cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Global QBO in circulation and ozone. Part 2: A simple mechanistic model

Although the phenomenon of equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation is relatively well understood, the problem of how the equatorially confined quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) wave forcing can induce a signal in the extratropics of comparable or larger magnitude remains unsolved. A simple mechanistic model is constructed to provide a quantitative test of the hypothesis that the phenomenon of extratropical QBO is mainly caused by an anomalous seasonal circulation induced by an anomalous Eliassen-Palm (E-P) flux divergence. The anomaly in E-P flux divergence may be caused in turn by the relative poleward and downward shift of the region of irreversible mixing (breaking) of the extratropical planetary waves during the easterly phase of the equatorial QBO as compared to its westerly phase. The hemispheric nature of the anomaly wave forcing in solstice seasons (viz., no wave breaking in the summer hemisphere) induces a global circulation anomaly that projects predominantly into the first few zonal Hough modes of Plumb. Such a global QBO circulation pattern, although difficult to measure directly, is reflected in the distribution of stratospheric tracers transported by it. Our model produces a global pattern of QBO anomaly in column ozone that appears to account for much of the unfiltered interannual variability in the column ozone observed by the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) instrument aboard the Nimbus satellite. Furthermore, the model produces the characteristic spectrum of the observation with peaks at periods of 20 and 30 months.
Marine origin for Precambrian, carbonate-hosted magnesite?

Large-scale, carbonate-hosted magnesite (MgCO 3 ) deposits, although rare, occur mainly in Precambrian strata. Although many occurrences have characteristics consistent with penecontemporaneous formation in an evaporative marine setting, the general absence of CaSO 4 minerals has precluded the adoption of evaporative marine depositional models. In modern seawater, excess Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ relative to \(CO^{2{-}}_{3}\) and \(HCO^{{-}}_{3}\) as well as abundant \(SO^{2{-}}_{4}\) require that, upon evaporation, MgCO 3 precipitation is accompanied by substantial deposition of CaSO 4 minerals. Here we use evidence from a Neoproterozoic magnesite deposit to suggest that differences in Precambrian seawater geochemistry enabled MgCO 3 to form in isolation under evaporative conditions. During the Precambrian, precipitation of CaSO 4 evaporites was hindered by (1) elevated dissolved inorganic carbon and enhanced precipitation of CaCO 3 , which limited the availability of Ca 2+ , and (2) a small marine sulfate reservoir. Because sulfate is an inhibitor to dolomitization, low sulfate concentrations increased the potential for penecontemporaneous dolomitization in marine settings. By utilizing Ca 2+ , dolomitization served to increase fluid Mg/Ca ratios. In this \(HCO^{{-}}_{3}\) -rich but \(SO^{2{-}}_{4}\) -poor system, dolomitization coupled with significant evaporative concentration resulted in magnesite formation without coprecipitation of CaSO 4 minerals. Decreasing carbonate saturation, progressive oxygenation, and a concomitant increase in sulfate availability during the Proterozoic ultimately led to the development of the more familiar conditions of the Phanerozoic, in which dolomitization was restricted to environments where elevated Mg/Ca ratios could overcome the inhibitory effects of sulfate and significant magnesite deposition was restricted to sabkhas and alkaline lakes.
Stability of H+ beams in the polar wind

The effect of energetic H(+) beams on the stability of the polar wind in the classical model is studied with regard to the excitation of electrostatic waves. Consideration is given to cases covering a wide range of electron-to-background temperature ratios and beam-to-background ion density ratios, assuming a relatively cold beam. The minimum beam drift velocity required to destabilize the plasma is determined by a combination of the Nyquist technique and a direct solution of the plasma dispersion equation. It is found that the plasma can be destabilized for relative drift energies less than about 1 eV. Also, it is shown that the plasma is less stable for large electron temperatures and for comparable ion and beam densities.
Frequency Band Averaging of Spectral Densities for Updating Finite Element Models

The successful operation of proposed precision spacecraft will require finite element models that are accurate to much higher frequencies than the standard application. The hallmark of this mid-frequency range, between low-frequency modal analysis and high-frequency statistical energy analysis, is high modal density. The modal density is so high, and the sensitivity of the modes with respect to modeling errors and uncertainty is so great that test/analysis correlation and model updating based on traditional modal techniques no longer work. This paper presents an output error approach for finite element model updating that uses a new test/analysis correlation metric that maintains a direct connection to physical response. The optimization is gradient based. The metric is based on frequency band averaging of the output power spectral densities with the central frequency of the band running over the complete frequency range of interest. The results of this computation can be interpreted in several different ways, but the immediate physical connection is that it produces the mean-square response, or energy, of the system to random input limited to the averaging frequency band. The use of spectral densities has several advantages over using frequency response directly, such as the ability to easily include data from all inputs at once, and the fact that the metric is real. It is shown that the averaging process reduces the sensitivity of the optimization due to resonances that plague many output error model updating approaches.
Risk and Austrian business‐cycle theory: Rejoinder to Cowen

abstract Cowen and I agree that rational‐expectations theory is unrealistic and that risk is difficult to quantify. However, we continue to disagree about the riskiness of consumption as opposed to investment. Since more investment might lead to a recession if investment is relatively risky, Cowen's use of rational‐expectations theory to buttress the Austrian school's claim that market economies can shift toward relatively more investment without experiencing macroeconomic disruption remains suspect.
Change and stability in managers' gender roles

