy of ribbon strength in the as-manufactured condition could partly account for the anisotropic strength of ribbonreinforced composites as reported in the literature [4, 5].
Reduced-modification input shapers for manually controlled systems with flexibility

Many systems require a human in the control loop. When the controlled system has flexibility, the human can have significant difficulties operating the machine. Input-shaping improves control of the flexible element by reducing system vibration. However, it may have a negative effect on control of the driven base or vehicle. This paper presents a new type of input shaper that suppresses vibration while modifying the operator's command as little as possible, thereby improving control of the driven base. A manual tracking experiment compared tracking performance and subjective difficulty using both new and conventional input shapers. All input shapers improved tracking performance with the flexible element, and the new input shapers did not significantly degrade tracking with the driven base.
Field-evolved resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxin CryIC in diamondback moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)

Previous results have shown that diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), populations resistant to toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki were susceptible to toxin CryIC. Use of commercial formulations of B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai that contain CryIC has increased recently. Analysis of two commercial formulations by high pressure liquid chromatography showed that CryIC accounted for 26% of the CryI protein in the B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai formulation, but did not occur in the B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki formulation. CryIAb was the most abundant CryI protein in the commercial formulations of B. thuringiensis subspp. aizawai and kurstaki. We found resistance to CryIC in a field population of diamondback moth from Hawaii that had been treated with B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai . Leaf residue bioassays showed that, at 5 d after treatment with CryIC, LC50s for colonies derived from this population in 1993 and 1995 were ≈20 times greater than the LC50 for a susceptible laboratory colony. For a nearby population that had not been treated with B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai , responses to CryIC did not differ significantly from those of the susceptible laboratory colony. Resistance to CryIAb was lower in a CryIC-resistant colony than in a CryIC-susceptible colony that had been selected with B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki . These results suggest that the gene(s) conferring resistance to CryIC segregate independently from the gene(s) conferring resistance to CryIAb. In contrast with previous results with colonies derived in 1989, resistance to B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki in a colony derived in 1993 from the same field population did not decline when exposure to B. thuringiensis stopped. Thus, stability of resistance is not necessarily a fixed character, even for a specific population and pesticide. Despite substantial resistance to CryIC and B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki , resistance to a spore-crystal formulation of B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawaiwas only 2- to 4-fold.
Fusion of color, local spatial and global frequency information for face recognition

This paper presents a novel face recognition method by means of fusing color, local spatial and global frequency information. Specifically, the proposed method fuses the multiple features derived from a hybrid color space, the Gabor image representation, the local binary patterns (LBP), and the discrete cosine transform (DCT) of the input image. The novelty of this paper is threefold. First, a hybrid color space, the RC"rQ color space, is constructed by combining the R component image of the RGB color space and the chromatic component images, C"r and Q, of the YC"bC"r and YIQ color spaces, respectively. The RC"rQ hybrid color space, whose component images possess complementary characteristics, enhances the discriminating power for face recognition. Second, three effective image encoding methods are proposed for the component images in the RC"rQ hybrid color space to extract features: (i) a patch-based Gabor image representation for the R component image, (ii) a multi-resolution LBP feature fusion scheme for the C"r component image, and (iii) a component-based DCT multiple face encoding for the Q component image. Finally, at the decision level, the similarity matrices generated using the three component images in the RC"rQ hybrid color space are fused using a weighted sum rule. Experiments on the Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) version 2 Experiment 4 show that the proposed method improves face recognition performance significantly. In particular, the proposed method achieves the face verification rate (ROC III curve) of 92.43%, at the false accept rate of 0.1%, compared to the FRGC baseline performance of 11.86% face verification rate at the same false accept rate.
Analysis and treatment of self-neglectful behaviors in three elderly female patients.

ABSTRACT Three cases of self-neglect in elderly female patients are presented. Ranging in age from 84 to 92, subjects suffered from chronic, non-terminal illnesses, and engaged in such behaviors as refusal to eat, non-adherence to a prescribed therapeutic regimen, and extreme social withdrawal. One lived in the community and two resided in assisted living facilities in Louisville, Kentucky. Initial interviews strongly suggested that the patients' engagement in self-neglect was an inappropriate yet purposeful response to aversive events or other negative stimuli. Goals of treatment were to (1) identify specific factors which precipitated patient use of potentially life-threatening behavior, and (2) employ behavioral methods of intervention in response to the identified precipitators. Outcomes were moderately positive. Behavioral interventions reduced engagement in self-neglectful behaviors for each of the participants to a clinically significant degree. Positive results were maintained during the three-mon...
Mechanism of action of retinyl compounds on wound healing I: Structural relationship of retinyl compounds and wound healing

Retinol, retinyl acetate, and retinoic acid promote wound healing. Retinoic acid is most active. Beta-carotene is active, while lycopene is inactive; β-ionone is active and α-ionone is inactive. For full activity, the compound should contain a β-ionone ring, a conjugated double-bond side chain, and a terminal carboxylic acid side chain.
Reduction of testicular luteinizing hormone/human chorionic gonadotropin receptors by [D-Trp6]-luteinizing hormone releasing hormone in hypophysectomized rats.

