cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How the clinical research community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of the COVID-19 clinical studies in ClinicalTrials.gov

Abstract Objective The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), broke out in December 2019, is a global pandemic. Rapidly in the past few months, a large number of clinical studies have been initiated worldwide to find effective therapeutics, vaccines, and preventive strategies. In this study, we aim to understand the landscape of COVID-19 clinical research and identify the gaps and issues that may cause difficulty in recruitment and the lack of population representativeness. Materials and Methods We analyzed 2,034 COVID-19 studies registered in the largest public registry - ClinicalTrials.gov. Leveraging natural language processing, descriptive analysis, association analysis, and clustering analysis, we characterized COVID-19 clinical studies by phase and design features. Particularly, we analyzed their eligibility criteria to understand: (1) whether they considered the reported underlying health conditions that may lead to severe illnesses, and (2) if these studies excluded older adults, either explicitly or implicitly, which may reduce the generalizability of these studies in older adults. Results The 5 most frequently tested drugs are Hydroxychloroquine (N=148), Azithromycin (N=46), Tocilizumab (N=29), Lopinavir (N=20), and Ritonavir (N=20). Most trials did not have an upper age limit and did not exclude patients with common chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes that are prevalent in older adults. However, known risk factors that may lead to severe illnesses have not been adequately considered by existing studies. Conclusions A careful examination of the registered COVID-19 clinical studies can identify the research gaps and inform future COVID-19 trial design towards balanced internal validity and generalizability.
Unraveling the Intricacies of Residual Lithium in High-Ni Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

High-nickel layered oxide cathodes suffer seriously from the formation of residual lithium on the surface, which causes notorious issues, such as slurry gelation and gas evolution. Due to the use o...
Articulating vs Static Spacers for Native Knee Infection in the Setting of Degenerative Joint Disease.

Abstract Background Patients with advanced knee arthritis who develop a septic joint are not adequately treated with irrigation and debridement and intravenous antibiotics because of antecedent cartilage damage. The gold standard treatment has been a 2-stage approach. The periprosthetic joint infection literature has demonstrated the superiority of articulating spacers, and metal-on-poly (MOP) spacers are being used with increasing frequency. The purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative outcomes of patients with infected, arthritic knees treated by a 2-stage approach to those of patients who received single-stage treatment with a MOP spacer. Methods Sixteen patients with native knee septic arthritis treated with an antibiotic spacer between 1998 and 2019 were reviewed. Demographic data, clinical data, knee motion, Knee Society score, Timed-Up-and-Go, and pain scores were collected. Survivorship of final implants was compared. Results Six of 16 knees (38%) received single-stage treatment, and 10 received 2-stage treatment (62%). Five of 6 MOP spacers (83%) were retained at a mean follow-up of 3 ± 1.2 years. Nine of 10 (90%) receiving static spacers had subsequent reconstruction, with 9 (100%) surviving at mean follow-up of 7 ± 3.2 years. The patients who received MOP spacers trended toward greater terminal flexion, higher Knee Society score, and faster Timed-Up-and-Go at final follow-up. Conclusion Infection in a native, arthritic knee may be effectively treated using single-stage MOP spacer. Postoperative outcomes of single-stage MOP spacers compare favorably to staged static spacers and with those undergoing revision surgery for other indications. Longer follow-up is needed to evaluate durability of MOP spacers.
Continuing Evidence of Discrimination Among Local Election Officials

Results of an audit study conducted during the 2016 election cycle demonstrate that the bias toward Latinos observed during the 2012 election has persisted. In addition to replicating previous results, we show that Arabs face an even greater barrier to communicating with local election officials. Our study did not produce evidence of discrimination against blacks, a finding that echoes the results of other recent studies. We examine one explanation for the high level of discrimination against Arabs, that bureaucrats are politically responsive. Our findings support this explanation. In geographies that cast more votes for the Republican candidate, discrimination against Arab names was stronger.
COVID-19-Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis: A Single-Center Experience in Central Valley, California, January 2020–March 2021

Reports of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) have been widely published across the world since the onset of the pandemic with varying incidence rates. We retrospectively studied all patients with severe COVID-19 infection who were admitted to our tertiary care center′s intensive care units between January 2020 and March 2021, who also had respiratory cultures positive for Aspergillus species. Among a large cohort of 970 patients admitted to the ICU with severe COVID-19 infections during our study period, 48 patients had Aspergillus species growing in respiratory cultures. Based on the 2020 European Confederation of Medical Mycology and the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ECMM/ISHAM) consensus criteria, 2 patients in the study had proven CAPA, 9 had probable CAPA, and 37 had possible CAPA. The incidence of CAPA was 5%. The mean duration from a positive COVID-19 test to Aspergillus spp. being recovered from the respiratory cultures was 16 days, and more than half of the patients had preceding fever or worsening respiratory failure despite adequate support and management. Antifungals were given for treatment in 44% of the patients for a mean duration of 13 days. The overall mortality rate in our study population was extremely high with death occurring in 40/48 patients (83%).
Vascular responses to nitrite are mediated by xanthine oxidoreductase and mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase in the rat.