The author examined gender roles among midlife managers over a 4-year period and the effects of career experiences. The findings supported a conceptualization of personality as relatively enduring but still open to change. Masculinity and femininity demonstrated differential stability and absolute stability, except in the case of women's femininity. Its magnitude decreased. At the same time, income change, promotion, and having a protege were associated with increased masculinity and income change with increased femininity. A new child also meant increased masculinity for men. Furthermore, income change, promotion, turnover, being mentored, and having a protege affected the relative placements of managers' scores over time. Many of the effects were different for men and women. The findings have important implications for adult development in the workplace.
Horizon: A System-of-Systems Simulation Framework

The analysis of system level requirements is often difficult due to the convoluted nature of subsystem interactions and the interaction of the system with environmental constraints. The process of validating System-Level Use-Cases impact subsystem design and the converse is also true; subsystem design affects System-Level Performance. The Horizon Simulation Framework has been developed to help the systems engineer better understand the role of subsystems, environment and Concept of Operations for system design iteration and systems level requirements validation and verification. The Horizon Simulation Framework provides an extensible and well-defined modeling capability concurrent with a parameterized search algorithm to generate operational schedules of systems-of-systems. While many system simulation tools rely on Multi-Disciplinary Optimization techniques to design an optimal system, the Horizon Framework actually focuses on a different part of the systems engineering problem. Does the current design meet system level requirements that are based on a Use Case and cannot be directly verified by analysis? Programmed in C++, the Horizon Framework can answer this question and provide the systems engineer with all relevant system and subsystem state data throughout the simulation. Subsystem modeling and the ability to retrieve state data of the subsystems is not generally a component of most geometric access based simulation tools. To simulate the state of the system over the time frame of the simulation, the Horizon Framework uses an exhaustive search method, which employs pruning techniques to accelerate the algorithm. The algorithm relies on the system indicating whether or not it can perform the requested task at the requested time. Therefore, the scheduling algorithm does not have, or need, insight into the particulars of the system. Hence, the modeling capability of the Horizon Framework is extended. Currently the Horizon Framework is in the final stages of test and development. This paper covers the conceptual architecture of the software, the scheduling methodology employed by the framework and the modeling assumptions and philosophy inherent to the current framework design. This paper also presents an analysis of the sensitivity of simulation time to the various scheduling algorithm parameters and model complexity. Finally, the preliminary results of applying the Horizon Framework to the conceptual design of a time-sensitive Earth-imaging system are presented.
Cell Size Distributions of Puffed Corn Extrudates

The cell size distributions of various experimental puffed corn extrudates were determined by image analysis, applied to longitudinal and transversal cross sections. Individual cell cross-sectional area was used as the size measure. All the cell size distributions, regardless of specimen orientation, composition and extrusion conditions, were described mathematically by both the log-normal and Rosin-Rammler distribution functions. The distributions mean size, degree of skew-ness or the corresponding distribution functions constants, were characteristic of the extrudate type and its particular cellular structure.
Confronting a mobile adversary in unattended sensor networks

Unattended sensor networks operating in hostile environments might collect data that represents a high-value target for the adversary. The unattended sensor's inability to off-load -- in real time -- sensitive data to a safe external entity makes it easy for the adversary to mount a focused attack aimed at eliminating or modifying certain offending data. In order to facilitate data survival, sensors must collectively attempt to confuse the adversary by changing the location and the representation of the data. Unfortunately, since the network is unattended most of the time, the adversary (even if it is limited in scale/scope of simultaneous compromise) has free reign and can move freely among sensors, compromising them at will.A very similar "mobile adversary" model is quite well-known in cryptography, having spawned an entire line of research, called "proactive cryptography". However, the mobile adversary model has not been embraced by the security research community. This talk will address several flavors of the mobile adversary in the context of unattended sensor networks, discuss some viable and simple counter-measures (with varying degrees of effectiveness) and outline open problems and challenges.
Stump Speeches and Road Trips: The Impact of State Campaign Appearances in Presidential Elections