Abstract Adult and immature male rats were hypophysectomized and injected daily with saline or 0.2 or 2 μg of superactive Luteinizing Hormone Releasing Hormone (LHRH) agonist, [D-Trp 6 ]-LHRH subcutaneously for seven days - with, or without, concomitant treatment of 1 IU Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) or 50 IU Pregnant Mare Serum. The administration of [D-Trp 6 ]-LHRH reduced Luteinizing Hormone/Human Chorionic Gonadotropin receptors in all cases. The magnitude of this reduction was dose-related. As small a dose as 0.2 μg of the peptide resulted in approximately a 72% reduction of the receptors. The results suggest a direct action of [D-Trp 6 ]-LHRH on the testis. It also indicated that reduction of testicular Luteinizing Hormone/Human Chorionic Gonadotropin receptors by the peptide is not necessarily due to the over-stimulation of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) release from the pituitary through a “down regulation” mechanism.
Determination and improvement of spontaneous emission quantum efficiency in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The injection and temperature dependence of the spontaneous emission quantum efficiency of molecular beam epitaxy grown GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures is determined using excitation dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Two samples are compared; one grown with Sb as a surfactant and one grown without Sb. The PL measurements were performed at temperatures from 80 to 320 K using a HeNe pump laser with powers ranging from 0.6 to 35 mW. The quantum efficiency is inferred from the power law predicted by the rate equations that links pump power and integrated PL signal. The use of Sb as surfactant improved the extrapolated peak spontaneous emission quantum efficiency from 0.970 to 0.977 at 300 K and from 0.996 to 0.998 at 180 K. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Low-coherence heterodyne photon correlation spectroscopy.

Photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) is routinely used to investigate the dynamics of colloidal particles undergoing Brownian motion. This technique is applicable to low-density colloidal suspensions in which the effects of multiple light scattering are minimal. We introduce a new low-coherence heterodyne PCS technique that allows direct investigation of colloidal suspensions of higher concentration than previously accessible with standard PCS. In this technique, low-coherence optical heterodyne interferometry is used to suppress multiple light scattering, allowing preferential detection of single-scattering events.
Site specific interaction of protons liberated from Photosystem II oxidation with a hydrophobic membrane component of the chloroplast membrane

Abstract Chloroplast membranes have been shown previously to undergo a change in radioactive labeling by chemical modification reagents that is dependent on electron transport and protolytic events in Photosystem II. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis has been used to show that a low molecular weight chloroplast polypeptide (7.2 Kilodaltons) undergoes the most change in acetic anhydride labeling upon Photosystem II electron transport. A similar polypeptide has been identified by other workers as a component of the hydrophobic trans-membrane proton channel in chloroplasts. Photosystem I electron transport does not give the change in level of incorporation of acetic anhydride into this membrane protein. These results suggest that protons liberated from Photosystem II interact with a hydrophobic portion of the chloroplast membrane, perhaps with the trans-membrane proton channel.
Symmetric Neutralized Ion Beams for Magnetic Fusion Applications

A symmetric neutralized ion beam (SNIB) is composed of positive and negative ions, and is capable of propagating across a transverse magnetic field due to the polarization of the beam. Such a beam may be of use as an alternative or complement to conventional neutral beam injection (NBI) in magnetic confinement fusion devices. SNIBs of energies from hundreds of keV up to a few MeV can be efficiently produced through a novel application of radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerators. Because the cross-field propagation ability of the SNIB depends mainly on beam density, SNIBs of significantly lower energy than the 1 MeV envisioned for ITER neutral beams can in principle reach the center of a magnetically confined plasma. Some challenges that need to be overcome for this technique to be viable are identified; nevertheless, the approach is attractive when compared to the bulky, high voltage, conventional neutral beam systems. Distributed injection of many beams is possible due to the relative compactness of a SNIB module.
Expression of high density lipoprotein-binding protein messenger ribonucleic acid in the rat ovary and its regulation by gonadotropin.