Sodium nitrite has been shown to have vasodilator activity in experimental animals and in human subjects. However, the mechanism by which nitrite anion is converted to vasoactive nitric oxide (NO) is uncertain. It has been hypothesized that deoxyhemoglobin, xanthine oxidoreductase, mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase, and other heme proteins can reduce nitrite to NO, but studies in the literature have not identified the mechanism in the intact rat, and several studies report no effect of inhibitors of xanthine oxidoreductase. In the present study, the effects of the xanthine oxidoreductase inhibitor allopurinol and the mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor cyanamide on decreases in mean systemic arterial pressure in response to i.v. sodium nitrite administration were investigated in the rat. The decreases in mean systemic arterial pressure in response to i.v. administration of sodium nitrite were inhibited in a selective manner after administration of allopurinol in a dose of 25 mg/kg i.v. A sec...
Superlinear convergence of interior-point algorithms for semidefinite programming

We prove the superlinear convergence of the primal-dual infeasible interior-point path-following algorithm proposed recently by Kojima, Shida, and Shindoh and by the present authors, under two conditions: (i) the semidefinite programming problem has a strictly complementary solution; (ii) the size of the central path neighborhood approaches zero. The nondegeneracy condition suggested by Kojima, Shida, and Shindoh is not used in our analysis. Our result implies that the modified algorithm of Kojima, Shida, and Shindoh, which enforces condition (ii) by using additional corrector steps, has superlinear convergence under the standard assumption of strict complementarity. Finally, we point out that condition (ii) can be made weaker and show the superlinear convergence under the strict complementarity assumption and a weaker condition than (ii).
The “flipped” undergraduate research lab: teaching core molecular biology techniques with descriptive protocols and videos (618.30)

Many researchers at primarily undergraduate institutions face a dilemma—how to balance the teaching, service and research loads. As the size of the research laboratory grows it becomes increasingly...
Genetic dissection of lupus nephritis in murine models of SLE.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with extremely heterogeneous clinical features, varying in pathogenicity from mild forms of the disease to those that advance relentlessly leading to progressive end organ damage. The underlying autoimmune disorder can express as a variety of immunologic abnormalities but generally results in the production of autoantibodies primarily directed against a spectrum of nuclear antigens. Much of the pathogenicity of SLE results from inflammatory processes initiated as a consequence of either the deposition of immune complexes or the targeting of autoantibodies to various anatomic sites. The most serious clinical consequences of SLE result from immune complex deposition in the kidney, resulting in lupus nephritis and culminating in kidney failure.
Where does MPI need to grow

MPI has been a successful parallel programming model. The combination of performance, scalability, composability, and support for libraries has made it relatively easy to build complex parallel applications. However, MPI is by no means the perfect parallel programming model. This talk will review the strengths of MPI with respect to other parallel programming models and discuss some of the weaknesses and limitations of MPI in the areas of performance, productivity, scalability, and interoperability. The talk will conclude with a discussion of what extensions (or even changes) may be needed in MPI, and what issues should be addressed by combining MPI with other parallel programming models.
Sensor Network Paradigms

Structural health monitoring (SHM) requires a rigorous approach to designing the sensing system used for the data-acquisition portion of a problem. To date, most SHM sensor system designs are done in a somewhat ad hoc manner where the engineer picks a sensing system that is readily available and that he or she is familiar with, and then attempts to demonstrate that a specific type of damage can be detected with that system. More recently, researchers have begun to develop sensor networks designed specially for SHM. On the basis of this research, several SHM sensor network paradigms have emerged, and this article is intended to provide an overview of these paradigms. First, a brief summary of the statistical pattern-recognition approach to SHM problem is presented. The data-acquisition portion of the paradigm is then addressed in detail, where the various parameters of the system that must be considered in its design and subsequent field deployment are summarized. This article focuses on several general SHM sensor network paradigms that have emerged and concludes by summarizing axioms for SHM that have been proposed in the literature and that are directly related to sensing issues for SHM. Keywords: structural health monitoring; sensor networks; sensor nodes
Cross‐Scale Linkages in Connectivity Conservation: Adaptive governance challenges in spatially distributed networks

Adaptive governance aspires to support learning and experimentation through polycentric and collaborative approaches. Collaborative decision-making focused around a particular problem or region, the ideal suggests, enables actors to have greater flexibility to experiment, learn and respond to the particularities of their landscape. This paper examines the theoretical promise of adaptive governance through an in-depth case study of a connectivity conservation initiative in Australia. Habitat 141° is a network of public, private and civil society actors seeking to align conservation actions dispersed across large spatial scales. In addition to well-established challenges to collaborative practice, sustaining the complex governance arrangements intended to connect local-to-regional scales undermined Habitat 141°’s capacity to provide vertical and horizontal connections between scales of decision-making. Without these linkages, Habitat 141°’s envisaged governance structure was unable to support the necessary functions of coordination and self-organization critical to polycentric governance. This paper highlights challenges to collective action in spatially distributed networks, providing critical empirical insight into the practical challenges of adaptive governance in nested, collaborative, polycentric networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Serum transferrin receptor for the detection of iron deficiency in pregnancy