Travel, stump speeches, and pressing-the-flesh make up a large part of any presidential electoral campaign. Obviously, candidates feel that their appearances are important, as they make hundreds of appearances between Labor Day and Election Day. But are they right? Well over 100 million people cast ballots in November, but only the tiniest fraction of voters meets or catches a glimpse of either of the candidates. Do candidate appearances and contact sway voters in some way? In this article, we use changes in weekly state tracking polls to determine the impact of candidate appearances in battleground and non-battleground states. Using polling data from the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections, we find that campaign appearances can change a candidate's polling percentages, and that the impact varies by candidate and location (battleground state, safe Democratic state, or safe Republican state). We also find that the selection of a vice-presidential candidate is important, because of this candidate's ability to campaign effectively.
A metaproteomic analysis of the human salivary microbiota by three‐dimensional peptide fractionation and tandem mass spectrometry

Metagenomics uses gene expression patterns to understand the taxonomy and metabolic activities of microbial communities. Metaproteomics applies the same approach to community proteomes. Previously, we used a novel three-dimensional peptide separation method to identify over 2000 salivary proteins. This study used those data to carry out the first metaproteomic analysis of the human salivary microbiota. The metagenomic software MEGAN generated a phylogenetic tree, which was checked against the Human Oral Microbiome Database (HOMD). Pathway analyses were performed with the Clusters of Orthologous Groups and MetaCyc databases. Thirty-seven per cent of the peptides were identifiable only at the level of cellular organisms or bacteria. The rest were distributed among five bacterial phyla (61%), archea (0.5%), and viruses (0.8%); 29% were assignable at the genus level, and most belonged to Streptococcus (17%). Eleven per cent of all peptides could be assigned to species. Most taxa were represented in HOMD and they included well-known species such as periodontal pathogens. However, there also were 'exotic' species including aphid endosymbionts; plant, water, and soil bacteria; extremophiles; and archea. The pathway analysis indicated that peptides were linked to translation (37%), followed by glycolysis (19%), amino acid metabolism (8%), and energy production (8%). The taxonomic structure of the salivary metaproteome is very diverse but is dominated by streptococci. 'Exotic' species may actually represent close relatives that have not yet been sequenced. Salivary microbes appear to be actively engaged in protein synthesis, and the pathway analysis is consistent with the metabolism of salivary glycoproteins.
Court Decision Making in Police Brutality Cases, 1990-2000

Prior research on state supreme courts tends to concentrate on evaluating the influence of gender or elections on the behavior of justices but not both. By studying either gender or elections, the research fails to address the joint influence of these variables on behavior, and consequently, I posit that a composite model containing both gender and election variables provides a more thorough understanding of judicial behavior. I examine police brutality cases decided in state supreme courts between 1990 and 2000 and find that gender and elections are significant factors in structuring judicial behavior. Consequently, I contend that state supreme court studies considering gender and institutions together provide greater understanding of the factors leading to judicial behavior.
The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial completes randomization: lessons learned and anticipated results.

The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial (CREST) completed randomization on July 18, 2008. Sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the trial has enrolled 2,522 participants across North America and is the largest randomized clinical trial (RCT) comparing the efficacy of carotid artery stenting (CAS) to carotid endarterectomy (CEA). It is also the largest RCT to assess carotid revascularization in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with carotid artery stenosis. Conventional-risk patients with symptomatic carotid stenosis (≥50% by angiography, ≥70% by ultrasound) or asymptomatic carotid stenosis (≥60% by angiography, ≥70% by ultrasound) were randomized to both treatment arms in a 1:1 ratio. Eligibility criteria for CREST were similar to those of the previous NINDS-sponsored CEA RCTs. The investigational devices used in the CAS arm of the study are the RX Acculink stent and the RX Accunet embolic protection system, (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, Calif). The primary aim is to contrast the efficacy of CAS versus CEA in preventing stroke, myocardial infarction, and all-cause mortality during a 30-day peri-procedural period, and ipsilateral stroke over the follow-up period (extending up to four years). The secondary aims are to contrast the efficacy of CAS and CEA in men and women, the restenosis rates of the two procedures, health-related quality of life, and cost effectiveness of CAS and CEA. The conclusion of enrollment in CREST marks the end of a long recruitment period from 117 community and academic hospital centers across the United States and Canada. Each surgeon and interventionalist underwent a rigorous credentialing process that included performance-assessment of prior CEA and CAS procedures. Credentialing of interventionalists also included a review of additional CAS procedures enrolled into a CREST lead-in phase prior to entering patients into the randomized trial; 1564 patients were enrolled in the lead-in, the final pathway for the largest credentialing effort to date for any clinical trial. CREST will provide long-term follow-up after carotid revascularization based on systematic ultrasonographic and neurologic surveillance, and on quality of life and cost-effectiveness comparisons between CAS and CEA in the setting of a RCT. We present a brief description of the CREST protocol, impediments that were overcome during the trial, salient results from the lead-in phase of the trial, a summary of enrollment activities and characteristics of the final cohort, and a timeline for anticipated results from the randomized phase.
Asymptotic connectivity of infinite graphs