The presence of high density lipoprotein-binding protein (HBP) mRNA in rat ovarian cells and its possible regulation by gonadotropin were examined in this study. RNA, isolated from pseudopregnant rat ovaries, was amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with HBP-specific oligonucleotide primers. A distinct and prominent 576-basepair PCR product was generated. Sequence analysis revealed that the sequence homology of the PCR product and the corresponding human HBP cDNA sequence was greater than 90%. Using Northern blot analysis, we identified two species of HBP mRNA transcripts in the ovarian cells (i.e. a major one of 4.5 kilobases and a minor one of 6.0 kilobases). Cellular localization of HBP mRNA in the ovary was determined by in situ hybridization analysis. Prominent specific hybridization of the labeled antisense probe was observed in all cell types of the follicles and corpora lutea, whereas little hybridization was observed in the stroma and the connective tissues separatin...
Ice Crystal Replication with Common Plastic Solutions

Abstract Use of common plastics, i.e., polystyrene, Plexiglas (polymethyl methacrylate) and Lexan (polycarbonate), was investigated for ice crystal replication. The results suggest that all common plastics tested are usable for ice crystal replication with proper combinations of solvents. These solutions seldom get murky due to dissolved water as opposed to the Formvar solution. The combinations of Plexiglas and ethylene dichloride or trichloroethylene, and of polystyrene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane or carbon tetrachloride are advantageous over other solutions tested. The vapor method using the plastic and solvent combinations tested is found, in general, not suitable for replicating detailed surface structures of minute ice crystals.
Effects of omnivorous shrimp in a montane tropical stream : sediment removal, disturbance of sessile invertebrates and enhancement of understory algal biomass

Freshwater shrimp dominate the faunal biomass of many headwater tropical streams: however, their role in community organization is unclear. Enclosure/exclosure experiments in a montane Puerto Rican stream examined direct and indirect effects of two dominant taxa of atyid (Atyidae) shrimp, Atya lanipes Holthuis and Xiphocaris elongata Guerin-Meneville. Both shrimp taxa caused significant reductions in sediment cover on rock substrata, reducing sedimentation and enhancing algal biovolume on clay tiles in cages. When tiles incubated in shrimp exclosures for 2 wks were placed outside of cages, atyid shrimp removed 100% of the sediment cover within a 30 min observation period. Atyid shrimp appear to play an important role in stream recovery after high discharge events by rapidly removing sediments and detritus deposited on benthic substrata in pools. We evaluated the mechanism by which A. lanipes influences algae and benthic insects by comparing patterns of algal biomass, taxonomic composition, and insect abundance between shrimp-exclusion and shrimp-presence treatments both with and without manual sediment removal. The shrimp exclusion treatment without manual sediment removal bad significantly lower algal biomass and greater sedimentation than all other treatments. The treatment in which shrimp were excluded but sediment was manually removed, however, accrued almost the same algal biovolume as the shrimp enclosure treatment, supporting the hypothesis that sediment removal enhances the biovolume of understory algal taxa. Algal community composition was similar between stream bottom bedrock exposed to natural densities of shrimp and all experimental treatments for both Atya and Xiphocaris: a diatom community strongly dominated (78–95%) by the adnate taxon, Achnanthes lanceolata Breb ex. Kutz. Atyid shrimp are important in determining the distribution and abundance of benthic insects through both direct and indirect effects. Sessile, retreat-building chironomid larvae (Chironomidae: Diptera) are negatively affected by both A. lanipes and X. elongata, through direct removal by foraging activities and/or indirectly through depression of sediment resources available to larvae for the construction of retreats. In constrast, the mobile grazer, Cloeodes maculipes (Baetidae: Ephemeroptera) was not adversely affected and atyid shrimp have the potential to exert positive indirect effects on this taxon by facilitating its exploitation of algal resources and/or through enhancement of understory algal food resources through sediment removal.
Pakistan Society: Islam, Ethnicity and Leadership in South Asia

The central theme of this structured study revolves around the complexity and diversity of Pakistan society, illustrated by case studies from Pakistan. Drawing upon anthropological and historical evidence and the extensive personal field experience of the writer, the book highlights the complex relationship between ethnicity, political and leadership issues in South Asia.
Incorporating a Japanese Material Approval Plan in a Changing Collection Development Environment at the University of Arizona

Abstract A widening gap between acquisition capabilities and increasing information growth in Japan has posed a great challenge for Japanese studies collection development at the University of Arizona. This gap precluded the direction of moving toward comprehensive coverage of all major subjects in Japanese studies, and required delimiting thefocus of collection development to the immediate needs of the Japanese studies community at the University of Arizona. The changing collection development environment has prompted the development and implementation of a pilot approval plan for Japanese materials. While this approval plan helped raise the level of efficiency and effectiveness of collection development efforts, it also highlighted the difficulties and limitations of incorporating an approval plan in the collection development program for a small Japanese studies collection.
A Proposed Method of Rating Fuses for Pulsed Service