Measurements of circulating transferrin receptor provide a sensitive quantitative index of tissue iron deficiency in otherwise healthy subjects. This investigation was undertaken to examine the diagnostic utility of this new iron index in pregnancy. A battery of iron-related measurements, including serum transferrin receptor concentrations, was performed on 176 women in third-trimester pregnancy who were attending a university prenatal clinic. The mean receptor concentration of 5.96 +/- 2.37 mg/L (+/- 1 SD) did not differ significantly from concentrations in nonpregnant individuals and the frequency distributions were likewise comparable. Elevations in serum receptor greater than 8.5 mg/L occurred only in women with depleted iron stores defined by serum ferritin concentrations. Abnormal concentrations were found in 11 of 13 women with overt iron-deficiency anemia. Our findings indicate that serum receptor concentrations are not influenced by pregnancy per se and are a sensitive index of iron deficiency. By combining serum receptor and serum ferritin measurements, the entire spectrum of iron status in pregnancy can be assessed.
Cloud-based secure health monitoring: Optimizing fully-homomorphic encryption for streaming algorithms

There are many incentives for healthcare providers to shift their datacenters to the cloud. However, privacy of patient health information is a major concern when processing medical data off-site. One possible solution is the use of Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), but this solution is too slow for most applications. We present a technique that increases efficiency and parallelism for certain algorithms under FHE. Through simulations, we demonstrate that our method yields about 20x speedup in a sample application. This is a significant step towards practical FHE-based medical remote monitoring.
Antisense agents in pharmacology

This commentary is designed to evaluate the applications and potential applications of antisense agents for the pharmacologist. The issues of mechanism of the biologic response mediated by antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs*) and evaluation of an antisense response are discussed. In addition, some practical applications are presented with the intent of suggesting the best means whereby pharmacologists may exploit current technology for their own interests
Landscape estimation of canopy C:N ratios under variable drought stress in Northern Great Plains rangelands

[1] Plant carbon/nitrogen ratio (C:N) exerts significant control over net primary production (NPP) for most biomes, yet remote quantification at ecosystem scales is often hindered by coarse spatial resolution and by the influence of variable plant water content on spectral absorption. Consequently, remote sensing–based estimates for ecosystem properties can be masked by hectare-scale landscape patchiness and by drought stress. We approached the water content problem first by identifying those spectra sensitive to plant C:N but not sensitive to varying intensities of plant water stress under controlled conditions. Then we tested formulae developed at a plant scale with monocultures on mixed-grass prairie field plots several times during the growing season and derived an optimum rangeland C:N formula (RCNF). The RCNF was evaluated on pastures under experimental grazing treatments using mid-resolution, multispectral sensors. Delineation of canopy C:N within and between pastures was achieved under variable canopy moisture conditions using either Landsat 5 or ASTER spectral data. Landsat 5 canopy C:N ratios were estimated four times during the 2004 growing season with <14% error (RMSE = 3.1). Estimates tracked field measurements, with greater C:N ratios in April (between 30 and 34) and lower C:N in September (between 24 and 27). We also tested the RCNF on ASTER satellite data on experimental grazing treatments and found ASTER estimates were within 9.6% of field measurements (RSME = 1.5). Spatial and temporal variability among grazing treatments and collections times were similar to remote estimates despite variable plant moisture, indicating that rangeland C:N may be quantified using current, economical, satellite sensors within ±3 C:N units.
A closed-form algorithm for the least-squares trilateration problem

Trilateration is the most adopted external reference-based localization technique for mobile robots, given the correspondence of external references. The nonlinear least-squares trilateration formulation provides an optimal position estimate from a general number (greater than or equal to the dimension of the environment) of reference points and corresponding distance measurements. This paper presents a novel closed-form solution to the nonlinear least-squares trilateration problem. The performance of the proposed algorithm in dealing with erroneous inputs of reference points and distance measurements has been analyzed through representative examples. The proposed trilateration algorithm has low computational complexity, high operational robustness, and reduced systematic error and uncertainty in position estimation. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm has been further verified through an experimental test.
4s-4p Resonance Transitions in Highly Charged Cu- and Zn-like Ions

The $4s\ensuremath{-}4p$ resonance transitions in the copperlike and zinclike ions from Rb to Mo have been observed by means of a low-inductance open spark and a 10.7-m grazing-incidence spectrograph. Lines belonging to highly charged ions could be distinguished by their abnormally large widths. The observations confirm the identification of the resonance lines of Mo xiii and Mo xiv in the Princeton University $\mathrm{ST}$ tokamak by Hinnov, Johnson, Meservey, and Dimock.
Optical reflection studies of the electronic properties of stages 2 – 5 graphite-SbCl5