We introduce the notion of the asymptotic connectivity of a graph by generalizing to infinite graphs average connectivity as defined by Beineke, Oellermann, and Pippert. Combinatorial and geometric properties of asymptotic connectivity are then explored. In particular, we compute the asymptotic connectivity of a number of planar graphs in order to determine the extent to which this measure correlates with the large-scale geometry of the graph.
Frequency dependent attenuation of strong earthquake ground motion

New shape for the frequency dependent attenuation function of Fourier amplitude spectra of recorded strong earthquake ground acceleration has been developed. It has been found that for distances less than about 100 km there is clear frequency dependent variation of the attenuation functions, with high frequency amplitudes attenuating faster with distance.
The color structure of gluon emission

Abstract The color structure of an arbitrary QCD diagram is studied. A basis for the color form factors of a generic amplitude is suggested, in which all the coherence effects are automatically and simply accounted for to the leading order in N c . Some applications of this formalism are given for tree-level amplitudes describing processes with one or two pairs of fermions and radiation of gluons and photons. The different coherence properties of the abelian and non-abelian radiation are exhibited with some analytic and explicit examples, leading to the appearance of string-effect-like correlations for hard non-abelian radiation.
Powerful Occupational Therapists: A Community of Professionals, 1950-1980

A powerful community of therapists changed occupational therapy in the United States between 1950 until 1980. These innovators, primarily women, strategically positioned themselves to market the emerging profession. These therapists, categorized as theorists and futurists, political movers and new and old guard sustainers, determined occupational therapy's direction. Participating in the 1950s rehabilitation, the 1960s equal rights, and the 1970s women's movements, the community of therapists separated from the male-dominated medical model to gain professional and scientific authority. An internal tension arouse between those therapists embracing an objective, and arguably male, science and those supporting a characteristically feminine caring philosophical base.
Homogenized nonlinear constitutive properties and local stress concentrations for composites with periodic internal structure

Abstract A unit cell problem governing effective mechanical properties and local stress concentrations for composites with periodic micro-structure and nonlinear constituents has been derived by employing an asymptotic expansion of the field variables in two length-scales. The influence of cell type upon effective properties has been investigated for a continuous fiber reinforced composite. It was found that the effective transverse properties are strongly dependent on the unit cell type when the matrix exhibits a nonlinear response. Finally the anisotropic behavior of the hexagonal unit cell and its applicability to determine effective properties and initial yield surface for transversely isotropic composites has been investigated.
Information technology in social entrepreneurship: the role and the reality

Social entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a critical component of the global conversation on volunteerism and civic engagement. The purpose of this article is to lay the groundwork for a larger conversation on the role of information technology in social entrepreneurship by summarizing the discussions among participants of a recent conference on the subject. Social networking and information sharing were identified as the most critical roles of IT in support of social entrepreneurship. However, in order to realize the full potential of these roles, conference participants suggested that four key challenges must be addressed: access, capacity, commonality, and the scholar-practitioner link.
The Process‐Outcome Connection in Foreign Policy Decision Making: A Quantitative Study Building on Groupthink

This article investigates whether certain factors pertaining to the process of foreign policy decision making have a measurable, qualitative effect on foreign policy outcomes . The research is grounded in the groupthink literature but incorporates different dimensions of similar underlying notions from other international relations areas as well. Three different types of process factors are investigated: situational factors, such as stress and time constraints; factors associated with the structure of the group; and information processing factors. We test the influence of these factors on two types of outcomes—a decision's effect on national interests and its effect on the level of international conflict. We investigate this link in 31 cases of decision from 1975 through 1993. Scores for the outcome variables are based on survey responses from 21 foreign policy experts. For the process variables, we develop sets of operational definitions and then code each case based on extensive reading of case-study materials. OLS regression models are used to assess the hypotheses. We find that situation variables matter very little in terms of affecting outcomes and quality of information processing. On the other hand, both group structural factors and information processing are significantly related to outcomes in terms of national interests and level of international conflict.
Bayesian dose-finding in phase I/II clinical trials using toxicity and efficacy odds ratios

A Bayesian adaptive design is proposed for dose-finding in phase I/II clinical trials to incorporate the bivariate outcomes, toxicity and efficacy, of a new treatment. Without specifying any parametric functional form for the drug dose-response curve, we jointly model the bivariate binary data to account for the correlation between toxicity and efficacy. After observing all the responses of each cohort of patients, the dosage for the next cohort is escalated, deescalated, or unchanged according to the proposed odds ratio criteria constructed from the posterior toxicity and efficacy probabilities. A novel class of prior distributions is proposed through logit transformations which implicitly imposes a monotonic constraint on dose toxicity probabilities and correlates the probabilities of the bivariate outcomes. We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the operating characteristics of the proposed method. Under various scenarios, the new Bayesian design based on the toxicity-efficacy odds ratio trade-offs exhibits good properties and treats most patients at the desirable dose levels. The method is illustrated with a real trial design for a breast medical oncology study.
Adaptation of handwriting size under distorted visual feedback in patients with Parkinson's disease and elderly and young controls