For many applications the present standard I2t rating method for coordinating fuses is not satisfactory. Examples include the protection of solid-state devices without large safety factors, and high-voltage dc circuits. Therefore, an improved engineering and rating procedure for the application engineer is needed for such interrupting devices. This paper examines the problem and suggests a method for obtaining the arc voltage as a function of the circuit parameters and applying ratings based on this. The procedure is checked against test results for four types of fuses.
The Effect of the Sea Ice Freshwater Flux on Southern Ocean Temperatures in CCSM3: Deep-Ocean Warming and Delayed Surface Warming

AbstractThis study explores the role of sea ice freshwater and salt fluxes in modulating twenty-first-century surface warming in the Southern Ocean via analysis of sensitivity experiments in the Community Climate System Model, version 3 (CCSM3). In particular, the role of a change in these fluxes in causing surface cooling, expanding sea ice, and increasing deep oceanic storage of heat in the Southern Ocean is investigated. The results indicate that in response to the doubling of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere in CCSM3, net freshwater input from sea ice to the ocean increases south of 58°S (owing to less growth) and decreases from 48° to 58°S (owing to less melt). The freshwater source from changing precipitation in the model is considerably less than from sea ice south of 58°S, but it serves to compensate for the reduction in sea ice melt near the ice edge, leaving almost no net freshwater flux change between about 48° and 58°S. As a result, freshwater input principally from sea ice reduces ocean c...
Stiffness and strength of short fibre composites as affected by cracks and plasticity

Abstract This paper develops an analysis for predicting the stress-strain relation and strength of unidirectional short fibre composites. The classical shear-lag analysis is modified to take into account the effects of load transfer at the fibre ends as well as plasticity of the matrix material. These effects are examined in detail using numerical examples. A comparison of the present theory with experimental data on the strength of short fibre composites has also been made.
Continuous Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Monitoring by Aortic Pressure Waveform Analysis

We developed a technique to monitor left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) by model-based analysis of the aortic pressure waveform. First, the aortic pressure waveform is represented with a lumped parameter circulatory model. Then, the model is fitted to each beat of the waveform to estimate its lumped parameters to within a constant scale factor equal to the arterial compliance (C (a)). Finally, the proportional parameter estimates are utilized to compute beat-to-beat absolute EF by cancelation of the C (a) scale factor. In this way, in contrast to conventional imaging, EF may be continuously monitored without any ventricular geometry assumptions. Moreover, with the proportional parameter estimates, relative changes in beat-to-beat left ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), cardiac output (CO), and maximum left ventricular elastance (E (max)) may also be monitored. To evaluate the technique, we measured aortic pressure waveforms, reference EF and EDV via standard echocardiography, and other cardiovascular variables from six dogs during various pharmacological influences and total intravascular volume changes. Our results showed overall EF and calibrated EDV root-mean-squared-errors of 5.6% and 4.1 mL, and reliable estimation of relative E (max) and beat-to-beat CO changes. These results demonstrate, perhaps for the first time, the feasibility of estimating EF from only a blood pressure waveform.
Complementary Channel Use and the Role of Social Competence

This study focused on channel complementarity among various interpersonal communication channels (face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, text messaging, and Facebook). We looked at daily channel use among 136 participants and demonstrated complementary channel use among most combinations of channels, excluding face-to-face. We also extended channel complementarity theory by examining social competence as a moderator of channel complementarity. Results indicated that telephone and text messaging exhibited complementarity at high but not low levels of social competence, whereas e-mail and text messaging exhibited complementarity at low but not high levels of social competence. Face-to-face communication and Facebook exhibited a displacement relationship at high but not low levels of social competence. Implications for channel complementarity theory and the role of individual characteristics are discussed.
Ingredients for a general purpose stochastic finite elements implementation

Abstract The Stochastic Finite Element Method has seen a number of incarnations over the past few years, ranging from perturbation-based methods, and Neumann-expansion based methods, to methods for evaluating bounds on the response variability, and more recent functional expansions combined with error minimization techniques. Of these, only the last class of methods provides an explicit expression to the solution of the problem, as opposed to evaluating a global norm of this solution, and can thus be viewed as a rational extension of concepts developed for the deterministic finite element method. The main obstacle in developing a substantial user-community of various stochastic finite element methods has been the lack of a general purpose formalism for addressing issues of general engineering interest. This paper presents the main ingredients for developing a general purpose version of the Spectral Stochastic Finite Element Method.
Characterization of failures in an IP backbone