Abstract We have measured the absolute reflectance spectra at near-normal incidence for well-characterized stages 2, 3, 4 and 5 graphite-SbCl 5 . The measurements were made with a prism monochromator in the range 0.1 – 3.0 eV. Because of the air stability of these compounds we have also been able to determine experimentally the values of the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant at 1.96 eV by measuring the absolute reflectance of the samples in air and CCl 4 using a HeNe laser. The reflectance spectra were analyzed in terms of a phenomenological dielectric constant model with contributions from the core, free carries, and interband transitions. Interband transitions are modeled as Lorentz oscillators. The spectra were fitted with the additional constraint that the calculated values of the real and imaginary dielectric constant at 1.96 eV matched those directly determined by experiment. The data are discussed in terms of the band model of Blinowski et al . and the more recent band model reported by Dresselhaus and Leung.
The 1982 eruptions of El Chichón Volcano, Chiapas, Mexico: Mineralogy and petrology of the anhydritebearing pumices

The 1982 eruptions of El Chichon Volcano produced three major pumice- and ash-fall layers. Fresh pumices from the three layers are indistinguishable porphyritic trachyandesites with 55.9 wt. % SiO2, 2.2% MgO, 2.8% K2O, 0.4% P2O5, and over 1.2% SO3. The pumices contain 58 wt. % crystals dominated by plagioclase (mode An43) and hornblende, with lesser amounts of augite, titanomagnetite, anhydrite, apatite, sphene, pyrrhotite, and biotite enclosed in a vesiculated matrix glass with 68 wt. % SiO2. Anhydrite forms subhedral to euhedral microphenocrysts without reaction coronas, as well as inclusions within the outer zones of major phenocrystic minerals. Inclusions of apatite and glass occur within anhydrite microphenocrysts. Anhydrite was crystallizing from the melt prior to eruption. Pumices resampled some ten months after the eruptions contain only 0.2 wt. % SO3, and have only scattered remnants of anhydrite and traces of gypsum lining vesicles. A single rainy season in Chiapas (>4 m yr−1 rainfall) was sufficient to remove most primary anhydrite, which may be a relatively common igneous mineral, although rarely preserved in the geologic record. El Chichon trachyandesites are relatively enriched in K2O, Rb, Sr, Th, U, Cs, and light rare elements compared to other andesites from Mexico and Central America. These enrichments may be related to the large distance from El Chichon to the Middle America Trench, or to subduction beneath Chiapas of the Tehuantepec Ridge, a major fracture zone of the Cocos Plate. Major- and trace-element analyses obtained by microprobe and instrumental neutron activation are given for all major minerals and glass, allowing trace-element partition coefficients to be calculated. Sphene and apatite contain high concentrations of rare earth elements, W, Th, and U. Sphene is also highly enriched in Hf and Ta. Prior to eruption, the El Chichon trachyandesite was at a relatively low temperature in the range 750° to 850°C, with fO2 above the Ni-NiO buffer. The melt was very water rich with some 4 to 10 wt. % H2O; the magmatic water content was 2–4 wt. %. The magma also contained an estimated 2.6 wt. % sulfur (as SO3). Of this amount, 1.2 wt. % resided in anhydrite crystals and SO2.
Using ion beam analysis in determining the mechanisms of cleavage in hydrogen ion implanted Si

Abstract Hydrogen ion implantation in Si has been shown to be an effective means of inducing cleavage in Si and facilitating the transfer of thin slices to other substrates, a process known as Ion-Cut. Qualitatively it is known that implanted hydrogen in Si evolves under heating to form H2 gas bubbles with high internal pressure, which then drives the cleavage process. However, a fundamental understanding of how the physics of ion implantation influence this process is still evolving. In this work we describe how ion channeling and elastic recoil detection studies can be used to gain a more complete understanding of how the ion damage and H concentration profile contribute to the mechanisms of cleavage in hydrogen ion implanted Si.
BORIS—An experiment in in-depth understanding of narratives

Abstract boris is an experimental story understanding and question answering system which deals with the specification and interaction of many sources of knowledge. Unlike skimmers, which simply extract the “gist” of a story in a top-down manner and ignore everything else, boris attempts to understand everything that it reads to as great a depth as possible. This report focuses on how the boris program handles a complex story involving a divorce.
REVEL: A model for Recent plate velocities from space geodesy