Objective: The ability to use visual feedback to control handwriting size was compared in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), elderly people, and young adults to better understand factors playing a part in parkinsonian micrographia. Methods: The participants wrote sequences of eight cursive l loops with visual target sizes of 0.5 and 2 cm on a flat panel display digitiser which both recorded and displayed the pen movements. In the pre-exposure and postexposure conditions, the display digitiser showed the actual pen trace in real time and real size. In the distortion exposure conditions, the gain of the vertical dimension of the visual feedback was either reduced to 70% or enlarged to 140%. Results: The young controls showed a gradual visuomotor adaptation that compensated for the visual feedback distortions during the exposure conditions. They also showed significant after effects during the postexposure conditions. The elderly controls marginally corrected for the size distortions and showed small after effects. The patients with PD, however, showed no trial by trial adaptations or after effects but instead, a progressive amplification of the distortion effect in each individual trial. Conclusion: The young controls used visual feedback to update their visuomotor map. The elderly controls seemed to make little use of visual feedback. The patients with Parkinson's disease rely on the visual feedback of previous or of ongoing strokes to programme subsequent strokes. This recursive feedback may play a part in the progressive reductions in handwriting size found in parkinsonian micrographia.
Objective evaluation of subjective decisions

The Dempster-Shafer "theory of evidence" encompasses and extends the Bayes theorem-based decision making machinery. Dempster-Shafer's innovation is the introduction of lower and upper bounds, designated "belief" and "plausibility", that are attached to probability estimates. The Dempster-Shafer algebra provides for propagation and reasoning about these quantities according to an algebra whose outcome phenomenologically mimics human decision making in many contexts that are laden with quantitative uncertainty. The approach's decision seem to be subjective, i.e., the product of a sentient mind, vs. objective, i.e., the mechanical outcome of an immutable algorithm. In this paper, we address the "objective evaluation of subjective decisions" in particular with the Dempster-Shafer sort of "subjective" decision making algorithm in mind. As an initial baseline approach, we examine the "receiver operating characteristic" (ROC) graph. We regard this as a first step towards identifying in advance circumstances under which Dempster-Shafer-like approaches should and should not be expected to deliver results that pass the human "sanity test".
Polo-like kinase inhibitors in hematologic malignancies

Polo-like kinases (Plk) are key regulators of the cell cycle and multiple aspects of mitosis. Two agents that inhibit the Plk signaling pathway have shown promising activity in patients with hematologic malignancies and are currently in phase III trials. Volasertib is a Plk inhibitor under evaluation combined with low-dose cytarabine in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive induction therapy. Rigosertib, a dual inhibitor of the Plk and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways, is under investigation in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who have failed azacitidine or decitabine treatment. The prognosis for patients with AML, who are ineligible for intensive induction therapy, and for those with MDS refractory/relapsed after a hypomethylating agent, remains poor. Novel approaches, such as Plk inhibitors, are urgently needed for these patients. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of development of Plk inhibitors for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.
Sarcopenia: Current Concepts and Imaging Implications

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to review the nomenclature, clinical impact, and diagnostic techniques characterizing sarcopenia. CONCLUSION. Sarcopenia—defined as significant loss of muscle—is associated with cachexia and frailty. Specific diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia continue to evolve, but imaging can play a role in the detection and quantification of muscle depletion. Emerging evidence indicates that sarcopenia is a relevant predictor of quality and quantity of life, particularly in patients who are elderly, have cancer, or undergo surgery.
A novel form of rotavirus NSP2 and phosphorylation-dependent NSP2-NSP5 interactions are associated with viroplasm assembly