We analyze IS-IS routing updates from sprint's IP network to characterize failures that affect IP connectivity. Failures are first classified based on probable causes such as maintenance activities, router-related and optical layer problems. Key temporal and spatial characteristics of each class are analyzed and, when appropriate, parameterized using well-known distributions. Our results indicate that 20% of all failures is due to planned maintenance activities. Of the unplanned failures, almost 30% are shared by multiple links and can be attributed to router-related and optical equipment-related problems, while 70% affect a single link at a time. Our classification of failures according to different causes reveals the nature and extent of failures in today's IP backbones. Furthermore, our characterization of the different classes can be used to develop a probabilistic failure model, which is important for various traffic engineering problems.
Management of the intact breast primary in the setting of metastatic disease

Women who present with new breast cancer and synchronous metastases have traditionally been treated with systemic agents, with no specific therapy for the primary tumor unless local symptoms require palliation. However, a number of retrospective analyses of survival outcomes in these patients show that surgery for the primary tumor is associated with prolongation of survival. These studies suggest the possibility that local therapy for the primary tumor provides value beyond palliation of symptoms and points to the need for prospective data to guide treatment plans for women with de novo metastatic breast cancer. The coherence of the available data is improved by the findings that surgical resection of the primary tumor is of value only when free surgical resection margins are achieved, and that maintenance of local control at the primary site is associated with a survival advantage. Nevertheless, many questions remain, including the optimal timing of surgery for the primary tumor, whether the potential benefit applies only to women with favorable metastatic sites (e.g. bone-only metastases), and whether local radiotherapy should follow surgical treatment of the primary tumor if this is elected. There is also a lack of data addressing the value of axillary surgery in the metastatic setting. These substantial knowledge gaps limit our ability to deploy optimal use of therapeutic modalities for a patient population that reaches large numbers world-wide, and among whom survival duration is increasing due to more effective systemic therapy.
What Can the Study of Cognitive Development Reveal About Children's Ability to Appreciate and Cope with Advertising?

Abstract The authors assess the study of cognitive development and what it reveals about children's ability to appreciate and cope with advertising. Whereas prior research on children and advertising has drawn heavily on Piaget's developmental theory, the authors argue that more recent approaches that focus on the development of children's “theories of mind” and “executive functioning” skills may prove more fruitful. The review of research on these topics generates two predictions: First, on the basis of theories-of-mind literature, the authors expect that children have well-formed conceptions of the intentions underlying advertising by seven or eight years of age. Second, on the basis of executive functions literature, the authors expect that children are not able to deploy these concepts effectively in their everyday lives until much later in development.
Functional brain mapping

Functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI is a means by which dynamic processes in the body can be imaged. The ability to measure real time processes exists thanks to technological advances in the system hardware and the imaging techniques inherent in MRI itself. The massive amounts of data that can be collected today to study such processes presents a challenge not only in terms of data handling and display but also in the fact that there is often 3D and, including temporal variations, 4D data available. Extracting the full information from such data sets is the challenge currently presented to the signal or image processing communities. Here, current methods and open questions are reviewed.
Multimodal Gadolinium‐Enriched DNA–Gold Nanoparticle Conjugates for Cellular Imaging

During the past two decades, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a powerful technique in clinical diagnosis and biological molecular imaging.[1–4] A signficant advantage of MRI is the ability to acquire tomographic information of whole animals with high spatial resolution and soft tissue contrast. In addition, images are acquired without the use of ionizing radiation (e.g., X-ray and CT) or radiotracers (e.g., PET and SPECT) permitting long term longitudinal studies. Since spatial resolution increases with magnetic field strength, the ability to track small cell populations has been realized.
Rules for the recognition of dilysine retrieval motifs by coatomer

Cytoplasmic dilysine motifs on transmembrane proteins are captured by coatomer α-COP and β′-COP subunits and packaged into COPI-coated vesicles for Golgi-to-ER retrieval. Numerous ER/Golgi proteins contain K(x)Kxx motifs, but the rules for their recognition are unclear. We present crystal structures of α-COP and β′-COP bound to a series of naturally occurring retrieval motifs—encompassing KKxx, KxKxx and non-canonical RKxx and viral KxHxx sequences. Binding experiments show that α-COP and β′-COP have generally the same specificity for KKxx and KxKxx, but only β′-COP recognizes the RKxx signal. Dilysine motif recognition involves lysine side-chain interactions with two acidic patches. Surprisingly, however, KKxx and KxKxx motifs bind differently, with their lysine residues transposed at the binding patches. We derive rules for retrieval motif recognition from key structural features: the reversed binding modes, the recognition of the C-terminal carboxylate group which enforces lysine positional context, and the tolerance of the acidic patches for non-lysine residues.
Safety of sputum induction in moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a bronchoprotective sputum induction protocol in moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Forty-two adults with COPD (FEV1 = 51.7 +/- 3.2% predicted (mean +/- SEM)) under went sputum induction using a protocol designed to minimize hypertonic saline-induced bronchoconstriction. Hypertonic (3%) saline was used for subjects with FEV1 > or = 50%, and normal (0.9%) saline was used for subjects with FEV1 or = 20% reliably predicted a fall in FEV1 of > or = 20%. Thirty-five of 42 subjects (83.3%) produced an acceptable sputum sample. Sputum eosinophil and neutrophil percentages were 2.8 +/- 0.9 and 73.0 +/- 3.0%, respectively, and were not correlated with changes in peak flow, FEV1 or oxygen saturation. A protocol for sputum induction which restricts the use of hypertonic saline based on lung function is both safe and effective in subjects with moderate to severe COPD.
Speculation on the timing and nature of Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer colonization of the Tibetan Plateau