[1] We present a new global model for Recent plate velocities, REVEL, describing the relative velocities of 19 plates and continental blocks. The model is derived from publicly available space geodetic (primarily GPS) data for the period 1993–2000. We include an independent and rigorous estimate for GPS velocity uncertainties to assess plate rigidity and propagate these uncertainties to the velocity estimates. The velocity fields for North America, Eurasia, and Antarctica clearly show the effects of glacial isostatic adjustment, and Australia appears to depart from rigid plate behavior in a manner consistent with the mapped intraplate stress field. Two thirds of tested plate pairs agree with the NUVEL-1A geologic (3 Myr average) velocities within uncertainties. Three plate pairs (Caribbean–North America, Caribbean–South America, and North America–Pacific) exhibit significant differences between the geodetic and geologic model that may reflect systematic errors in NUVEL-1A due to the use of seafloor magnetic rate data that do not reflect the full plate rate because of tectonic complexities. Most other differences probably reflect real velocity changes over the last few million years. Several plate pairs (Arabia–Eurasia, Arabia–Nubia, Eurasia–India) move more slowly than the 3 Myr NUVEL-1A average, perhaps reflecting long-term deceleration associated with continental collision. Several other plate pairs, including Nazca–Pacific, Nazca–South America and Nubia–South America, are experiencing slowing that began ∼25 Ma, the beginning of the current phase of Andean crustal shortening.
Valencies and IP-graphs of association schemes

Abstract Let G be a group acting transitively on a set X such that all subdegrees are finite. Isaacs and Praeger [I.M. Isaacs, C.E. Praeger, Permutation group subdegrees and the common divisor graph, J. Algebra 159 (1993) 158–175] and Kaplan [G. Kaplan, On groups admitting a disconnected common divisor graph, J. Algebra 193 (1997) 616–628] studied the common divisor graph of ( G , X ) . The action of G on X induces an association scheme ( X , S ) . Recently, motivated by the common divisor graph of ( G , X ) , Camina [R. Camina, Schemes and the IP-graph, J. Algebraic Combin. 28 (2008) 271–278] introduced the IP-graph of a naturally valenced association scheme. The common divisor graph of ( G , X ) is the IP-graph of the naturally valenced association scheme ( X , S ) arising from the action of G on X. Under a very strong assumption that all paired valencies are equal, Camina [R. Camina, Schemes and the IP-graph, J. Algebraic Combin. 28 (2008) 271–278] proved that the main results in [I.M. Isaacs, C.E. Praeger, Permutation group subdegrees and the common divisor graph, J. Algebra 159 (1993) 158–175] are also true for the IP-graph of a naturally valenced association scheme with paired valencies equal. However, the association scheme arising from the action of a group acting transitively on a set may not satisfy this assumption. The purpose of this paper is to prove similar results for IP-graphs of naturally valenced association schemes without the assumption that all paired valencies are equal, and hence generalize results in [I.M. Isaacs, C.E. Praeger, Permutation group subdegrees and the common divisor graph, J. Algebra 159 (1993) 158–175; R. Camina, Schemes and the IP-graph, J. Algebraic Combin. 28 (2008) 271–278; G. Kaplan, On groups admitting a disconnected common divisor graph, J. Algebra 193 (1997) 616–628].
Limitation of opposing ductions following augmented horizontal rectus muscle transposition

Abstract Purpose To report the effect on ductions in opposing gaze following augmented horizontal rectus muscle transposition to treat cyclovertical muscle palsies. Methods Record review of 5 patients who underwent augmented horizontal rectus muscle transposition for treatment of vertical gaze misalignment secondary to cyclovertical muscle palsy. Results Ductions in the direction of the palsied muscle improved in all patients. Four patients (80%) developed significant limitation of vertical gaze in the direction opposite that of the palsied muscle. Conclusion Augmented transposition surgery for vertical muscle palsy can produce considerable limitation of ductions in the direction opposite to that of the paralyzed muscle.
Average Vertical Motions in the Tropical Atmosphere Observed by a Radar Wind Profiler on Pohnpei (7°N Latitude, 157°E Longitude)

Abstract Average vertical profiles of the vertical wind obtained under clear sky conditions as weal as under conditions of both light-to-moderate and heavy rainfall am presented from data obtained using a radar wind profiler located on the island of Pohnpei (latitude 7°N, longitude 157°E). The average profiles for the precipitation conditions were obtained, insofar as possible, under conditions similar to those present within the stratiform and convective regions of tropical mesoscale convective complexes. Comparison between the vertical wind profiles obtained from the wind profiler and vertical wind profiles obtained earlier by wore conventional methods (i.e., deduced from the convergence-divergence of mesoscale horizontal winds) shows that, while the general features of the profiles obtained by both techniques are similar, the profiler results exhibit somewhat more detail. The profiler is able to resolve long-term average vertical motions down to the, ∼cm s−1 subsidence that occurs under clear air condi...
CFAR preprocess for near-high clutter detection

ABSTRACT The sliding window process in Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) detection creates high threshold levels at both up-range and down-range next to a strong clutter point. If the clutter point is stable, these high threshold levels reduce theProbability of detection (Pd) unnecessarily. In this paper, a CFAR pre-process is described which removes the high threshold levels near strong clutter and restores the desired Pd.Keywords: CFAR, clutter, threshold, detection 1. INTRODUCTION During a flight test of our new mobile Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR)1, the test aircraft disappeared from the radarscreen when it flew near a mountain. The test aircraft was flying an orbit at a fixed distance from the radar. It flew at a fixed altitude such that it could maintain line-of-sight to the radar above the terrain. This is a standard surveillance radartest procedure for the verification of azimuth coverage2.Since the test aircraft was flying an orbital path, there was no radial velocity and the aircraft was picked up in the same
Bacterial Shape: Two-Dimensional Questions and Possibilities