Rotavirus (RV) replication occurs in cytoplasmic inclusions called viroplasms whose formation requires the interactions of RV proteins NSP2 and NSP5; however, the specific role(s) of NSP2 in viroplasm assembly remains largely unknown. To study viroplasm formation in the context of infection, we characterized two new monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for NSP2. These MAbs show high-affinity binding to NSP2 and differentially recognize distinct pools of NSP2 in RV-infected cells; a previously unrecognized cytoplasmically dispersed NSP2 (dNSP2) is detected by an N-terminal binding MAb, and previously known viroplasmic NSP2 (vNSP2) is detected by a C-terminal binding MAb. Kinetic experiments in RV-infected cells demonstrate that dNSP2 is associated with NSP5 in nascent viroplasms that lack vNSP2. As viroplasms mature, dNSP2 remains in viroplasms, and the amount of diffuse cytoplasmic dNSP2 increases. vNSP2 is detected in increasing amounts later in infection in the maturing viroplasm, suggesting a conversion of dNSP2 into vNSP2. Immunoprecipitation experiments and reciprocal Western blot analysis confirm that there are two different forms of NSP2 that assemble in complexes with NSP5, VP1, VP2, and tubulin. dNSP2 associates with hypophosphorylated NSP5 and acetylated tubulin, which is correlated with stabilized microtubules, while vNSP2 associates with hyperphosphorylated NSP5. Mass spectroscopy analysis of NSP2 complexes immunoprecipitated from RV-infected cell lysates show both forms of NSP2 are phosphorylated, with a greater proportion of vNSP2 being phosphorylated compared to dNSP2. Together, these data suggest that dNSP2 interacts with viral proteins, including hypophosphorylated NSP5, to initiate viroplasm formation, while viroplasm maturation includes phosphorylation of NSP5 and vNSP2.
Neisseria Base: a comparative genomics database for Neisseria meningitidis.

Neisseria meningitidis is an important pathogen, causing life-threatening diseases including meningitis, septicemia and in some cases pneumonia. Genomic studies hold great promise for N. meningitidis research, but substantial database resources are needed to deal with the wealth of information that comes with completely sequenced and annotated genomes. To address this need, we developed Neisseria Base (NBase), a comparative genomics database and genome browser that houses and displays publicly available N. meningitidis genomes. In addition to existing N. meningitidis genome sequences, we sequenced and annotated 19 new genomes using 454 pyrosequencing and the CG-Pipeline genome analysis tool. In total, NBase hosts 27 complete N. meningitidis genome sequences along with their associated annotations. The NBase platform is designed to be scalable, via the underlying database schema and modular code architecture, such that it can readily incorporate new genomes and their associated annotations. The front page of NBase provides user access to these genomes through searching, browsing and downloading. NBase search utility includes BLAST-based sequence similarity searches along with a variety of semantic search options. All genomes can be browsed using a modified version of the GBrowse platform, and a plethora of information on each gene can be viewed using a customized details page. NBase also has a whole-genome comparison tool that yields single-nucleotide polymorphism differences between two user-defined groups of genomes. Using the virulent ST-11 lineage as an example, we demonstrate how this comparative genomics utility can be used to identify novel genomic markers for molecular profiling of N. meningitidis. Database URL: http://nbase.biology.gatech.edu
Nomograph for Bearing Capacity

KRIZEK HAS SIMPLIFIED TERZAGHI'S GENERAL EQUATIONS FOR BEARING CAPACITY BY ADOPTING CERTAIN APPROXIMATIONS, THE SIMPLIFIED EXPRESSIONS BEING WITHIN 15% OF TERZAGHI'S FOR ANGLES OF INTERNAL FRICTION LESS THAN 35 DEG. IN THE PRESENT WORK A NOMOGRAPH IS PRESENTED BASED ON THE SIMPLIFIED EQUATIONS, TO BE USED AS A TOOL FOR RAPID DETERMINATION OF BEARING CAPACITY. IT IS NOTED THAT AS THE NOMOGRAPH ENTAILS NUMEROUS SMALL ANGLES, CARE MUST BE EXERCISED TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM ACCURACY WHEN CROSSING THE VARIOUS SCALES AND IN THE ASSOCIATED GRAPHICAL CONSTRUCTIONS.
Airborne gravity measurement over sea‐ice: The Western Weddell Sea

An airborne gravity study of the western Weddel Sea, east of the Antarctic Peninsula, has shown that floating pack-ice provides a useful radar altimetric reference surface for altitude and vertical acceleration corrections surface for alititude and vertical acceleration corrections to airborne gravimetry. Airborne gravimetry provides an important alternative to satellite altimetry for the sea-ice covered regions of the world since satellite alimeters are not designed or intended to provide accurate geoidal heights in areas where significant sea-ice is present within the radar footprint. Errors in radar corrected airborne gravimetry are primarily sensitive to the variations in the second derivative of the sea-ice reference surface in the frequency pass-band of interest. With the exception of imbedded icebergs the second derivative of the pack-ice surface closely approximates that of the mean sea-level surface at wavelengths > 10-20 km. With the airborne method the percentage of ice coverage, the mixture of first and multi-year ice and the existence of leads and pressure ridges prove to be unimportant in determining gravity anomalies at scales of geophysical and geodetic interest, provided that the ice is floating and not grounded. In the Weddell study an analysis of 85 crosstrack miss-ties distributed over 25 data tracks yieldsmore » an rms error of 2.2 mGals. Significant structural anomalies including the continental shelf and offsets and lineations interpreted as fracture zones recording the early spreading directions within the Weddell Sea are observed in the gravity map.« less
Joseph Kinmont Hart and Vanderbilt University: Academic Freedom and the Rise and Fall of a Department of Education, 1930–1934