Hunter-gatherer populations in greater north-east Asia experienced dramatic range expansions during the early Upper Paleolithic (45—22 ka) and the late Upper Paleolithic (18—10 ka), both of which led to intensive occupations of cold desert environments including the Mongolian Gobi and northwest China. Range contractions under the cold, arid extremes of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 22—18 ka) may have entailed widespread population extirpations. The high elevation Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is significantly more extreme in both climate and environment than either the Gobi or the Siberian taiga forests, and provides an ideal setting to test fundamental models of human biogeography in the context of regional population fluctuations. The area is presently occupied primarily by nomadic pastoralists, but it is clear that these complex middle Holocene (<6 ka) economic adaptations were not a necessary prerequisite for successful colonization of the high elevation Plateau. Exploratory field-work in 2000–2001 has established that Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers were present on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau by at least 12 ka and possibly much earlier. A speculative model for the colonization process is developed and preliminary archaeological data in support of the model are presented.
Equitable Measurement of School Effectiveness

This article examines a value-added model to rate schools, taking into account varying characteristics of students entering the schools, including poverty, race, mobility, and stability. The model uses regression to separate the influence of demographics that are outside the schools’ control from those under school control. This value-added model leads to school ratings that compare actual performance to performance predicted by poverty rates. Even after adjusting for poverty, some schools consistently outperform others on a wide range of tests over a 5-year period, whereas other schools consistently perform at the bottom. Finally, this article discusses uses that can be made of this model.
Imprinting of a Genomic Domain of 11p15 and Loss of Imprinting in Cancer: An Introduction

Our laboratory has found genomic imprinting of a large genomic domain of human 11p15.5, identifying six imprinted genes within this domain: (a) insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II), an important autocrine growth factor in a wide variety of malignancies; (b) H19, an untranslated RNA that is a putative growth suppressor gene regulating IGF-II; (c) p57KIP2, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor that causes G1-S arrest; (d) KvLQT1, a voltage-gated potassium channel; (e) TSSC3, a gene that is homologous to mouse TDAG51, which is implicated in Fas-mediated apoptosis; and (f) TSSC5, a putative transmembrane protein-encoding gene. We hypothesize that 11p15 harbors a large domain of imprinted growth-regulatory genes that are important in cancer. Several lines of evidence support this hypothesis: (a) we have discovered a novel genetic alteration in cancer, loss of imprinting, which affects several of these genes, and is one of the most common genetic changes in human cancer; (b) we have found that the hereditary disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which predisposes to cancer and causes prenatal overgrowth, involves alterations in p57KIP2, IGF-II, H19, and KvLQT1; (c) we have found both genetic (somatic mutation in Wilms' tumor) and epigenetic alterations (DNA methylation) in cancer; and (d) we can partially reverse abnormal imprinting using an inhibitor of DNA methylation. We propose a model of genomic imprinting as a dynamic developmental process involving a chromosomal domain. According to this model, cancer involves both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms affecting this imprinted domain and the genes within it.
SOLpro: accurate sequence-based prediction of protein solubility

Motivation: Protein insolubility is a major obstacle for many experimental studies. A sequence-based prediction method able to accurately predict the propensity of a protein to be soluble on overexpression could be used, for instance, to prioritize targets in large-scale proteomics projects and to identify mutations likely to increase the solubility of insoluble proteins. Results: Here, we first curate a large, non-redundant and balanced training set of more than 17 000 proteins. Next, we extract and study 23 groups of features computed directly or predicted (e.g. secondary structure) from the primary sequence. The data and the features are used to train a two-stage support vector machine (SVM) architecture. The resulting predictor, SOLpro, is compared directly with existing methods and shows significant improvement according to standard evaluation metrics, with an overall accuracy of over 74% estimated using multiple runs of 10-fold cross-validation. Availability: SOLpro is integrated in the SCRATCH suite of predictors and is available for download as a standalone application and as a web server at: http://scratch.proteomics.ics.uci.edu. Contact: pfbaldi@ics.uci.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Three Generations of Immunoglobulin G Preparations for Clinical Use