Events in the past decade have made it both possible and interesting to ask how bacteria create cells of defined length, diameter, and morphology. The current consensus is that bacterial shape is determined by the coordinated activities of cytoskeleton complexes that drive cell elongation and division. Cell length is most easily explained by the timing of cell division, principally by regulating the activity of the FtsZ protein. However, the question of how cells establish and maintain a specific and uniform diameter is, by far, much more difficult to answer. Mutations associated with the elongation complex often alter cell width, though it is not clear how. Some evidence suggests that diameter is strongly influenced by events during cell division. In addition, surprising new observations show that the bacterial cell wall is more highly malleable than previously believed and that cells can alter and restore their shapes by relying only on internal mechanisms.
The architecture of 5S rRNA and its relation to function

An extensive comparative analysis of the available primary sequence data on 5S rRNA has been made. A universal secondary structure is presented for procaryotic 5S rRNA which contains four helical regions. Eucaryotic 5S rRNAs are found to have only three of these helices and thus have a somewhat different architecture. In addition, a highly conserved segment of more than thirty nucleotides is identified in the 5′ half of the procaryotic molecule. This segment includes the oligonucleotide-CGAAC- which presumably binds to the t-RNA “common” sequence-GTΨCG-. Among the eucaryotes, the plants display a procaryotic nature in this region, but no eucaryote has the sequence -CGAAC- in this segment. A functional role for the procaryotic 5S rRNA molecule is discussed in which it is envisioned to undergo conformational change, i.e., coiling and uncoiling of one of the helices, which can result in a cyclic interaction of the 5S rRNA molecule with two t-RNA molecules. A general principle also emerges: the natural rotational motion inherent in coiling and uncoiling of nucleic acid helices can be converted quite simply to linear mechanical motion.
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY OF PLASMA ETHINYLESTRADIOL IN THE PRESENCE OF CIRCULATING NORETHINDRONE

Abstract A reliable radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of ethinylestradiol (EE 2 ) in plasma after the separation of norethindrone (NET) by column chromatography has been developed. The procedure involves diethyl ether extraction, followed by celite column partition chromatography to separate NET from EE 2 . An antiserum against ethinyl estradiol-7-(3-thiopropionic acid)-bovine serum albumin conjugate was employed. Tritiated EE 2 was used as the radioligand. The separation of bound from free 3 H-EE 2 was carried out with dextran-coated charcoal. This RIA procedure was used to measure plasma EE 2 at specified time intervals in three women following oral administration of a tablet containing EE 2 (0.12 mg) and NET (1.0 mg). The results show that EE 2 is rapidly absorbed after oral administration. Peak concentrations of plasma EE 2 were reached within 1.0 to 1.5 hours and then declined biphasically. The EE 2 α phase half-life values in three subjects were 1.5, 2.8 and 3.8 hours. By comparison the half-life values for the β phase for the same three women were 6.2, 12.3 and 14.5 hours, respectively. Plasma samples were also analyzed for NET by RIA. The half-life values for the β phase for EE 2 and NET in the three subjects were similar.
The Formation of PdCx over Pd-Based Catalysts in Vapor-Phase Vinyl Acetate Synthesis: Does a Pd–Au Alloy Catalyst Resist Carbide Formation?

The formation of Pd carbide (PdC x ) during the synthesis of vinyl acetate (VA) was investigated over Pd/SiO2 catalysts with two different Pd particle sizes, as well as over a Pd–Au/SiO2 mixed-metal catalyst. XRD data show that PdC x was produced in the pure Pd catalysts after reaction based on the downshift of the Pd(111) and (200) XRD features. The smaller Pd particles showed greater resistance to the formation of PdC x . The XRD and XPS data are consistent with formation of a PdC x species at the surface of the Pd–Au catalyst, however, the primary contributor to the downshift of the Pd(111) feature subsequent to reaction in the mixed-metal catalyst is believed to arise from reaction-induced alloying of Au with Pd. The alloying of Au with Pd is apparently very effective in preventing PdC x formation in Pd-based catalysts for VA synthesis.
An overview of the upcoming IEEE P-1788 working group document: Standard for interval arithmetic

We provide a summary of the goals, underlying philosophy, work, decisions, product, and completion schedule of the IEEE P-1788 working group on interval arithmetic.
Rhythms in larval release of the sublittoral crab Neopanope sayi and the supralittoral crab Sesarma cinereum (Decapoda: Brachyura)