No one can follow the history of academic freedom … without wondering at the fact that any society, interested in the immediate goals of solidarity and self-preservation, should possess the vision to subsidize free criticism and inquiry, and without feeling that the academic freedom we still possess is one of the remarkable achievements of man. At the same time…one cannot but be disheartened by the cowardice and self-deception that frail men use who want to be both safe and free. Discussions of academic freedom inevitably elicit revolutionary and conservative forces concurrendy. This conflict is apparent, for example, in the 1916 report of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). On one hand, the university is an “inviolable refuge” from various tyrannies, including the “tyranny of public opinion.” Here, professors are part of a revolutionary “intellectual experiment…where new ideas may germinate and where their fruit, though … [possibly] distasteful to the community as a whole, may be allowed to ripen.…” Accordingly, no professor “can be a successful teacher unless he [sic] enjoys the respect of his students, and their confidence in his intellectual integrity. It is clear, however, that this confidence will be impaired if there is suspicion on the part of the student that the teacher is not expressing himself fully or frankly, or that college and university teachers are in general a repressed and intimidated class who dare not speak with that candor and courage which youth always demands in those whom it is to esteem.” On the other hand, the liberty of the scholar “is conditioned by there being conclusions gained by a scholar's method and held in a scholar's spirit; that is to say, they must be the fruits of competent and patient and sincere inquiry, and they should be set forth with dignity, courtesy, and temperateness of language.” How to rectify the apparent contradiction between expressing oneself “fully” and “frankly” while at the same time being “temperate” in language is, perhaps, a key feature in the long history of, and the various debates about, academic freedom.
Catalytic Asymmetric Allylation Reactions:(S)‐1‐(Phenylmethoxy)‐4‐Penten‐2‐ol

Catalytic asymmetric allylation reactions:(S)-1-(phenylmethoxy)-4-penten-2-ol catalyst: (S)-(−)-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol [(S)-BINOL] (1.14 g, 4.0 mmol) product: (S)-1-(phenylmethoxy)-4-penten-2-ol Keywords: addition, to CO; alkylation, C-alkylation; stereoselective reactions, enantioselective
Mutation screen of the membrane-type frizzled-related protein (MFRP) gene in patients with inherited retinal degenerations.

MFRP is a member of the frizzled-related protein family and contains a cysteine-rich domain essential for Wnt binding and signaling. MFRP is highly expressed in the retinal pigment epithelial cells of the eye. A splice donor mutation in the mouse ortholog of Mfrp is responsible for photoreceptor degeneration in the rd6 mouse. For these reasons, we investigated MFRP as a candidate gene for a phenotype associated with mutations. We screened 152 patients with inherited retinal degenerations including retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis and Stargardt macular dystrophy. We identified five polymorphisms in the 5′ untranslated region, four missense changes, six isocoding variants and four intronic changes. None of the sequence variants were interpreted as pathogenic.
A Word from the Program Committee

PROGRAM committees, like the parents of adolescents, must at last stand aside, overcome by a sense of powerless responsibility, as their creation begins to speak, act and sin for itself. The program for the Twenty-ninth Meeting of the Economic History Association, held August 28-30, 1969, at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, was generated under the title: The Organizational Forms of Economic Life and Their Evolution. The first two sessions bore the subtitle: Precapitalist Forms, and the second two sessions, the subtitle: Capitalism Revisited. In both pairs of sessions, the effort was made not only to encourage examination of major aspects of the subject, but also to bring the point of view of several social sciences to bear on the questions. The historians present largely functioned as the chorus, commenting on the action and foreseeing the terrible vengeance taken by the gods of the real world on the hubris of those who would generalize. Unfortunately, the published proceedings of the session, presented here, do not reproduce the interesting comments of some of the discussants-of Alexander Gerschenkron on Domar, Theodore Morgan on Resnick and Hymer, of Annemarie Shimony on Forman and Riegelhaupt, the reminiscent remarks of Fritz Redlich on Max Weber, the criticisms of C. E. Lindblom on North and Davis, and the comments of David Landes on the papers and discussions of the last session. In planning these sessions, the Committee made an effort which, like most efforts of minor academic statesmanship, was not perhaps without a certain touch of pomposity. Its effort was to redirect the
Thermal Shielding by Subliming Volume Reflectors in Convective and Intense Radiative Environments