The first purified human immunoglobulin G (IgG) preparation used clinically was immune serum globulin (ISG), which was prepared in the 1940s by E. J. Cohn's group. It was originally formulated in water with 0.3 M glycine at pH 6.8 and was 70%-80% monomeric. ISG was safe when given intramuscularly and efficacious for measles and hepatitis prophylaxis. The next generation of purified IgG began in the 1960s with chemically modified preparations suitable for intravenous administration. The first such IgG intravenous preparation (IGIV) in the United States was IGIV pH 6.8 (Gamimune, Cutter Biological), in which the anticomplement activity found in ISG was removed by reduction and alkylation of disulfide bridges. This product was originally formulated as a 5% IgG solution in water (pH 6.8) with 0.2 M glycine in 10% maltose for stabilization. It remained stable for at least 2.5 years at 5 degrees C, was 80%-90% monomeric, had virtually no anticomplement activity, was safe given intravenously, and was efficacious for prophylaxis in agammaglobulinemic patients. A third generation of purified IgG has since been developed; IGIV pH 4.25, (Gamimune N, Cutter Biological), which was isolated by the Cohn method from human plasma and is safe for intravenous use, is a 5% solution of IgG in water (pH 4.25) with 10% maltose. The product is greater than 99% IgG, greater than 95% monomeric, and has greater than 90% less anticomplement activity than ISG.
Surface nonlinear optics: a historical perspective

A historical review is given on the development of surface second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation and their applications as analytical tools to surface science.
Characterization of poly(3‐octylthiophene). I: Molecular characterization in dilute solution

The poly(3-alkylthtophenes) are a class of electrically conducting polymers which are of particular scientific and commercial interest due to their solubility and meltability. A series of poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) fractions having molecular weights in the range M W =30,000 to 400,000 were generated by preparative gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Although the polymer remained weakly aggregated when dissolved in pure THF, the addition of an organic salt (1 wt.% tetrabutylammonium p-toluenesulfonate) resulted in complete molecular dissolution. We were thus able to completely and consistently describe the polymer's single-chain properties using three dilute solution characterization methods : viscometry, GPC, and integrated light scattering. The molecular weight dependence of the intrinsic viscosity and the radius-of-gyration were established, and were characteristic of solutions near the theta condition, indicating poor solvent quality. Calculation of the persistence length from our data revealed that the polymer backbone is only 2 to 3 times more rigid than common flexible polymers, despite its conjugated ring structure.
One-step CVD synthesis of a boron nitride nanotube–iron composite

A composite of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and iron (Fe) has been synthesized using a novel one-step process and characterized by optical, electron microscope, and mechanical measurement techniques. The BNNT–Fe composite, the first of this type produced to the best of our knowledge, is shown to have up to 24% higher specific yield strengths from stress–strain measurements and Rockwell Hardness C Scale (HRC), depth of penetration into sample of 120° diamond cone, 50% higher relative to a control sample of pure Fe. Scanning and transmission electron microscope imaging shows that the composite is comprised of a uniform nanoscale mixture of BNNTs bridging the metal particles.
Seasonally stratified correlations of the 200 mb tropical wind field to the Southern Oscillation

The response of the 200 mb tropical wind field to the Southern Oscillation and central equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature is examined with correlation and regression analyses on a seasonally stratified basis. Although there are differences in magnitude, all seasons are found to exhibit the following set of responses: during periods of low Southern Oscillation Index and high equatorial sea surface temperature there are easterly anomalies of the equatorial zonal wind and westerly anomalies in the adjacent subtropics. These anomalies are consistent with the circulations in simple models of the Walker circulation in which the longitudinal scale of equatorial heating is increased, resulting in reduced zonal overturning at the equator (weakened Walker circulation) and increased meridional overturning and acceleration of the subtropical westerlies in a region slightly to the west of the anomalous heating centre. The correlation and regression results also show that central Pacific equatorial sea surface temperature is an excellent index of the heating anomalies. Theoretical results have predicted that the importance of remote forcing from the tropics in higher latitudes is dependent upon the strength of the intervening zonal wind field. Season-to-season differences are particularly apparent in the northern hemisphere responses of the zonal wind field to the Southern Oscillation: remote responses are relatively strong when the mean zonal winds over the Pacific region and corresponding values of standing wave group velocity are relatively large and vice versa. A similar correspondence is not found south of the equator as the correlation results do not vary as strongly with season. This may be due to greater equatorial trapping of Southern Oscillation anomalies in the same season when subtropical winds are more favourable for meridional coupling.
A guidance and navigation system for automatic station-keeping in a near-earth orbit