Ovigerous females of the subtidal xanthid crab Neopanope sayi (Smith) and the high intertidal grapsid crab Sesarma cinereum (Bosc) were collected during the summers of 1986 and 1987 in the Beaufort, North Carolina (USA), area and brought into the laboratory, where rhythms in larval release were monitored. When crabs with late-stage embryos were put under a 14 h light:10 h dark cycle in an otherwise constant-environment room, an apparent tidal rhythm in release of larvae was observed for both species, with N. sayi releasing near the time of day and night high tides, and S. cinereum releasing around the time of night high tides. The time of sunset relative to high tide was a complicating factor, since larval release for both species was often concentrated around sunset when evening high tides fell several hours before sunset. When a group of N. sayi and S. cinereum were brought into the laboratory and placed under constant lowlevel light for 5 d, the release rhythm of the population persisted, thus implying that the rhythm is endogenous. Larval release near the time of high tide and often at night is common among brachyurans living in tidal areas, regardless of specific adult habitat, suggesting a common functional advantage. Possibilities include transport of larvae from areas where predation and the likelihood of stranding and exposure to low-salinity waters are high, as well as a reduced probability of predation on adult females. Results of the present study suggest that the importance of release after darkness may increase with increasing tidal height of the adult.
eXtensible content protection

This paper describes a proof of concept implementation of xCP, a content protection scheme for home networks.
Deciphering climatic history from lake sediments

Reconstructing climate from lake sediments can be challenging, because the response of lakes and various components of lake systems are mediated by non-climatic factors, such as geomorphic and hydrologic stetting. As a result, the magnitude of lake response to climatic forcing may be non-linear. In addition, changes in the lake system associated with the aging process or non-climatic influences may alter the response to a given climate perturbation. These non-linear and non-stationary characteristics can produce spatial heterogeneity in the pattern and timing of inferred change. One approach for generating regionally robust climatic interpretations from lakes is to increase coordinated efforts to generate and synthesize large data sets, so that localized influences can be more clearly distinguished from broad-scale regional patterns. This approach will be most successful for evaluating climate variation at multi-decadal or longer temporal scales; the climatic interpretation of higher frequency limnological variation can be more complicated, because of dating uncertainties and differential response times of individual proxies and systems.
A mechanistic model of woody debris jam evolution and its application to wood‐based restoration and management

The natural tendency of woody debris to accumulate into complex debris jams has been adapted by the restoration industry because of the morphological and ecological benefits of these structures. While much work has been done on woody debris, there is a lack of understanding of the dynamics of debris jams including the controls on their formation and the associated changes in hydraulics. Treatment of jams as static structures, whose hydraulics may be described by that of a single-solid object, prevents optimal success of wood-based restoration projects. This paper reviews the state of the science on the initiation and accumulation of wood forming a debris jam. This review is used to develop a conceptual model of the evolution of a single debris jam focussing on the relationship between the structure and hydraulics and the feedback that exists between them. The proposed mechanisms behind debris jam evolution are supported by a case-study of three natural jams. Incorporation of this model into restoration and management plans will result in more successful and cost-efficient projects.
Economic self-interest and the vote: Evidence and meaning

The issue of personal economic self-interest — people responding politically to changes in their financial well-being — has been a central focus in the economic voting literature. In a recent article, Kramer (1983) contended that people may be acting in a personally self-interested manner despite findings to the contrary from survey research analyses. In another article, Sears and Lau (1983) argued that findings of economic self-interest from survey data may be artifactual and that self-interested behavior may be even weaker than previously thought. In this paper I review the literature on economic self-interest and attempt to determine to what extent people do act on the basis of their financial well-being and under what conditions this is most likely.
Shock Waves in Outflows From Young Stars

This review focuses on physics of the cooling zones behind radiative shocks and the emission line diagnostics that can be used to infer physical conditions and mass loss rates in jets from young stars. Spatial separations of the cooling zones from the shock fronts, now resolvable with HST, and recent evidence for C-shocks have greatly increased our understanding of how shocks in outflows interact with the surrounding medium and with other material within the flow. By combining multiple epoch HST images, one can create ‘movies’ of flows like those produced from numerical codes, and learn what kinds of instabilities develop within these systems.
The medicinal leech genome encodes 21 innexin genes: different combinations are expressed by identified central neurons