The behavior of dielectric materials having densely packed internal scattering centers subject to extreme convective and radiative environments is analyzed. Experiments have shown that these materials act as volume reflectors of incident radiation even when the exposed surface is being eroded by thermochemical ablation. The analysis was applied to interpret experiments of subliming Teflon models exposed to combined radiative and convective fluxes up to 1.7 kW/sq cm for several seconds. Results show that, although the exposed surface receded at an apparently steady rate, the internal temperature climbed continually, due to internal absorption of radiation and would have caused failure internally if the test duration were extended a few seconds. Thus, performance is time-limited by the internal absorption coefficient. Results were obtained for larger configurations and other materials. Typically, Teflon shells may withstand radiant fluxes up to 20 kW/sq cm for about 5 sec and fritted quartz up to 50 kW/sq cm for about 8 sec (corresponding to the Jupiter entry).
Extrapolation of geomagnetic field components along a radius from the center of the Earth

An approximate method of extrapolating geomagnetic field components is presented in which a very small amount of data is required to effect the continuation. From intensity values at two points lying on a common radius from the center of the Earth, an attenuation factor is obtained which is used in an exponential formula to extrapolate to additional collinear points.
Building Underground: Special Techniques for a Storage Facility

Underground construction in metropolitan cities around the world has been steadily gaining ground during the last decades. This is due to a series of reasons, among them the lack of sufficient surface space and the increased cost of surface land. Athens, the capital of Greece, with a population density of 8,000 inhabitants/km 2 and with the vast majority of the country’s commercial, industrial, and business activ ities gathered within its boundaries, is not an exception to these cities. One of the business sectors that suffer from the scarcity of surface space is that of warehousing and logistics. The demand for new storage facilities increases, whereas the capacit y of surface areas to host them is already exceeded. Urban planners tend towards innovative solutions that will alleviate the problem. Subsurface space utilization is regarded as one of them. Within this frame, a research project was recently carried out i n order to examine the feasibility of an underground warehouse in the area of Athens. In this paper the engineering construction and management issues of the project are discussed. The construction of the warehouse is divided in two phases. First, the unde rground space is created using mining techniques. Second, the already excavated space is converted into a state-of-the-art facility, following the standards of typical surface warehouses. Although the two phases have different characteristics, they are pla nned to advance in parallel, with the second one occupying the areas already mined out. The room and pillar method is adapted from mining for the space development. Excavation takes place in two stages, using the drill and blast technique. Construction is anticipated to last about two years. At the end of this period, the space will be ready for commercial use.
The role of auto-ID technologies in mobile E-commerce databases (vision paper)

In this environment each mobile peer has a local database that stores and manages a collection of reports (where each report is a product record, or a coupon), and all the local databases maintained by the mobile peers form a mobile e-commerce (or, more generally, a mobile P2P) database. Queries on this database are posed by potential customers, and they search for coupons and products pertaining to a limited geographic environment. For example, a customer may search for a store that sells a ThinkPad 61 power cord in a mall or an airport, or for a coupon on an Adidas tennis racquet that is accepted by the SportsMart store in the mall. The peers communicate reports and queries to neighbors directly. However, observe that the wireless technologies have a short range compared to the search area (e.g. a mall). Thus, reports and queries need to propagate by transitive multi-hop transmissions. If a query locates the answer product information in a remote device, the information may be propagated to the query originator in a P2P fashion, or via the Internet. Observe that the query cannot be sent directly via the Internet since the id of the device storing the answer is not known; thus, local dissemination is ensured by multi-hop short-range wireless communication. However, if the id of the query originator is appended to the query, then it is possible to propagate the answer back to the originator via the infrastructure.
Microarray Analysis Reveals Age-related Differences in Gene Expression During the Development of Osteoarthritis in Mice

Objective To better understand the contribution of age to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) was used to model OA in 12-week-old and 12-month-old male C57BL/6 mice. OA severity was evaluated histologically. RNA used for microarray and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was isolated from joint tissue collected from the medial side of the joint, including cartilage, meniscus, subchondral bone, and the joint capsule with synovium. Computational analysis was used to identify patterns of gene expression, and immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate tissue distribution of selected proteins. Results OA was more severe in older mice than in young mice. Only 55 genes showed a similar expression with DMM-induced OA in the 2 age groups, while 493 genes showed differential expression, the majority having increased expression in older mice. Functional categories for similarly expressed genes included extracellular matrix– and cell adhesion–related genes; differentially expressed genes included those related to muscle structure and development and immune response genes. Comparison of expression in sham-operated control joints revealed an age-related decrease in matrix gene expression and an increase in immune and defense response gene expression. Interleukin-33 was present in multiple joint tissue cells, while CCL21 was more localized to chondrocytes and meniscal cells. Periostin was found in the extracellular matrix of cartilage and meniscus. Conclusion Age affects both the basal pattern of gene expression in joint tissues and the response to surgically induced OA. Examining tissue from the joint beyond only cartilage revealed novel genes and proteins that would be important to consider in OA.