Guidance and navigation system design for automatic stationkeeping one earth orbiting vehicle with respect to other
Power reduction through physical placement of asynchronous routers

Our work reduces power consumption by minimizing wirelength and hop-count of an asynchronous NoC using simulated annealing and force-directed algorithms. Asynchronous NoCs (aNoCs) can provide important benefits over clocked NoCs. However, there is little published research on generating a custom, optimized aNoC for a fixed-function, power-constrained system-on-chip (SoC). Such tools must consider physical SoC properties and especially NoC link delay and power. Our research is motivated by this need, and the mantra that “transistors are fast, wires are slow and power-hungry,” due to process scaling differences between transistors and global wires.
The use of chemical and visual cues in female choice in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana

Investigating the relative importance of multiple cues for mate choice within a species may highlight possible mechanisms that led to the diversification of closely related species in the past. Here, we investigate the importance of close-range pheromones produced by male Bicyclus anynana butterflies and determine the relative importance of these chemical cues versus visual cues in sexual selection by female choice. We first blocked putative androconial organs on the fore- and hindwings of males, while also manipulating the ability of females to perceive chemical signals via their antenna. We found that male chemical signals were emitted by both fore- and hindwing pairs and that they play an important role in female choice. We subsequently tested the relative importance of these chemical cues versus visual cues, previously identified for this species, and found that they play an equally important role in female choice in our laboratory setting. In addition, females will mate with males with only one signal present and blocking both androconial organs on males seems to interfere with male to male recognition. We discuss the possible functions of these signals and how this bimodal system may be used in intra- and interspecific mate evaluation.
Regulation of apoAI processing by procollagen C-proteinase enhancer-2 and bone morphogenetic protein-1

Given the increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease in the world, the search for genetic variations controlling the levels of risk factors associated with the development of the disease continues. Multiple genetic association studies suggest the involvement of procollagen C-proteinase enhancer-2 (PCPE2) in modulating HDL-C levels. Therefore biochemical and mechanistic studies were undertaken to determine whether there might be a basis for a role of PCPE2 in HDL biogenesis. Our studies indicate that PCPE2 accelerates the proteolytic processing of pro-apolipoprotein (apo) AI by enhancing the cleavage of the hexapeptide extension present at the N terminus of apoAI. Surface Plasmon Resonance and immunoprecipitation studies indicate that PCPE2 interacts with BMP-1 and pro-apoAI to form a ternary pro-apoAI/BMP-1/PCPE2 complex. The most favorable interaction among these proteins begins with the association of BMP-1 to pro-apoAI followed by the binding of PCPE2 which further stabilizes the complex. PCPE2 resides, along with apoAI, on the HDL fraction of lipoproteins in human plasma supporting a relationship between HDL and PCPE2. Taken together, the findings from our studies identify a new player in the regulation of apoAI post-translational processing and open a new avenue to the study of mechanisms involved in the regulation of apoAI synthesis, HDL levels, and potentially, cardiovascular disease.
Integrating “big data” into surgical practice

'Big data' is the next frontier of medicine. We now have the ability to generate and analyze large quantities of healthcare data. Although interpreting and integrating this information into clinical practice poses many challenges, the potential benefits of personalized medicine are seemingly without limit.
The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and its Unruly Legacy by David A. Copeland Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2006,285 Pp.

(2007). The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and its Unruly Legacy by David A. Copeland Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2006,285 Pp. American Journalism: Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 204-205.
Methyl (Z)-2-chloro-3-(2-methoxy-carbonyl-phen-yl)prop-2-enoate.

In the title compound, C12H11ClO4, the propenoate C=C bond is in the Z configuration. The propenoate C=O and C=C groups are essentially coplanar [C=C—C=O torsion angle = 172.4 (3)°] with the O atom synperiplanar to the Cl atom. However, the π systems of the aromatic ring and chloro­propenoate substituent are not coplanar; the corresponding dihedral angle is 51.5 (1)°. The noncoplanarity is likely due to steric inter­actions between the propenoate H atom and the ortho-methoxy­carbonyl group on the aromatic ring. Even in the observed noncoplanar conformation, the ortho C=O to H distance (2.40 A) is less than the sum of the van der Waals radii of O and H (2.65 A).
Influence of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide on Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis.

SummaryLysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was administered to guinea pigs that had received subcutaneous injections of brain homogenate. Dosages of 20 or 50 μg/kg triweekly reduced the incidence of paralysis as well as mortality rate. In animals that had demonstrable histopathologic lesions after the drug, the severity of the lesions was reduced.