Gap junctional proteins are important components of signaling pathways required for the development and ongoing functions of all animal tissues, particularly the nervous system, where they function in the intracellular and extracellular exchange of small signaling factors and ions. In animals whose genomes have been sufficiently sequenced, large families of these proteins, connexins, pannexins, and innexins, have been found, with 25 innexins in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans Starich et al. (Cell Commun Adhes 8: 311–314, 2001) and at least 37 connexins in the zebrafish Danio rerio Cruciani and Mikalsen (Biol Chem 388:253–264, 2009). Having recently sequenced the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana genome, we now report the presence of 21 innexin genes in this species, nine more than we had previously reported from the analysis of an EST-derived transcriptomic database Dykes and Macagno (Dev Genes Evol 216: 185–97, 2006); Macagno et al. (BMC Genomics 25:407, 2010). Gene structure analyses show that, depending on the leech innexin gene, they can contain from 0 to 6 introns, with closely related paralogs showing the same number of introns. Phylogenetic trees comparing Hirudo to another distantly related leech species, Helobdella robusta, shows a high degree of orthology, whereas comparison to other annelids shows a relatively low level. Comparisons with other Lophotrochozoans, Ecdyzozoans and with vertebrate pannexins suggest a low number (one to two) of ancestral innexin/pannexins at the protostome/deuterostome split. Whole-mount in situ hybridization for individual genes in early embryos shows that ∼50% of the expressed innexins are detectable in multiple tissues. Expression analyses using quantitative PCR show that ∼70% of the Hirudo innexins are expressed in the nervous system, with most of these detected in early development. Finally, quantitative PCR analysis of several identified adult neurons detects the presence of different combinations of innexin genes, a property that may underlie the participation of these neurons in different adult coupling circuits.
Perfectionism, Goal Adjustment, and Self-Regulation: A Short-term Follow-up Study of Distress and Coping

This study examined socially-prescribed and self-oriented perfectionism (SPP and SOP) and goal adjustment in relation to goal pursuit, depression, and coping. Students (N = 388) completed measures of perfectionism, idiographic goal pursuit, goal adjustment, and depressive symptoms, and a subset (n = 138) completed an online follow-up assessing stress-related depression and coping. SPP, but not SOP, was associated with current depressive symptoms at both time points. SPP was associated with less optimism about goal success, and the interaction between SPP and goal disengagement predicted stress-related depression and maladaptive coping. SOP was associated with greater optimism about the likelihood of goal success and stronger emotional responses to goal success and failure, and SOP interacted with goal reengagement to predict adaptive coping.
Preadipocyte stimulating factor in rat serum: Evidence for a discrete 63 kDa protein that promotes cell differentiation of rat preadipocytes in primary cultures

In primary cultures of rat preadipocytes (PA) isolated from epididymal or perirenal depots, rat serum is more effective than other animal sera (fetal calf, newborn calf, human, horse, rabbit, cat, sheep, goat, dog, pig) in promoting adipogenic conversion, biochemical differentiation, and mitogenesis. Only mouse serum is comparable to rat serum. This activity is attributable to a specific growth factor (preadipocyte stimulating factor, PSF). An assay for PSF in rat serum was devised using PA from perirenal fat of 3-month-old Fischer 344 rats grown first to confluence in FCS for 8 days and then for the next 3 days in test serum, followed by measurement of triglyceride (TG) and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH). Rat serum induces dose-dependent rapid cell division, which coincides with accumulation of TG and increase of GPDH; for routine quantitation, TG is assayed. The biochemical characteristics of PSF in serum are as follows: stable at 4 degrees C for up to 1 year; inactivated at 100 degrees C (80% loss, 30 min) but stable at 56 degrees C for 1 hr; stable at pH 2-12; non-dialyzable; completely resistant to pepsin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin but destroyed by pronase and subtilisn; stable to DTT and periodate; and m.w. between 68 kDa (Sephacryl-300) and 58 kDa (Sephacryl-300 in 5 M urea). PSF activity is greater in serum from Wistar than from Fischer 344 rats, while activity of serum from Zucker obese (fa/fa) rats is at least as great as that from Wistar rats and, like serum of rats made obese by feeding a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, is not suppressed. PSF activity is not due to insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), growth hormone, glucocorticoids, or combinations of these hormones. PSF activity was not seen with a number of growth factors including colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1), GM-CSF, interleukins 1, 2, and 3, neuroleukin, tumor necrosis factor, and others. PSF is distinct from the low molecular weight (4-8 kDa) differentiation factor present in rat serum, FCS, and human serum that promotes the adipogenic conversion and cellular differentiation of 3T3-L1, 3T3-F442A, and Ob17 cells. PSF appears to be a new differentiation factor for rat preadipocytes, has properties suggestive of a highly glycosylated protein, and may be highly species specific.
Civilians and the Military in Latin America: The Absence of Incentives

The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2013.00216.x
Mine slope stability analysis by coupled finite element modelling

Abstract The potentially destabilizing effect of water pressure on rock slope stability is examined assuming coupled poroelastic/plastic behavior and compared with previous poroelastic results. A coupled finite element code that accounts for the simultaneous effects of rock mass deformation and transient fluid flow is used for this purpose. Rock mass behavior is based on the concept of effective stress, Hooke's law, Darcy's law, associated plasticity and a parabolic yield condition appropriate to rock masses. The main effect of plasticity, which limits the range of purely elastic behavior by rock mass strength, is greater displacements and persistent yielding. Yielding anticipated in poroelastic analyses, where the ratio of strength to stress is less than one, is initially somewhat more extensive than in the poroelastic/plastic case, but diminishes considerably with time. In the poroelastic/plastic case, yielding that occurs during a slope cut persists in time and space despite depressurization. Applicability of poroelastic/plastic finite element analysis to actual open pit mine slopes is demonstrated.